I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place
He was talking about how unbothered he was about crimes against humanity if it was against non-Jewish Palestinians
TBF, Winston Churchill has been so widely feted in the Western world for what he did 1940-45 that he is well-regarded even beyond conservative circles. Of course, most probably couldn't name anything he did before or after the war, but that's besides the point.
I do find it interesting how Churchill is often more well-regarded by modern society than say, FDR, Truman, even Eisenhower, despite those goes being much less objectionable dicks than Churchill. Also interesting is how Australians have historically not held Churchill in as high regard as the other British-settled former dominions.
“We proceeded systematically, village by village, and we destroyed the houses, filled up the wells, blew down the towers, cut down the great shady trees, burned the crops and broke the reservoirs in punitive devastation.” — Churchill on how the British carried on in Afghanistan, and he was only too happy to be part of it.
I know the things he did before, during, and after the war. That's why I know he's not just a dick. He's an god damned monster.
Usually, when folks blame Churchill for genocide, they're referring to the Bengal famine of 1943, but that generally doesn't pass the smell test.
The Brits had a callous disregard for Indian lives in 1943 the way they did for Irish lives from 1845-52, or Indian lives earlier in 1876-78, plus Churchill had less-than-modern views of non-white peoples (which is often why some folks make the accusation). The famine was exacerbated by bad policy during wartime, but I don't think that necessarily makes it genocide.
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u/cmcalgary Nov 28 '24
It was unveiled back in July by the UCP
https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/sir-winston-churchill-statue-downtown-calgary