What will you tell your grandchildren some day when they ask you what you did while there was a genocide going on in the world? We are living on a plant that has a genocide occurring right now.
Hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings are being systematically targeted for extermination. Their only “crime” is that they are of non-Arab ethnicity and deemed to be sympathetic to rebel groups in Darfur.
It frustrates me and angers me that over 400,000 people have already been exterminated, and 2.5 million others displaced from their homes. So why—WHY—does this continue? Why isn’t our government doing more? We’ve surpassed the 200,000 deaths in Bosnia. Are we waiting until the count is 800,000 like that in Rwanda? Six million like the Holocaust?
Well… some of the reasons I think, are that people dismiss the entire continent of Africa as hopeless because all we hear about (in the off occasions when Africa is actually in the news) are the growing epidemics of AIDS, poverty, starvation, and killing. Indifference has swelled: out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps people do not want to get involved with a sovereign country’s matters.
But there is another very important element in this mix of inactivity:
"Sudanese government officials, who were close to Osama bin Laden when he lived in that country from 1991 until 1996, are now cooperating with American counterterrorism authorities. The regime in Khartoum rightly concluded that if they provided nuggets of information about al-Qaeda suspects and detainees to the Americans, the value of this information would outweigh outrage over their state-supported genocide. In other words, when U.S. counterterrorism objectives meet up with anti-genocide objectives, Sudanese officials had a hunch that counterterrorism would win every time. These officials have been right in their calculations so far. As of this writing, near the end of 2006, the United States had done little to seriously confront the Sudanese regime over its policies."
Furthermore…
"In order to win the peace in Sudan, we must first win an ideological battle at home. We must show that combating crimes against humanity is as important as combating terrorism. Often, as in the case of Sudan, the pursuit of both objectives doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. History has demonstrated that Sudanese government officials change their behavior when they face genuine international diplomatic and economic pressure."
In their book, Don Cheadle and John Prendergast take about WHY we should be concerned about the genocide happening in Darfur right now:
- It’s a moral imperative
- We have made the promise of “Never Again”
- Eradicating genocide will make the rest of the world safer (including us in the western world): “History has taught us that regimes that target their own people rarely confine their murderous ambitions within their borders. The victims… tend not to go quietly into the night. Some radicalize, taking up arms… and, eventually, join criminal or even ‘terrorist' networks. The violence spreads; the innocents suffer.”
If “citizens can make enough noise to press their government to do what's right, then we will have saved literally tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives in Darfur." John Prendergast.
So, I try as best I can as only one human being on this earth among 6 billion others to do the following: educate myself, blog, raise awareness, raise funds, write letters, sign petitions, call for divestment, join organizations, lobby the government, etc. I would also love to vist this area sometime to offer humanitarian assitance and write.
Here are some good videos on YouTube that illustrate a only a fraction of the devastation that is happening in Darfur right now:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5q6Ms1vvH6I
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iLZ4ci1c59c
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ttEKMhHRyXk&mode=related&search=
“Throughout American history, social movements have helped shape our government's policy on a variety of issues.”
4 comments:
Hello Genna.
I just finished reading my weekly sports illustrated and columnist Rick Riley writes about the Darfur genocide this week. More specifically, he speaks about Darfur activist Mia Farrow. She lowers blame on 2008 Olympic games host China. He writes:
“According to the Council of Foreign Relations, China buys about two thirds of Sudan’s oil. The Sudanese government then uses the majority of its oil profits to buy weapons and aircraft, ,most of them made by China. The arms are turned over to a proxy malia, The Janjaaweed, which burns, dismembers, rapes and kills Darfur’s villagers and destroys their land. China maintains it does interfere with internal politics of other nations, and using that policy it has blocked UN efforts to send a peacekeeping force into Darfur by insisting that Sudan first invite the troops in.”
That’s quite the paragraph to appear in a Sports Illustrated. This is a good example of bringing important issues into the everyday world of North Americans.
I figured I would check your blog for more info on this so thanks for all the links!
Hey Brad!
Thanks for the comment. I was aware of this complexity concerning the crisis in Darfur... but I was unaware that Sports Illustrated found it newsworthy--I think it's awesome that they took the initiative to write about this. Thanks a lot for bringing it to my attention!
Genna,
What are we going to do about the Darfur? More importantly, what are YOU going to do about the Darfur?
Presently, Canada's involvement in Afganastan is required to keep things safe here in Canada. How might you ask? Well, much of the Heroin comes from Afganastan. If you have not been to the streets of East Vancouver, there is a genocide occuring on OUR streets via the drug trade. We allow this to go on because these people are meaningless. They are people with mothers and fathers. They mean something to someone, even in their dischevelled, dirty and strung out situations.
So should we ignore the drug issues on the streets of Canada or go over and save a bucnh of people (and remember we tried in the mid 1990's in Rwanda and Somalia) who will be ungrateful and unthankful the minute we leave.
I will be able to rest easy at night knowing that Canada has done nothing in the Darfur; I know that we are protecting the citizens of our fine country, the very people who we should be helping, not some ungrateful group of people in Africa.
So are you going to sign up and work with an NGO or are you going to cry about the dying people in Africa? I can put you in touch with a person who works for Medicine Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) in the Darfur for little money and lots of gratification.
Thank you “Anonymous”. Your comment has proven that I have accomplished exactly what I set out to achieve: ignite emotion and much deserved conversation about Darfur.
Although your comment is frightening on a number of levels, I will address your concerns one by one.
First you ask what we—and in particular what I—can do about Darfur. Well… if you had allowed yourself to read to the bottom of my post that you commented on, would have read the things that I have done--as only one human being on this earth among 6 billion others—and what others can do: educate myself, blog, raise awareness, raise funds, write letters, sign petitions, call for divestment, join organizations, lobby the government, etc. I would also love to visit this area sometime to offer humanitarian assistance and write. Furthermore, I am generating discussion which, by virtue of your comment, I have achieved.
Ok, now that that is clear, you say that “Canada's involvement in Afghanistan is required to keep things safe here in Canada.” Okay… I’m not saying that’s wrong, but what about the principle it all? Innocent civilians are killed there every day… not to mention Afghan prisons, where Canada consigns detainees captured by its troops, are rife with torture, abuse and corruption. How is this keeping us here in Canada safe? Also, the numbers of Canadian military casualties continually rise… it’s just some things to think about. And again, why do you imply that the counterterrorism and anti-genocide objectives need to be mutually exclusive?
Next… where is your source that there is a “genocide” happening in East Vancouver? Of course there is a crisis there too, and if you would like me to blog on it, I will be more than happy to do so. I am a person against human suffering of ANY kind, whether it happens on international OR Canadian soil. You also make an excellent point about people in East Vancouver: “We allow this to go on because these people are meaningless. They are people with mothers and fathers. They mean something to someone, even in their disheveled, dirty and strung out situations.” But guess what? This exact same argument applies to the hundreds of thousands of people suffering in Darfur. We TOO allow this to go on because these people are “meaningless”. They TOO are people with mothers and fathers. They TOO mean something to someone, even in their disheveled, dirty and strung out situations.
Next you talk about Somalia. Yes, unfortunately you have a slight point. However, we fully understand the situation in Darfur. Somalia’s Black hawk Down actually provides the wrong lesson. As the new book about Darfur, Not on Our Watch, says that instead of running away from and avoiding these crisis zones, we could protect many lives, and do so much good, if we gave a little more of our time, energy, and resources, in ways that understand the logical context. In most cases, we don’t have to send 30,000 Marines every time there is a problem… diplomatic leadership in support of protection, punishment, and peacemaking is what it takes to make a substantial difference.
What you say next is extremely troublesome. Did you know each of the 450,000 killed in Darfur… do you know each and every one of the 2.5 million displaced from their homes? If not, how can you say that they are an “ungrateful and unthankful group of people in Africa”??? Are you saying that only Canadians are grateful and thankful people? How the heck can you suggest that anyone you don’t know is ungrateful and unthankful, let alone people who are suffering as desperate for help of any kind? Shame.
When you say, “I will be able to rest easy at night knowing that Canada has done nothing in the Darfur”… I’m sorry, but that frightens me. It’s not against you as a person, but that sentence is awful. How can you say that? There are children born into these circumstances… they have no choice, no say, no power as to what they are born into. Again, as you said, “these are people with mothers and fathers. They mean something to someone, even in their disheveled, dirty and strung out situations.”
Lastly, out of curiosity, when you make such strong comments as you most definitely have, and if you are so confident in them, why are you hiding behind “Anonymous”?
So again, I do what I can right now as a new graduate with a large student debt and as only one human being on this earth among 6 billion others. Of course I would love the contact you offer for the person you know affiliated with Doctors without Borders in the Darfur. When I am finally making money, I would love to contribute in any way that I can. And no, I don’t believe crying about it gets me anywhere; I’m more of an active person, as I’m sure you can tell.
So, like you, I will be able to rest relatively easy at night knowing that I am doing something… even if it is small… I am doing something.
I trust that this satisfies your initial concerns with my post.
http://gennawithag.blogspot.com/2007/05/darfur-my-venting.html
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