The Daily Tell

Tibi Galis and Alex Zucker work for the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing genocides around the world. The AIPR’s mission is to identify and target areas where genocide has yet to happen, but potentially could. This NGO has created a unique approach to genocide that combines academic expertise with pragmatic government engagement. Through seminars and other outreach programs, the AIPR facilitates the networking of genocide experts and key government ministers to stop a genocide before it has a chance to take root.
In my interview with Mr. Galis and Mr. Zucker, we discussed the AIPR’s work, the nature of genocide, and solutions for the future.

DT: How do you help spread genocide awareness?
AIPR: We help governments think about how they can organize programs about genocide. We organize seminars about genocide prevention, always making sure these communities grow constantly. Our group has close ties to the UN, who can help us reach out to government ministers. Another big part of our work is developing a curriculum of genocide prevention, which can lead to government policies for genocide prevention.
DT: Have you met any opposition from any governments for your work?
AIPR: No government has refused to partake in our programs. The reason is that we insist on building a community of civil servants. There have been reluctant countries, but after they interacted with us, they wanted to participate. We help governments to grow from the inside to reform their policy. Sometimes bureaucracy can be difficult—we have to go through so many channels—so you have to attack the issue from many angles. We have built these links because with a community of civil servants, we can directly deal with genocide on the ground level.
We seek to prevent genocide by reaching out to mid-level ministers who could rise to the level of leadership. We also work with genocide experts. People who study genocide can now actually work with government ministers who deal with genocide directly. This is a new community building effort; this is the first time academics can talk to the policy makers.
DT: What parallels have you discovered between the Holocaust and today’s genocides?
AIPR: The biggest similarity with all genocides is that they are committed by ordinary people. That’s why public relations is so important. We must draw upon the memory of the Holocaust to highlight the causes of modern genocide. Of course, every genocide is different, but genocides all share the common trait of being a specific process. These processes start in a certain way, but all end with the government trying to exterminate a certain group. Genocide scholar Barbara Harff has outlined specific “predictors” that indicate a genocide is possible. These predictors include:
1. The more isolated the country, the more likely a genocide can occur
2. The ruling regime is easily identified with a majority or minority group.
3. Genocide has taken place before in the area; habituation can occur.
4. There is a continued history of strife and political upheaval.
DT: What are some mistakes western governments make with regards to genocide? Have there been any successes?
AIPR: One of the biggest mistakes is dealing with genocide as a legal issue. This is counterproductive because genocide then must be defined after it’s done, after the genocide has been achieved. Samantha Power, author of “A Problem from Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide, says the US has never intervened in genocide because debate has taken place of action. The AIPR wants governments to be attentive long before genocide can occur.
Genocide intervention must have popular support. That is why leaders must galvanize public opinion, not just respond to public opinion. There must be a back and forth dialog with regards to genocide.
Two success stories took place in Kenya and Macedonia. In both countries, everything was in place for things to go wrong. After the election in Kenya, ethnic strife was widespread. Fortunately, the community stepped in to stop genocide. There was intense diplomatic effort from the UN and western countries in Nairobi that diffused the tension; they were able to convince the leaders of the political parties to control their constituents. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, there was a large immigration of Albanian refugees into Macedonia from Kosovo. There were different ethnic groups ready to start fighting. In that tense situation, civil servants in Macedonia gave out the signals that genocide was possible. Diplomatic efforts by NATO helped the different parties meet their needs, and genocide was prevented.
DT: What can an ordinary person do to help prevent genocide?
AIPR: There are several things a person can do to help.
1. Dedicate their attention to issue, and become as informed as possible on genocide issues.
2. Volunteer for organizations working in genocide prevention and awareness.
3. Promote genocide prevention with their local leaders, and hold their politicians accountable on the issue.
4. Make sure to try to change all forms of discrimination and discriminatory policies in their own country. We all need to strive to make our own society better.
5. Change their view of people around the world. We must stop thinking of people outside our culture as being completely different from us, and instead build a more international understanding of the right to life and protection.
Essentially, we must all strive to make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights really universal.

Tibi Galis is the Managing Director and Alex Zucker is the Media Relations Officer of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation. To learn more about the AIPR, visit their website www.auschwitzinstitute.org. Through generous grants and individual donations, the AIPR is able to continue its campaign of practical, ground-level genocide prevention through international seminars, coalition and network building, and university course offerings.