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| #1 - Posted 17 March 2009, 12:39 PM | |
 Location: United States, ø„¸¨°º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨ Join date: June 2008 Member #: 926 Posts: 3319  | STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR What’s Darfur really about? The conflict in the impoverished region of Darfur caught the world’s attention in early 2003 after a rebellion against the Khartoum government officially broke out. Rebels attacked government targets in Darfur to protest the many years of neglect and oppression. The rebels wanted their fair share of power and wealth which the Khartoum government has denied them for so long. What many people don’t know however is that there has been low level fighting already taking place between rival tribes way before 2003. Moreover what many also don’t know is that one of the basic root causes of this fighting which has only recently erupted into full scale war is simply water shortage! If you ask any person who’s heard about the Darfur conflict what they know about it, they’ll most probably tell you, “it’s a genocide being waged by Arabs against Africans” and that “UN troops must go in to protect the innocent people”. That’s about all they know. Darfur is so much more complex than that and hardly anybody who’s heard about it truly understands what’s going on there. Darfur which is approximately the size of France is home to many tribes, the biggest being the Fur tribe. That’s where Darfur gets its name from. It literally means “the land of the Fur” or “the home of the Fur”. The huge area is inhabited by many tribes such as the Zagawa, Massaleet, Ma’alihyah, Rezeigat and Fur of course. Old tensions between tribes over usable land and grazing rights were amplified thanks to the worsening water shortage thought to be caused by the increasing effects of global warming. Due to this and the many years of neglect the frustration of Darfurians grew. The signing of the peace agreement between the north and south which ended the long bloody Sudanese civil war inspired the neglected Darfurian rebels further to fight for their fair share of wealth and power from the Khartoum government. The southern SPLM/A (Sudan’s People Liberation Movement/Army) finally got what they wanted after more than 2 decades of fighting and the neglected Darfurians thought they could achieve the same thing. The Darfur rebel movements were formed mainly based on tribes. The 2 biggest movements are the SLM/A (Sudan’s Liberation Movement/Army) and the JEM/A (Justice & Equality Movement/Army). They both receive a lot of funding from Darfurian businessmen overseas. Chad allegedly provides support too. Both rebel movements are also dominated by different tribal make-ups mainly being Fur, Zagawa and Massaleet. In early 2003 the rebel groups launched attacks against government targets in Darfur. Police stations were attacked, a lot of weapons were looted and many police officers were killed. The Khartoum government responded by arming the lethal Janjaweed and unleashing them to fight the rebels since most of the government army resources were still in the south. The result was full scale war. Initially the Khartoum government thought that the Janjaweed will be able to get the job done quickly but the rebels fought back. As the conflict intensified, rebel groups started breaking up into different factions some of which ended up becoming rivals. That’s when old and already existing tribal tensions worsened greatly and spilled over the brim. The rebels were now fighting amongst themselves while also continuing their collective fight against the Sudanese army and Khartoum-backed Janjaweed. Therefore it must be known that rebel groups are also responsible for various attacks on villages and the killings of innocent people from rival tribes. They too have committed ugly atrocities and are no angels. On the other hand the Khartoum government has used the most unethical and brutal means to fight the rebels. They have bombed villages indiscriminately and have actively aided the Janjaweed in systematically terrorizing innocent people. The Khartoum government is ultimately responsible. On a micro-level, the Darfur conflict can be described as a tribal conflict. On the macro-level however, it’s about the oppressed and neglected Darfurian people fighting collectively for their fair share of Sudan’s wealth and fair share of power in the Khartoum government. 200,000 to 400,000 are estimated dead and more than 2.5 million have fled their homes. The conflict has spread to neighboring Chad and Central African Republic (CAR). It still continues and threatens to destabilize the whole region of central Africa. Recommended readings: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm Edited on 3/17/2009 5:46 PM by yumnuk3. |
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| #2 - Posted 17 March 2009, 12:40 PM | |
Location: United States, ø„¸¨°º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨ Join date: June 2008 Member #: 926 Posts: 3319 | RE: STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR  |
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| #3 - Posted 17 March 2009, 12:55 PM | |
Location: United States, ø„¸¨°º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨ Join date: June 2008 Member #: 926 Posts: 3319 | RE: STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR Edited on 3/17/2009 4:56 PM by yumnuk3. |
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| #4 - Posted 17 March 2009, 1:17 PM | |
Location: United States, ø„¸¨°º¤ø„¸¸„ø¤º°¨¸„ø¤º°¨ Join date: June 2008 Member #: 926 Posts: 3319 | RE: STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR There are many innocent civilians that are dying, displaced and even killed. It is all about Human Rights people. |
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