Articles and Analysies
Is the janjaweed an Arab? by Mr. Ismail A. Mohamed-U.A.E
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May 4, 2006 - 1:52:00 PM

Is the janjaweed an Arab?

We observe that the western media  specify the events which occur in Darfour nowadays as a struggle between the Arab and the armed movements SLM and JEM ,  this is a big mistake  made by   media and  the leaders of Darfour two factions SLM and JEM ,   the Arab tribes in Darfour has nothing to do with this melesia , the Arabs are also suffering of the central government injustice and unequal distribution of wealth and power , the Arabs in Darfour suffer the lack of education and health services and much more life necessary needs , they did not get a chance to let their children have their primary schooling , on the other hand the African tribes got the opportunity to have a better education , the number of  primary schools and higher ones in the locations of the African tribes are much more than those in Arabs land , the political struggle between the Sudanese government and the rebels in Darfour  is not racism or ethnic , it is power struggle , most of the rebels leaders especially JEM movement were part of the current Sudanese government and were cadres of the former Islamic National Front , they left the government after the well known separation in the islamic government in  late 1998 , when the Islamic fundamentalists took their leader Dr.Hassan El Turabi out of  power , so the JEM  is containing the members who stood by Dr. Turabi in his struggle against the government after he has been thrown away , this movement has no proof or claim to say that the war in Darfour is racial or based on ethnic background , because they represents the Islamic opinion  and as it is known isalm and Arabic culture are heading towards one target and they complete each other , so it is not logical for someone who believe in islam to be against the Arabian identity , these two movements in Darfour projected Arab name in their media battle to gain the western support , so the struggle in Darfour is power struggle and has nothing to do with racism, the acting rebels movements in Darfour are fighting to get their share in the government of national unity after the peace agreement in Nifasha was signed , the Darfour rebels leaders got jealous of the Nifasha Peace Agreement between the southern SPLM and northern NC  which gave the southerners the political control of their region , Darfour rebel leaders felt the regret after this Peace Agreement  was signed because most of the mujahedeen who fought in the wholly war in southern sudan as the islamists says , the majourity of them were from Darfour region , so  they played a principal role in the Turabist holly war against SPLM ,  and now they are in Darfour as part of the war factions claiming racial aggression from the same government which they were part of it in the near past  , it is not the nomad Arabs who let these Islamic fundamentalists burn the Darfour war , they burned this war and made the innocent citizens leave their homes and live in shanty towns , the clashes which happens from time to time between the Arab nomads and some African farmers always solved by tribes leaders and traditional laws , which were more effective than the government arrangements , the Darfour factions leaders made a very big mistake by presenting themselves as human rights defenders to the international community , they should  be more fair in dealing with the issue of Darfour, because  it is known to those who are monitoring the struggle that  these rebels also accused by some humanitarian organizations  of committing crimes against humanity and lootings , accusing Arabs tribes  in Darfour is not fair because the janjaweed melisha represents only itself and is no longer symbol of the Arabian tribes in Darfour , this terminology (janjaweed) was known to Darfour people both Arabs and Africans for a long time ago,  and known as a gang of looters, without linking them with any tribe or race , they used to  loot people who travels from town to town such as traders , especially those who drive cows and livestock for selling them in different markets inside and out side Darfour region for example Chad and Central African Republic , all Darfour people know this information very well , the Arabs and non Arab were victims of the evil doings of this gang, these melesia members are different in their ethnicity , they ( janjaweed ) gathered as a group of looters and criminals, Africans , Arabs and mixed races .

The rebels leaders are still insisting in obtaining  this foolish idea , it is not easy to persuade the U.N ,  Europeans and the U.S politicians that the black Afro-Arabian  man is a pure Arab , you cant even differenciate between an Arab and a non Arab ,  for all of them are black skinned , the only difference is the local Arabic language which is spoken by these Arabian tribes , the Sudanese government was lucky when the war broke out in Darfour   , they did not use the full power of the Sudanese army in the war against the rebels except the air forces , they found the readymade army of janjaweed gang , they gave them the green light to burn , kill and loot all Darfourian people without paying attention to an Arab or an African , they used this gang and strengthened their equipments far from the Arabian tribes in Darfour , it is known in all Darfour that if you want to arrange any political or military rally and you want to use the tribes , first you should contact the tribes leadership and the leading man in a certain tribe will not take any personal decision unless he hold a meeting of the affecting members of the tribe , this happens in all tribes African and Arabian , then the decision will be legal and every man will be obliged to follow it , this did not happen when the war in Darfour occurred , no Arabian tribe has reached any decision about sharing in this war , the only thing that happened is that the government provided the janjaweed gang with arms and gave them order to commit the crime , as they have a strong motive to do such bad things , the motive of  looting and killing.

If we gave  glance to the Arabian tribes in Darfour region as a race , we notice that they are not pure Arab , they are mixed with local African races , the Arab in Darfour region only  inherited the language and some traditions  from the Arabian folk , they are a mixture we should not call them Arab the suitable terminology for them is an Afro-Arab tribes , they are black skinned you cant even differentiate between them and the original African people in Darfour , so what is always mentioned in the western T.V channels and newspapers is a big lie , because the Arabs who are accused by Darfour rebels of ethnic cleansing  , they also suffer the same unstable circumstances and war disadvantages , they are  war victims and lack many urgent needs , they are victims of the conspiracy that is planned by the rebels .

The politics has its statistics and formulas, the U.S has its agenda in Daffier region so does the rebels and the government , they all badly used this terminology  (jonahed) , the government , the rebels and the international community all played the worst role in killing innocent people in Daffier region , we must say the truth and be within the reality , all the above mentioned parties have their goals in the going on war , and none of them put the Darfourian people salvation in his priority , we hope that the peace mediators who are now acting in Abuja negotiations will play a neutral role so that the two sides reach a peace agreement that contains the ambitions of Darfourian people.

Mr. Ismail A. Mohamed

U.A.E

E mail: [email protected]