On March 4, 2009, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the President of Sudan for war crimes and crimes against humanity. As a Sudanese-American, I was struck by my own reaction to the ruling, which was a simultaneous surge of relief tempered by unease. I felt relief because, in truth, the Sudanese government did participate in war crimes by financing and sponsoring the vicious attacks of the Janjaweed against the rebelling tribes in Darfur. In lieu of addressing the real grievances of the citizens of Darfur who have been competing for a limited and steadily decreasing amount of water in the desiccated region, the government, opportunistically, decided to pit the different tribes against each other, siding with the nomadic tribes against the agrarian tribes. This cynical response to an existential crisis that has been brewing for decades tore the fragile social balance of Darfur asunder and resulted in mass killings and extermination by both nomadic and agrarian tribes. The region has never recovered while large numbers of its citizens, especially in the West Darfur province, remain in refugee camps and have been too afraid to return to their villages. The refugee camps, as they oft do, have become festering grounds for extremists who will not compromise with the central government. The feared Shabab (not to be confused with the Somali Shabab) have themselves become another obstacle to a lasting peace, as the New York Times reported last month.
The ruling by the International Criminal Court to indict President Omar Al-Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity is correct, unfortunately, the physical location of the court is not. Here is where the unrelenting unease springs from: the ICC is not simply a judicial body but an extension of political entities, the most powerful of which, are the European Union and the United States. The court’s seat is in the Hague in Netherlands and is based on a treaty signed in Rome, Italy — but the proceedings can take place anywhere. Just like European colonialism.
Europe and the United States have lost all legitimacy in the Arab Middle East because of their inability to act or even speak against the war crimes being committed on a daily basis against the Palestinians. The International Criminal Court will definitely not seek Israeli officials like Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak, and Tzipi Livni for war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon. The court will not try Israeli officials for stealing Palestinian lands while housing Palestinians in refugee camps for the past 40 years in the West Bank and Gaza under military occupation, nor will it try Israeli officials for using white phosphorus and cluster bombs in civilian areas, whose usage contravenes the Geneva Convention, in Gaza and Lebanon, respectively.
Herein lies the tragedy of the Arab-Israeli conflict, it has not only destroyed Palestine but it has also stymied and stunted regional political progress and social modernization, both of which are dependent on healthy internal debate and strong external connections. Like the case of Latin America and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, Arab secular democrats should have been aided by Western governments and groups. The natural allies of Arab secular democrats, however, are radioactive and off limits because of their blind support of Israel and its inhumane occupation. Instead of being strengthened by working with European and American pro-democracy groups, Arab democrats and secularists are discredited and shunned if seen to be too close to the United States and Europe. The concentration of Arab dictators and autocrats, and by extension President Bashir himself, is a direct result of this democracy deficit in the Middle East. Arab democrats, secularist and Islamist, must work harder for democracy in the Arab world and look elsewhere for external collaboration with democratic governments, especially in Turkey and India.
American and European groups and officials, hoping to have more influence on Sudan and other Arab countries, must work to stem the tide of extremism by promoting justice, equality and peace in all countries in the region, including Israel. The widespread wariness of American and European designs on the region has rendered the ruling by the ICC largely symbolic. The people of Sudan, while distrustful of the regime, are even more suspicious of the sudden Western concern for Arab lives. The people of the Arab world couldn’t agree more. The Arab governments are just too busy propping up each other, lest they all be indicted for war crimes.
Related posts:
- The Road to Darfur Passes Through Baghdad and Jerusalem
- Arab League Not Interested in Arresting Sudan’s Head
- Irish Congress of Trade Unions: Boycott Israel
- The Logic of Power
- Humanitarian Impact of Israel’s Gaza Blockade
Nice to see you back. A good concise analysis – if only we could know what kind of progress and reform might be taking place in Arab governments had they not the 'collaborating' West to sometimes conveniently hide behind.
Posted by AlFannaan | March 19, 2009, 4:58 amThe post reminds me of a word thrown around here quite often during a couple of months ago – "Proportions". If you can compare 2,000 dead in Gaza to 500,000 dead in Darfur, why not compare the bombing in Gaza to the rockets on Israeli towns? 500,000 dead cannot be compared to 2,000, especially as the circumstances are completely different. Anyway, demanding that a trial for the butcher Omar Al-Bashir means a trial for Olmert in the name of justice, though there is no direct connection between the two, while at the same time completely ignoring the Hamas mass-murderers (or Hizbollah, or the many other murderers of the Arab and Muslim world) is pure hypocrisy.
Posted by Yoyo | March 19, 2009, 7:28 amWhats been going on in Gaza and the West Bank has been going on for 60 years. The deaths are in the thousands, Gaza was just one massacre of many. Furthermore, based on your logic, if we are to try resistance groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, then we would also have to try resistance groups in Darfur who are also responsible for the deaths of large numbers of soldiers and civilians, just like Hamas and Hezbollah are. In any case you missed the entire point of the post. It wasn't that Sami is against having Bashir tried, what has been stated is that no one is going to take this court seriously if mass murderers from "powerful" countries aren't indicted. The whole court will be seen by everyone in the 3rd world as a new form of colonialism if people like George Bush and Olmert aren't tried for crimes against humanity, while tin pot dictators in impoverished 3rd world nations are being tried for similar offenses.
Posted by Arayus | March 19, 2009, 5:13 pmYES. If their are "resistance" groups in Sudan who send suicide bombers to explode within civilian buses, for example, they should be denounced and tried. What kind of twisted mind can legitimatize the intentional targeting women and children for any kind of cause? That's just sick. Apart from that, even though because of the above comparison the rest of your word aren't worthy of a reply, an example: Turkey has been oppressing the Kurds far harshly than the Israelis oppressed the Palestinians, and for much longer. Hey, the Israelis basically agree to the Palestinian right for their own state, while Turkey will go to War if anyone claimed so about the Kurds. Why is this article fingering Olmert, and nor Turkish officials? Why is it that Arabs and Muslims will always behold the mote that is in the Israeli eye, but consider never the huge beam that is in their own eye? Again, hypocrisy.
Posted by Yoyo | March 19, 2009, 11:13 pm"YES. If their are "resistance" groups in Sudan who send suicide bombers to explode within civilian buses, for example, they should be denounced and tried." Some of the Darfur resistance groups have made attacks on the capitol of Khartoum. Some have engaged in the killing of civilians. Was it right for them to do this? No, but its not out of the ordinary given their desperate position. The "you kill my civilians, I will kill yours," is a common theme amongst resistance movements, mainly because the oppressing party does not respect anything but force or the threat of force. Especially as Sami mentioned, "The refugee camps, as they oft do, have become festering grounds for extremists who will not compromise with the central government." When you push people into a corner the way Sudan or Israel does, this is what you create, and you reap what you sow. "What kind of twisted mind can legitimatize the intentional targeting women and children for any kind of cause? That's just sick." Ask the Israeli Defense Forces, they do it everyday, while their citizens actually sit on hill tops watching the slaughter. ” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYQjVJEAms&fe… "I think they should just clear out the whole city.. just take it off the ground.. yes I'm a little bit fascist." The girl in the video says as she sits on a hill watching Gaza get bombarded with 2 ton bombs. Others are cheering… Anyway, Dropping 2 ton bombs on the most densely populated area in the world for 22 days straight, and drenching the area in white phosphorus sounds a lot worse than anything Hamas ever came up with. Furthermore, Hamas could never come close to subjecting one of the most poverty stricken areas on the planet to a brutal blockade for 3 years that forced the residents to eat bread made from animal feed, doctors to perform surgery without anesthesia or gloves, and completely destroyed the already pitiful Gazan economy where entire families lived off of $2 a day. Gazans have to resort to the Black market tunnels to even get food, milk, or medicine. "the rest of your word aren't worthy of a reply" Yet you replied. =P In any case, Turkey is also guilty of crimes against the Kurds, very few people will argue that Turkey's position against the Kurds is legitimate. Unfortunately for Israel, just because another group of people commit a crime does not mean other people are allowed to commit crimes as well. I'm sorry but Israel is not getting off the hook based on such a retarded argument. The difference is that very few people actually try to defend the other atrocities going on around the world. As you saw here, Sami Adnan of Sudanese descent is not trying to defend the atrocities of the Bashir regime. He's trying to find a just and lasting solution while at the same time saying that he accepts the indictment of Bashir. However, he knows that the court wont be able to function unless its given some credibility by indicting "monsters" from more powerful nations. Any who, Israeli supporters have entire lobbying groups on capital hill that divert my tax money to fund an apartheid regime that subjugates a refugee population to barbarous attacks on an almost daily basis. Israel should not be using my hard earned money to drop bombs on Gaza, or my paycheck to support any government that seeks to bomb anyone. BTW Hamas agreed to the 67 Borders as a basis for peace: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html They also dropped their call for the destruction of Israel: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/12/israe… They also accept the Arab Peace Initiative which calls on Israel to go to the 67 borders and allow a Palestinian state within those borders, in return Israel would have peace with all Arab countries and Iran. (look it up) Most Israeli's act like they've never heard about this proposal despite the fact that it was proposed in 2002, repeated again in 2007, and Palestinians took out full page ads in Israeli newspapers to highlight the details to the Israeli public. And the brutal occupation continues, and Israeli supporters ask "why are they mad?" (cut and paste links if they don't work)
Posted by Arayus | March 20, 2009, 5:22 am"YES. If their are "resistance" groups in Sudan who send suicide bombers to explode within civilian buses, for example, they should be denounced and tried." Some of the Darfur resistance groups have made attacks on the capitol of Khartoum. Some have engaged in the killing of civilians. Was it right for them to do this? No, but its not out of the ordinary given their desperate position. The "you kill my civilians, I will kill yours," is a common theme amongst resistance movements, mainly because the oppressing party does not respect anything but force or the threat of force. Especially as Sami mentioned, "The refugee camps, as they oft do, have become festering grounds for extremists who will not compromise with the central government." When you push people into a corner the way Sudan or Israel does, this is what you create, and you reap what you sow. "What kind of twisted mind can legitimatize the intentional targeting women and children for any kind of cause? That's just sick." Ask the Israeli Defense Forces, they do it everyday, while their citizens actually sit on hill tops watching the slaughter. ” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYQjVJEAms&fe… "I think they should just clear out the whole city.. just take it off the ground.. yes I'm a little bit fascist." The girl in the video says as she sits on a hill watching Gaza get bombarded with 2 ton bombs. Others are cheering… Anyway, Dropping 2 ton bombs on the most densely populated area in the world for 22 days straight, and drenching the area in white phosphorus sounds a lot worse than anything Hamas ever came up with. Furthermore, Hamas could never come close to subjecting one of the most poverty stricken areas on the planet to a brutal blockade for 3 years that forced the residents to eat bread made from animal feed, doctors to perform surgery without anesthesia or gloves, and completely destroyed the already pitiful Gazan economy where entire families lived off of $2 a day. Gazans have to resort to the Black market tunnels to even get food, milk, or medicine. "the rest of your word aren't worthy of a reply" Yet you replied. =P In any case, Turkey is also guilty of crimes against the Kurds, very few people will argue that Turkey's position against the Kurds is legitimate. Unfortunately for Israel, just because another group of people commit a crime does not mean other people are allowed to commit crimes as well. I'm sorry but Israel is not getting off the hook based on such a retarded argument. The difference is that very few people actually try to defend the other atrocities going on around the world. As you saw here, Sami Adnan of Sudanese descent is not trying to defend the atrocities of the Bashir regime. He's trying to find a just and lasting solution while at the same time saying that he accepts the indictment of Bashir. However, he knows that the court wont be able to function unless its given some credibility by indicting "monsters" from more powerful nations. Any who, Israeli supporters have entire lobbying groups on capital hill that divert my tax money to fund an apartheid regime that subjugates a refugee population to barbarous attacks on an almost daily basis. Israel should not be using my hard earned money to drop bombs on Gaza, or my paycheck to support any government that seeks to bomb anyone. BTW Hamas agreed to the 67 Borders as a basis for peace: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html They also dropped their call for the destruction of Israel: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/12/israe… They also accept the Arab Peace Initiative which calls on Israel to go to the 67 borders and allow a Palestinian state within those borders, in return Israel would have peace with all Arab countries and Iran. (look it up) Most Israeli's act like they've never heard about this proposal despite the fact that it was proposed in 2002, repeated again in 2007, and Palestinians took out full page ads in Israeli newspapers to highlight the details to the Israeli public. And the brutal occupation continues, and Israeli supporters ask "why are they mad?" (cut and paste links if they don't work)
Posted by Arayus | March 20, 2009, 5:22 am"YES. If their are "resistance" groups in Sudan who send suicide bombers to explode within civilian buses, for example, they should be denounced and tried." Some of the Darfur resistance groups have made attacks on the capitol of Khartoum. Some have engaged in the killing of civilians. Was it right for them to do this? No, but its not out of the ordinary given their desperate position. The "you kill my civilians, I will kill yours," is a common theme amongst resistance movements, mainly because the oppressing party does not respect anything but force or the threat of force. Especially as Sami mentioned, "The refugee camps, as they oft do, have become festering grounds for extremists who will not compromise with the central government." When you push people into a corner the way Sudan or Israel does, this is what you create, and you reap what you sow. "What kind of twisted mind can legitimatize the intentional targeting women and children for any kind of cause? That's just sick." Ask the Israeli Defense Forces, they do it everyday, while their citizens actually sit on hill tops watching the slaughter. ” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYQjVJEAms&fe… "I think they should just clear out the whole city.. just take it off the ground.. yes I'm a little bit fascist." The girl in the video says as she sits on a hill watching Gaza get bombarded with 2 ton bombs. Others are cheering… Anyway, Dropping 2 ton bombs on the most densely populated area in the world for 22 days straight, and drenching the area in white phosphorus sounds a lot worse than anything Hamas ever came up with. Furthermore, Hamas could never come close to subjecting one of the most poverty stricken areas on the planet to a brutal blockade for 3 years that forced the residents to eat bread made from animal feed, doctors to perform surgery without anesthesia or gloves, and completely destroyed the already pitiful Gazan economy where entire families lived off of $2 a day. Gazans have to resort to the Black market tunnels to even get food, milk, or medicine. "the rest of your word aren't worthy of a reply" Yet you replied. =P In any case, Turkey is also guilty of crimes against the Kurds, very few people will argue that Turkey's position against the Kurds is legitimate. Unfortunately for Israel, just because another group of people commit a crime does not mean other people are allowed to commit crimes as well. I'm sorry but Israel is not getting off the hook based on such a retarded argument. The difference is that very few people actually try to defend the other atrocities going on around the world. As you saw here, Sami Adnan of Sudanese descent is not trying to defend the atrocities of the Bashir regime. He's trying to find a just and lasting solution while at the same time saying that he accepts the indictment of Bashir. However, he knows that the court wont be able to function unless its given some credibility by indicting "monsters" from more powerful nations. Any who, Israeli supporters have entire lobbying groups on capital hill that divert my tax money to fund an apartheid regime that subjugates a refugee population to barbarous attacks on an almost daily basis. Israel should not be using my hard earned money to drop bombs on Gaza, or my paycheck to support any government that seeks to bomb anyone. BTW Hamas agreed to the 67 Borders as a basis for peace: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html They also dropped their call for the destruction of Israel: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/12/israe… They also accept the Arab Peace Initiative which calls on Israel to go to the 67 borders and allow a Palestinian state within those borders, in return Israel would have peace with all Arab countries and Iran. (look it up) Most Israeli's act like they've never heard about this proposal despite the fact that it was proposed in 2002, repeated again in 2007, and Palestinians took out full page ads in Israeli newspapers to highlight the details to the Israeli public. And the brutal occupation continues, and Israeli supporters ask "why are they mad?" (cut and paste links if they don't work)
Posted by Arayus | March 20, 2009, 5:22 am"YES. If their are "resistance" groups in Sudan who send suicide bombers to explode within civilian buses, for example, they should be denounced and tried." Some of the Darfur resistance groups have made attacks on the capitol of Khartoum. Some have engaged in the killing of civilians. Was it right for them to do this? No, but its not out of the ordinary given their desperate position. The "you kill my civilians, I will kill yours," is a common theme amongst resistance movements, mainly because the oppressing party does not respect anything but force or the threat of force. Especially as Sami mentioned, "The refugee camps, as they oft do, have become festering grounds for extremists who will not compromise with the central government." When you push people into a corner the way Sudan or Israel does, this is what you create, and you reap what you sow. "What kind of twisted mind can legitimatize the intentional targeting women and children for any kind of cause? That's just sick." Ask the Israeli Defense Forces, they do it everyday, while their citizens actually sit on hill tops watching the slaughter. ” target=”_blank”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AYQjVJEAms&fe… "I think they should just clear out the whole city.. just take it off the ground.. yes I'm a little bit fascist." The girl in the video says as she sits on a hill watching Gaza get bombarded with 2 ton bombs. Others are cheering… Anyway, Dropping 2 ton bombs on the most densely populated area in the world for 22 days straight, and drenching the area in white phosphorus sounds a lot worse than anything Hamas ever came up with. Furthermore, Hamas could never come close to subjecting one of the most poverty stricken areas on the planet to a brutal blockade for 3 years that forced the residents to eat bread made from animal feed, doctors to perform surgery without anesthesia or gloves, and completely destroyed the already pitiful Gazan economy where entire families lived off of $2 a day. Gazans have to resort to the Black market tunnels to even get food, milk, or medicine. "the rest of your word aren't worthy of a reply" Yet you replied. =P In any case, Turkey is also guilty of crimes against the Kurds, very few people will argue that Turkey's position against the Kurds is legitimate. Unfortunately for Israel, just because another group of people commit a crime does not mean other people are allowed to commit crimes as well. I'm sorry but Israel is not getting off the hook based on such a retarded argument. The difference is that very few people actually try to defend the other atrocities going on around the world. As you saw here, Sami Adnan of Sudanese descent is not trying to defend the atrocities of the Bashir regime. He's trying to find a just and lasting solution while at the same time saying that he accepts the indictment of Bashir. However, he knows that the court wont be able to function unless its given some credibility by indicting "monsters" from more powerful nations. Any who, Israeli supporters have entire lobbying groups on capital hill that divert my tax money to fund an apartheid regime that subjugates a refugee population to barbarous attacks on an almost daily basis. Israel should not be using my hard earned money to drop bombs on Gaza, or my paycheck to support any government that seeks to bomb anyone. BTW Hamas agreed to the 67 Borders as a basis for peace: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html They also dropped their call for the destruction of Israel: ” target=”_blank”>” target=”_blank”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/12/israe… They also accept the Arab Peace Initiative which calls on Israel to go to the 67 borders and allow a Palestinian state within those borders, in return Israel would have peace with all Arab countries and Iran. (look it up) Most Israeli's act like they've never heard about this proposal despite the fact that it was proposed in 2002, repeated again in 2007, and Palestinians took out full page ads in Israeli newspapers to highlight the details to the Israeli public. And the brutal occupation continues, and Israeli supporters ask "why are they mad?" (cut and paste links if they don't work)
Posted by Arayus | March 20, 2009, 5:22 amRead my words again. I never wrote that Israel was right, I just want to emphasize that the popular Israel-bashing is completely hypocritical, and completely lacks proportions. Israel is quite wrong, but if you want to be more than just another opposing wrong, you must understand that there are scores of Arab and Muslim dictators and terrorists that should go to international trial long before an Israeli official does. Proportions, you know. I believe Israel-bashing is so popular throughout the Arab and Muslim world (more than 1 billion people, the vast majority of them with no connection to Palestine or Israel what so ever), because it helps them turn a blind eye to the horrible atrocities in their own back yard. And again, legitimizing the purposeful murder of women or children by anyone is just plane sick, if not evil. This is true whether you're a European army soldier or a terrorist/"resistance fighter". Very plain and simple, no excuses. BTW, that's exactly the difference between terror and resistance – the first targets civilians, the later only the occupying army.
Posted by Yoyo | March 20, 2009, 8:36 amRead my words again, I never implied that you seem to think that Israel is right, I merely put things in perspective. There are a lot of people that need to be tried for crimes against humanity from North America to Asia and back, however, the hypocrisy is that only 3rd tin pot dictators will be charged, while those countries with a powerful military and nuclear weapons will be allowed to continue in their genocidal ways. Furthermore, you have oversimplified the sentiments of Muslims around the world based on hearsay. I urge you to travel from Nigeria to Indonesia and back, then tell me what Muslims really think, I think you'll be surprised after just traveling through half a dozen Muslim majority countries. In any case based on your logic every single military in the world is a terrorist organization while every single resistance group is also a terrorist organization. This would include American revolutionaries, the French underground, Native American resistance, Afghan resistance in their fight against the Soviet Union, the Chinese in their resistance to Japanese occupation, and the ANC in their fight against South African Apartheid (Nelson Mandela was only recently taken off the terrorist list). All these groups engaged in attacks on civilians and their property, sometimes targeting their own civilians. Now I wouldn't label these groups to be terrorist organizations, because to be a terrorist organization would mean that the entire apparatus of the group revolved around blowing shit up just for the sake of causing terror which is not the case in any of these situations nor is it the case in virtually all of the resistance groups in existence today. The proper way to describe the situation would be to say that all the world Armies and resistance groups today, and in the past, have engaged in acts that could be considered "terrorist acts."
Posted by Arayus | March 20, 2009, 5:36 pm