Humanitarian Crises & Chocolate Custard
Fatima might not have turned heads when she walked down the streets in Philadelphia. She was quite and unassuming, probably only drawing any attention when she revealed her thick accent.
But when she spoke, it was hard not to see her a force of brilliance.
For those of you who don't know, the Darfur region of Sudan is presently experiencing a genocide. Today, the estimated death toll is somewhere around 40,000, with another 2 million displaced. The genocide began in 2003, when the Sudanese government, in an attempt to gather Arabic voters, gave them free reign of the country. The Arabs waged war on the smaller tribes of Sudan, in an effort to wipe them out. When "rebels" fought to protect their land and customs, the government permitted the Arab janjaweeds to wage "total warfare."
Entire villages were raided and burned. Men were killed. Women were raped in front of their dead husband's bodies.
And it's still going on today. Right now. As you read this.
The Bush Administration has condemned the war, calling it a "genocide." They later recanted, and now refer to it only as a "humanitarian crisis". Calling it a genocide would mean, according to UN law, that they would have to commit troops.
And we don't have any.
At least not any we can commit in a tiny African nation that has nothing of value to us.
The President likes to pretend we're humanitarians. Well, Mr. President, the genocide in Sudan was taking place before we entered Iraq. Certainly, Iraq was under the grip of a harsh dictator, but in the Sudan there was an actual genocide.
We all know why the President chose Iraq. I'd just like to hear him say it.
Fatima said something quite interesting at our "Darfur Day of Conscience". She mentioned that Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in Sudan after 9/11, and the US had been in contact with the Sudanese government regarding his whereabouts. If the US were to go into Sudan now, and demand the government stop unnecessarily killing its "darker-skinned" people, they would lose their informant.
This was new information to me. But as Fatima said, "Why would the US want to lose information they care about, to save some people they don't care anything about?"
***
I don't know how to follow that.
[after Paul thanks him for shooting footage of the genocide] "I think if people see this footage, they'll say Oh, my God, that's horrible. And then they'll go on eating their dinners." --Jack, Hotel Rwanda
My dinner included some incredible ravioli and chocolate custard.
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel.
-Jessica
But when she spoke, it was hard not to see her a force of brilliance.
For those of you who don't know, the Darfur region of Sudan is presently experiencing a genocide. Today, the estimated death toll is somewhere around 40,000, with another 2 million displaced. The genocide began in 2003, when the Sudanese government, in an attempt to gather Arabic voters, gave them free reign of the country. The Arabs waged war on the smaller tribes of Sudan, in an effort to wipe them out. When "rebels" fought to protect their land and customs, the government permitted the Arab janjaweeds to wage "total warfare."
Entire villages were raided and burned. Men were killed. Women were raped in front of their dead husband's bodies.
And it's still going on today. Right now. As you read this.
The Bush Administration has condemned the war, calling it a "genocide." They later recanted, and now refer to it only as a "humanitarian crisis". Calling it a genocide would mean, according to UN law, that they would have to commit troops.
And we don't have any.
At least not any we can commit in a tiny African nation that has nothing of value to us.
The President likes to pretend we're humanitarians. Well, Mr. President, the genocide in Sudan was taking place before we entered Iraq. Certainly, Iraq was under the grip of a harsh dictator, but in the Sudan there was an actual genocide.
We all know why the President chose Iraq. I'd just like to hear him say it.
Fatima said something quite interesting at our "Darfur Day of Conscience". She mentioned that Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in Sudan after 9/11, and the US had been in contact with the Sudanese government regarding his whereabouts. If the US were to go into Sudan now, and demand the government stop unnecessarily killing its "darker-skinned" people, they would lose their informant.
This was new information to me. But as Fatima said, "Why would the US want to lose information they care about, to save some people they don't care anything about?"
***
I don't know how to follow that.
[after Paul thanks him for shooting footage of the genocide] "I think if people see this footage, they'll say Oh, my God, that's horrible. And then they'll go on eating their dinners." --Jack, Hotel Rwanda
My dinner included some incredible ravioli and chocolate custard.
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel.
-Jessica