Arab Intellectuals' Silence

I sent the Arab Imam several emails each followed by a phone call asking to talk to him about Darfur and its Muslim on Muslim violence which recently marked its fifth anniversary. Since my understanding is that the Koran directs Muslims to protect, defend and nurture other Muslims, no matter their race, I wondered what he, a Muslim and a man of God thought about it. The Koran I also know says that all Muslims are brothers before God. He never answered my messages.

I lived among Mombasa Arabs as a boy. Their ancestors were yesteryear's slave traders. For centuries Arabs have gravitated between two homes: Africa and the Middle East. The centuries of Arabs exploiting blacks and treating them as subhuman cast a dark pall on the land. In that time Arab racist attitudes have not changed much. In my nineteen fifties Mombasa, Arabs were property owners; blacks' betters and common oppressors. We were separated from them: by history and distance. Acts of Arab on black violence were a common occurrence and an integral part of my childhood. They were masters; we were their servants. The entrenched, centuries' old Arab exploitation inflicted on us a deeper pain than the British colonialism. To me, this is instructive of the difficult road ahead for black Darfurians.

Whereas Europe and America have mobilized to condemn the violence in Darfur and recently the three American presidential candidates signed a joint statement condemning the genocide, repeated attempts at the UN to put a brake on the genocide in Darfur have always been thwarted by Arab opposition. By the same twenty two state Arab League block that stood by Khartoum as two million blacks in South Sudan were systematically murdered by the Arab North.

European and American intellectuals have joined in condemnation of the Khartoum government's massacre and ethnic cleansing. We have all seen the flood of Western newspaper columns and heard the choir of American voices raised against the Sudanese terror on the people of Darfur.

And yet in it all there's a conspicuous absence: the voice of those close to the violence and turmoil, people who should know the magnitude of suffering among their black brethren. The lack of empathy by Arab intellectuals is troubling; I believe intellectuals are a nation's conscience, the eye that discerns with clarity through the tribal murky rhetoric, people's religious beliefs and poisonous social habits. Arab writers and thinkers seem to have plugged their ears.

The editorial pages of American newspapers are replete with Arab writers' outrage at the perceived injustices perpetrated against Palestinians by Israel. Yet they present a pathological myopia, that sees no ill, appreciates no suffering visited upon blacks in Sudan by Arabs. It has been disappointing to see writers, Fouad Ajami, Shibley Telhami and others carry forth on our daily TV news programs about the Middle East; TV stations like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya tell the world of the suffering Arabs of Iraq and Palestine. Yet, they all say next to nothing, about Darfur. To my knowledge, there are no known political or religious Arab groups that condemn violence against black Africans.

What one sees is Arab leaders like Muamar Khadafi and Hosni Mubarak denying there's mass murder in Darfur. The 2006 Arab League conference in Khartoum barely acknowledged the Darfur genocide, vehemently opposing the call for UN troops to replace the beleaguered 7000 African Union peacekeepers. To these Arab leaders, you erase reality by denying it.

Sudanese Arabs are a good example of how religion and religious books can be misinterpreted and corrupted. As Sudanese Muslim soldiers kill other Muslims, Arab writers have not seen it fit to -- at least intellectually -- defend and support the victims of such violence.

How the Arab mind can not condemn slavery that still persists in 21st century Somalia, Sudan and other Arab nations is unfathomable. Clearly this is a further manifestation of an attitude of superiority that Arabs have over blacks. It also is one indication of the power Arabs wield over black Africans; a power I became familiar with as a child; something Arabs have wielded over blacks for many centuries. Darfur is confirmation of a simple and incontrovertible fact: conversion into Islam does not elevate blacks from slave to "personhood."

I once asked a well-known Iranian writer if she thought the Arab silence in the face of black suffering had an Islamic imprint. Not at all, she replied; adding that many Arab leaders were corrupt and dangerous. Anyone, including writers, who would question their violent behavior, might come to harm. Islam she insisted is a religion of peace.

My own experience convinces me that there is no sympathy in Arab hearts for black Africans. But that said, I wish Arab thinkers would join the intellectual mainstream -- as they did when Bosnia's Muslims were under attack by Serbs -- in condemning the systematic destruction of Sudanese blacks.

Comments

[pantereblanc]

Of all the troubles in sub-Saharan African countries, Sudan is perhaps the most difficult to understand for westerners like myself. Sorting out the factions involved is a task in itself: The Arab Muslim government perpetrating genocide against black African Muslims in Darfur, against black Christians and Muslims in Southern Sudan, against one another in Darfur for the spoils of war, the janjaweed and I'm sure more. Learning some history as Dr. Kamau has presented it is most helpful. When one understands the problem, one is more inclined to make noise about a situation. Thank you Dr. Kamau.
It would be helpful to me to see more comments from people who understand the situation in Sudan.

[Pius Kamau - Huffpost Blogger]

I thank you for your comments and admit you ask interesting questions. Like the Bible, we really don't know who wrote the Koran. My purpose is to presnet a problem to the community and hope we can have a dialogue about it and if there is an answer, then it might come from the many voices in the community. I will try and find a definitive answer for who wrote the Koran and let you know -- but my sense is that there won't be an answer forthcoming in the near future.

But seek. Let's all seek for the answers to our questions.

Thanks and keep an eye out for future entries. I plan to continue the dialogue -- an important role for a guy like me I think.

Pius

[kamenwati]

The Arab slave trade in Africa began centuries before the European slave trade and continues to this day. In their defense of their conquest and enslavement of millions of African men and women, Arabs played decisive roles in the promulgation of anti-black racism. What is happening in Darfur is merely a continuation of those Arab policies that began with the Arab invasion of North Africa after the death of Muhammad. I wouldn't expect the Arabs to own up to this history any more than I would expect them to admit that the Koran was written by non-Arabs long after the Prophet Muhammad was dead.

[pantereblanc]

It never occurred to me to wonder who the writer or writers of the Koran were until I read your post. I've been searching and searching and cannot find any two sources in agreement. Is there a recognized authority and if so, can you point me in the right direction?

[oncethere]

Arab violence against Blacks in Africa is most probably Israel's fault. Seriously though, thanks for pointing out the absurdity of having the world's attention focused for years on new houses that go up in the West Bank, while ignoring Arab brutalities in Africa.

[jvarga]

"Whereas Europe and America have mobilized to condemn the violence in Darfur"

Yeah I wouldn't go bragging about how much the Western world has done to help Darfur.

[pantereblanc]

The Western world isn't bragging about how much it has done to help Darfur. It is frustrated by its inability to deliver more help than it has by the government in Khartoum. What would you suggest we do about that problem?

[Pius Kamau - Huffpost Blogger]

I believe we need to push the Bush administration harder; we need to shame the Chinese. I have considered the wisdom of arming the black rebels -- the sudanese Arabs are armed by china and other arab governments. Unarmed, blacks in Darfur are raped and murdered, their hands tied behind their backs. It is the unfairness of the situation we need to adress. Certainly folks like Nick Kristoff have been talking about Darfur for a long time. We need to hear more voices; raise more money for guns. Arabs in Khartoum are essentially cowards and faced with force, they will easily crumble.

Just my opinion.

Pius

[Liberal2]

Perhaps Mr. Zogby could explain that silence.

[AsaNisMasa]

i don't know if Arab intellectuals feel outraged about what's happening in Darfur or not, what i do know is just because there is an absence of outrage in the corporate-run media doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.