Wednesday, May 14, 2008

'Genocide Olympic' by whose version?

Hantu Laut
<span class=Janjaweed = Devils on Horseback"
Janjaweed. Literal translation = devils on horseback.

I have removed my link with "mia farrow.org". I don't agree with her recent action of asking the Western countries to boycott the Olympic Game in Beijing and to pressure the Chinese government to divest its economic activities in Sudan in relation to the Darfur crisis.

Her action is typical of American hegemonic policy, smack of double standard and without any basis other than trying to further American monopolistic control over the world crude oil trade.

I have been and still is a strong advocate of 'Save Darfur' campaign, as can be seen from my many previous posts, to bring awareness to the rest of the world of the genocide in Darfur.I appreciated her work in that respect.

As an individual she has done more than most countries and other individuals to bring to the world attention the human tragedy happening in Darfur and the Sudanese government participation in the genocide.

Even today as women,children and men are systematically slaughtered, raped and driven away from their land, the world stood still and did nothing to stop this execrable human tragedy.

The countries that have the resources to stop or lessen the atrocities would be America and her allies, Britain and the Western European countries.None have done anything significant to stop the Sudanese government from using the Janjaweed militia to commit such atrocities.

American and her allies, in defiance of UN Resolution, have conducted an illegal war on Afghanistan and Iraq that killed hundred of thousands of innocent people in the two countries that have no means of defending themselves against the military might of the Western alliance, but wouldn't lift a finger to exert military pressure on the Sudanese government that have already killed more than 500,000 of its own people.

I believe Mia Farrow had fallen victim to politicians with an agenda and being used by those in the corridors of power to try subvert China's rising economic power and growing importance as a global player in the world's market.

PetroChina, the biggest oil producer in Sudan is targeted by Western media and made as scapegoat for the atrocities.One of the major investor in PetroChina is Fidelity Investment, an American company.Despite months of engagement and thousands of complaints, Fidelity has thus far refused to accept any responsibility or divest its investment.Another American hypocrisy!

In February Steven Spielberg resigned from his role as artistic director of the Beijing Olympics declaring that in the face of genocide it "cannot be business as usual."Another American hypocrisy!

Below is an article written by Ronan Farrow and Mia Farrow and published in the Wall Street Journal on March 28,2007 calling the Beijing Olympic "Genocide Olympic".

The 'Genocide Olympics'


By RONAN FARROW and MIA FARROW

"One World, One Dream" is China's slogan for its 2008 Olympics. But there is one nightmare that China shouldn't be allowed to sweep under the rug. That nightmare is Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than two-and-a-half million driven from flaming villages by the Chinese-backed government of Sudan.

That so many corporate sponsors want the world to look away from that atrocity during the games is bad enough. But equally disappointing is the decision of artists like director Steven Spielberg -- who quietly visited China this month as he prepares to help stage the Olympic ceremonies -- to sanitize Beijing's image. Is Mr. Spielberg, who in 1994 founded the Shoah Foundation to record the testimony of survivors of the holocaust, aware that China is bankrolling Darfur's genocide?

China is pouring billions of dollars into Sudan. Beijing purchases an overwhelming majority of Sudan's annual oil exports and state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. -- an official partner of the upcoming Olympic Games -- owns the largest shares in each of Sudan's two major oil consortia. The Sudanese government uses as much as 80% of proceeds from those sales to fund its brutal Janjaweed proxy militia and purchase their instruments of destruction: bombers, assault helicopters, armored vehicles and small arms, most of them of Chinese manufacture. Airstrips constructed and operated by the Chinese have been used to launch bombing campaigns on villages. And China has used its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to repeatedly obstruct efforts by the U.S. and the U.K. to introduce peacekeepers to curtail the slaughter. Read more....

The article is lop-sided, grand-standing, sardonic and smell of a rat.

China is not my friend and it is neither the best example of preserver of human rights and what I wrote here might not make any difference to people like Mia Farrow and her conscience, but it's a revelation of the truth and the way I feel about this whole charade of sanctimoniousness and high moral principles.

Related articles:
China's Crude Conscience
Olympic Sponsor Report card. Most flunk.

9 comments:

Monsterball said...

Well, "China has used its veto power on the U.N. Security Council " to prevent anybody from doing anything is true...Not one single Security Council resolution on Darfur has gone through.

Anonymous said...

I find your persistent attempt to identify negative Western influence in major world issues somewhat troubling.
It is probably true that articles by Mia Farrow maybe a little lopsided or incomplete (due to various reasons), but I can assure you that such humanitarians are equally annoying to Western politicians as they are to you.
This is because politics is about cooperation while humanitarianism is based on certain high moral principles. They are rather different at times.
So please do not equate Western humanitarianism with Western political self-interest.
At least something concrete is being done.

Anonymous said...

The Darfur conflict was started by Arabs invading African farmland in search of water. The Arab Sudanese government are using Chinese investments and aid to finance the Janjaweed. Just like the only way to kick out the US and its allies from Afghanistan and Iraq is to cut off the financing their military machine fighting in these two countries, the only way to stop the Janjaweed is to cut of their financing.

Chinese money must be stopped from financing the Janjaweed. In the West the democratic process is being used to kick out the Republicans and Labour to stop the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since China is not a democratic country the only way is to stop the flow of money to the Janjaweed is to use an internationally prominent event to put pressure on the Chinese.

You say that "The countries that have the resources to stop or lessen the atrocities would be America and her allies, Britain and the Western European countries.None have done anything significant to stop the Sudanese government from using the Janjaweed militia to commit such atrocities". Reality check: no Chinese money no Janjaweed. The CHINESE ARE the ones solely in control of the money going into the Sudan. PetroChina leads and controls the involvement of the Chinese in Sudan’s oil industry. Fidelity is just one of the investors in PetroChina. Fidelity play little no role in the management of PetroChina. Moreover, China have vetoed every UN Security Council resolution which sought to bring peace to the region.

The conflict in Darfur IS a racial conflict among fellow Muslims with deep roots in the history of the region. This is something which many Muslims like you choose to ignore. Africans in this part of the world are finally fighting the Arabs tooth and nail to prevent themselves from being marginalized by the Arabs in their own continent.

AFRICANS WILL STOP THE ARAB MUSLIM BASTARDS FROM SUBJUGATING THEM ONCE MORE LIKE THE ARAB MUSLIM BASTARD SLAVE TRADERS USED TO.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONFLICT IN THE SUDAN NOW?

Anonymous said...

why ioc members choose beijing at the first place?

and i dont understand why our gov really rely on china...crude palm oil for trains...now what has happened to the train?
why borrow money from china for png 2nd bridge

south sudan should separate from sudan and this can lead darfur breakaway

gram.kong said...

kittykat46,
I am not defending China's system of government.To be fair, other members of the Security Council, for right or wrong , had used the veto power to protect their interests.

In Sept 1972 the US employed its veto to shield Israel.Between 1972 to 1997 Washington had used its veto 32 times to shield Israel from critical draft resolution.

What China did was nothing compared to what the American did to protect its ally in the Middle East who commits atrocities against the Palestinians.

Although not on the same scale as what's happening in Sudan, Israel is no less responsible for death and destruction of human lives and properties.

gram.kong said...

supa,
You are reading too much in between the lines.I have given her credits for her humantarian work and still believe in her sincerity to do good, but there are occassions when good intention can be swayed by other factors that made us acquiescence and do the most unlikely thing.

I think Mia Farrow has taken her cause to the wrong front.Making China the scapegoat for what happened in Darfur and using the Olympic Game as a furtherance to her cause is completely unjustified .
It is a war of attrition and ethnic cleansing over oil.

Do you honestly think if other nationality instead of China was in the oilfields of Sudan there wouldn't be any genocide?

gram.kong said...

anonymous,
Thank you for the lesson in history of Sudan and Sudanese people.

As they say 'a little knowledge is dangerous and ignorance is bliss'.

Surely, Chinese money goes to finance the Janjaweed to kill black African, there is no doubt about it and China is not a democratic country and this appalling behaviour although unacceptable came as no surprise.

The proponent of every thing good coming from the West, from people, just like you, who excel in reading history but has little perception of reality and the truth.

You say "no Chinese money no Janjaweed".Do you honestly think if the Chinese were not there they wouldn't be any genocide?

Do you honestly think if it was German,French,English or US companies in the Sudan oilfields, there wouldn't be genocide?

Who supported,finance and bought the crude oil from the Shah of Iran who used his secret police(SAVAK) to torture and kill political opponents?

Who supported Marcos of Philippines, who robbed his country dry and caused so much poverty and misery to its people from which the country had not been able to recover till today.

Who supported, finance and supply arms to Sadam Hussein and bought all his crude oil in the eight-year war with Iran at the cost of over 2 millions lives from both sides.

Who supports and buys the oil from the repressive kingdom of Saudi Arabia using draconian Islamic Law to suppress its people and lavished themselves with exuberant extravagance from the oil money.

The list can go on and there wouldn't enough space in this little box to fill in.

Now, you tell me whether the Western nations have any conscience.

I well understand the history and conflicts of Darfur and that's why Muslim like me are concerned,chose not to ignore it and brought up the subject every now and then, albeit hopelessly.

If you do come back next time and you are most welcome to do so, please give yourself a name.

Unknown said...

Truce!

Let the Games begin & let's make some more money quick by using those abundant poor, cheap Chinese labors and enjoy our good life before China gets smart.

Let's salute:

Viva Communist China & the Free World!

Viva Poor Chinese Laborers & Greedy Mongers of the Free World!!

Viva China's Cheap Products & the West's Good Life!!!

To hell with those Western nonsense on democracy, justice and this-&-that rights. Leave those craps in the academic circles!!!

Anonymous said...

"You say "no Chinese money no Janjaweed".Do you honestly think if the Chinese were not there they wouldn't be any genocide?" As usual speculation not based on facts. The fact is there is a genocide of Africans carried out by Arab Muslims financed with Chinese money.

Secondly, "The proponent of everything good coming from the West, from people, just like you, who excel in reading history but has little perception of reality and the truth." I have never defended nor ignored the atrocities of the West in my previous post. This unfounded accusation only betrays a deeply held anti-Western bias on your part. Please read carefully.

Thirdly, you have blatantly choosen to downplay the racial persecution carried out by the Arabs on Africans. Why? Are Arab Muslims or Muslims in general incapable of racism. Is this racism too much of an inconvenient truth for Muslims like you to accept.

These three things betrays a lack of objectivity on your part. You are the one who have chosen to be blissfully ignorant of the racist nature of the Darfur conflict. Do Arab countries have any "conscience" here?