From the Americas to Gaza: Spreading disease has long been used by colonisers to commit genocide

As reports of polio in Gaza have been in the news, mainstream Western outlets have created some degree of hype around the vaccine entering the strip and ‘humanitarian pauses’ for its administration. Meanwhile, there’s been some discussion around the circumstances surrounding the discovery of polio, as well as speculations on whether the vaccine is even safe to take.

It's worth discussing at this point how deeply enmeshed the spread of disease is with the practice of colonial genocide, both historically and ideologically. Genocide is rarely committed with a singular MO. Where there are mass shootings and heavy artillery attacks, there is also starvation, abduction, displacement, and yes, disease.

History is replete with enough cases to make it quite reasonable to conclude that committing genocide via the spreading of disease is part of the coloniser’s MO. Two main patterns of doing so emerge: firstly the active introduction of disease, and secondly the passive creation of circumstances which allow disease to grow and spread.

When Jeffrey Amherst, commander of British forces in North America, gave smallpox-contaminated blankets to indigenous tribes in 1763, it triggered an epidemic in the Ohio River Valley region. While this incident might be the best documented, it isn’t the only one.

As an article published by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) notes, ‘Examples of gifts from white settlers preceding outbreaks occurred throughout South America and North America. Project 1492, an initiative to document colonial history in the Americas, reports that:

‘Native communities have numerous stories … about receiving or trading blankets and subsequently experiencing a deadly smallpox epidemic. The Hidatsa tell of a smallpox epidemic in 1837 that resulted after receiving blankets in trade with the colonisers. The Chippewa tell of receiving a keg of rum wrapped in a blanket and later experiencing an epidemic.’

ASM adds:

‘Incan history includes an account of their king receiving a box of paper scraps from the Spanish that was shortly followed by a smallpox outbreak. The Ottawa Tribe suffered an outbreak after receiving a gift from the French in Montreal with the injunction not to open the box until they arrived at home. The box contained only other boxes and “mouldy particles.”’

Seen collectively, these stories paint the picture of a host of systematic attempts to expose native populations to diseases which would ultimately decimate them. Europeans brought with them a plethora of epidemics that resulted in a “demographic collapse” of 95% of the Native American population.

On the other side of the world, there’s evidence to suggest that the First Fleet of British colonisers that landed in Australia also brought smallpox with it. This is very likely to have resulted in a smallpox outbreak in 1789, with devastating consequences and a subsequent weakening of the active resistance colonisers faced from natives, killing between 50-90% of native families in surrounding areas.

Similarly in the case of the Americas, colonists were aware of indigenous populations being more susceptible to European diseases, but mass-deaths by disease were seen as an act of God. This is not dissimilar to Zionists claiming divine favour in order to justify their colonisation of Palestine. King James I himself wrote of a “wonderful plague” that had depopulated the territory and therefore:

“…the appointed time has come in which Almighty God… hath thought fit and determined, that those large and goodly territories, deserted as it were by their natural inhabitants, should be possessed and enjoyed by such of our subjects.” 

On their own, these examples point to a systemic eradication of native populations by colonisers through their weaponisation of infection diseases. However, genocide via disease does not just take place through deliberate infection, but also through diseases spread due to a lack of hygiene or sanitation.

Historically, access to hygiene, sanitation and healthcare is a privilege colonisers reserve for themselves, thereby creating conditions where diseases thrive – and death inevitably follows. The passive spread of disease among colonised populations has had similarly devastating effects, and possibly with even less accountability.

One such example is of the genocide of indigenous children in Canada’s residential schools. From 1883 until as recently as 1997, more than 150,000 children were taken by Canadian authorities from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities and placed in distant boarding schools with the aim of proselytisation and cultural assimilation.

The leading cause of death in these schools was an unchecked spread of tuberculosis combined with shocking living conditions, which school officials failed to act upon despite repeated warnings. Their inaction has been described as a genocide which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of children from Canada’s indigenous communities.

While one issue was schools not separating sick students from healthy ones to prevent the spread of infection, another was poor nutrition. We see this once again mirrored in conditions in Gaza. Malnutrition, directly caused by the school officials who were responsible for the provision of food, compromised the children’s immunity and made them even more susceptible to infectious diseases.

Finally, Germany’s genocide in Namibia provides another example of colonisers creating conditions for the passive spread of disease. After occupying Namibia in 1884, and following resistance from the Hereros and other indigenous groups, German colonisers began moving Namibians en masse into concentration camps from 1904. Here they were used for slave labour and medical experimentation, and faced the most appalling conditions. Many parallels can be drawn to the present-day situation in Gaza, as they also faced a severe shortage of food, little to no protection from the elements, and no sanitation or sewage facilities.

Open human waste led also to a rampant spread of diseases which, along with starvation, most people died from. Those who didn’t die of illnesses such as scurvy were experimented upon for treatments – German doctors injected them with substances such as opium and arsenic. Today in Gaza, there are reports of Israel stealing organs from dead bodies and reportedly experimenting on Palestinian prisoners..

So, while some people have speculated that the introduction of polio in Gaza might be deliberate, it’s important to note that Israel is responsible for it either way.

Moreover, we know that bringing the polio vaccine into Gaza was an empty gesture; rather, this assessment is generous given the fact that a ‘safe zone’ to administer the vaccine has already been bombed. As journalist Bisan Owda said, it is of course utterly ridiculous that they’re sending vaccines in for children that they are bombing simultaneously and indiscriminately.

Whether colonisers deliberately infect indigenous populations or simply create the circumstances that allow disease to thrive, there is ample precedent for both in history. The real, underlying disease is colonial occupation. Which is why, given the struggles currently faced by people in Gaza, a vaccine barely scratches the surface.

What they need is an end to the genocide. They need an end to the occupation. They need a free Palestine.

Afroze Fatima Zaidi is a writer, editor and journalist. She has a background in academia and writing for online platforms.

Follow her on X: @afrozefz

Join the conversation: @The_NewArab

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@newarab.com