Allow me to introduce you to 'Save Darfur'

"What about the "Save Darfur" campaign, what kind of stuff do they do here?" I asked a local woman in Al  Fasher.

"The who?" she responded quizzically.

The governor of Darfur stated:

"As the governor of the State of Darfur for 5 years, I will go on the record and tell you this: from the $310 million raised by this Save Darfur organization, not ONE dollar has been received by the people of Darfur."

I spoke to another source who said that no, Save Darfur has actually sent some funds to Darfur.  That amount? $3000.  Three thousand out of 31 million - what is that, one one-thousandth of their so called "Funds for Darfur"?  Well let me ask you this, dear readers, and you are all pretty smart people.  Logical.

Zero dollars or 3000 dollars: what happened to the rest of the rest of the money?

Some background.

"Saviors and Survivors" by Mahmood Mamadani does an excellent job of breaking down the conflict in Darfur, the Save Darfur movement and the controversies.   

In reading this marvelous book, researching on my own and speaking to various intellectuals in this field, I began to slowly make sense and understand this movement.  "Save Darfur" is an organization founded in a synagogue by Zionist Jews.  It was a business move. I dare anyone to challenge this statement. And let me prove to you why.

Darfur is a gold mine.  A friend of mine said, "it's like this: Darfur is like a chocolate cake..and everyone wants a piece of it." True.  The Darfur region is rich with gold, uranium, Arabic gum, OIL and the land is sitting on top of that good ol' H2O. Yes, water.  Very very useful to, like, EVERYONE in the world given the global water shortages.  But especially for Israel.

 An article in BBC:

"The Lebanese have long accused Israel of having designs on the waters of the River Litani, and Syria accuses it of being reluctant to withdraw from the banks of the Sea of Galilee, the source of up to 30% of Israel's water. Israelis in the West Bank use four times as much water as their Palestinian neighbours."

And on the Trumpet.com:

"Israel is currently experiencing its fourth consecutive year of drought. The drought is so bad that last winter’s rainfall was only 65 percent of the long-term average. Even though the main pipeline transporting water from the Sea of Galilee to the rest of the nation was closed for part of the year, the water level in the sea has dropped close to the danger line." 

So, suffering water shortages.  A looming issue for the coming years.  Where to turn, where to turn?

Question: Where is a region with an unstable governance structure (Darfur is home to more 100 tribes and has undergone about 90 civil conflicts since the 80s) that will make it easy to instigate domestic struggles? And a region with the resources needed? 

Answer: The western region of Darfur.

There has always been civil conflicts in the Darfur region.  It goes back to the cattle grazers and the nomadic horse-riders.  Strategically and intelligently frame the issue as an Arab versus African conflict.  Ruthless Islamist Arabs violently killing, slaughtering, raping, innocent poor Black Africans  Who could this issue be exposed to? Who would care so deeply about the poor Black people?

African Americans.

And this is what the coalition did.  Upon their launching, Save Darfur implemented their campaign in every Black publication, college, community and television station. Howard University even sponsored a day off of school to host a Save Darfur rally.  And they did it well.  They told African Americans that BLACK people were being killed. They were being tortured and captured by these Arabs.  And it was their responsibility to help out their fellow Africans. 

And so the t-shirts shouting: "Save Darfur" and the images with the poor Black baby and a tear running down his dirt-stained cheek was paraded on Constitution Ave., and George Clooney stood atop that podium and called for an END to the killing of innocent AFRICANS, calling it "ethnic cleansing", and Black Entertainment Television (BET) advertised a-plenty, and "Save Darfur" become a household name. A fad.  A call to action.  

For all the wrong reasons.

The Darfurian tribes who committed atrocities against civilians in Darfur are as black as those they murdered, and just as indigenous. It is not a Black/non-Black issue.  Check your facts, "Save Darfur."

Walk down the street in Darfur, the people look like replicas of the people in downtown Khartoum.  Ever wonder why Save Darfur never had a picture of President Omar Bashir swaying in the wind alongside the "Government of Terror" slogans they posted? Because Mr. Bashir is Black.  That would not have made sense. It would not have equated the Arab versus Black analogy.

Do the research.  Ask questions.