A day late, I know (following a reminder and some new info on Lenin's Tomb):
Jonathan Steele commented in the Guardian yesterday that the UN secretary-general has published a report that "attacks the government for not disarming the Janjaweed or holding enough people accountable for last year's atrocities, but it blames the rebels for most of this year's abductions of civilians and attacks on aid convoys". He also concludes that the conflict was not genocide or classic ethnic cleansing and that intellectuals were not targeted, as in Rwanda.
In recent weeks there has been a turn for the worse. A new chain of tit-for-tat violence is developing. Janjaweed forces attacked a displaced people's camp in western Darfur last week, an unprecedented assault on a sanctuary in which at least 30 people died, and AU monitors report that government helicopter gunships were seen over the camp. This may have been retaliation for a rebel seizure of a town a few days earlier.
To its credit, Washington has stepped up efforts to get the anti-government rebels to stop blocking the peace talks now under way in Abuja. As inter-ethnic tensions among the rebels grow stronger, leaders of the Zaghawa, the main fighters, are unwilling to attend despite face-to-face pleas from US and UN diplomats urging them to accept the model that ended the much longer war between the government and the south.
Last April, in an interview with MSNBC, Mercedes Taty of MSNBC disputed the commonly-heard genocide interpretation of the trouble in Darfur. Steele's article also mentions that no evidence has been produced of Sudanese involvement in terrorism, and that the country has in fact co-operated in the fight against terrorism by "keep[ing] tabs on Somali, Saudi and other Arab fundamentalists who pass through its territory".
So mere mass murder that doesn't conscentrate on intellectuals is perfectly acceptable then?
No, that's not what was said, is it? The murder of intellectuals is a common feature of genocide, that was the point. (The Pakistani military regime did something similar in Bangladesh in the mid-1970s, so the Rwandan incident wasn't unique.)
In any event, I hate how people are making this a racial issue, as if they understand the politics of "race" in the Sudan. I sure dont, most dont. Astagfirullah, those Muslims killing other Muslims in a country as miskeen as the Sudan. This is why the position of Imam of a country is very important as the responsibility to prevent fitna is among the highest priorities. But then again werent the janjaweed called in to stop a rebellion in Dafur?
Not murdering intellectuals (how many intellectuals are or were there in Darfur anyway?) does not necessarilly mean it isn't genocide. there is a diiference between a "racial issue" and "the politics of 'race'". Both exist in the Sudan. Race in Sudan is complicated and ties in with religion. Presumably Brownwonder thinks killing nonmuslims- the usual practise- would be perfectly acceptable. By-and-large arabs consider themselves superior to non-arabs and muslims consider themselves superior to non-muslims, especially animists and pagans.
Sudan is one of the last colonial empires. The fact that the colonies are contiguous to the conquerors means that they managed to keep them.
Its Bikhair by the WAY!
Thersites, I'd appreciate it if you would first quote than analyze anything I say because I cant defend myself against lies except to say," Uh, I never said that nor do I believe that."
"Presumably Brownwonder thinks killing nonmuslims- the usual practise- would be perfectly acceptable."
...followed by anything that I may have said that would lead you to presume this you jackass. (Please dont delete my post Yusuf, he deserved it by accusing me of supporting the fitna that is the Sudan and what goes on there.)
"By-and-large arabs consider themselves superior to non-arabs and muslims consider themselves superior to non-muslims, especially animists and pagans."
First you need to define what an Arab is esepcially in the context of a multi ethnic and multi racial coutry like the Sudan where being a native speaker of Arabic makes one an arab in accordance with Islamic law, and an authentic hadith of our noble Prophet. ( Has anyone ever heard ot it?)
There is some truth, however to Arabs being superior because of the fact that they have an easier time reading and reciting Quran which is a virtue in Islam. There understanding of the text isnt garanteed.
Also Thersite, my concern isnt whether Arabs consider themselves superior, but rather what Islam says about who is superior to whom and why.
For the record I believe in the superiority of ideas/beliefs and not people. Islam is an belief and a idea. I believe Islam is superior to paganism.
You looking for an apology you aint getting one.
Bikhair: you will need to edit your TypeKey profile if you want people to call you Bikhair. Thersite never commented here before this post.
Apology, Brownwonder/Bikhair? I'm grateful. You confirmed my points about arab and muslim attitudes- and not just in the Sudan- far better than I ever could
Thersites,
Thats all you got?
The situation in Darfur is quite more complicated than it appears. First and foremost, it IS an attempt at genocide. The Arabs are trying to kill of the black Africans, and their ancestral lineage. Some would argue that even the Arab militiamen are black, but this is not so. Under Islamic law, individuals take on the ancestral line of their fathers, not their mothers. Therefore, many of the Arabs are Afro-Arabs, but their fathers are ARAB, which makes them ARAB.
The men who are being massacred by the Arab militia are the true Black Africans. Their fathers are African, which makes them African. The nationality/ethnicity of the mothers doesn’t count, because the offspring are classified according to their fathers. If you look at the murdered victims, they are almost always MEN, not WOMEN. There is a reason for this. Now, understand this, all MEN being killed by Janjaweed militiamen have African fathers, which makes them black. The Arab militia is attempting to severe the African line. There is no reason to kill the AFRICAN women. In fact, it is better to RAPE them, to massively rape them, in hopes of impregnating them. If an Arab rapes a Black African woman, any offspring will be considered ARAB. This way, the ARABS are investing in the next generation of ARABS. If the offspring happens to be male, it guarantees the next two generations of Arabs, because any woman the man has children with will also be ARAB.
Those of us who are most racial conscious will look at this and consider them all BLACK, but under Islamic law; the fathers’ line is what counts. Ten years from now, take a look at the next generation of Sudanese. To an untrained eye, they will still appear to be Black, however, if you take a closer look, you’ll see that they are not quite “Black”, but Arab Black, and since the fathers were Arab, it means they are Arabs.
Please don’t be fooled by the Arabs claiming that the West is propagating the idea of Arab vs. Arabs. Please don’t look at the photos of the Arab militiamen as proof that they are “Black”. Please have enough since to realize that some Arabs, can be darker than Africans, but if their fathers are Arab, then they are Arab. What’s going in Sudan is deplorable, racist, an inhumane. What’s worse is the fact that the Arab league and the African Union are very slow to act. Of course, the Arab League would be slow to act, because the Darfur crisis benefits them. The African Union members, those who are truly “Black Africans”, need to realize this, and step up to the plate. Divide and conquer is what’s happening, and after the Arabs murder off the Black Africans, they’ll move of to Somalia, then Zimbabwe, then Chad, etc….Now is the time to step up and realize that there is a divide between the Arab League and the African Union. I guarantee that if Arabs were being massacred by Africans or anyone else, the Arab League would have stepped up to the plate immediately, much as they did in the Lebanon-Israeli conflict early last year. So now is time for the African Union to step up. No one else is going to step up to protect Black Africans.
go look at the definition of genocide by the genocide conventions here:
http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm#II
Then decide if what is going on is darfur is genocide.