The definition of war is definitely debatable, and while some people think that war is sometimes necessary, one type of “war” is never necessary: genocide. To me, war is people dying unnecessarily or as a result of others’ mistakes. Genocide, which may not be classified as a war, is definitely an unnecessary killing because of and supported by a lot of mistakes. This weekend I went to a Darfur Rally downtown. It was cold and rainy, which was probably why the turnout was good, not great, but what a speaker said made a big impact on me. He was a Lost Boy of Sudan, and said that he was not sorry it was raining, because the rain is the tears of the refugees in Darfur.
Not everyone may agree that this is an example of a war, and it may not be, but considering the facts, it should be treated like a one-sided war. First of all, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was recently indicted on war crimes by the International Criminal Court. 400,000 people have died in Darfur, and too many are in refugee camps in Chad and other places. Sudan does everything in its power to stop outside help, but should that stop us? Several aid groups from Sudan were forced out of the country by al-Bashir during a meningitis outbreak. Just because Sudan is saying jump does not mean that we need to say how high, or even jump at all. If we cannot even help to stop this obvious genocide, how can we ever expect to have peace?
At the rally there was a man handing out fliers. I took one, assuming that it was information on Darfur, and didn’t look over it until later. Before I read it, my friend said that the guy was talking to people, and once again I assumed it was about Darfur. Once again I was wrong. This man was preaching that we need to destroy Israel’s government by “non-violent” measures. He said he was a pacifist and against any group that makes war, and he stood there with the diluted idea that destroying a country by any means is anti violence. He went on to describe how it was Israel’s fault that countries across the world had gun problems and war, and other similar statements that were equally as ridiculous.
Luckily, every time he preached there were people there who argued with him. At one point I asked him how he could think that he was a pacifist when he handed out papers with swastikas on it. He spurred off a mumbled response and changed the subject. With this amount of hate in the world, it’s hard to see peace in sight, but it needs to start somewhere, and ending this genocide and standing up to people like this man is a good start.
This article talks about how Sudan has tried to keep aid out of the country.
Not everyone may agree that this is an example of a war, and it may not be, but considering the facts, it should be treated like a one-sided war. First of all, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was recently indicted on war crimes by the International Criminal Court. 400,000 people have died in Darfur, and too many are in refugee camps in Chad and other places. Sudan does everything in its power to stop outside help, but should that stop us? Several aid groups from Sudan were forced out of the country by al-Bashir during a meningitis outbreak. Just because Sudan is saying jump does not mean that we need to say how high, or even jump at all. If we cannot even help to stop this obvious genocide, how can we ever expect to have peace?
At the rally there was a man handing out fliers. I took one, assuming that it was information on Darfur, and didn’t look over it until later. Before I read it, my friend said that the guy was talking to people, and once again I assumed it was about Darfur. Once again I was wrong. This man was preaching that we need to destroy Israel’s government by “non-violent” measures. He said he was a pacifist and against any group that makes war, and he stood there with the diluted idea that destroying a country by any means is anti violence. He went on to describe how it was Israel’s fault that countries across the world had gun problems and war, and other similar statements that were equally as ridiculous.
Luckily, every time he preached there were people there who argued with him. At one point I asked him how he could think that he was a pacifist when he handed out papers with swastikas on it. He spurred off a mumbled response and changed the subject. With this amount of hate in the world, it’s hard to see peace in sight, but it needs to start somewhere, and ending this genocide and standing up to people like this man is a good start.
This article talks about how Sudan has tried to keep aid out of the country.
1 comment:
Weird guy, Mimi. Thanks for sharing this in class -- it definitely connects to our work this unit.
It might also be worth asking the question how people rationalize and justify genocide. It seems so basically wrong, but it still happens. How can people think it's OK?
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