Israel Charny, the Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Genocide, outlines the tactics of denial in “Templates for Gross Denial of a Known Genocide: A Manual,” in The Encyclopedia of Genocide, volume 1, page 168.
1. Question and minimize the statistics.
2. Attack the motivations of the truth-tellers.
3. Claim that the deaths were inadvertent.
4. Emphasize the strangeness of the victims.
5. Rationalize the deaths as the result of tribal conflict.
6. Blame “out of control” forces for committing the killings.
7. Avoid antagonizing the genocidists, who might walk out of “the peace process.”
8. Justify denial in favor of current economic interests.
9. Claim that the victims are receiving good treatment.
10. Claim that what is going on doesn’t fit the definition of genocide.
Do they sound familiar to you?
1. Question and minimize the statistics.
2. Attack the motivations of the truth-tellers.
3. Claim that the deaths were inadvertent.
4. Emphasize the strangeness of the victims.
5. Rationalize the deaths as the result of tribal conflict.
6. Blame “out of control” forces for committing the killings.
7. Avoid antagonizing the genocidists, who might walk out of “the peace process.”
8. Justify denial in favor of current economic interests.
9. Claim that the victims are receiving good treatment.
10. Claim that what is going on doesn’t fit the definition of genocide.
Do they sound familiar to you?
Comment