Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Shake Hands with the Devil - Rwandan Genocide

Shake Hands With the Devil.  This documentary sticks with you -- the idea that human life could be valued so little by so many is shocking.  One hopes that the global community can learn from horrific events, but sadly we seem to repeat them too often.

Good reference on the genocide (read this if you still have questions after watching the documentary): http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm


Having just watched the documentary based on the book, and discussed a bit of the background to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, what do you think?

Why do you think it happened? What might have prevented it? What could prevent it from happening again somewhere else? What do you think of Dallaire?

Leave a comment with your thoughts.


24 comments:

  1. I think that the Rwanda genocide was very bad because of all of the things that happened. I don't think that anything could have prevented it but if Dallaires mission had worked it may have prevent some of it from happening but not all. to prevent it from happening elsewhere there needs to be more peacekeepers and peacekeeping missions around the world so this kind of stuff doesn't happen.I think that the genocide was because people were unhappy in the country so started a war amongst themselves. I think that Dallaire is very good for doing this mission even though the mission failed he and other people got benefit from thee mission even if it failed. even though the mission failed he stuck with it till the end and never gave up and even went back there 10 years later to see what has happened since then so I think this makes him a great person and a great Canadian.
    Jagr Mason

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  2. here are my thoughts on the Genocide in Rawanda and response to the video Shake Hands With The Devil. The group called the Tusi, which made up 14% of the population, were being blamed for growing political pressures, economic and social society. The Tutsis were being blamed by the Hutus, whom eventually started a genocide. the tutsis where being attacked for shooting a Hutu leader. the Hutus rebelled against the Tutsis and wanted to wipe out their entire population. A giant genocide took place. To prevent this happening again, the could have a debate or a meeting to discuss the issues, or they could have a court session.
    nobody wants to repeat history.

    -Grace Waldie

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  3. I believe that the genocide happened because Hutu extremist believed that the Tutsi ethnic group was the reason for the increasing social, economic, and political pressures. The Hutu remembered how brutal the Tutsi were in the past and so they feared and resented them for it. It may happen again and it could be very difficult to prevent it but the best they could do is have the leaders of each ethnic group have a meeting and discuss the problem to prevent wrongful killing. I think Dallaire was courageous and smart for researching the genocide and finding out why it happened. -Trisha Bansal

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  4. My thought is that the Rwanda genocide was quite terrible, seeing that of all the bad things that happened, I don't think anyone would thing it was not bad. I believe that nothing could have prevented it, a miracle probably could have, but seriously, I think its nearly impossible. It maybe would have been possible if Dallaires mission worked, that could've prevented it but I highly doubt it would prevent the whole thing. We need help from the world to prevent it from happening again, it would be impossible if only one peacekeeping mission was on the job, like.. The world needs to understand that everyone needs to help with preventing something as big as that. The genocide happened because people were probably not impressed with the world, they couldn't help it but see that there only advantage was to start a war in order for the country to recognize them. This doesn't make Dallaire a bad person, he tried so hard on his mission, like look at it this way, even though his mission failed, at least he tried to do something. This made Dallaire a great person, seeing that he went back there to see what has happened and what has changed. He proved the world that if you push yourself, and you show how hard you tried, anything is possible.
    -Tamara William

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  5. The mass genocide of the people in Rwanda was incredible. The mass killing sprees were towards the 14% of the population that were Tutsi. With the great courage and determination Dallaire proceeded to do the best he could with containing the genocide. Even though the genocide was uncontainable as it seemed he perused his best to contain it but it was too much and for his own safety and his crews safety he has to be airlifted out of the area. -Curtis evans

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  6. Through out the course of history humans have always been fascinated with the concept of being better than the other person or to rule other people. A lust that everybody hungers for and what better way to do this through building empires and colonies. Belgium did just that on the continent of Africa in the country of Rwanda. Falling under there rule for more than half a century, Belgium decided to make the executive decision pull out of the country and leave it up to its own devices. When they left the nation it was torn between two different parties the Tutsi and the Hutu. The Tutsi, also the governing body, represented only 14% of the nations population. The Hutu were outraged at this which only made a already frail relationship fall to pieces. The Belgium had left the stepping stones for what would be known as Rwanda Genocide. Years after most of the first world nations still aren't terrible concerned about what they do as long as it benefits them in the best way just like Donald Trump.

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  7. The Rwanda genocide was a tragic event. Its crazy to think how people can become so corrupted and kill people of all ages. Dallaire is a good man that tried to help but it became too dangerous for his crew and himself.
    ~Selyna

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  8. i think this was bad thing but movie was good 10/10

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  9. This was a great documentary to watch and learn about. The fact that these brutal killings were happening everyday would be a terrifying place to try and live in, not being able to sleep at night because you don't know if the next day you'll be slaughtered on the side of the road. It was definitely a sad topic and unfortunate that this genocide happened. However, when Roméo Dallaire stays to help instead of leaving, it makes you feel like there is still good in this world... until Donald Trump becomes President

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  10. I believe that what happened in Rwanda was tragic because there were so many opportunities to prevent the genocide before it even started.

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  12. i agree with alex, wasn't a good thing but the movie wasn't to bad.8/10
    brody

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  13. I believe that the turning point that made the genocide start was the killing of the president in the plane crash, i think that this could have been avoided and approached differently.The Tutsi rebel group got slaughtered by the Hutu group. after this happened the Hutus handed out machetes and guns around rwanda and further to help spread the slaughter of the Tutsis. In my opinion this could've been avoided in many ways such as the assassination of the president, the handing out of weapons and other people egging them on to do it.
    Erik E

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  14. I think that this is a depressing event, and the fact that it could have been prevented makes it worse. The brutal slaughter of nearly one million people is scary to think about and is devastating. Although Dallaire couldn't stop it, the efforts made by him were incredible.
    -Melyssa

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  15. This incident was absolutely horrific and devastating. I don’t understand how people could hate another group of people to try to wipe them out. It’s awful. I couldn’t imagine what Dallaire went through trying to stop it. The things he saw and experienced is more than then any of us will in our entire lives. And to think that this happened not too long ago and that it could happen again somewhere else is scary. There are people out there that will attempt something like this again and there might not be anything we can do about it.
    -Sabrina

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  16. The Rwanda genocide was a horrific thing to happen and it is too bad that nobody stopped it before it was too late.
    Hannah

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  17. The genocide in Rwanda was a preventable disaster but other countries would not spare resources to help in the effort. In my opinion if another country sent more soldiers the genocide could have been prevented. -Josh

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  18. This was a very sad and tragic event and it's unfortunate that it happened. But it was a good thing that Romeo Dallaire stayed through all of it, he is the real MVP!

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  19. Although I did not see the movie about the genocide, I did do a little bit of research about it and what I found out was devastating. It sounds like the genocide started by the killing of the president in the plane crash, however the whole situation could have been avoided entirely. The Hutus intentions of wiping out the Tutsis was ridiculous, and it is hard to believe they followed through with their plan. I cannot believe that the government would force machetes into the hands of the innocent and make them slaughter hundreds of people, regardless of age or gender. It baffles me that Dallaire was the only person who attempted to stop it, and no other countries even bothered to help put the situation at bay.
    Madison

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  20. very well made movie about a terrible thing glad i got to watch it and learn about it i wouldn't have on my own time. 8/10

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  21. this movie was well made, but was about a very terrible incident. Dallaire is undoubtedly a hero, and he was the only one who tried to stop the genocide. in a country with a government that corrupt, they needed someone like dallaire to make a positive impact. Graham

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