Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

Wheeler (d. 1886) stated that “I gave strict orders not to shoot any gins [i.e., Aboriginal
women]. It is only sometimes, when it is dark, that a gin is mistaken for a black fellow.”
Further, Wheeler testified that it was a general order that “wherever there are large assemblages
of blacks, it is the duty of an officer to disperse them.” It was held that there was
“no other way” to remove Aborigines from the path of European settlement than by
shooting at them. As with many officers, Wheeler at all times acted “on my own discretion,
and on my own responsibility,” though this had its negative side—in 1876 he was
finally charged with the murder of a ten-year-old Aboriginal boy, was granted bail, and
fled the country. Wheeler’s case is a good example of how the policy of “dispersal” worked
in Queensland, and it is a testament to the “efficiency” of the policy that it was still
employed as a strategy carried out by the Native Police as late as 1897. By the end of the
process thousands had been gunned down and Queensland had been opened up for white
pastoral settlement.
Displaced Persons. See Internally Displaced Persons; also see Refugees.
Distributive Justice. The concept of distributive justice is based around essential principles
that call upon the state to ensure that material goods are allocated fairly across society,
relative to demand. Such principles vary, dependent upon indices such as: the type of
goods subject to distribution, the socioeconomic nature of those who are receiving the distribution,
and the basis upon which the distribution takes place. Insofar as such distribution
specifies how the economic productivity of a society is spread, a statement is being
made about the values that underpin that society. It is also a means whereby dissatisfaction
from deprived sectors can be alleviated, if not deflected altogether. Distributive justice is
based upon notions of fairness. Executed effectively, it can make for a harmonious society.
Among those who have addressed issues pertaining to distributive justice, the most prominent
authors—coming from different perspectives on the issue—are John Rawls (b.
1921), who considers that by “goods” we can include a wide variety of both material and
nonmaterial components, and Robert Nozick (1938–2002), who argued that through mixing
one’s labors with those of others, one can help to create a world of shared outcomes. In
this, he was building on the earlier theory of the seventeenth century English philosopher
John Locke (1632–1704). In short, distributive justice is a philosophical theory focused on
the easing of poverty—and thus on one of the factors, if not ameliorated, that can lead to
the emergence of communal tension, violence, and social sectionalism.
Djemal, Ahmed (Pasha) (1872–1922). Military officer in the late Ottoman Empire,
and one of the instigators of the Armenian genocide of 1915. A member of the Committee
of Union and Progress (Ittihad ve Terakki Jemiyeti), Djemal took a major part in the
Young Turk revolt of 1908, played a leading hand in the Adana massacres of Armenians
in 1909, and was appointed to the important post of Minister of the Navy in February
1914. With this he became a member of the Young Turk triumvirate consisting of himself,
Mehemet Talaat (Pasha) (1874–1921), and Ismail Enver (Bey) (1881–1922). These
three, in fact, ruled Ottoman Turkey as a dictatorship, in which the role of the Sultan was
reduced to one of helpless impotence. Djemal was employed by the regime as a “fixer,”
who sorted out difficult problems of administration or security, which he was able to do
with great success in Adana, Constantinople, and Syria (after the outbreak of World
War I). In this latter role he organized the hanging of Arab dissenters, the persecution of
Zionist settlers in Palestine, and the general terrorization of the population. As the Syrian
Desert was the ultimate destination of Armenian deportees from all over the empire, it
DJEMAL, AHMED (PASHA)
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