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BRAMA (press release), NY
Feb 2 2008
Canadian MP raises concerns over omission of Ukraine famine-genocide
from school course
In his letter to John Campbell, head of the Toronto District School
Board, M.P. Borys Wrzesnewskyj expressed his concerns that
information about the 1932-1933 Holodomor (famine genocide) in
Ukraine was excluded from TDSB's grade 11 course entitled Genocide:
Historical and Contemporary Implications.
* * *
January 30, 2008
John Campbell
Chair
Toronto District School Board
5050 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON M2N 5N8
[email protected]
Dear John,
Let me begin by congratulating you on your recent election as Chair
of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the most diverse school
board in a province and country that are recognized across the world
for their commitment to multiculturalism. I am confident that your
previous experience as Chair of the Administration, Finance and
Accountability Committee has prepared you for the challenges that lie
ahead.
It is my understanding that the Ontario Ministry of Education has
approved the TDSB's grade 11 course entitled Genocide: Historical and
Contemporary Implications. As someone who has devoted a considerable
amount of time to addressing human rights issues in the former Soviet
Union and who has organized, financed and led fact-finding missions
to devastated Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan, I applaud the
introduction of a full-credit course which will allow students to
study, explore and confront genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity. It will provide young students with a historical context of
the horrific consequences of traveling down the path of intolerance
or a belief in racial or religious superiority.
John, you are probably unaware that I am a founding member and serve
on the executive of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the
Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, whose first chair
was Senator Rome'o Dallaire. We often engage in discussions about the
importance of education in the prevention of future crimes against
humanity.
I have also had the opportunity to lecture and engage on the issue of
genocide with University of Ottawa students who take Professor
Dominique Arel's course `Political Violence: The Comparative Study of
Mass Killing.' During this particular lecture I illustrated three
categories of genocide and variants thereof. The first category of
genocide is the most primitive and common form of genocide; this form
of genocide, which predates written history, I call the `hurricane of
hatred' when one tribe descends upon another with the intent to
massacre the other tribe's members. In the 20th century, the world
was frozen by a lack of political resolve when a `hurricane of
hatred' descended upon Rwanda.
The second form of genocide, `genocide by attrition,' appeared as a
contemporary of human civilization and written history. Typically,
this form of genocide entailed a city state's population being
surrounded militarily, allowing hunger and disease, that is,
`genocide by attrition.' In the 20th century the world stood by as
Stalin encamped `Europe's breadbasket' in Ukraine, millions of
peasants were starved through a `genocide by attrition' all the while
grain produced on these fertile fields was being exported to the
West. This particular `genocide by attrition' not only deserves
special note as it had the largest number of victims by this form of
genocide, but also because there continues to be `holodomor/genocide
denial' by the Russian Federation and fellow travelers. Shockingly,
Russian politicians such as President Putin pride themselves as the
inheritors of Stalin's political legacy, and have even applied
pressure in international forums (including in meetings with Canadian
government officials) to deny this genocide.
Finally, there is the third category of genocide of which there is
only one horrific example, `the Holocaust.' A genocide by which
politicians engaged not just soldiers, but highly educated engineers
and scientists in its meticulously planned `Final Solution.'
While I applaud the introduction of a course by the TDSB that
`investigates examples of genocide in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries,' I am perplexed and disturbed that one of the greatest
mass murders in European history and the most horrific example of
`genocide by attrition,' the 1932-1933 Holodomor (famine genocide) in
Ukraine, a famine master-minded and carried out by the Soviet regime
under Joseph Stalin, is not explicitly mentioned along with the
`Holocaust, Armenia, and Rwanda' (see PDF file). This is especially
worrisome as there is no lack of `holodomor/genocide' deniers in
Canada.
John, a number of constituents, who are also your constituents, have
raised concerns with me about the omission of the mention of the
Holodomor in this course description. I have also been contacted by
Mr. Marco Levytsky, editor of Ukrainian News, a national Ukrainian
Canadian newspaper, seeking answers to the following questions:
Why was the Holodomor omitted from the list of genocides to be
explicitly studied?
Are there any plans to rectify this omission?
If so, is the TDSB willing to work with the Ukrainian Canadian
community to rectify this omission?
I would ask you to review the issues and concerns that I and many
others in Toronto are raising and would appreciate meeting with you
on this issue.
Respectfully,
Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P.
Etobicoke Centre
cc:
Bruce Davis, Trustee (Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore)
Marco Levytsky, Editor & Publisher Ukrainian News
Hon. Yoine Goldstein, Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group for the
Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Hon. Raynell Andreychuk
Gerard Kennedy
http://www.brama.com/news/press/2008/02/080202wr zesnewskyj_faminegenocide.html
Feb 2 2008
Canadian MP raises concerns over omission of Ukraine famine-genocide
from school course
In his letter to John Campbell, head of the Toronto District School
Board, M.P. Borys Wrzesnewskyj expressed his concerns that
information about the 1932-1933 Holodomor (famine genocide) in
Ukraine was excluded from TDSB's grade 11 course entitled Genocide:
Historical and Contemporary Implications.
* * *
January 30, 2008
John Campbell
Chair
Toronto District School Board
5050 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON M2N 5N8
[email protected]
Dear John,
Let me begin by congratulating you on your recent election as Chair
of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the most diverse school
board in a province and country that are recognized across the world
for their commitment to multiculturalism. I am confident that your
previous experience as Chair of the Administration, Finance and
Accountability Committee has prepared you for the challenges that lie
ahead.
It is my understanding that the Ontario Ministry of Education has
approved the TDSB's grade 11 course entitled Genocide: Historical and
Contemporary Implications. As someone who has devoted a considerable
amount of time to addressing human rights issues in the former Soviet
Union and who has organized, financed and led fact-finding missions
to devastated Somalia and the Darfur region of Sudan, I applaud the
introduction of a full-credit course which will allow students to
study, explore and confront genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity. It will provide young students with a historical context of
the horrific consequences of traveling down the path of intolerance
or a belief in racial or religious superiority.
John, you are probably unaware that I am a founding member and serve
on the executive of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the
Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, whose first chair
was Senator Rome'o Dallaire. We often engage in discussions about the
importance of education in the prevention of future crimes against
humanity.
I have also had the opportunity to lecture and engage on the issue of
genocide with University of Ottawa students who take Professor
Dominique Arel's course `Political Violence: The Comparative Study of
Mass Killing.' During this particular lecture I illustrated three
categories of genocide and variants thereof. The first category of
genocide is the most primitive and common form of genocide; this form
of genocide, which predates written history, I call the `hurricane of
hatred' when one tribe descends upon another with the intent to
massacre the other tribe's members. In the 20th century, the world
was frozen by a lack of political resolve when a `hurricane of
hatred' descended upon Rwanda.
The second form of genocide, `genocide by attrition,' appeared as a
contemporary of human civilization and written history. Typically,
this form of genocide entailed a city state's population being
surrounded militarily, allowing hunger and disease, that is,
`genocide by attrition.' In the 20th century the world stood by as
Stalin encamped `Europe's breadbasket' in Ukraine, millions of
peasants were starved through a `genocide by attrition' all the while
grain produced on these fertile fields was being exported to the
West. This particular `genocide by attrition' not only deserves
special note as it had the largest number of victims by this form of
genocide, but also because there continues to be `holodomor/genocide
denial' by the Russian Federation and fellow travelers. Shockingly,
Russian politicians such as President Putin pride themselves as the
inheritors of Stalin's political legacy, and have even applied
pressure in international forums (including in meetings with Canadian
government officials) to deny this genocide.
Finally, there is the third category of genocide of which there is
only one horrific example, `the Holocaust.' A genocide by which
politicians engaged not just soldiers, but highly educated engineers
and scientists in its meticulously planned `Final Solution.'
While I applaud the introduction of a course by the TDSB that
`investigates examples of genocide in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries,' I am perplexed and disturbed that one of the greatest
mass murders in European history and the most horrific example of
`genocide by attrition,' the 1932-1933 Holodomor (famine genocide) in
Ukraine, a famine master-minded and carried out by the Soviet regime
under Joseph Stalin, is not explicitly mentioned along with the
`Holocaust, Armenia, and Rwanda' (see PDF file). This is especially
worrisome as there is no lack of `holodomor/genocide' deniers in
Canada.
John, a number of constituents, who are also your constituents, have
raised concerns with me about the omission of the mention of the
Holodomor in this course description. I have also been contacted by
Mr. Marco Levytsky, editor of Ukrainian News, a national Ukrainian
Canadian newspaper, seeking answers to the following questions:
Why was the Holodomor omitted from the list of genocides to be
explicitly studied?
Are there any plans to rectify this omission?
If so, is the TDSB willing to work with the Ukrainian Canadian
community to rectify this omission?
I would ask you to review the issues and concerns that I and many
others in Toronto are raising and would appreciate meeting with you
on this issue.
Respectfully,
Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P.
Etobicoke Centre
cc:
Bruce Davis, Trustee (Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore)
Marco Levytsky, Editor & Publisher Ukrainian News
Hon. Yoine Goldstein, Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group for the
Prevention of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Hon. Raynell Andreychuk
Gerard Kennedy
http://www.brama.com/news/press/2008/02/080202wr zesnewskyj_faminegenocide.html