Belgium controlled the Congo in the early 1900s and used slave-labor to extract rubber. There’s a ton of documentation on the atrocities committed. Things like stealing all the children, then sending their parents the severed hands of their kids and telling them if they didn’t meet quota they’d get feet next.
It’s not like other colonial powers weren’t also incredibly evil, but Belgium’s crimes were quite recent and well-known (both now and at the time). Very much like Israel!
Allowed by a 19th century Belgian king to be perpetrated by a bunch of international companies in a system heavily pushed by the US, but lets just say “the Belgians did it”.
If you’re trying to let the non-wealthy Belgians off the hook for it, I’m mostly down. The above comments were all specifically about royalty and Leopold II.
And genocide always (?) turns out to be built around greed. Israelis might hate the Palestinians, but the reason to kill and enslave them is to steal their land and profit from their labor.
Yeah, the current king isn’t really responsible for his great - great - great grandfather’s actions either. Indeed Israel cares not about the Palestinians and just wants their land. It’s all greed.
Not just any royalty. When the king of Belgium says you’re being inhumane…
I’m out of the loop. Care to fill in with a very short summary?
Belgium controlled the Congo in the early 1900s and used slave-labor to extract rubber. There’s a ton of documentation on the atrocities committed. Things like stealing all the children, then sending their parents the severed hands of their kids and telling them if they didn’t meet quota they’d get feet next.
It’s not like other colonial powers weren’t also incredibly evil, but Belgium’s crimes were quite recent and well-known (both now and at the time). Very much like Israel!
Colonial atrocities on par or worse (because documented) than the rest of the Western "civil"ization
Allowed by a 19th century Belgian king to be perpetrated by a bunch of international companies in a system heavily pushed by the US, but lets just say “the Belgians did it”.
If you’re trying to let the non-wealthy Belgians off the hook for it, I’m mostly down. The above comments were all specifically about royalty and Leopold II.
And genocide always (?) turns out to be built around greed. Israelis might hate the Palestinians, but the reason to kill and enslave them is to steal their land and profit from their labor.
Yeah, the current king isn’t really responsible for his great - great - great grandfather’s actions either. Indeed Israel cares not about the Palestinians and just wants their land. It’s all greed.
I am sure PR consultants told him to go to town here to white wash his name since he ain’t done nothing wrong… Here