Save Darfur Movement? Not a cent reached Darfur
Posted by: adonis49 on: January 18, 2010
Save Darfur Movement? Not a cent reached Darfur; (Jan. 21, 2010)
The Save Darfur movement started in 2004; it claimed to have reaped $15 millions in donations. An official at the United Nations humanitarian action, asked how much Darfur received from that collect, replied “Zero dollars”. The correspondent to Darfur, Mahmood Mamdani, called the movement headquarters in New York and got this response: “We are not an aid agency. Our goal is mainly to plead for the Darfur cause”
I got into thinking “where does that entire donation sum end up?” Then, I remembered reading banners displayed by Save Darfur which state: Let’s quit Iraq. Let’s go to Darfur” and Let the US army intervene now”. It dawned on me that Save Darfur is recapitulating the Superman syndrome: the movement organizers do not give a damn about any resolutions of the Darfur civil war. The organizers want expeditious revenge and blood vengeance; they want just to punish, finger point haphazardly culprit in general terms (Islam radical terrorists is very comforting). It is the same Bush Junior mentality of waging war against ghost enemies that affect civilian collateral victims. The Save Darfur organizers want violence against violence, an eye for an eye; getting rid of the bad guys (assuming that they are the good guys).
Save Darfur organizers have no idea of the political or social situations and they care less: they will be very confused if you interrogate them on specifics, especially who are the real culprits and who might be the good elements. Who initiated this protracted civil war? How many militias are involved and which tribes are struggling for control of this area as large as France? It is an ethnic, sectarian, or partition war of Sudan? How many multinational oil and mineral enterprises and developed States are fighting for piece of the pie?
The research center for epidemiology of disasters in Belgium reported 120,000 casualties since 2003; the number includes death from diseases and famine. The UN branch for health reported 70,000 victims in total (35,000 are victims of violence). Save Darfur is adamant: the number should be 500,000 and climbing exponentially.
Save Darfur is targeting the high school kids for donations: popular singers and movie stars are financed to drum up support among high school generation: the generation in universities and older have wizened up to this fraud. In order to convince high school kids the movement internet sites had nothing to offer but violent pictures and videos of rape, murder, and burning villages of the first year of conflict. Darfur is shown as a region with no past and no politics; just a dark region where evil reigns supreme.
Save Darfur movement claims to expose the cause of the people but so far failed to explain or expose anything. The American people are willing to donate to save Darfur (of what exactly?) but they hate saving Iraq or Afghanistan. Why? Iraq and Afghanistan feel very much like paying taxes!
Adonis Diaries 
January 18, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Most of what Mamdani has written about the advocacy movement for Darfur and Sudan is poorly researched. Exhibit A: Save Darfur never had the slogan, “Out of Iraq and into Darfur.” Instead, Save Darfur always called for an international peacekeeping force in Darfur – supporting the African Union troops that went there early on and calling for the United Nations to take over the mission (something many African governments supported). That UN force is there now and still lacks resources and backing from the international community.
Save Darfur believes that a peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Darfuri rebels is the only way to reach a durable and lasting resolution to the crisis in Darfur.
Another example of Mamdani’s bad research, Save Darfur never said that donated funds went to aid groups (although a small percentage from some fundraising campaigns were collected on specific occasions). So more than one cent. Mamdani never interviewed anyone at Save Darfur to find this out.
You can read more of my review of Mamdani’s book at: http://www.seanbrooks.net/2010/01/when-killers-become-victims-darfur-in-context-part-i/
January 19, 2010 at 11:05 am
thanks for your developed comment. My impression is that Save Darfur movement has changed tactics the last year after election of Obama and the presence of UN peace keeping troops in Darfur. At least, Save Darfur can no longer circumvent UN reports and try to throw mindless numbers and keep instigating violence and spreading hate behaviors. I think Mamdani was describing the correct attitudes of Save Darfur in the previous years. Africa is not a land to pity with Superman syndrom attitudes from evangelical missionaries. Africa is the last continent of hope for humankind kindness and association with nature and animal lives. Keep your comments coming.