Ingrid Jones @ Sudan Watch, requested my opinion regarding the 2 following questions:
What are your thoughts on that and what do you hope 2007 will achieve for the people of Darfur?
What more can the Office of the Prosecutor do to bring expeditious justice for the people of Darfur?
I’ll tell you after a while. I’m a little busy now. Meanwhile I’ll appreciate YOUR thoughts. More later.
UPDATE: What do I hope will happen? I hope that all sides involved will return to the negotiating table and make compromises for the sake of innocents in Darfur. I hope that a period of truce comes about to give peace negotiations a chance. I hope that empty threats from leaders of Western countries stop. Either they do what they say or they zip their mouths. Such threats only encourage the rebels to continue their rebellion and violence. I also hope that more Chadian rebel groups sign the peace agreement with their government. I was watching al-Jazeera today and one rebel faction signed. Darfur isn’t a Sudanese problem that only involves Sudanese. The conflict in neighbouring Chad and that of Darfur are intertwined. I hope that al-Bashir will also approve the Hybrid UN-AU force. I hope that when the force arrives there will actually be a peace to maintain. I also hope that the force’s mission will be made clearer. Will the hybrid force fight anyone that tries to harm innocent civilians? Will it fight the rebels? Will it fight the Janjaweed? On which side will it fight? Moreover will the countries that send their soldiers to become part of the hybrid force have the balls to keep providing support when the fighting gets tough? Because if not, I would rather prefer they stay away. UN troops from Western countries will only attract loony “jihadis” and hence I hope the vast majority of soliders in the force will come from African countries. As for the Office of the Prosecutor, I hope it will continue to document all human rights abuses occuring in Darfur. I hope that they stop making threatening statements unless they actually intend to act on those threats. I hope, I hope and I hope some more but I doubt what I hope will actually happen. Moreover, I’m worried about the effects that the Somalia Ethiopia war could have on Sudan. I hope but I remain very cynical.
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
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By how slow things are progressing(if I can call that progress), I’m, frankly, not too hopeful about a cease-fire in the near future.Although the govt keeps promising to disarm the janjaweed, it’s either that these horsemen are carrying out their own agenda or it’s another empty rhetoric.
Nevertheless, I do hope for peace,rebuilding of destroyed homes, reunion of families, return of refugees, an end to the raping rampage & a fair distribution of wealth(including the East & the South).
Drima
I have a sad and sorry story to tell you.
I’m doing my Phd at the moment and it involves empirical research with focus groups. I had a focus group with around 10 Muslim men of different ages. The group got on to the topic of Islamic terrorism and one young fellow suggested that Muslims need to start fixing ourselves. A huge argument broke out between the younger guys and the older ones. The older ones were telling the younger ones that they shouldn’t believe what they are reading in the media- that there is no proof that Muslims are doing anything wrong- 9/11 was a set-up, etc etc
Then one guy said “how can you say that? Muslims are killing each other and innocents. What about Darfur? What about what is happening in Darfur”
The older men responded “What? Nothing is happening in Darfur. It’s all lies. It’s all a conspiracy to make us look bad. You are being brainwashed by the Western government and the media.”
Sad isn’t it? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing but it happened right there in front of me. Complete denial and utter refusal to even acknowledge what is happening. This is what Darfur is up against- an international community of people who don’t even want to know.
Sorry Drima and Hipster. But Darfur will continue to burn as long as there are people who are blinded by their own ignorance and narrow mindedness.
The Usual Suspect, it’s sad. Really really sad but what’s so much more sadder is the fact that MANY Sudanese will say the exact same thing.
Just today I had an argument with a Sudanese guy, I just got to know recently about this. He called me stupid for believing all the lies of the Zionist controled media! You have no idea how pissed off I was. Not pissed off because he called me stupid but pissed off that such people exist. And what’s worse is that they’re Sudanese.
Oh ya and about Darfur, I remain very skeptical.
Blame it on the Zionists, blame it on the Americans, Muslims are all perfect and can do no wrong…
A mantra of self-denial, mental projection and no personal responsibility. The only way to fight this is to get to those people who are willing to listen, to change their perceptions, to think for themselves.
But as that Arab dude in Nazareth who has a Holocaust museum in his home found out, few are willing to listen, and friends easily become enemies if their set-in-stone perceptions are opposed to yours.
But at the same time, as that Arab dude (whose name I’ll look up when I get home) says, the few who listen make it all worthwhile.
If I remember the interview correctly, he said he sees racism as the root of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, that racism breeds racism and that Palestinian violence hits a nerve in the Jewish ‘victim’ mentality, thus creating an extreme offensive reaction and counter-racism. He said that if Palestinians understood this, then it would be a milestone in the struggle for a nation.
Uhm. Frankly, I don’t see much hope for Darfur in 2007. The Muslim world is ignoring it because of the aforementioned problem of complete and utter lack of self-criticism (”Muslims can do no wrong, and it looks like they ARE doing wrong, it’s an Evil Zionist(tm) conspiracy). The West is ignoring it because it doesn’t affect Western interests in any major way.
There is some possibility it will become another center of jihadists, especially if UN forces move in or if Al-Qaeda reach their goals and put Africa to the torch.
Doesn’t look good.
Ah, here we are, Haled Kaseb Mahmeed (accuracy of spelling questionable), lawyer and accountant. And the museum is not in his home but rather in the reception hall of his office.
Drima
I’ve downloaded the banner and posted on my blog.
I’m going to send a mass email to all my contacts with the banner and a message to help raise awareness of Darfur- that’s about 500 people and community groups including a few Islamic community groups.
I know that it is hard to change the minds of those who view the world only through their tainted lenses, but we can at least try.
The more we talk about what is happening in Darfur, the more likely we are to combat ignorance and denial.
Together we can do it.
Thank you SO MUCH Usual Suspect.
Drima, I too read Ingrid’s post and have been meaning to get my thoughts together on it. I’m hoping so much that Bashir’s acceptance of beefing up the AU WORKS. I’m just absolutely crossing every finger and toe that this brings positive momentum and the innocent can have some reprieve. I can’t help but feel really (*very*) skeptical because I felt similar when the peace deal was signed.
I wonder what the refugees think, if they are hopeful or doubtful.
PS, I hooked up your banner on my blog, but haven’t posted much on Darfur lately….soon though!
Drima
I think you’re right on the money there, especially with regard to the prospect of Darfur becoming another Afghanistan or Iraq for the jihadis should a UN force consisting of Western soldiers be sent. I think the jihadis are lying in wait for another excuse to kill for paradise. In Iraq there are at least 6 suicide bombers a day. Not all are Iraqis- some are foreign jihadis from neighbouring countries attracted by the false promise of heaven in the hereafter. There’s plenty more- poor, uneducated, disenfranchised young men who would gladly give up their pathetic life for the promise of several virgins and eternal paradise.
If the Jihadi’s get a footing in Darfur- things will be so much more fucked up then they already are.
Let’s all hope that Bashir approves the UN AU and that this proves to be a successful long term strategy. Bandaid solutions are not what is needed- especially when they are solutions that depend on the temporary presence of Western forces who then turn and abandon the place when the going gets tough.
On another note- I’m going to Langkawi on 22 Jan and then stopping in KL on my way back for some shopping (woo hoo shopping!). I’m staying at the Melia (?) I think that’s what it is. I’ll be there on 26 Jan. In the meantime I am trying to teach myself to relax because I’ll be spending 5 days doing nothing but lying on the beach. Yes, it sounds nice, but not if you have ADD like me!
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