Arab and Islamic Worlds turn a blind eye to Darfur ordeal
By Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman
December 23, 2007 — The position of indifference and attitude of unconcern of Arab and Islamic Worlds on the plight of the people of Darfur who are devout Muslims is a matter of surprise. What is more astonishing and regrettable is that their mass media portray the crisis in Darfur as a Zionist plot spearheaded by the Western countries for their own interests in Darfur under hidden agenda! The people of Darfur value the efforts of the public in the Western World in the US and Europe who went extra miles to reduce the suffering they have endured. It has been documented beyond a shred of doubt how the Sudan armed forces (SAF) and the proxy militia of the Islamo-fascist government in Sudan, the Janjaweed, continued to commit murder, mass rape and kidnap. The UN Human Rights Council said in its report that “The situation is characterised by gross and systematic violations of human rights and grave breaches of international law.”
Worse of all is the behaviour of the media in the Arab countries that continue unashamedly echo what the elements of ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum have been saying in their propaganda machinery. The government of Sudan (GOS) pursues a policy of prevarication to buy time to rally the support of countries that have business interests in the Sudan oil industry but unconcerned of loss of human life in Darfur. The Muslim and Arab Worlds are expected to exercise at least moral responsibility to use every tool possible to stop the killing in Darfur. South African Press stated that the Darfur region in Sudan attracted the political attention it deserves–but one voice was missing–that of Muslim communities “who have been so vocal, both globally and locally, in their condemnation of the war in Iraq and the repression in Palestine. Some analysts have tried to explain the silence on Sudan in the Arab press.
A passage from text in the Website: http://www.globalsecurity.org pointed out that “for many Muslim governments the weary reflexes of anti-colonialism still triumph over saving lives. They thought it far better to show solidarity with Khartoum than cede an inch to Western concepts of human rights — because that would set a dangerous precedent for the decrepit monarchies and dictatorships that rule much of the Arab and Muslim world. Jon Lewis, in the WADIe, v, verbandf, thinks that “Darfur is but one example of Arab racism toward non-Arabs within the broader “Arab world.” The Darfur genocide, I believe, must be viewed not solely as a case of an Islamic jihad, but also as a case of Arab racism and should be seen as parallel to Saddam Hussein’s genocide against Kurds and the Algerian government’s repression of the Kaybles. ” While observers consider the Organisation of Islamic Conference’s (OIC’s) continuing defence of Sudan’s campaign of genocide in Darfur Muslims goes against the basic tenets of Islam. Adam LeBor in his article in Times Online under the title” When Muslims ignore the Prophet: Don’t have a black skin and come from Darfur said:
“Islam holds that all Muslims, no matter what their colour or ethnic origin, are equal members of the umma, the community of believers. “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, also a white has no superiority over a black or a black over a white, except by piety and good action,” said the Prophet Muhammad in his last sermon. The 57 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) seem to think otherwise”.
The causes for the conflict of Darfur in Sudan are various and their roots are steeped in history. Nevertheless, the question of religion and its relation to the state played no part in the conflict in Darfur unlike the situation in the Southern Sudan. The main root causes underlying the crises in Darfur include: marginalization, hegemony by the Arabised Riverain Elites from the Northern region as the Ruling Group since the end of the British rule in Sudan more than half a century ago. This “Neo-colonial” group continued to dominate political power, wealth and commercial monopoly excluding and depriving people of Darfur and the marginalized majority of their legitimate rights as citizens. This institutional racism, nepotism, cronyism and favoritism have been candidly practiced and applied in all walks of life in Sudan. This resulted into serious “Imbalance of Power and Wealth” in Sudan as it was documented in The Black Book of Sudan which provides data that evaluate the extent to which differences in regional access to power have resulted in differential human development progress. Alex Cobham in the article “Causes of conflict in Sudan: Testing the Black Book” gives some examples as indicators of imbalance of human development in Sudan which ranged from infant mortality to adult literacy, coupled with data on regional expenditure allocations, as offering substantial support to the idea that policy has discriminated against the population of the southern and western regions, not least Darfur. Thus, the entire Sudan has continued to be controlled by Tripartite three ethnic groups of Danagla, Shygiyah and Jaaliyeen, in a quasi-Apartheid fashion, from one region with just 5.4% of Sudan population. The Government of Sudan (GOS) bears the primary responsibility for protecting the civilian population in Darfur, yet is continuing to divert and deploy imported and domestically made military hardware to target unarmed citizens by indiscriminate aerial bombardment.
The event of Pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque of Mecca for Hajj marks a time for reflection following the heartbreaking atrocities endured by the Muslims in Darfur. It is onerous upon the Muslim World public represented by the OIC and the Arab World citizens represented by the Arab League to put strong and sustained pressure on the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum to stop the five years human carnage in Darfur, which has claimed over 400,000 lives of mainly women, children and the aged, displaced 2.5 million people and rendered 4 million people destitute and helpless dependants on foreign aid in Sudan. Humanitarian Aid in-kind and Cash is in urgent need. The UN Security Council resolution 1769 (2007), acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which authorised the deployment the hybrid operation of a 26,000-strong joint United Nations-African Union force (UNAMID) in Darfur needs the support of the OIC and the Arab League. Bashir rules out non-African troops in Darfur. The GOS rejection of non-African troops is delaying the deployment of the AU-UN Hybrid peacekeeping force for the protection of Darfur civilians.
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is the Deputy Chairman of the General Congress for Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). He can be reached at [email protected]