Regarding concentration camps
Received a couple of emails this morning complaining that I had improperly used called Guantanamo Bay a "concentration camp". I've explained why I call it that before, so I thought I'd make a quick separate entry about it that would be easy to link to.
From Wikipedia (they quote the OED)
An internment camp or concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, enemy aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. The term is used for facilities whose inmates are selected according to some criteria, rather than individuals who are incarcerated after due process of law fairly applied by a judiciary.
Prisoner-of-war camps are not usually called concentration camps although informally, and in some languages, they may be.
Use of the word concentration comes from the idea of concentrating a group of people who are in some way undesirable in one place, where they can be watched by those who incarcerated them. For example, in a time of insurgency, potential supporters of the insurgents are placed where they cannot provide them with supplies or information.
The term concentration camp lost some of its original meaning after Nazi concentration camps were discovered, and has ever since been understood to refer to a place of mistreatment, starvation, forced labour, and murder.
More definitions from a variety of sources here.
The prisoners have clearly been mistreated. Human Rights Watch has been tracking the situation, as has Amnesty International.
So, as far as I'm concerned, the term stands correct as written. However, our government announced Wednesday that at least some of the prisoners (14 of 435) will receive hearings. 120 others have been approved for transfer to countries willing to take them. At least there's some progress....
I do recognize that the term carries an strong emotional charge, especially for those of us who are Jewish. I don't use it lightly. But, even the most casual student of history knows that concentration camps are not a Nazi-only phenomenon. Considering the great push in modern Jewish culture since the Holocaust is to "Never Forget," I believe we have an obligation to make sure that such acts aren't whitewashed, especially if they're being committed in our name.
From Wikipedia (they quote the OED)
An internment camp or concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, enemy aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. The term is used for facilities whose inmates are selected according to some criteria, rather than individuals who are incarcerated after due process of law fairly applied by a judiciary.
Prisoner-of-war camps are not usually called concentration camps although informally, and in some languages, they may be.
Use of the word concentration comes from the idea of concentrating a group of people who are in some way undesirable in one place, where they can be watched by those who incarcerated them. For example, in a time of insurgency, potential supporters of the insurgents are placed where they cannot provide them with supplies or information.
The term concentration camp lost some of its original meaning after Nazi concentration camps were discovered, and has ever since been understood to refer to a place of mistreatment, starvation, forced labour, and murder.
More definitions from a variety of sources here.
The prisoners have clearly been mistreated. Human Rights Watch has been tracking the situation, as has Amnesty International.
So, as far as I'm concerned, the term stands correct as written. However, our government announced Wednesday that at least some of the prisoners (14 of 435) will receive hearings. 120 others have been approved for transfer to countries willing to take them. At least there's some progress....
I do recognize that the term carries an strong emotional charge, especially for those of us who are Jewish. I don't use it lightly. But, even the most casual student of history knows that concentration camps are not a Nazi-only phenomenon. Considering the great push in modern Jewish culture since the Holocaust is to "Never Forget," I believe we have an obligation to make sure that such acts aren't whitewashed, especially if they're being committed in our name.