Comments on: Searching For Jacob

Scott Pelley Reports On The Genocide In Darfur

[lewismary74]

The Meaning of Damanga
The damanga is the most important part of a family%u2019s home. Sometimes written %u201CDamanka%u201D or %u201CDabunga,%u201D it is a large storage vessel used by Sudanese farmers to preserve food. It takes women between three days and a week to build a damanga, made from mounds of a mixture of clay, water and dried grass, because each layer needs to dry before the next layer can be piled on. After the damanga is completed, it is left for two weeks to bake in the sun until it is completely dry. When it hardens, the damanga becomes very heavy and cannot be moved or carried. A hut is usually built over the damanga so as to protect it from the torrents of water during the rainy season.
Damangas are used to store crops (e.g. maize and corn) to keep them from spoiling and these provisions can be lifesaving rations in the event of a famine. Farmers sometimes hide their money or other valuables in the bottom.
This unique aspect of Sudanese farmers%u2019 daily life gave birth to the Arabic adage %u201Cal-donya Damanka derdogo Beshaish%u201D (%u201Dthe world is like a Damanga, roll it carefully%u201D), which essentially means that life is precious and the world is filled with danger and risk, so be careful and take it easy, or it could be destroyed (like a fragile damanga that will break if rolled hastily).

[lewismary74]

Their first major open letter to the international community was distributed in this way in 1999 and within weeks of its distribution it was widely referenced by the international community, including the UN General Assembly Publication. Kofi Annan has often quoted this letter in his speeches. In this way the RMCE was the first group to alert the world to the genocide that was unfolding in Darfur. Since this time the RMCE has been working relentlessly, and with no outside funding, to continue distributing the information it receives from those living in Darfur, and the refugee camps in Chad, in order to focus attention on the continuing atrocities unfolding daily in the Sudan.
Working in Cairo with the office of the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), RMCE was also able to sponsor nearly 95% of refugees fleeing Sudan. Mohamed Yahya helped ensure that these refugees received political asylum and resettlement in many countries around the world, including the USA and Canada, Europe and Australia. In 2002, fearing reprisal from the Sudanese government for the humanitarian work that he was doing, Mr. Yahya decided to apply for political asylum to the USA. He has continued to lead the RMCE and advocate for the people of Sudan while in exile in the USA. The Damanga Coalition of Freedom and Democracy was founded to expand on the work of RMCE here in the USA.

[lewismary74]

As a student living in Cairo in 1995, Mohamed Yayha started to receive first hand reports of the terrible crimes that were being committed by the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed pro-Arab militias. It quickly became apparent to Mohamed Yahya that Sudan%u2019s National Islamic Front (NIF) Regime was engaged in a policy to rid Western Sudan of its Black African ethnic population. Mohamed Yahya and other Sudanese students living in Cairo sought to alert the international community of the humanitarian crisis that had begun to unfold in Western Sudan so they started an organization called the Representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE). Since that time the RMCE has been dedicated to ending the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Sudanese government against the people of Darfur.
RMCE%u2019s founding members came form many different ethnic Sudanese backgrounds including the Massaleit, Fur, Dajo, Zagawa, Bargo, Gimir, Tama, Berty, Barno, Meme, people from the Nuba Mountains, South Sudan, and other parts of Sudan. Believing that the pen is mightier than the sword, the members of the RMCE sought to protect the people of Darfur through peaceful means such as advocacy and education. With no financial resources, Mohamed Yayha and other members of the RMCE began this work by writing reports and circulating them, on foot, to all the Embassies in Cairo, Egypt.

[lewismary74]

I am part of the Denver chapter of www.savedarfur.com. We held a rally on Sunday April 29 at Cheesman Park in Denver. One of the ways that we as citizens of the USA and more importantly citizens of the World is to call on states to divest from companies doing business with the government in Khartoum. The speakers for the event were: Andrew Romanoff, Colorado Speaker of the House who was instrumental in the Colorado Divestment bill which our Governor signed in May. Achmed Ali, the Secretary General of the Darfur Association in USA (DAUSA) and Daowd Salih, the Board President of the Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy.
I was able to host Daowd on Saturday night, as this is truly a grassroots movement and lots of non-profit organizations are involved we have to give as much of ourselves as possible. Daowd is a refugee of the Massaleit tribe from the Darfur Region of Sudan. The Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE) is a human rights Group that was founded in Egypt by Mohamed Yahya, Daowd Salih, and others in 1995 to alert the world of the abuses unfolding in Western Sudan.
Damanga is a new organization that works on human rights and advocates for peace and democracy in Darfur and Sudan. Mr. Yahya and Damanga%u2019s other founding members have established Damanga to expand upon the human rights work and support efforts undertaken by RMCE in the past.

[bluemule6]

"Using these euphemisms, we could report that what the Democrats did to the US Congress last November was %u201Cpolitical cleansing.%u201D
Posted by RobRansone at 07:50 PM : Aug 12, 2007
-------------------------------------------------
What an absurd notion RobRansone. Do you feel the democrats took Congress by force?

[bluemule6]

Why should the US government take tax dollars we need and throw them away in Africa? Why should we respond when all the other countries in Africa don't take any action? Plus, what has all the trillions of dollars of aid given to Africa over the years done to improve things there? Nothing at all is the answer. Africa needs to learn to wipe its own behind or suffer the consequences.
The United States is not the world's moral police and we should not suffer the financial burden of playing moral police all over the world either for it usually just brings resentment anyway.
Africa has always been and will always be in chaos. If it is not genocide in Sudan it is genocide in Zimbabwe or the Congo or Rwanda. There is no fix that money can buy that will improve this behavior.

[tcarter29]

Why can't our government send troops to protect these people? This is such horrific crimes being committed against them. I do not understand how our government can turn their back on these children, and the people who suffer such crimes day after day. I applaud 60 minutes for bringing this story to our attention. After the story was over it seems like the rest of america will just continue to view their television sets and think "wow what a horrible situation", and then go on with their daily lives.
I wish there was some way to stop the injustic, President Bush and the rest of the politicians have the power to do more.....Instead of "sleeping with the enemy".

[amabala1]

This ghastly state of affairs has nothing to do with racism. The Sudanese and Darfurians are all of the same race; they're all Negroes. Arabs are what you find in Irag, Libya and Morocco, with distinct aquiline features; not so in Sudan. It may be that the (barely) lighter skinned elites in Khartoum fancy themselves as non-black people, but that's what they are nevertheless. It's much like the situation in Haiti where the mocha-colored Negroes consider themselves superior to their blacker cousins. But they're all of the same race. Despite their pretenses, the Sudanese rulers aren't "Arabs". They're black folk, and would certainly be considered as such anywhere outside Sudan.

[robransone]

I strongly objecct to the euphemisms by the media of the term: %u201CEthnic cleansing%u201D coined in 1991 to make the murder and genocide atrocities in Europe sound more palatable %u2013 even desirable.

According to Merriam-Webster%u2019s 11th Collegiate Dictionary: %u201CEthnic Cleansing: the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity(1991).%u201D

%u201CEuphemism : the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.%u201D

But what does it say about the term %u201Ccleansing?%u201D

%u201CCleansing: to clean; especially to rid of impurities by or as if by washing%u201D

So in Croatia several years ago the mass murders were OK because they were needed to %u201Crid the country of impurities?%u201D

Come on media %u2013 stop parroting the euphemisms of the terrorists that make their actions sound clean and necessary: call it %u201Cmass murder,%u201D %u201Cgenocide,%u201D %u201Catrocities,%u201D call it what it really is!

Using these euphemisms, we could report that what the Democrats did to the US Congress last November was %u201Cpolitical cleansing.%u201D

[alexh283]

The situation in Darfur is simple outrageous. How could humans in today's society do such things to other humans? I%u2019m taking action by raising attention to the situation my school. I feel like I can do my part to help the people of Darfur by getting as much attention to the situation as possible. I advise others to do their part as well and help save Darfur.

[alexh283]

The situation in Darfur is simple outrageous. How could humans in today's society do such things to other humans? I%u2019m taking action by raising attention to the situation my school. I feel like I can do my part to help the people of Darfur by getting as much attention to the situation as possible. I advise others to do their part as well and help save Darfur.

[alexh283]

The situation in Darfur is simple outrageous. How could humans in today's society do such things to other humans? I%u2019m taking action by raising attention to the situation my school. I feel like I can do my part to help the people of Darfur by getting as much attention to the situation as possible. I advise others to do their part as well and help save Darfur.

[judebenhur]

I can't believe the US in turning the other cheek on this mass murder. But as usual, the gov't is only involved so much as it can get something out of the situation. So, I guess I'm not surprised. I just wonder how they ever manage to have fun with their families knowing that they have real power to make this situation better but choose not to.

[bcornven]

60 minutes did an excellent job on the crisis in Darfur. Our gov't, as usual under Bush, is failing to take positive steps to stop this genocide.

[robwca]

Dear 60 Minutes,

Scott Pelley did a fine job showing the human side to this atrocity. It was bittersweet when they found Jacob in the refugee camp, but my heart sank when Jacob told how his 4 yr brother died. Thank you for putting this in perspective.

[sggunter1]

Jacob, may you find peace one day. Your books that you sent back, will always be there for you.

[lolonurse]

I am the daughter, grand-daughter, niece and cousin of Holocaust survivors - and Holocaust victims. I was appreciative of the piece on Darfur genocide, apparently with the tacit wink-and-nod sanction of the American government - until Scott Pelley made the comment "To be fair..."... 'we receive some good intelligence' by turning our backs on the horror, in exchange for info on terrorists.

I was really horrified! The use of that phrase totally minimized the reality of MURDER, rape, plunder, "ethnic cleansing"- just as we essentially ignored and denied the Nazi activities, and allowed American businesses to sell the Nazis supplies for their war crimes, until we were pulled into the war, and HAD TO behave respectfully. How many people actually know that Prescott Bush, the President's grandfather, sold arms to the Nazis, or that the numbers tattooed on Concentration Camp prisoners' arms were IBM ID codes?

I cannot believe that 60 Minutes allowed Mr. Pelley to make such a callous, obviously heartless statement, which, to me, totally negated the impact of the story. Perhaps he just doesn't understand the word "fair".

[peace-n-luv]

.
I am relived this genocide has finally reached mainstream news. About 1-2 years ago, I saw this atrocity on BBC news. Now that this genocide has aired, the American people have become aware of this genocide. It is time for our goverment to take a stand. THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER. WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION!!!!!!

[mikemar4]

Al Sharpton went to South Sudan in April 2001 at the behest of an American civil rights organization. He witnessed a slave redemption, where slaves were bought back for cash into freedom. A just released woman slave (all this was covered in the NY Post which sent along a reporter)hearing that Sharpton was an influential American complained to him that the problem was that the world didn't know what was happening. He said "they will now". But he never did anything, a few qiet press conferences, that's it. He virtually closed down NYC over the death of one African immigrant, Amadou Diallo. He organized mass protests for a week for Amadou. But for the 400,000 plus dead Darfurians, nothing. For the women being raped daily, nothing. He could have led a thousand people day after day sitting down in front of the UN, but he never did. Never said a word during the Pres. debates. Never said anything at the Dem. National Convention. Never said a word at Farrakhns Million Man March anniversary. Of course the Black Muslims deny there is slavery in Sudan. I know this is Darfur, not South Sudan, but Farrakhan is cozy with the Bashir Khartoum gov't. Is Sharpton afraid of Farrakhan, probably. So what, masses amts. of people are dying. Sharpton could have brought this issue to the fore. He could have embarrassed Bush into action, by constant sit ins. He refused. He deserted the blacks of Darfur.

[apdobson]

I find this one of the most disheartening stories that 60 minutes has ever done, not to mention, because of the willingness -- eagerness -- of the United States to accept scraps of information on terrorism as a validity to allow the incredibly terrifying behavior of the Sudan%u2019s dictator Omar AlBashir, repugnant. President Bush's remarks to AlBashir are empty and pointless. We (the United States) have once again traded our very soul for the fact that we have something to gain from this evil. I do not believe that the ends justify the means and that we must do "whatever it takes." When "whatever it takes" is taking life, liberty, and any possibility of a pursuit of happiness from a people, we ought to think long and hard about how many congressmen and women would like their home towns destroyed, their mothers, wives, and daughters gang raped, their sons and husbands murdered, all because someone can give out a piece of information. We cannot expect to continue to buy our freedom at the price of others whoa re not reaping the rewards of our society. For 60 minutes to make the statement that %u201Cto be fair, we have received good information%u201D is pandering to the United States political machine that is, in effect, assisting AlBashir in committing genocide. We cannot have it both ways.