How history helps understanding

As a member of the STAND group, an anti-genocide coalition, at my high school, it amazed me every day how many students were completely unaware of the conflict in Darfur. The levels of unawareness greatly varied, from students who knew the basics of the conflict, ranging to students who had no idea that genocide was occurring in Darfur, the western region of Sudan. This unawareness is a huge part of why people are not getting involved in the conflict in Darfur. If more people knew exactly what was going on, it is likely they would be more passionate about doing everything they could to end the genocide. This lack of knowledge, about how the conflict began, exactly what is happening, and what we can do to support the victims of genocide or end the conflict, is a huge problem, and is why nothing is really getting done. Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives to the conflict, and millions more are displaced from their homes, suffering and trying to survive in refugee camps. If more people were aware, they would be more involved, and we could make a better effort in fighting the genocide in Darfur.  

A huge part of understanding the conflict in Darfur is understanding the history. Stated as simply as possible, the conflict in Darfur is a conflict between non-Arabian African tribes (the Fur, the Masalit, and the Zaghawa) and 6 main Arabian tribes. The Arabian tribes see themselves as racially superior to the African tribes, and are attacking them in an attempt to wipe out the “inferior” non-Arabian African tribes. It is not a religious conflict, but rather a conflict between the different tribes. The actions of the government have only inflamed the current conflict between the Arabian and non-Arabian African populations. The government under Omar Bashir supports the Arabian population in Darfur, and works against the non-Arabian population. The government supports the National Islamist Front, a very radical Islamist party that uses very violent and nasty tactics against other tribes. The government also uses food as a weapon of war, supplying international humanitarian aid only to the Arabian tribes that they support. The Bashir government perpetuates the racist Arab ideology. They support the Janjaweed, an Arabian militia group on horseback that focuses on eliminating the non-Arabian population. The government not only supplies the Janjaweed with weapons, but also provides air support in their attacks on other tribes. The non-Arabian groups eventually unite, forming the Sudan Liberation Army, the SLA, in order to defend themselves. There is major fighting that occurs between the Janjaweed and SLA. There are very significant differences between these groups; the SLA is created solely for self defense, where the Janjaweed attacks both the SLA and civilians of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes. Their goal is ethnic cleansing, while the SLA’s is defense and protection of the non-Arabian African tribes. Rape is commonly used as a weapon, and millions of people have been forced from their homes due to the violence. And even with all the violence, the response from the international community has been pathetic. The international powers could have easily ended the conflict, and still could easily end the conflict if they choose to. The Janjaweed are thugs on horseback, and would quite easily be defeated by only a slightly stronger military. It is time for the international community to get involved, and take steps to ending the genocide in Darfur.