Who knows, maybe now my anthropology peers will speak out? The American Anthropological Association (AAA) had literally nothing to say about the targetting of Yazidis - a small and endangered culture threatened with genocide - but jumped into action and quickly released a statement when the Tomb of the Prophet Jonah was razed in Mosul, Iraq.
The AAA has also had nothing to say about Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Sinai, Bahrain, Lebanon, Somalia, Crimea, Boko Haram or the Islamic State in the past few years, but they have recently put together a "Task Force"(!) on "Israel and Palestine." Apparently, "the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine is of great relevance to the AAA."
The AAA's mission statement informs us that, "A central concern of anthropologists is the application of knowledge to the solution of human problems." I guess the fact that nothing has been said about any of the aforementioned places and organizations comes to teach us that everything is copacetic.
UPDATE: As I expected, the AAA has released a communique decrying the destruction at the Mosul museum (http://www.aaanet.org/issues/press/upload/150228-AAA-Statement-on-Cultural-Destruction-in-Iraq.pdf). It just goes to show you that they are capable of getting organized quickly when necessary and that nothing will rile the artsy-fartsy crowd as much as the destruction of a statue. Again, I ask, "Where were you AAA when Yazidis were being slaughtered, when Copts were being butchered, and when Assad was gassing his own people?"
And then anthropologists wonder why they are completely irrelevant when it comes to playing a political decision-making role.
