Gaza at the Expense of Darfur?
Posted by Ginny on January 14, 2009
Assalamu alaikum, Umar Lee and Tariq Nelson have blogged about Keith Ellison and Andre Carson’s (the only two Muslim congressmen) stances on the recent resolution supporting Israel’s, shall we say, “incursion” into Gaza. And this is one reason why I like how WordPress’s comments feature works, because I can link to both posts, and Inshallah, my post will appear in their comments, which removes the need for me to have to go to both blogs and make my comments there.
Anyway, while I am disappointed in both Keith Ellison and Andre Carson’s votes (present pretty much means you’re not voting either way, imho), I also am not sure that Keith Ellison should have been shouted down before he was allowed to say his piece. And it’s unfortunate that some non-Muslim members of Congress were actually willing to take the plunge and vote no, and actually get up and state unequivocally why they were voting no. And I’m disappointed that our fellow Muslims couldn’t do the same.
However, I also agree with the sentiment expressed in some of the comments on Tariq’s blog that wonder where all of the Muslims were when the conflict in Darfur was raging, for example, (and it still is going on). And of course, the majority of the reaction to that is something along the lines of “yeah but if you support Darfur you have to inprinciple support the Palestinians” (and who doesn’t, at least among the majority of commentors on Tariq’s blog?) or you’ll hear “oh what is going on in Darfur is being made up or blown out of proportion by the evil Western Zionist media”, or if you bring up the fact that many Muslims get involved/upset, etc., about Palestine, yet ignore other conflicts involving Muslims, you’ll ve told how Palestine is so much more important, than those other places, or you’ll be told that if you bring up other conflicts then that must necessarily mean that you don’t care or care less about the Palestinians.
And frankly, this kind of sentiment makes me angry! Because if the government of Sudan was Christian or Jewish, you can bet that a good many Muslims would be all over the Darfur conflict, and conversely, if the Israel/Palestinian conflict was between Muslims, there’d be nary a peep out of the community, save for a few “yeah what is going on in Darfur is bad but …”. And it’s the, what I call, the “yeah but” comments I’m hearing that is so aggravating to me! I mean, what’s wrong is wrong, if people are being raped, murdered, driven from their homes, bombed, starved, etc., then it’s wrong, it should be condemned, whether or not it’s the “evil Zionists” or our fellow co-religionists doing these awful things! And why is it so hard for Muslims to grasp this? Why are we so ready to speak out against Israel, yet make justifications for the Sudanese government, or Saddam Hussein (back when he was gassing his own people), or even Bin Laden? And we wonder why we’re in the state that we are in as an Ummah? If we can’t even speak the truth, even if it’s against our own selves, then how can we expect Allah to improve our condition? If we jump up and down, scream, cry, holler, when it’s non-Muslims killing us, yet try to justify when our own fellow brothers and sisters are killing us! And we expect “victory from the kuffar”? When we speak outagsint one wrong or inusitce at the expense of another equally wrong or inustice?
Just some thoughts… And I’d write more, but I gotta leave for work. So sorry if this post is a little open-ended or there are any kind of spelling or typographical errors.
Give me a break said
For the first time I read someone that make sense.
While Ii ead many Jewsih who ctritizise and oppose Iisrael, not because of thier connection, but because of Humanity, I have not seen even one Muslim that had a view that takes into considuration, what caused this issue and why is the Hamas to be blamed for this problem
Iif there were more like you I guess there was a dialoge and more to discuss as in the name of Humanity and not only politics and religion, things can be solved
Keep on with this direction and hopefully peace will come to this area too
Muslim Apple said
Asalamu alaykum Ginny,
I was thinking along the same lines. It is highly problematic, to say the least, how much attention is paid to the Palestinian issue by our communities and so little to other situations that are far worse in Sudan, Burma, Congo, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, China, etc. The situation reeks of racism, hypocrisy, and anti-semitism.
bashir said
The killing of Muslims by other Muslims in Darfur must be condemned but that doesn’t mean your argument holds. The crisis in Darfur isn’t as simplistic as it is portrayed in the West as “Arabs” vs “Blacks”. I think it is human nature to be aggravated by the oppression of the outsider moreso than the oppression amongst ourselves and this is true of many groups, not just Muslims. Fratricide and civil war isn’t exclusive to Muslims and it goes on in many religious and ethnic groups. For example, many African Americans are more outraged by the violence committed by police officers towards their kind than black-on black violence in their community which pales in comparison towards the police violence. I think it’s hypocritical to single out Muslims as the only ones being guilty of this behaviour.
Margari Aziza Hill said
Salaam alaikum Ginny,
Thanks for articulating in a much better way than I could have about the sentiment I’ve been feeling. My heart goes out to the people in Gaza. But as Muslims, we should be better than other communities. We are told that we should speak out against injustice, even if it is ourselves. And I believe that if we do not change ourselves, we cannot expect to be victorious.
I was really shocked Carson voted for the resolution and honestly don’t understand why Ellison just voted present. I’m not trying to take away from the fact that Palestinians have been denied sovereignty and that Gaza has been brutally invaded. But when I started hearing arguments about why Ellison sucked, I began to think about our half stepping about Darfur. We have to take a stance, even if it means that we will point some fingers at some very terrible regimes with some Muslim names. I pray Allah guides us and purifies our intentions.
Hope from Whom and for Whom? Palestine as a Muslim Cause « Muslimah Media Watch said
[...] so that many Muslims and non-Muslims alike wondered where this rage was for other issues, such as Darfur. When the killing is on a much larger scale in Darfur against African Muslims, Muslim outrage is [...]