Contemporary Islamic Movements and Issues Dec. 3-5
Contemporary Movements & Issues To Conclude the Course: An examination of two contemporary legacies of the case studies we have examined: - Sudan (Dec. 3): -the resurrection of slave raiding and trading; slavery as an institution in the North - re-creation stereotype Arab=Slave Trader=Islam - political use of both reality and stereotype
Independent Sudan Decade 1989 1999: Sudan attractive to Islamicists, (said to be) supporting terrorists: 1995: - UN imposed sanctions against Sudan, isolating country and people 1998: - United States launched cruise missiles destroying pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Khartoum -- allegedly manufacturing chemical weapons - US. claimed Sudanese factory financed by non other than infamous (now late ) Osama bin Laden. [also relates to Lecture Dec. 5 on Islamism in Nigeria ]
Independent Sudan Decade 1989-1999: devastating Civil War continued - more than 1.5 million Sudanese died - some 13,000 children said to have been taken into slavery - slave trading, raiding revived on pre-colonial scale - government implicated as backer of Modern Slave-Trade business (including provision arms, blind eye to conditions of slavery etc.)
Independent Sudan Since 1999: - international attention focused on evidence that slavery (slave raiding, slave marketing, slave use) widespread in Sudan Argument: - raids intensified in 1990s contingent with escalation Civil War - Arab raiders from north enslaved thousands of Southerners - black, largely Dinka
Independent Sudan International view: - simple story of Arab (White-Black) Racism and Islamic Slavery [not realistic; see following photo] Sudanese Government view: - simply victims of war Historical view: - complex consequence legacy historical developments: 19 th c. Egyptian slave trade; colonial policies especially in attempt to control Islam; evolution freed-slave populations; government exploitation social racism [reference Sadiq al-mahdi s comments in Sudan video ]
Street scene, Khartoum (n.d.): man reading paper literate in Arabic, both males dressed in Arab, Muslim clothing; Women clearly dressed in modest Muslim clothing (one in veil, other in long dress, headscarf). All black (not Arab ) with African features. Distinctions North-White-Arab vs South-Black-African not realistic
Independent Sudan Additional Legacy: Darfur Conflict 2003-10 - 2004: war intensified in northwestern Darfur - Darfur crisis often misunderstood - this is strongly Muslim part of Sudan (as we have seen, formed during Colonial rule, Neo-Mahdist policies) - issue is typical post-colonial competition for wealth and control over resources in this case oil
Independent Sudan So: what was it about? - Oil and its control
Independent Sudan Khartoum Government: - dealt with rebellion by allowing pro-government militias (Janjaweed) to massacre villagers, rebel groups in region - militias are white Arabs ; villagers, rebels are black non-arabs
Independent Sudan Armed by the government: - militias killed close to 300,000 civilians - displaced more than 1 million (involving Uganda, Chad as refugee hosts ) - took thousands of slaves
Independent Sudan Important to emphasize: - While the war in the south was fought against black Christians and animists - Darfur conflict was fought against black Muslims - therefore Darfur was NOT about Muslims enslaving non-muslims as it is often portrayed - complicates the stereotype and the public narrative
Independent Sudan Resurrecting the Arab, Muslim Slave Trader: - the revival of slave raiding/trading and slavery itself in 1990s captured world, especially North American, attention - in the US, two men brought situation to light: Charles Jacob, Samuel Cotton
Independent Sudan Charles Jacobs: - white, Jewish, management consultant in Boston - became aware of Sudan and slavery and - founded the American Anti-Slavery Group in 1994 - allied with Christian Solidarity International (CSI) to buy back 1000s Sudanese slaves from 1995 onwards (latest redemptions, 2011)
Independent Sudan Samuel Cotton: - Afro-American, Christian, PhD student Columbia University (New York) - initiated Coalition Against Slavery in Mauritania and Sudan (CASMAS) March 1995 [under auspices of Jacobs organization] - wrote several inflammatory newspaper articles that year, posted on CASMAS website - later wrote Silent Terror about slavery in Mauritania
Independent Sudan For Both Men: Sudan s Slavery was Key - testified before US congress committees on both Mauritania and Sudan but latter better able to attract and retain public attention - characterized in terms of white Muslim Arabs enslaving Black non-muslim Africans, backed by Northern Sudan s Islamic regime in Khartoum
Independent Sudan Cotton s Articles: - wrote series for New York paper The City Sun spring 1995 - black paper: audience Afro-Americans - general theme: why aren t Black Americans speaking up against slavery (in both Mauritania and Sudan, but Sudan referenced most) given their own slave roots?
Independent Sudan Two sub-themes developed in this context: [assuming Commonality between Mauritanian, Sudanese cases]: 1. - slaves are black and African ; slave raiders, traders and masters are white and Arab ; governments of both countries are Arab and Islamic - Africans, therefore, hate Arabs; African Americans should, by extension, share this hatred as it lies at the heart of their recent ancestors enslavement.
Independent Sudan 2. - Arab enslavers (both individuals and governments) are Muslim; therefore Muslims enslave and Islam is a religion of enslavement - Islamic governments are Arab and support slavery - why would any African American, then, be Muslim? Why would African Americans and African American Leadership support Islamic regimes?
Independent Sudan The Slavery Issue: Black Leadership in Crisis : - title of one of Cotton s articles - says it all: the slavery issue referred to is Sudan and the measure being used to evaluate African- American Leadership (Jesse Jackson in particular) is its position vis-à-vis Sudan (that is to say an Islamic government) - what this article shows clearly is Cotton s main concern: African American politics and Islam
Independent Sudan Although Cotton had visited neither Mauritania nor Sudan at this point: -condemned those who accepted Sudan s invitation to visit and see for themselves as being mere dupes of the Arabs - while such official visits are always suspect, Cotton s argument was that engagement with Sudan (Jackson s position, for example) was equivalent to complicity in Slavery: Sudan s Government = Arab = Muslim = [by definition] Enslaver
Independent Sudan Sorrow and Shame: Brutal North African Trade Ignored and Denied [in Additional Readings] - characterization, first sub-theme explicitly developed - article divided into sections: 1. The African and the Arab ; 2. An African Perspective ; 3. The Arab and the African American
Independent Sudan 1. Both Africans and African Americans acknowledge a common place of origin, and both have served as human fodder for the Arab slave trade. However, the Black American appears to have forgiven the Arabs for their participation in the slave trade, while they continue to hold the feet of White Americans and Jews to the fire for their participation. Black spiritual and political leaders travel to Islamic Fundamentalist countries where they have ties and friendships, and sources report that Arab money funds a number of Black politicians.
Independent Sudan 2. "The African never wanted anything to do with the Arab, because he is a slave trader and we have never forgiven him for the slave trade," said Benedict Lagu, the soft spoken and friendly son of the former Vice President of the Republic of Sudan (1978 to 1980). "The Arab will always try to enslave people because it is in his culture to enslave people. The Arab is an expansionist, he will never be satisfied with just the North of Sudan. In reality, he will not be satisfied until the whole world worships Islam.
Independent Sudan Simon Deng, Minister of Information for the Southern Sudanese Community in America added, "To the Arab, the African is born to be his slave. It does not matter that some have the same skin color as you, color is not the issue here, they consider themselves Arabs. The issue is the mind and the belief of the people and this is a problem that involves two things-- race and religion. They consider all the Southern Sudanese as slaves. When they look at you they say "Abit" which means slave, because if you are non-muslim and Black you are fit to be a slave.... "Arabs are not considered part of Africa," the enmity that exists between the Arab and the Black African, and the belief systems that say Black Africans are inferior and born to serve the Arab are supported by the historical narrative.
Independent Sudan 3. Particularly in the Sudan, there has been a concerted effort to suppress the facts concerning the existence of chattel slavery. It is the most embarrassing, dark little secret in the Arab world. It's exposure in the West, particularly to the African-American community, would have a devastating impact on the oil-financed Arabist agenda" says Najib Khuri, a Lebanese Christian and New York Area Director. "A major part of that agenda is to enlist, through deception and manipulation, African-American support in its efforts to both Arabize and Islamize Africa and the entire Middle East. it appears to be working in some quarters. Black leaders appear to be giving that support by their silence and ineptitude.
Independent Sudan Association Arab, Islam, Slavery: important implications in US - reference to oil and Arabist agenda spoke directly to another agenda: permanent Jewish lobby and Israeli agenda (more below) - reference to Muslim African Americans spoke to Louis Farkhanan s rapidly growing and powerful Islamic Movement : through the rhetoric of anti-slavery, these articles were attacking a major source of American conversion to Islam
Independent Sudan Charles Jacobs American Anti-Slavery Group activities: [ Eradication of Slavery, Additional Resources] - association with AASG led to accusations that CASMAS (Cotton) was working for Jewish lobby [see Self-Serving Propagandists, Resources] - consistent with anti-islam rhetoric but never proven - personal African American agenda (in my view) more central
Independent Sudan AASG and Jacobs: - Jacobs long history with Jewish-American, pro-israel politics [some argue AASG nothing more than new name for old wine ] - quickly became involved with CSI and slave redemption - extremely controversial: convincing evidence, arguments that $100s of $1000s poured into buying freedom of captured slaves merely fueling war
Independent Sudan - and therefore, more slave raiding, trading - meanwhile, source of major corruption Southern Sudan - arguments made by leading world humanitarian organizations (eg. Amnesty International), also by many in SPLA itself - argument: it was a scam in which locals participated as supposed slaves, masters, traders, officials money collected funded on-going business
Independent Sudan Main winner : those who profited from war - these arguments rejected by AASG/CSI as co-optation by Arab Government - redemption expeditions continue (into 2011-12)
Independent Sudan Charles Jacobs: - accuses those who criticize redemptions of racism: not capable of accusing non-whites of slavery so much of contemporary world slavery especially in Sudan will continue [Mauritania has disappeared as equally horrendous state] - special targets : international humanitarian organizations
Independent Sudan AASG supports website iabolish.org : - notable that goals include eradicating human condition of slavery, everywhere but - special attention is given to slavery in Sudan - current page publishes article by Nev Elis in which Jacobs focal subject and interview [ Eradicating Slavery, Resources] : articulates directly the Israel/Jewish agenda
Independent Sudan The new state [of Southern Sudan] is inherently pro-israel, Jacobs says, having fought off an Islamist enemy and overcome a history of slavery. It's an extraordinary historical moment that you have the newest country in the world embracing Israel," Jacobs says. In his view, Israel has a lot to offer South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world. After all, Israel has some experience making the desert bloom. Jacobs even sees opportunity in the waves of Sudanese refugees in Israel "Israel has an enormous opportunity to educate them while they're here. It would be a wonderful thing. A magnificent thing."
Independent Sudan And for its part, Israel, which has already hosted South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, might gain something valuable in return from South Sudan: an ally in the UN and the notoriously anti-israel Human Rights Council in particular. Given the Council's past positions on slavery, South Sudan will surely find the chance to make its voice heard there extremely satisfying. [Worth noting: This article was first published in The Jerusalem Post Magazine]
Independent Sudan Conclusion: - issues here are not about slavery per se - still controversial but enough personal tragedies emerging to confirm SOME degree of truth to allegations [readings in both Additional and Resources address both sides ; slave voices are precisely that]
Independent Sudan What is significant as we look at legacies : - ways in which history being drawn upon/re-drawn in distorted ways to substantiate current reality - ways in which resurrected stereotypes about Arabs, Slavers, Muslims being used in politics (in this case American) for purposes unrelated to actual fate of Sudanese people be they northerners or southerners - example of appropriation of voice but difficult to hear especially when voice is Black
Contemporary Movements & Issues An examination of two contemporary legacies of the case studies we have examined: - Nigeria (Dec. 5): - the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in the North - establishment of sharia law throughout region - emergence Boko Haram, terrorist group seeking to create Islamic State - tying into Islamic terrorism across sahel-sahara: al-qaida
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria - If colonial rule had created a country of three competing ethnic/geographic regions, the legacy of colonial policy regarding sharia created a newly divided country - Ethnicity cross cut by religion - Federalism by north-south divide - Politics in first decades of 21 st century defined by both - Society victim to violence not known since Independence and the Biafra War - North now home to self-defined Islamic terrorist group
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Map of Sharia States (Northern Nigeria): c. 2000 [refer to Lecture Oct. 22-26]
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Responses Immediate -- In Kano: - Hausa locals attacked Yoruba - gangs attacked shops, burnt buildings - related to violence in south (Yoruba attacked Hausa in town of Sagamu, killing at least 50; hundreds fled) See Kano Tense after Ethnic Riots, Add l Resources
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Responses Immediate -- in Kaduna: - riots between Christians-Muslims: 1000 people killed - three months later: more conflict, extra police, soldiers; 200 killed - poorer neighbourhoods hardest hit: 100s buildings burned down - officials denied this was religious : locals confirmed gangs organized around Christian-Muslim affiliations [See 200 dead in Kaduna Riots, in Add l Resources]
Note Significant Wealth Differences between North and South (as well as states)
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Kano (left) 1999, Kanduna (below) 2000
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Since 2001, Jos (Middle Belt) seen intermittent eruptions of ethnic and religious violence: - 2001: more than 700 people killed (Christians vs. Muslims) - 2004: similar conflict, 500 people killed - 2008: almost 400 people killed, 1000s fled - 2010: more violence -- 30 killed, 300 injured; 1000s fled, required Red Cross assistance
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Jos (central Nigeria) January 2008
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Jos (central Nigeria) January 2010
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Soldier guarding Mosque Jos, 2010 Displaced Flee Violence, Jos 2010
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria 2009: Emergence Boko Haram (center Maiduguri): - name in Hausa means Western Education is Sacrilege - wants stricter version Sharia across Nigeria
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria July 2009: - attacked Police Station - violence plus gov t crackdown : 700 dead, group s mosque destroyed - leader died in custody -- considered execution - group went underground - even listening to sermon by follower would lead to arrest
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Boko Harem Leader, died in detention (above); Followers Under Arrest (right)
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Maiduguri Prison set on Fire (Sept. 2009) : 750-800 prisoners set free; guards, bystanders killed
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria October 12, 2010: - anniversary of 2009 attack: bombed central police station - random drive by attacks: police, those who testified in trials following 2009 violence - assassinated cleric who denounced group s Islamic ideology - authorities believed group re-armed, gaining new strength
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Abubakar Shekau, deputy leader believed killed in 2009; Re-emerged summer 2010: current Boko Haram Leader
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Activities over 2010-11: - ongoing Maiduguri shootings (dozens) - May 2011 escalated to bombing: several states after President s inauguration - June 2011: bombed Police Headquarters, Abuja (capital city)
Independence and Sharia Law 2010: al-qaida of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) announced support for Boko Haram - training, weapons - tactics different: Boko Haram focussed on domestic targets, AQIM funded itself with kidnappings of foreigners (Mali, Mauritania, Niger) - more than two dozen in last decade (most recent, two weeks ago)
Independence and Sharia Law Key Development -- attack on United Nations target: August 2011, launched suicide bomb attack UN headquarters in Abuja - interpreted as operating on larger scale, reflecting al- Qaida support - followed in Novemeber: coordinated bomb/gun attacks in two other states - Christmas Day: multiple bomb attacks, killing dozens
[c. 2010-2012]
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Compare with Map c. 2000: now ALL twelve states fully Sharia
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Boko Haram Today B -- escalated goals -- al-qaida support
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Significant Development: Spring/Summer 2012 - Tuareg Independence Movement in Northern Mali became centre Islamist activity - secular movement allied with two Islamist groups (not a choice, latter better armed, see below) - Ansar al-dine and Movement of Unity for Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA also MOJWA, oneness ) BOTH affiliated with al-qaida (in the Islamic Maghreb AQIM)
[also Ansar Dine] Map Representing Areas of Connected Islamist Activity, August 2012
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Movement for Oneness/Unity and Jihad in West Africa: Committed to creation of Islamic state, including all of Mali Imposition Sharia law: non-negotiable Cutting off of hands (thieves) Stoning (in principal, to death) adulterers; flogging others Denial (women) right to move about publicly unless with male family member Denial of education for girls Destruction local religious shrines, tombs of saints, libraries Reported recruitment hundreds children into forces
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Military Intervention in Mali: inevitable - Tuareg nationalist movement is negotiating but no longer holds real power - Ansar al-dine uncertain: has agreed to talks but leadership appears divided on goals - MOJWA: in dominant position, not negotiating At the moment: situation gives growing power to Boko Haram
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Differences between Mali and Nigeria Disappearing: - Mali s situation began with nationalist movement, in itself post-colonial legacy, fueled by trained, armed soldiers from Gadhafi s Libya - Islamic Groups took advantage of situation - Nigeria s situation: Islamism was home-grown legacy of colonial rule - But offered same advantages to al-qaida
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Solution? - unclear -government seemingly unresponsive - rumours of back-door negotiations in Saudi Arabia denied - connections said to extend to al-shababa, Islamic group in Somalia
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria Areas occupied by al-qaida-affiliated groups Africa-Yemen 2012
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria [article] Dec. 5, 2012: Now, Boko Haram seems to be growing more violent with a record number of people killed this year and slowly internationalizing its stance, a possible danger for the rest of West Africa. More than 770 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks so far this year, according to an Associated Press count, making 2012 the worst year of violence attributed to the group.
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria [article] Dec. 5, 2012: "Weak border security as well as corruption - and even membership of immigration officials in Boko Haram - could facilitate the travel of militants between northern Mali and Nigeria," warned analyst Jacob Zenn in an October publication by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. "The insurgency is likely to become more diverse and complex over time, which will limit the efficacy of negotiations." [see Boko Harem Grows more Deadly, Additional Readings]
Contemporary Issues: Nigeria [article] Dec. 5, 2012: the killings and threats continue. In a video posted last week to an online jihadist forum, Shekau said killing police "is permissible" and called democracy "a disbelieving system," while also applauding other Islamist insurgencies around the world. "Did jihad stop? No, a thousand no's," Shekau said, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group. "Jihad doesn't stop until Allah wills it to be stopped, and with the glory of Allah the almighty, oh disbelievers, oh apostates, oh hypocrites, die from your frustration. [see Boko Harem Grows more Deadly, Additional Readings]
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Epilogue: East African Coast - attention understandably directed towards Mali-Nigeria these days - cannot forget Islamist activity in Somalia al-shababa - region has historical linkages as far south as Mozambique: as late as 1876, maps showed Zanguebar incorporating coastal region
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Recent article [ Muslim Extremism, Additional Resources] argues that Swahili Coast survived Omani Empire in terms of culture: remained distinct Zanzibar: - has taken on new character in alliance with Islamic Cleric, leader of Uamsho ( awakening ) - Islamic Charity recently become radical Political Group - fuelled by 85% unemployment rate
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Goals: - independence (from Tanzanzia) for Island: 1964 union has not worked time for divorce [similar to MNLA] - openly provokes resentment against mainlanders - restricted alcohol consumption: members said to be involved in attacks on bars (owned by foreigners ) - dress-code ( modest ) for tourists: main economy of Island
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Dar al-salaam (mainland Tanzania): - October 2012: worst religious riots in years - churches looted and burned - radical cleric arrested, charged with inciting violence
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Mombassa (Kenya): - local cleric assassinated (August 2012): radical connections Somalia, frequent visitor Zanzibar city responded with violence - Mombassa Republican Council: accused of harbouring jihadists, attacked by government secessionist goals - October: leader arrested (by government); three members killed; another leading cleric since arressted for supporting council, secessionists goals
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Potential Danger: -article questions what might happen if these groups link up as their historical connections suggest is likely Concludes: The recent discovery of gas along the coast could make things still worse. Mohamed Hafidh Khalfan, an economist at the State University of Zanzibar, fears a Nigerian-style insurgency, Poverty is like a fuel that just needs a spark to blow it up.
Contemporary Issues: Post-Script Legacies as seen in Contemporary Issues: - re-uniting, re-creating of historical networks, connections - resurrecting of historical perspectives, stereotypes - reflected in major issues, movements across West Africa (including Sudan, sometimes embraced as North Africa ) and evolving parallel situation in East Africa, linked to ancient ties [first lectures of course] with Horn, entrenched Islamists al-shababa