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Pogrom
Hate for hate's sake Antisemitism |
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Perpetuating prejudice |
Hate mongers |
A pogrom is a violent riot aimed against a person or personal property based on the victim's racial, ethnic, religious, or social background or lifestyle. The term was originally used for race riots against Jewish communities, but has also been used since in reference to other groups. Historically many pogroms - particularly against Jews - were perpetrated with the tacit approval or even outright support of local rulers and non-Jewish businesspeople.
Examples of pogroms[edit]
- The Alexandrain riots
of 38 CE was likely the first recorded pogrom in human history; the racial hatred towards the Jews was likely instigated by Aulus Avilius Flaccus
, the Roman prefect of Egypt.
- The German Crusade
was inspired by the call for Christians across Europe to take Jerusalem from the Muslims; due to the view that the Jews were as evil as the Muslims, the Germans took it upon themselves to drive them out.
- The Lisbon massacre
was a series of persecutions by Catholics against the "New Christians", recently converted Jews, who were perceived to be secretly practicing Judaism.
- The Russian Tsarist rule of government of the 19th century was renowned for its cruelty towards the Jewish population of Russia.
- The Adana massacre
of resident Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1909; the massacre lasted for over a month and resulted in 30,000 deaths.
- The Ocoee massacre
in Miami, Florida which resulted in 50 to 60 African Americans being killed.
- The Tulsa race massacre in 1921 where 55 to 300 African Americans were murdered during the destruction of "Black Wall Street".
- The massacre of Jewish residents and immigrants of Hebron
in Mandatory Palestine by their Arab neighbors.
- Nazi Germany was also home to Jewish pogroms in the late 1930s; the most well-known pre-war pogrom was Kristallnacht
.
- The Iași pogrom
was launched by the fascist government of Romania and killed up to 13,226 Jews.
- The Lviv pogroms
perpetrated by Ukrainian nationalists against Jews in Poland.
- The Kielce pogrom
in Poland was the result of a moral panic that Jewish refugees were kidnapping children; this pogrom is especially notable because it happened a year after WWII against victims of the Holocaust.
- The anti-Sikh riots
in India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
- The anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka by the Sinhalese; this event is commonly called Black July
and is considered to be the beginning of the Sri Lanka civil war.
- The Baku pogrom
against the Armenians living in Azerbaijan.
- The Mława riot
in Poland against the Roma.
- In a historical irony, fanatical Jewish settlers in the West Bank have perpetrated pogroms against Palestinians every now and again.
- The Crown Heights riot
, a three-day riot against Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights (Brooklyn, New York) by a Caribbean and American mob partially instigated to action by the Reverend Al Sharpton.
- The Gujarat pogrom
was a riot by Hindu Indians against the Indian Muslims; Indian Muslims retaliated by driving out Hindus from their communities. The Indian government was blamed for its complicity and the racial hatred was believed to have been incited by Hindu nationalists like Narendra Modi.
- In 2004, Serbians were driven from their homes
by Albanians in Kosovo
- In recent years, Burma has been home to pogroms against the smallish Muslim community (known as Rohingya) by Buddhist nationalists.