Save Darfur Coalition: Misses the Point

The Save Darfur Coalition continues to view the war in Darfur from a narrow Arab v African perspective and as a result fails to really grasp the complexities of the situation. Animated by ideology, Christian zeal or a sense of humanitarianism, most of the people associated with the Save Darfur Coalition have simply placed the crisis within the optic of the  anti-Arabism and Islamophobia that gripped the US after 9/11. What they have failed to grasp most of all is that the victims of the Darfur crisis are 1. Muslims themselves; 2. have seen themselves as Arabized and a part of the wider Arab world for some centuries and following from this point; 3. see themselves as Sudanese. Since America is permeated by the politics of race and by racism, the American Save the Darfur Coalition cannot understand a conflict between putative Arabs and Africans without the war being about being Arab or African.

So, if the war is not about being Arab or African, what is it about? This is a complex question and a question partially answered by studies such as Flint and De Waal (2007), Daly (2007) and Mamdani (2009). While these studies allude to the problem of the Sudan’s failed politics and failing state, none of them go far enough in laying the balance of the blame for events in Darfur on the incapacity of the Sudanese state and the problems that accrue from a state that is ineffective and from a government that is unable to act except in the interests of a narrow ruling elite. Sudan’s economic crisis began with independence and became even worse after the global recession of the 1970s. By the 1980s, Sudan was a major defaulter of loan repayments and was only propped up by the US and the IMF because of its strategic importance in fighting communism in Africa. With the end of the cold war and the rise of an anti-US Islamist government in the 1990s, Sudan’s economic crisis worsened and Sudan was, and remains, the only country expelled from the IMF for non-compliance. In the 1990s, the Sudan was a basket-case and the state fell into complete ruin. The result of this was that the people of Darfur received very little from the Sudanese government and in 2003 rebelled in the hope of securing access to some state resources and funds. The rebellion turned into a civil war and the civil war turned into a humanitarian crisis.

So, from this brief outline it is clear that the best way to deal with the crisis in the Sudan is to assist in rebuilding the capacity of the Sudanese state, especially in Darfur where access to medical care, education and employment are urgently required. This would require the assistance of international financial institutions and the members of the G8/G20. What then does the Save Darfur Coalition recommend for ending the crisis in Darfur?

“Save Darfur Coalition Asks G-20 Not to Forgive Sudan’s Debt”

Who would benefit from such a move? The people of Darfur or International creditors and the IMF? We all want the crisis in Darfur to come to an end and for people to be able to return to their homes and to be able to start to rebuild their lives. The most effective way to achieve this is by investing in a strong and stable Sudanese state that can provide its population with employment, education, health care and security. The Save Darfur Coalition and other organisations of similar ilk have missed the point all together on Darfur, and cannot come to terms with the reality that the best way of resolving the crisis is by rebuilding Sudan and not by punishing the Sudanese which only end up punishing the people of Darfur because after all Darfur is a part of the Sudan. Until Save Darfur see this basic fact they will never really understand what the crisis in Darfur is truly about or how to resolve it.

Noah Bassil

Israel: Whose Democracy?

Josef Federman from Associated Press reports  “Israel bans Arab parties from coming elections”

So much for the claim that Israel is the Middle East’s only democracy. One-fifth of Israel’s population are Arabs. There is no evidence that they would all vote for Arab parties but this recent move is clearly designed to deny Arabs a voice of their own in Israeli politics. In this respect, Israel is not that different from Egypt which denies some oppositional political parties from engaging in the electoral process.(you can also read more here at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054867.html)

Anti-War News reports that “Israel indicts Two Journalists for Reporting Start of Gaza Invasion”

Not much room for a free press in Israel either. And the rule of law seems to be an anachronism in Israel as the government and the military have ignored a Supreme Court decision to allow eight foreign journalists into Gaza.

On a related but different matter, I recently received an email which was sent to try and convince me that Israel was a beacon of light in a region of degeneration and primitive tribal conflict (ironic really at this moment that Zionists are making such claims) complete with a photo of Albert Einstein . I am well aware that Albert Einstein was Jewish but also that he was no Zionist and since his death in 1955 Israeli and non-Israeli Zionists have made every effort to attach his name and his legacy to a Jewish only Israel. Other Jewish people have fought to remind people of Einstein’s antipathy to Zionism. Just as a reminder of Einstein’s position on Zionism, at this time of heightened pro-Israeli propaganda, read Albert Einstein’s forewarning of the dangers of Zionism sixty years ago at: http://www.rense.com/general59/ein.htm

Israel: When is a Rogue State not a Rogue State.

In an earlier post JBayeh quoting from Saree Makdisi revealed that the language and philosophy that the Israeli state projects outwards is very different from the language and philosophy of state employed internally. The spokespeople for the Israeli government and military knowingly spin the realities of their policies in a way that promotes Israel as an internationally responsible member of the “community of states” while engaging in a litany of abuses and crimes against the Palestinians that flagrantly contravene international norms and international laws.

However, somehow the Israeli state is still able to effectively promote itself as a “responsible” and upright member of the international system. For example, last week Mark Regev (spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel and an advisor on foreign press and public affairs) appeared on the 7:30 Report where he said all the right things about human rights and minimizing civilian casualties in Gaza which was only middy challenged by the interviewer Scott Bevan. When Regev  uttered a most incredible statement that “we want to cooperate with the United Nations, as I just said we have a good relationship with the United Nations”  Bevan  launched no objections despite a long history of Israeli transgressions against the UN, international law and international public opinion. Interestingly, just to add insult to injury in regards to the acceptance of the Israeli projection of itself as having a “good international standing”, only yesterday, the 10 January, the UN decided to return to Gaza because it had received assurances, not from Hamas, but from Israel that UN humanitarian workers would not be fired on. And yet in this context, it is Hamas which is still demonized by the “western” media and politicians who still portray Israel as the moral victim. The following is a brief and incomplete list of Israel’s violations of international law, their failure to comply with UN resolutions and the consistent Israeli disregard for international conventions that characterises Israel’s relationship with the international system.

Another Struggle: Sexual Identity Politics in Unsettled Turkey

A very interesting article on a topic that, in the West, tends to be limited to examples of Muslim intolerance towards homosexuality. Transgender issues are notoriously under-reported too, but this article covers them well. 

From MERIP (Middle East Report Online):

Another Struggle: Sexual Identity Politics in Unsettled Turkey

Kerem Öktem

September 2008

(Kerem Öktem is a fellow at the European Studies Centre of St. Antony’s College at the University of Oxford.)

What happens when almost 3,000 men, women and transgender people march down the main street of a major Muslim metropolis, chanting against patriarchy, the military and restrictive public morals, waving the rainbow flag and hoisting banners decrying homophobia and demanding an end to discrimination? Or when a veiled transvestite carries a placard calling for freedom of education for women wearing the headscarf and, for transsexuals, the right to work?

Public Lecture by Professor Farhad Khosrokhavar

The nature of contemporary Jihadism:

Motivations of suicide bombers

by

Farhad Khosrokhavar

co-hosted by

the Centre for Middle East and North African Studies

and the Innovative Universities European Union Centre

Free Public Lecture: Tuesday 2 September, 7pm.Theatre I, Building W5A (please see campus map).

Farhad Khosrokhavar is full professor at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France. He was a visiting professor at Yale University for spring 2008. His main fields of study are Islam in Europe, in particular the radical forms of religion and Iranian society after the Islamic revolution.

He has published extensively. His latest books are: Muslims in Prison : a comparative perspective between Great Britain and France (with James Beckford et Danièle Joly), Palgrave, London, 2005 and Suicide Bombers, The New Martyrs of Allah, Pluto Press, Michigan University Press, 2005

Professor Khosrokhavar will speak about the nature of contemporary Jihadism. The motivations of suicide bombers cannot be reduced to a single item. In the Middle Eastern jihadism, many Jihadists are from the professional, middle class people. In Europe, they are more mixed, many would-be jihadists are from the lower or lower-middle classes and they refer to a brand of Islam which is not as “internalized” as in the Middle East. The task is not so much profiling as to understand the types of jihadists in reference to their social origin, cultural background and their mutual relationships within the district as well as the voluntary associations.

The lecture is free, but booking prior to 29 August is essential: macquarie@iueu.edu.au or 02 9850-7915.

For further information check the Centre’s website at www.mq.edu.au/mec/

Palestine coverage through 18 August 08

This selection of 18 articles from the week between August 11 and August 18th reflects some of the main issues being covered, not including the death of Mahmoud Darwish and Raja Shehadeh’s hiking through the hilltops of the West Bank. Another thing not covered (other than in the two concluding commentaries below, #s 17 and 18) is the so-called “shelf agreement” for Israel’s final borders proposed by Olmert to Abbas. While such an offer would normally dominate the news in any given week, the utter emptiness of the offer (no viable Palestinian territory, no equitable exchange for lands annexed) is not worth comment beyond the two pieces at the end of this selection laying out precisely why the “shelf agreement” is a non-starter.

Despite this, there is news of diplomatic activity from Rice’s apparent plan for another trip to the region, to Olmert’s “gesture to Abbas” of releasing 200 arbitrarily detained (i.e., abducted) Palestinian prisoners, to efforts to resolve controversy over one recent example of attempted Israeli colonization of further Palestinian land in the West Bank (through new outposts) by simply moving the outpost adjacent to another parcel of land illegally occupied by Israelis (turning the outpost debate to one about settlement expansion). And so the deck furniture is rearranged by yet another Israeli government clinging to the sinking ship of settlements while purportedly supporting a two-state solution.

Several articles below speak to the receding hopes for any two-state solution, precisely as a result of such strategies on the part of the Israeli government. An additional theme of the selection below is the continuing harassment, torture and murder to which Palestinians are daily subjected by Israel — ranging from the story about the exoneration of those who killed Palestinian journalist Fadel Shana, to stories about settler attacks on Palestinians, to the priceless piece on the apartheid system of 1948-Israel, where Palestinian citizens are not permitted in municipal swimming pools.

Finally, as Ramadan approaches it is fitting to include coverage of the ongoing shortages in Gaza, forcing a run on banks and restrictions on the desperate measures taken by Palestinians — e.g., trying to run cars on cooking oil — in order to avoid an even more extreme food shortage, i.e. the lack of cooking oil for Gazans to prepare their Ramadan iftar meals. As ever, a review of the week’s news from Palestine leaves one with little to do but hope that the next week proves somewhat less dire.

Under the Bombs playing at Sydney Film Festival

The Sydney Film Festival is screening Under the Bombs on 18 and 20 June 2008.

18 June 2008 |   9.00PM |   GU George Street
20 June 2008 |   6.15PM |   GU George Street

Director – Philippe Aractingi; Country – France, United Kingdom

Filmmaker Aractingi was in Beirut during the 2006 Israeli rocket attacks. He shot footage of resulting chaos and following the ceasefire miraculously secured funding to make a feature. Filming on the ruined streets, both improvised and scripted scenes, Aractingi tells the story of a Shi’ite woman searching for her missing son and sister. She finds a Christian taxi driver willing to take her to the far south. As they journey, we see destruction all around, as well as the community’s trauma. Despite the context this is not a political diatribe, but rather an emotional cry against the pain and displacement of a society.

Event: Ali Abunimah at Macquarie

Macquarie University Centre for Middle East and North African Studies is proud to present 12 May at 7pm Palestinian American author Ali Abunimah:

“Should Israel and Palestine be one secular, democratic state?”

ALI ABUNIMAH
Author of the recently published “One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli/Palestine Impasse” (Metropolitan, 2006).  Ali Abunimah is a research Fellow with the Palestine Center in Washington DC and the Editor of Electronic Intifada, the world’s primary website on information about Palestine. He lives in Chicago and writes regularly for The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. Ali Abunimah was born in Washington DC in 1971 to Palestinian parents. His mother was a refugee from her village in 1948 when Israel was created. His father is from a village on the West Bank. Ali attended Princeton University and the University of Chicago.

For more information about this event, and other events, please check the Centre for Middle East and North African Studies Website.

Event: Iraq Never Again Conference at Sydney Uni

Below is information on an upcoming conference at the University of Sydney.  Khaldoun’s very own Noah Bassil will be one of the speakers.

Iraq Never Again:Ending War, Building Peace

The assumption by leaders that violence is a way to obtain resources and even to promote democracy has contributed to the catastrophe of Iraq. Running parallel to this age old reliance on militarism is the inability of leaders to plan for a just peace. This conference will examine the non violence policy alternative to war, the human costs of Iraq and the humanitarian means of security. In Iraq and elsewhere, only these alternatives promise a more peaceful and joyful future.

In addition to marking the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, this conference will celebrate the 20th birthday of
Sydney University’s Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies and the 25th anniversary of the launch of the international Peace Boat.

Sydney Arab Film Festival

For those in Sydney (or planning on visiting in the near future), a brief post alerting you all to a great film festival for those interested in Arab politics and culture. Now in its fourth year, the 2008 Sydney Arab Film Festival will be running from 10-13 April at Riverside, Parramatta. The festival provides insight into Arab culture and politics through a series of feature films, shorts and documentaries that show an alternative to the (mis)representations we often encounter in mainstream media. Most importantly, they provide an opportunity for the Arab world to engage in self-representation. Significantly, there are also a number of films this year that deal with gender in the Arab world, ranging from political documentaries (Women in Struggle) to more subtle fictional stories that explore women’s daily lives (Caramel). More information on films, screenings and organisers at: http://www.sydneyarabfilmfestival.com