The "Irish Potato Famine" was a genocide against the Irish

"The denial of aid, forcing the Irish to either leave or die is a form of systematic extermination. My main example is Holodomor, which is literally Ukrainian for Extermination by Hunger. This is the exact same as what happened in Ireland. According to How the Irish Saved Civilization, a popular book about Irish history, while the blight may have caused the potatoes to die, it was the British that caused the Irish to die. The Brits, much as Saddam had done to the Assyrians and Kurds during the food for oil program, denied aid to Irish Catholics, and other lower class peasants. According to the late historian Howard Zinn, the Irish were subject to complete extermination policies by the British government. My opponent also acknowledged that the aid did reach Ireland, yet it did not reach the Irish. The British used nature and bureaucracy, rather than guns and massacres. During the Famine the London Times had called for the starving Catholics, not to be converted, but left to die, or even shot. In Tipperary, according to the well known Irish Historian, in County Cork, the landlords had done this to their tenants, and had soldiers shoot those who could not pay their rent." My opponent does not seem to understand that the British did provide aid. QUEEN VICTORIA GAVE 2000 POUNDS. The BRITISH ALLOWED RELIEF to reach IRELAND, if the British didn't want the Irish they would have stopped the relief. "1. Classification -People are divided into "us and them"-The Irish were treated as second class citizens through the Penal Laws" This is what happened to the Blacks in the U.S it is still not called a genocide. "3. Dehumanization -"One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects, or diseases."-The Irish were referred to as "Papists" and "left footers"" This is what happened to the Blacks in the U.S it is still not called a genocide. 4. Organization -"Genocide is always organized... Special army units or militias are often trained and armed..."-The Royal Irish Constabulary was established in 1826 to enforce the Penal Laws on the Irish, and they did so with brutal force" The police did this to Black people in America. 5. Polarization - "Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda..."-The London Times calls for the death of the Irish people. Many White people also wanted to kill Blacks in America. 6. Preparation -"Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity..."-This had been done through the the Corn Laws and the expansion of the Penal Laws Blacks were separated from whites by segregation laws, but still it is not considered genocide. 7. Extermination -"It is 'extermination' to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human"- Coogan states that many in Britiain called the famine an "Act of God" and said that the Irish were just Papists and left footers Yet they still provided relief. 8. Denial -"The perpetrators... deny that they committed any crimes.."-The Genocide is now called the potato famine, and has become the punch line of anti-Irish jokes." The real cause of the famine was the Phytophthora infestans, which infected potatoes. This is what cause the famine. "Finally the Negation has refused to cite any sources while I have cited multiple sources. This should be interpreted as the Negations arguments are not reliable and therefore invalid." My opponent's ONLY SOURCE is a CONSPIRACY BOOK called The Famine Plot. This book is clearly BIASED as it is only stating the famine was genocide. My opponent's sources are all based of this book. This makes his arguments invalid because he cannot cross confirm it. On the other hand the sources bellow are all different which makes it possible to check for false evidence. As I said earlier, the cause of the famine was a fungus that attacked the potatoes which left them inedible. My opponent has not proved that the famine was caused by the British and only has one source. Sources: http://www.britannica.com... http://en.wikipedia.org...(Ireland) http://www.historyplace.com... http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu...