Nov. 1 – How do attitudes differ when it comes to helping or supporting those who are on the opposite side as you? With most things in life, there is no simple answer, and each person or nation faces this dilemma with their own philosophy in mind.
Florence Nightingale and Henry Dunant were two pioneers in the field of humanitarian aid. However, they did not always see eye to eye, and one initiative they disagreed on was helping those in need who may use aid for their own advantage in war. Henry Dunant believes in helping those in need regardless. In an introduction for “The Crisis Caravan”, Linda Polman writes, “Dunant firmly believed in the duty to help no matter what” (Polman 2). Dunant’s philosophy when it comes to helping those in need is to provide aid to whoever needs it, regardless of implication or what they might do with the aid.
Nightingale, on the other hand, believed in helping the innocent so long as they would not take advantage of the aid. Polman claims Nightingale believed, “Voluntary efforts, which reduced the expense faced by war ministries, merely made it easier for governments to engage in wars more often and for longer” (Polman 5). In other words, offering free aid to all would only allow agitators in warring countries to continue engagement, as they would not have to spend money on aiding their own people. Nightingale argues that the only way to stop this is to stop providing support.
As for ethics, Linda Polman discusses the ethical disaster in Goma in the first chapter of her book. Goma is one of the cities that housed refugees during the Rwandan Genocide. Cholera outbreak hit Rwandans hard, and there were many international relief efforts sent to help the refugees in Goma. What reporters failed to mention, or notice, was that Hutu extremists also fled to Goma, continuing their killing of Tutsis without having to worry about the RPF.
When it came to helping these murderers, Polman notes that, “Mindful of the Red Cross principles of neutrality and impartiality, the aid organizations in Goma were committed to helping anybody the could” (Polman 26). Similar to the Rwandan Genocide, a failure to intervene meant, “The violence perpetrated by the Hutus went unpunished” (Polman 27). Although organizations did their best to help everyone, the ethical disaster comes in their failure to acknowledge and try to prevent acts of genocide that were known to be going on.
Genocide is a major concern internationally. There is not much information to be found about genocide in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, but the United Arab Emirates has recently been accused by Yemen of committing an act of genocide. According to Nick Cumming-Bruce of the New York Times, Yemen has accused a military led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of murdering thousands of their people in airstrikes, torturing citizens, raping women, and enlisting children. That is a very serious offense, and from this, it would appear the United Arab Emirates is not against genocide.
On the contrary, the United Arab Emirates has come to recognize specific genocides. While it may have begun as a way to sour relations with an opposing country, ANHA Hawar News Agency reported in February of 2019 that the United Arab Emirates would recognize the Armenian genocide that took place during the days of the Ottoman Empire. Although recognition is not the same as denouncement, it is still important to note nonetheless.
Meanwhile, it appears that Qatar has grown a firm stance against genocide. Not much can be found online involving Qatar and genocide, however Albawaba News wrote in 2014 that Qatar shared the views of Iran, condemning terrorism and asking for unity in the hopes of eliminating it. If this is any indication, Qatar would have developed a firm stance against genocide. Regardless on what you believe in terms of helping enemies, you should always take a stand against genocide.
References
Cumming-Bruce, Nick. UN War Crimes Report on Yemen Accuses Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. of Bombing and Killing Thousands of Ci. 8 Apr. 2020, http://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/2020/04/08/un-war-crimes-report-on-yemen-accuses-saudi-arabia-and-uae-of-bombing-and-killing-thousan.
“Iran and Qatar Discuss Cooperation in Combating Extremism.” Genocide Watch, Albawaba News, 30 June 2014, genocidewatch.net/2014/06/30/iran-and-qatar-discuss-cooperation-in-combating-extremism/.
Polman, Linda, et al. The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong with Humanitarian Aid? Picador, 2011.
“UAE Also Will Recognize of the Armenian Genocide in April – ANHA: HAWARNEWS: English.” Www.hawarnews.com, https://Www.hawarnews.com/En/, 16 Feb. 2019, http://www.hawarnews.com/en///haber/uae-also-will-recognize-of-the-armenian-genocide-in-april-h6955.html.
Middle East & North Africa 