There Have Always Been Holocaust Deniers. Do Not Be Ignorant About What Is Happening To Uyghur Muslims

What do we do when there are holocaust and genocide deniers – many of whom are Muslim – amidst the ongoing murder of innocent Uyghur Muslims?

Jessica Aya Harn

16th November 2021

What do we do when there are holocaust and genocide deniers – many of whom are Muslim – amidst the ongoing murder of innocent Uyghur Muslims?

The Holocaust of WWII is one of the most brutally horrendous examples of genocide – between 1941 and 1945 during the Second World War, Nazi Germany and its allies murdered more than 6 million European Jews (this number does not include the other millions of Roma, disabled, and minority groups of peoples across Europe who were deemed “unfit” for Nazi Germany’s definition of a perfect Aryan society and therefore murdered alongside the Jews).

While the Holocaust of WWII is only one example of mass genocide (look towards what Belgium did to the Congo in the late 1800s, Rwanda in 1994, Japan in East and Southeast Asia during the Pacific War, and the Bosnian genocide of the mid-1990s), the Jewish Holocaust of WWII has been used to coin the term “never again” – meaning that this particular genocide was supposed to be the end-all of all mass genocides and that we were supposed to learn from it has a human race to never repeat its atrocities.

Despite everything – despite the generational trauma of those who survived the concentration camps of the Nazis, despite clear evidence of these concentration camps, despite international tribunals to try those guilty of orchestrating the implementation of mass genocide, and despite the stories and memories of European Jews – there are still those who deny the Holocaust ever happened.

In the fringes of right-wing politics, Trumpism, of white nationalism, of Modi-back fascism in India, and of ignorant sectarian religious leaders who ammas large followings of believers, there are many who deny the Holocaust of WWII ever happened.

There have always been Holocaust deniers. So what does this mean today?

This means that today, when we are witnessing one of the modern world’s most atrocious genocides in northwestern China against the Uyghur Muslims, we are still seeing holocaust deniers.

Those who deny the genocide against Uyghur Muslims, those who claim the stories and eyewitness accounts of Uyghur Muslims who survived China’s concentration camps are fabricated, and those who claim it is all a conspiracy are not anything new – they are the children of generational ignorance when it comes to recognizing human rights abuses.

Today, Uyghur Muslims in China’s northwestern province of Xinjiang (many Uyghur Muslims ask this region be called East Turkestan or Uyghurstan instead) are being systematically tortured, killed, and controlled in an effort to culturally and physically eradicate this specific group of peoples.

Up to 2 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minority Muslims are being held in concentration camps across the province of East Turkestan – in what experts are calling the largest mass incarcerations of peoples since the Holocaust of WWII.

Outside of the millions being held arbitrarily in concentration camps, Uyghur Muslims live in a constant state of control, torture, and fear under the watchful eye of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government. Uyghur Muslims are rounded up and detained if considered part of the larger threat to the state – the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing has called for a “war on terror” on what they deem to be dangerous foreign influence and terrorism from their western borders.

But being considered a threat to the state is a blatant cover for mass genocide – Uyghur Muslims are detained for things as simple as having a beard or wearing a hijab, which is seen as Islamic extremism. Those attempting to fast during the holy month of Ramadan are rounded up and either threatened with or taken to concentration camps – entire families are blackmailed and forced into submission with threats of death and torture.

China accused of genocide over forced abortions, rape, and sexual torture of Uyghur women

Once detained in the numerous concentration camps across East Turkestan, Uyghur Muslims are killed and tortured. There has been documented evidence of mass rape and the forced sterilization of women – the Chinese state is not only killing members of an ethnic group but are attempting to prevent the very continuality of the group as well. Children whose parents have been detained are taken by the Chinese government into state-run schools and orphanages – where their Uyghur identity is banned and forcibly eradicated.

Uyghur Muslims Forced to Eat Pork Every Friday in Chinese Concentration Camps

Besides the physical act of genocide, China continues on its path of cultural genocide as well – the Uyghur language is banned in schools, religious symbols in mosques and even restaurants or homes are banned, and historical sites such as cemeteries are being bulldozed and destroyed in an attempt to eradicate Uyghur history and cultural identity.

China Has Destroyed 65% of the Mosques in East Turkestan, As Part of the Ongoing Genocide Against Uyghur Muslims

China is ticking off every single act of genocide as defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. And yet, there are still those who claim the genocide against Uyghur Muslims is a “Western conspiracy”.

China’s Uyghur Genocide: A Historical Perspective

So again – what does this mean today? What do we do when there are holocaust and genocide deniers – many of whom are Muslim – amidst the ongoing murder of innocent Uyghur Muslims?

Does this mean we doubt ourselves? Does this mean we allow them to have their own opinion and move on with our lives despite their toxic influence in wider circles?

What do we do against a tidal wave of those claiming the death, torture, and imprisonment of millions to be false? What can we actually do?

The decision, ultimately, is up to you.

Perhaps we can show up to protests, conferences, social media, and community centers – if not speaking out through our voices, we can also speak out through just being there in a space that is dedicated to understanding and raising awareness about what is actually happening to Uyghur Muslims.

Protest for Uyghur Muslims outside the Chinese Embassy, London UK [November 13th 2021] TMV

Perhaps we can also educate not only ourselves but those around us – share testimonials from Uyghurs themselves, reach out to the Uyghur diaspora in your community, and learn how to distinguish between fake news and actual evidence.

The darker side of China: A brief history of the Communist state and the Uyghur Muslims

Educate yourself. Raise awareness. Instill a sense of duty in your community and get community leaders on board. Write to your politicians and organize protests and campaigns. Vote for politicians who are not afraid to call out China. Vote out politicians who are slaves to the economic and strategic allure of China’s power despite its ongoing genocide. Boycott companies and firms who work in China and are accused of using the forced labor of Uyghur Muslims held in detention. Act and act with the duty that is required of us all – for it is literally a matter of life or death for so many Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan.

History is not a chapter of the past – history is alive and we are acting in the history that will be told to future generations. It is up to us how the future will be, especially for those who need a different and better one.