Darfur, Sudan - people, history, identity essay

thanks soo much

Located in the western regions of Sudan, Darfur literally means land of the Fur (tribe). The area is very distinct physical characteristics. It is said to be an arid and mountainous plateau spanning 493,180 square kilometres in size (much like Spain). The region borders Chad, Libya, and The Central African Republic and was for some several hundred years, an independent sultanate until all three provinces were colonized by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1899. In 1919 British rulers forced the then colony of Darfur to merge with colonized Sudan, forming what is now modern Sudan.

The people of Darfur are mainly nomadic however the nation has suffered sporadic instability as a result of war, famine and dramatic changes in colonial rule since the mid 18th century and heightened violence and conflict brought about by Arab rebel groups claiming racial supremacy over African Darfuris. To date the conflict has claimed the lives of over 300,000 and displaced as many as 2.5 million people. It is reported that 500 people day each day in Darfur and that as many as 10,000 perish from disease in refugee camps in and around the region.

Allegations of heinous acts of genocide in Darfur have shocked the world, and pictures of mass graves and camps of women and children fleeing the infamous Janjaweed have moved countless people since they begun to appear in media outlets such as Time and Oprah. However, inspite of countless witnesses and multitudes of missing and murdered persons, Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir denies any responsibility for the crimes that have taken place in the region. In a recent visit with Turkish president Abdullah Gul Bashir went as far as to say that "We are not committing genocide in Darfur" and thereby denied that the Sudanese government, run primarily by Arab officials has any hand in the crisis that exists in the country's northern region today.

While it is difficult to identify what the true cause of the Darfuri conflict is, or if there is one that exists outside of the notion that genocide sparked by Gaddafi's promotion of the misguided concept of racial supremacy of Arabs over non-Arabs. But for as long as no other concepts surface, I believe that this is an act of genocide as genocide is identified by The American Heritage, Dictionary of The English Language as the systematic and planned extermination of an entire racial, political, or ethnic group. Since the rebels are indiscriminate in their ruthless murder of non-Arab men women and children. As a result one may only conclude that the Darfur region is suffering a genocide and while we in the west do acknowledge that a problem exists, we accept that nothing will be done and so expect nothing to be done.


We are all citizens of a global village, and we can all see the beauty, error, and deviance of one another, yet we sit back and witness the most heinous crimes of our time and make little effort to resolve them. Because though we are all citizens of a global village we all suffer from a diffusion of responsibility.
-Natasha Doyle-Merrick

Good evening.

Here are my suggestions:

"Located in the western regions of Sudan, Darfur literally means "land of the Fur (tribe)." Citation? The area is very distinct physical characteristics. It is said to be an arid and mountainous plateau spanning 493,180 square kilometres in size (much like Spain). The region borders Chad, Libya, and The Central African Republic and was for some several hundred years, an independent sultanate until all three provinces were colonized by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1899. In 1919 British rulers forced the then colony of Darfur to merge with colonized Sudan, forming what is now modern Sudan. Where are your citations for this information?

The people of Darfur are mainly nomadic however the nation has suffered sporadic instability as a result of war, famine, and dramatic changes in colonial rule since the mid 18th century and heightened violence and conflict brought about by Arab rebel groups claiming racial supremacy over African Darfuris. To date the conflict has claimed the lives of over 300,000 and displaced as many as 2.5 million people. It is reported that 500 people day each day in Darfur and that as many as 10,000 perish from disease in refugee camps in and around the region. Citations?

Allegations of heinous acts of genocide in Darfur have shocked the world, and pictures of mass graves and camps of women and children fleeing the infamous Janjaweed have moved countless people since they begun to appear in media outlets such as Time and Oprah. However, in spite of countless witnesses and multitudes of missing and murdered persons, Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir denies any responsibility for the crimes that have taken place in the region. In a recent visit with Turkish president Abdullah Gul Bashir went as far as to say that "We are not committing genocide in Darfur" and thereby denied that the Sudanese government, run primarily by Arab officials has any hand in the crisis that exists in the country's northern region today.
References?

While it is difficult to identify what the true cause of the Darfuri conflict is, or if there is one that exists outside of the notion that genocide sparked by Gaddafi's promotion of the misguided concept of racial supremacy of Arabs over non-Arabs. But for as long as no other concepts surface, I believe that this is an act of genocide as genocide is identified by The American Heritage (Remove comma) Dictionary of The English Language as the systematic and planned extermination of an entire racial, political, or ethnic group. (Citation?) Since the rebels are indiscriminate in their ruthless murder of non-Arab men women and children. As a result one may only conclude that the Darfur region is suffering a genocide and while we in the west do acknowledge that a problem exists, we accept that nothing will be done and so expect nothing to be done.


We are all citizens of a global village, and we can all see the beauty, error, and deviance of one another, yet we sit back and witness the most heinous crimes of our time and make little effort to resolve them. Because though we are all citizens of a global village we all suffer from a diffusion of responsibility.
-Natasha Doyle-Merrick"

Make sure you are citing your information thoroughly.

Regards,
Gloria
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