Sunday, May 1, 2011

Video #3

            This video was probably the most difficult for me to watch. In the beginning, all the smiling faces, the happy lives that these people lived before the Janjaweed came in and destroyed it all. The kids were laughing and playing together, parents didn’t have to worry that their kids could’ve been killed if they let them out to play, and the elderly had the chance to die in peace, rather then by force by the Janjaweed. Shortly following the “happy” part of this video came reality. The reality that there really weren’t places the civilians could go to be safe. The reality that hundreds of people were dying everyday and there has been no effort to stop it. The reality that people are scared to live. The Janjaweed are continuously destroying the lives of many people who had dreams, goals, places they wanted to go in life. Ripping them away from each person one by one. The Janjaweed is a group that needs to be taken down immediately, before it’s only them left in Darfur.
            Throughout this video, you saw happy faces, joyful faces, followed by crying faces and terrified faces. Happy because the Janjaweed didn’t exist to them at that point and later terrified because the Janjaweed were the ones treating these people like they were the ones who shouldn’t be existing. It’s a harsh world, but I didn’t expect hundreds of thousands of people to be killed over a conflict that could’ve been settled much more peacefully.

Video #2

In this video clip, I witnessed starved, skinny, dying people, waiting for their chance to be brought back into the world. I saw victims, with their faces buried in the ground, victims who will never turn back over. Children, skin and bone, looking for the guidance they need to survive, and sickly elders, with each minute passing, they get closer and closer to joining the 400,000 whose lives had already been taken. The people in Darfur are waiting for somebody, anybody, to come and save them. Take them out of their misery and let them start over in life. And I realized by watching this video, by seeing the loss of hope in their eyes, by putting myself in their situation, anyone of us can help save at least one person who wants another chance before the genocide takes that away from them too. One person who doesn’t want to die, doesn’t want to lose their life because they were part of a group who fought for their rights, doesn’t want to say they lost to the Janjaweed. And the part that a lot of people don’t think about when thinking about the genocide and all the dying people, put yourself in their shoes. Fight for your life every day, play hide-and-seek, but remember that that isn’t a game for you. It might be a game for the people trying to find you, but it’s a matter of life and death, and if your found, game over.

Video #1

When I first watched this video, before doing any of my research, I was completely stunned. Looking at the horrifying pictures, seeing the agony that all of those people have been going through for the last few years really hit me hard. As I watched the video, I had realized new things that I didn’t know before. I knew bits and pieces about Darfur, but never the full effect of the genocide. I thought I knew a lot more about Darfur, but I was clearly proven wrong after watching the video. The injuries, the living conditions, all the people who were fighting for their lives, it really made me appreciate everything I have right now.
            After watching the video again after doing my research, my view on it really hadn’t changed. Yes, I now know more about what was going on there, but the video just made it complete reality. I had been reading about what’s going on, and this video showed me. My own two eyes, watching these people, with their eyes. Their eyes filled with pain and sorrow, fear and defeat. Almost every single person in this video looked like they had already given up, but in this type of situation, you can’t give up. All these people had lost the hope in their eyes. They lost the fight, the drive, and the vengeance. That’s what truly surprised me when watching the clip. I knew to expect some victims who had just given up completely, but I still hoped for some to battle until the end.

Janjaweed: A Killing Machine

We thought it was over with Bosnia, Cambodia, and then Rwanda. But no surprise, there is a genocide happening in Darfur right now. Hundreds are dying each day. Thousands are dying each month. How much more can they take? The genocide in Darfur started in 2003 and is still continuing today. The genocide has already taken over 400,000 lives and 2,500,000 are without homes, family, and hope. Nicholas D. Kristof, supporter of stopping the genocide quotes, “The conflict in Darfur could escalate to where we’re seeing 100,000 victims per month. Clearly by seeing the number of civilians already killed and the number of civilians on the brink of death, it’s not hard to say the genocide in Darfur is considered to be one of the world’s worst human rights and humanitarian catastrophes.
The genocide in Darfur has been continuing for the past eight years now, and nobody knows how to stop it. There have been many attempts, but they all clearly failed. In May 2006, there was a peace deal, made by the international community to try and stop the genocide but actually after the deal was made, the violence increased. There aren’t many more people for the Janjaweed to kill, so what happens then?
The Janjaweed, an Arab militia in Darfur, are stealing the lives of thousands every month. The Janjaweed militia first formed in 1988 after Chadian President Hissène Habré, backed by France and the United States, defeated the Libyan army. The Janjaweed, throughout the 90’s, were Arab partisans, who pursued local agendas of controlling land. In 1999-2000, faced with threats of insurgencies in Western and Northern Darfur, Khartoum’s security armed the Janjaweed forces. They are mainly targeting the three non-Arab, rebel groups, the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masilit, of which are all Black Africans. The Janjaweed are Arab Africans, so you can see the conflicts start there. These three rebel groups were targeted because two more of their non-Arab groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, went against the Sudanese government and said that there was mistreatment by the Arabs in Khartoum. The Janjaweed, obviously wanting to defend themselves, started going after the non-Arabs and so forth began the genocide.
The term “Janjaweed” means “man on a horse with a gun” and is a synonym to “bandit.” The Janjaweed are known for being extremely violent and defensive, hence how this whole problem started. The Janjaweed, like all the other killers in all the other genocides, are fighting for what they believe in, and don’t care about the people they are killing. It is obvious that the militia isn’t going to give up until everybody that can be killed, is killed. Already, almost half of a million people have been killed and over two million are without much chance of surviving.
The rebel groups are being targeted because they are both going for power in Sudan, but the Arab Africans, clearly seeing that they were to the advantage, used that in their defense and the Black Africans didn’t and still don’t have the resources to fight back and reclaim themselves as actual human beings in Darfur. The Janjaweed are not only attacking by themselves, they have a secondary power source, similar to what we know as the air force. Their mission is to first, drop bombs on the cities below, and shortly following come the Janjaweed, on horses and camels, prepared to kill.
            Attacks generally follow a familiar pattern:  Khartoum Air Force planes bomb from the air to cause chaos in villages; the Janjaweed then race in on horses and camels and African villagers are at random chance, getting raped and killed; villages are burned to the ground, and water wells are contaminated with corpses.  Those that escape make their way across the harsh desert refugee camps in neighboring Chad, and there, they are usually stripped of all belongings or personal possessions.  Families are frequently separated along the way.  In the overcrowded and make-shift camps, malnutrition and disease are out of control. Even with the continuously generous efforts of humanitarian aid workers and African Union soldiers, the victims are not safe, even in the camps. The Janjaweed wait outside the camp boarders, waiting to attack anyone who crosses the boundary lines. Women are repeatedly abducted and either killed or used as sex slaves. Children are routinely kidnapped and forced into sex trade or forced into military service in the many different militias, sometimes even having to kill their own people. But even with all the efforts to try and keep everybody safe in the camps, the camps are usually bombed and destroyed, leaving the sometimes injured, or disease ridden civilians to flee yet again for safety.        
            But with all the families torn apart, all the innocent civilians who have watched their relatives die, and have to leave them because they want to live too, don’t you think they would want to fight back? The answer is yes, but unfortunately, with so many people dead already, and so many using all their strength just to stay alive, there just aren’t enough people to fight and try to save their people. It’s an unfair attack, with the Janjaweed being supported by the Sudanese government in Khatoum and the sponsor of the Janjaweed militia, also a government; the civilians really don’t have any help. But Americans have a big role in helping stop the issue in Darfur. The US has been very proactive in getting support for the people in Darfur, but there is still much more that needs to be done. Still with hundreds killed each day, it won’t be long before the Janjaweed run out of people to kill.
            The victims, or should I say surviving victims, of the genocide right now have no hope. They don’t know if they’re going to live till the next day, if they’re ever going to see their family again, or if they’re anybody in their family is even alive. The Janjaweed don’t care about any of those things. All they care about is destroying the people who are against them, and that’s a lot of people. All that the Janjaweed genuinely care about is themselves. Killing people is their drug, and they’re addicted to it. Bianca Jagger, high school student from Kenston High School quotes, “Killing innocent people is always wrong.” I’m sure most people would agree with that statement as well. As of right now, only the rebels know how to stop the Janjaweed from killing their people, and that’s by killing them all until there’s nobody left, and the Janjaweed don’t have to worry about who their competition is. This is all a game and the Janjaweed are clearly winning.
            All in all, the genocide in Darfur is still continuing, and they need help. The Janjaweed are a very overpowering and controlling militia, and it will take a lot to defeat them. I’m not sure if it’s even a possibility to defeat them anymore, but there are ways to help. By donating money for the refugee camps or joining a group to help raise awareness of the situation, any effort can and will benefit the victims in the best way it can. Americans are a big factor in helping stop the genocide that’s going on in Darfur, and in time, the Janjaweed can hopefully be stopped, for good.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

"Ghosts of Rwanda" 4/20/11

  • Ended in July 1994 when Tutsi Rebels wanted a Civil War
  • Bill Clinton said he "didn't know what was going on" and if he had recieved the "correct information," he would have been "able to save about half the people"

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

"Ghosts of Rwanda" 4/19/11

  • Gromo Alex- part of UN Humanitarian team
  • Captain Mbaye Djang
  • Hotel Mille Collines- safe haven
  • General Dallaire started to secure football stadiums for people to go- another safe haven
  • RPF didn't want UN to save them or their own people- what do you do when the leaders of the rebel army (the ones who are being slaughtered) are saying don't save us?
  • Unarmed civilians saved thousands of people so imagine what the government could have done- 2 UN officers saved people in the church just by refusing to let the Hutus to go in; Wilkens went up to Prime Minister himself and asked him not to kill the orphans- PM listened
  • Captain Mbaye Djang killed

Monday, April 18, 2011

Ghosts of Rwanda

I was extremely affected by this film. Just by knowing that this genocide happened not long ago at all and how so many people were killed so quickly is just scary to think about. I hadn't really heard much about this genocide since I saw this movie and I quickly realized how much damage was actually caused. It really opened my eyes. I knew people could do this to eachother, but I didn't think it would actually happen like that. There were so many people living in fear throughout that period of time, it was just a horrible thing to watch. This movie really showed me about the mistakes of other people in other places around the world and how nobody is perfect. People have their own reasons for hating others, and nobody can control another persons feelings. In this case, it had a very unfortunate outcome, but it can only make us stronger in the end, creating a better future for us all.