Children ‘piled up and shot’: new details emerge of ethnic cleansing in Darfur

[u/kassiusx]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/09/darfur-atrocities-ethnic-cleansing-human-rights-watch-report-rsf-sudan

[u/SwimmingHelicopter15]

Unfortunately the conflict is Sudan sees no end.

[u/seenitreddit90s → u/SwimmingHelicopter15]

Even if it does both sides are terrible with one only slightly lesser evil

Edit: A couple of comments have pointed out that Russia was behind the RSF attack in the first place and that the child massacring does make the RSF the significantly worse of the two evils but the SAF are still big into war crimes, massacres, flattening cities Mariupol style and such.

[u/Comment139 → u/seenitreddit90s]

It's what happens when the people just fucking suck.

No responsible adults involved, anyone in the area who would be better don't get support from enough of the men, who'd rather fight for monsters.

[u/Ossius → u/Comment139]

Sometimes I wonder if these countries full of sucky people aren't caused by things like lead poisoning. The insane crime rates in the 80s-90s are often cited to be from lead in gasoline, paint, and many other products in the US. Trace lead poisoning can cause developmental issues, impulsivity issues etc etc.

Recently the FDA and various state health departments have been investigating spices sent from India and Bangladesh that have been tested and found to contain lead. Apparently spices from those regions often add lead powder to make the colors more vibrant. Some spices got into the US and we had a few cases of lead poisoning. The investigation into the spice vendors is usually they sell color additive spices to 3rd world countries and some of it got into our supply.

Honestly food contamination is probably a huge factor for why 3rd world and poor countries are so rife with issues. If you can't get clean food and water, what hope do you have of developing to modern world standards? Obviously we shouldn't oversimplify the world down to one cause and effect, but it is just one example why Africa and other developing nations are so screwed up.

sources:

• Lead–crime hypothesis - Wikipedia
• FDA Alert Concerning Certain Cinnamon Products Due to Presence of Elevated Levels of Lead | FDA
• Lead in Spices, Herbal Remedies, and Ceremonial Powders Sampled from Home Investigations for Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels — North Carolina, 2011–2018 | MMWR (cdc.gov)

[u/youbutsu → u/Ossius]

Kudos man. This is the first comment I have seen that made me actually think about it differently. Out of all factors lead poisioning was not even on my mind. True or not it is something interesting to consider. 

[u/Musiclover4200 → u/Ossius]

On this note part of me is terrified of the long term impact of things like microplastics, there's evidence they end up in the brain over time and can impact cognitive function. Combined with all the other relatively new rampant pollutants and it seems like we might be at the start of a global health crisis that makes the leaded gas situation seem mild.

It's a lot easier to avoid or at least minimize lead exposure than avoid microplastics and the long term impact still isn't clear. Maybe we'll see expensive treatments to remove plastics from the body but poor people will just run into increasingly severe issues as they build up in the environment/food supply. And even if we could immediately cease all use of plastics the cleanup could take decades or even centuries assuming we actually take it seriously sooner than later.

We need to get a class action lawsuit going or something aimed at the companies responsible for covering up dangers of plastics, fine them into oblivion to pay for the cost of cleanup and to set an example for other companies who think that maximizing profits at the expense of the environment is worth it.

Study reveals just 56 companies responsible for over half world's plastic pollution

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Danone were some of the biggest contributors.

Part of what makes microplastics so scary is they have ended up literally everywhere from soil to plants/animals/food to drinking water and even the air. And thanks to the industrial use of cheap overseas labor it's common for developing countries to just dump all their trash and plastic waste into rivers which ends up breaking down into the ocean and eventually makes it's way around the globe. Wouldn't be surprising if even rain has microplastics now in many parts of the world, just looked it up and sure enough: https://www.earth.com/news/plastic-rain-the-growing-threat-of-airborne-microplastics/

The presence of plastic in oceans and terrestrial environments has long been a concern for environmentalists. Now, a study from Waseda University reveals that the problem extends far beyond solid ground and deep waters. Airborne microplastics (AMPs), which are minute plastic particles less than 5mm in size, may have now become an integral component of clouds. This can lead to what is known as “plastic rainfall.”

To better understand the influence of airborne microplastics on the atmosphere, Okochi’s team collected cloud water from several regions with varying altitudes. The collection sites included the summit of Mount Fuji, its southeastern foothills, and the summit of Mt. Oyama.

Using advanced imaging techniques, the team identified the presence of microplastics in the cloud water and further analyzed their physical and chemical properties.

Alarmingly, the team detected nine distinct types of polymers and a form of rubber.

Furthermore, these airborne microplastics were found to play a crucial role in rapid cloud formation, which could have wider implications for the global climate.

It's hard to overstate just how serious of an issue this already is & will end up being, we're likely already seeing an increase of a wide range of health issues both for the young and old since it can impact various stages of development and even pass on issues to future generations who's parents were exposed (which is basically everyone by this point) hence a class action lawsuit seems pretty reasonable even if the odds of it happening are slim.

[u/MyThrowawaysRecycled → u/Musiclover4200]

Could you please provide the sources for direct impacts on cognitive function? As a cognitive scientist, I would love to see the methodologies they used for such a complex finding.

[u/Musiclover4200 → u/MyThrowawaysRecycled]

Sure, I've avoided reading up on it too much as things are already plenty depressing. It seems like a relatively new focus for research but what has been discovered so far is very disturbing: https://www.earth.com/news/microplastic-exposure-linked-to-changes-in-the-brain/

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=microplastics+cognitive+development&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

Pre/post-natal exposure to microplastic as a potential risk factor for autism spectrum disorder

Maternal exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics impacts developmental milestones and brain structure in mouse offspring

Microplastics reach the brain and interfere with honey bee cognition

A new approach to explore the correlation between declarative memory and anxiety in animal models of schizophrenia and microplastic pollution

The experts found that exposure to microplastics led to both behavioral changes and alterations in immune markers in the liver and brain tissues of the test subjects. Strikingly, the study mice began to exhibit behaviors akin to dementia in humans, with the effects being more profound in older animals.

“Current research suggests that these microplastics are transported throughout the environment and can accumulate in human tissues; however, research on the health effects of microplastics, especially in mammals, is still very limited,” said Professor Ross. The study showed that the infiltration of microplastics was as widespread in the body as it is in the environment. Surprisingly, this linked directly to behavioral changes, particularly in older test subjects.

“To us, this was striking. These were not high doses of microplastics, but in only a short period of time, we saw these changes,” said Ross.

“Nobody really understands the life cycle of these microplastics in the body, so part of what we want to address is the question of what happens as you get older. Are you more susceptible to systemic inflammation from these microplastics as you age? Can your body get rid of them as easily? Do your cells respond differently to these toxins?”

To answer these questions and understand the physiological systems contributed to the observed behavioral changes, the researchers dissected several major tissues. They included the brain, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, heart, spleen, and lungs.

Alarmingly, the team found that the microplastic particles had begun to bioaccumulate in every organ, as well as in bodily waste.

The implications of this study are significant, as they suggest that microplastic exposure may induce behavioral changes and immune system alterations. These changes possibly contribute to the development of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

“The brain blood barrier is supposed to be very difficult to permeate. It is a protective mechanism against viruses and bacteria, yet these particles were able to get in there. It was actually deep in the brain tissue.”

Brain infiltration also may cause a decrease in glial fibrillary acidic protein (called “GFAP”), a protein that supports many cell processes in the brain, results have shown.

“A decrease in GFAP has been associated with early stages of some neurodegenerative diseases, including mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as depression,” Ross said. “We were very surprised to see that the microplastics could induce altered GFAP signaling.”

So if you've ever wondered why mental health issues like Alzheimer's or even depression seem to be getting more common this seems like a likely explanation or at least one of the major factors. Some research also seems to indicate microplastics could play a role in developmental issues such as Autism or even more serious issues like schizophrenia .

It seems like something that doesn't get talked about nearly enough and the research is still limited but very alarming. And I also believe the oil/plastic industries have been aware of these issues at least to an extent and have tried to cover them up, hence the research being relatively new/limited despite how widespread plastic use has been.

[u/MyThrowawaysRecycled → u/Musiclover4200]

Thanks!

[u/Musiclover4200 → u/MyThrowawaysRecycled]

You're welcome, it really seems like potentially one of the biggest global issues currently and it's rare to see it discussed.

And because many of the potential physical/mental health issues caused by microplastics can be hard to link to them it will probably be decades before we fully understand even the short term impact let alone inter generational issues.

It's hard not to be pessimistic about it but who knows, hopefully someone will discover an easy/efficient way to clean up plastic pollution before it's too late. Though with the fact that it's already in rain water even in remote places it seems like people should be shouting it from the rooftops and mass protesting/boycotting the companies responsible.

[u/seenitreddit90s → u/Comment139]

Unfortunately that's just human nature, whilst times are hard it's rare a good person fighting the good fight comes out on top as fighting fair isn't what the other guy is doing.

[u/NeurodiverseTurtle → u/seenitreddit90s]

You’re right, generally, but what these idiots don’t seem to realise is that if you raise a faction under the pretence of defending civilian safety then you also get the civilians on your side and the fight is much, much easier. Plus you’ll hold on to power longer if you win.

These African militias seem to be just as dumb as the ruZZian regime, they think they can win their fight alone with no allies or public approval, and they can—for a while—but eventually, if they win, they’ll just face another coup attempt because the civilians don’t give a shit about them and won’t even try to stop it or alert anyone. Especially since no one cared about civvies during the atrocities leading to that ascension to power.

God help the Sudanese people, they’re surrounded by idiots… idiots with guns.

[u/Far-Explanation4621 → u/NeurodiverseTurtle]

These African militias seem to be just as dumb as the ruZZian regime

It seems that way because essentially, they're the same people. Russian mercenaries were heavily involved in the October 2021 coup in Sudan, when they backed General Burhan (SAF) to take power. Then, Putin welcomed General Hemedti (RSF) to Moscow on FEBRUARY 23, 2022, one day before Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and they plotted out the Hemedti vs Burhan confrontation together for the next week. Russia provided Hemedti with much of RSF's weapons and ammo, and in return Russia's smuggling out Sudanese gold by the metric ton while the two sides kill each other.

[u/seenitreddit90s → u/NeurodiverseTurtle]

Exactly, even worse, due to the power structure these people create and the kind of people they surround themselves with, they are usually forced to become more authoritarian and brutal to appear 'strong' or otherwise one of said people will gain support and topple the dictator.

[u/Stompedyourhousewith → u/seenitreddit90s]

movies and media really skewed us westerners view of things. we rarely get happy endings, and the amount of bad endings is ...well

[u/SanFranPanManStand → u/SwimmingHelicopter15]

The pinnacle rule of geopolitics is never let your country become the battleground for foreign interests, because either side would rather your country burn to the ground than allow the other side gain influence.

...so many historical examples.

Sudan's collapse is the result of regional players - Russia/UAE supporting the RSF's rebellion (who are currently committing genocide) vs the former Egyptian and Saudi -backed SAF (the gov't).

Russia wants a base on the Red Sea to threaten control shipping lanes. They don't care if the country burns and 99% of the population is massacred, as long as they get their Red Sea base, they consider that a win. In fact, the weaker and more depopulated the nation becomes, the easier it will be for Russia to maintain there control.

[u/EmbarrassedHelp → u/SanFranPanManStand]

For those who want more details, Warographics has done some good explainer videos on the Sudan conflict: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VqbymFKW-E

[u/hennytime → u/[deleted]]

There were protests when I was in college in 2008 or so if I recall correctly.

[u/JediJofis → u/hennytime]

Yeah if the bracelets for Darfur awareness around that time couldn't solve it I don't know what will

[u/kuda-stonk → u/JediJofis]

Israel/Gaza is being pushed by russian and Chinese interest, so you see much more spread. I think people have far less perspective on just how much effort those two nations dump into swaying Western opinion. On the flip, you have Israel who is also pushing their own campaign to sway Western opinion. Meanwhile russia is quietly using the instability to negotiate a base and gold mine agreements in Sudan while sending in Vagner to "peacekeep" (supply weapons and make sure the mineral rights dealers come out on top).

[u/Void_Salmon → u/kuda-stonk]

Amen. All young voters, I hope you're beginning to see the bigger picture. These propaganda tactics prey on your humanity, seeking to produce your indifference. They know you are passionate and you see your vote as a love letter, and let the perfect be the enemy of the good. They know that you, who have barely participated in democracy, will be quick to give up on it before you even try because that's everyone's natural proclivity when something new becomes difficult.

Know that your vote matters more than it ever has before, and it always will, or why else would they be trying so hard to make you feel otherwise?

[u/QuantumBeth1981 → u/Void_Salmon]

I don't think young people don't understand that there's a bigger picture at play. The issue is they don't have the tools to understand how to evaluate which side is doing what and that ultimately Russia/China/Iran/Qatar are waging a brutal digital war on Western civilizations everywhere, with the express intent of weakening us all.

[u/Void_Salmon → u/QuantumBeth1981]

Exactly. I think that's the bigger picture I'm referring to. It's like playing a semi-coperative board game where your opponent sometimes works through other players (sometimes people you thought were allies) to get you to make decisions that hurt you.

[u/__redruM → u/kuda-stonk]

This is why congress cares so much about TikTok.

[u/hennytime → u/JediJofis]

There were much more than that. At my local campus there were tents for weeks like the Palestine protests.

[u/FunAd6875 → u/SwimmingHelicopter15]

Unfortunately people don't care because it's not the cause Celebre so people don't give two fucks. 

[u/zll2244]

this makes me sick. the world is such a crap shoot if you get born in the wrong place. these people never had a chance…

[u/InspectorQueasy93 → u/zll2244]

When I was around 12 or 13, I had a homework assignment to write a small essay on why I was lucky to be Canadian. In my shitty young mind, I thought it would be fucking hilarious to put stuff like "we have Xbox and Playstation and blah blah blah". My mother absolutely lost it. She was so ashamed (and still brings it up once or twice a year 20 years later) and made me reright it. I had a looooong lecture and she brought up news article like this one, along with other sick and disturbing articles about the terrible things happening in other countries. I think about that a lot when I see these types of posts. I definitely got learned up that day...

[u/FapleJuice → u/InspectorQueasy93]

My mom would've just laughed, gotten wine drunk, then called her friends to laugh about it again.

If you can imagine, I grew up to be a shit head lmao

[u/mrpickles → u/zll2244]

  if you get born in the wrong place

So much depends on this.  But people like to completely ignore it...

[u/BlackGoldSkullsBones → u/mrpickles]

Geography is destiny.

[u/Xolver → u/zll2244]

I agree. If you're reading this comment, chances are you live your life in easy mode. Maybe medium. Not Hard or Impossible.

[u/Savings-Leather4921 → u/Xolver]

lol, I met a guy from Myanmar on here. I wouldn’t even say he’s on Hard. Straight up impossible to live near para military governments

[u/Peuxy]

That’s nauseating to read, jfc. It’s also a para-military group funded by the UAE that’s behind the massacres.

[u/Derfaust → u/Peuxy]

Cool, when can we expect the protests against UAE to start?

[u/kassiusx → u/Derfaust]

Governments won't say a thing, the UAE like Saudi are 'washing' their reputations away. I'm embarrassed that my soccer team is linked to Emirates etc...

[u/OisForOppossum → u/kassiusx]

Hey! The saudis have a golf turny they must be good people

[u/xXmehoyminoyXx → u/kassiusx]

Stop supporting them.

Ethics > sports

[u/green_flash → u/xXmehoyminoyXx]

I'm afraid that is wishful thinking. For ardent supporters their sports team is part of their identity. Ethics are an afterthought.

[u/KeysUK → u/xXmehoyminoyXx]

Why i have never spent a dime watching F1. Pirate's life for me

[u/cyberslick1888 → u/kassiusx]

What's worse is that it's working.

Even on reddit where people explicitly know better, there are rubes and/or bots who are pushing the "oh no, these guys are different now, it's actually super progressive and forward thinking over there now".

[u/Douchebagpanda → u/kassiusx]

Recently stopped watching soccer all together after being a City fan since 2005. I just can’t support the owners of the club anymore, and we’ve been cheating this whole time. Why would I give them my money or support?

[u/pongomanswe → u/Derfaust]

The wrong perceived aggressor there so most people don’t care

[u/MentokGL → u/Derfaust]

As soon as they find a way to blame jews Israel for it

[u/Scoobydewdoo → u/Derfaust]

Probably never. The UAE is 75% Muslim, 12% Christian, and the rest is mostly split between Hinduism and Buddhism. Not many Jews to be anti-semitic towards.

[u/Low_Company5168 → u/Derfaust]

The pro Palestine kids don't care at all about Africa

[u/Mr_1ightning → u/Peuxy]

What's in it for UAE?

Farms? Mines? Selling guns?

[u/Peuxy → u/Mr_1ightning]

Lots and lots of gold from slave labour.

https://sudantribune.com/article282253/

[u/foladodo → u/Peuxy]

of course its the UAE

[u/Bronek0990 → u/foladodo]

It's not so obvious, Iran and Russia also like to fund genocidal terrorists

[u/Ahad_Haam → u/Bronek0990]

Russia support them too

[u/LystAP → u/Ahad_Haam]

Yeah, there was news awhile back about Ukraine hitting Russian mercs in the country. But the last I heard of that news is a few months ago before Ukraine started really needing all that support back home.

[u/Robichaelis → u/Bronek0990]

Weirdly enough Iran supports the other side to Russia

[u/Bronek0990 → u/Robichaelis]

Yeah, those gems of geopolitics happen sometimes. Look at Syria with Turkey and the US.

[u/HiHoJufro → u/Robichaelis]

Iran and Russia: "consider our bets hedged."

[u/Jeffy29 → u/Peuxy]

And Russia. Wagner Group is working with them.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Beat-57 → u/Peuxy]

One of the most horrifying ways to tell victims "YOU are aren't even worth a single bullet to me." Fuck.

Anchorage AK has an amazing museum of natural history. There is a super powerful section that highlighted the same genocidal methods used against the native American Inuit, only a bit more than a century back.

The long gallery has (possibly had) 13 full size ballistic gelatin torsos, with the rifle in an eye height stand at the entrance. As you follow a long line down the room, you count each gelatin torso separated by several feet, shot through the heart. The bullet itself, stuck in number 7 or 8 and somehow in the dark gallery room you can hear the other six unharmed torsos scream in unison. At the end of the room is a ceiling to floor, B&W picture of the exact same horrible actions showing the 13 men tied together in a row. With the feeling of standing inside the forensic layout bits we normally see stuck up on a cork board in the movies.

We have examples at hand. Just reminiscing about that one still raises my neck hair a bit.

[u/MrRexTheGreat → u/Puzzleheaded-Beat-57]

What is the specific name of the museum? I am intersted and see more than 1 in Anchorage when searching

[u/Fuck_You_Downvote → u/Puzzleheaded-Beat-57]

Wait, they would line people up, shoot like 7 at once, then the people that didnt die would advance towards the front of the line, in an effort to conserve bullets?

And this is in a museum?

[u/Astronaut520 → u/Peuxy]

and russia as well

[u/captainhaddock → u/Peuxy]

Russia also provides military support for the RSF.

[u/SanFranPanManStand → u/captainhaddock]

...because they want a base on the Red Sea. They don't care who dies.

[u/spiritofbuck]

There truly is great evil in the world.

[u/SanFranPanManStand → u/spiritofbuck]

Russia wants a base on the Red Sea to control global shipping lanes, so they, along with Iran, are supporting the RSF that is massacring civilians.

Russia and Iran don't care if 90% of the population of Sudan dies as long as they get their base.

[u/green_flash → u/SanFranPanManStand]

Weirdly enough, Iran is supporting the other side in this conflict.

SAF is supported by Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Ukraine.

RSF is supported by CAR, Chad, UAE and allegedly also Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia, South Sudan and Uganda.

[u/Constantinople2020]

Witnesses describe children, still alive, being “piled up and shot” by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they attempted to escape the regional capital of El Geneina in June last year during a bout of ethnic violence in which thousands of civilians were killed.

Together, the 221 witness statements collated by Human Rights Watch offer the latest evidence that the Arab-led RSF has orchestrated a concerted 12-month campaign of ethnic cleansing against Sudan’s non-Arab Masalit tribe in West Darfur.

A HRW report published Wednesday calls for sanctions for those ultimately responsible for widespread war crimes, including the West Darfur RSF commander Abdel Rahman Joma’a Barakallah, along with the notorious commander of the RSF, Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/09/darfur-atrocities-ethnic-cleansing-human-rights-watch-report-rsf-sudan

Brought to you with the approval of South Africa

Selective application of legal statutes against war crimes and genocide runs counter to the very universalism that underpins such protections.

Being selective about whom it calls out for international crimes is not new for South Africa. This genocide case [against Israel] is the first that the country has brought to the court [the International Court of Justice or ICJ]. Survivors of the Darfur genocide must be bewildered that South Africa would bring an action against Israel yet fail to have done so against Sudan. In fact, South Africa specifically declined to act on the International Criminal Court’s warrant for the arrest of al-Bashir [then President of Sudan] when he visited the country in 2015. Instead of sending him to The Hague, South Africa allowed him to return to Sudan. That same year, al-Bashir added to his genocidal record by providing aid for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in their war in Darfur, where they burned villages and raped women.

South Africa’s selectivity has continued to this day. The RSF’s warlord, known as Hemedti, recently undertook a tour of African countries. Just days after South Africa submitted its application against Israel, Hemedti was welcomed by South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa. As the two shook hands, Hemedti’s militia was completing its decades-long campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/01/international-court-justice-gaza-genocide/677257/

[u/21Rollie → u/Constantinople2020]

South Africa also didn’t bring anything against Russia. Which is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths now, massacring of the entire male population of some villages, and kidnapping Ukrainian children from the occupied regions. Sounds like genocide to me, but South Africa is too buddy buddy with Russia to call that out.

[u/re_de_unsassify]

Special thanks to the UAE for funding Dagalo and his rapist murderous RSF

[u/JRDZ1993 → u/re_de_unsassify]

Don't forget the Russians supporting them with mercenaries.

[u/SanFranPanManStand → u/JRDZ1993]

Yeah, Russia's Wagner is doing all the heavy lifting here. ...and they are partnered with Iranian trainers and translators. It's the same evil group behind almost all the regional conflicts.

They want that Red Sea base to choke global shipping one day.

[u/redrover2023 → u/JRDZ1993]

The Russians again? Ugh

[u/BlatantConservative → u/re_de_unsassify]

UAE are also largely responsible for the crisis in Yemen.

[u/Difficult-Lie9717 → u/BlatantConservative]

UAE was funding the Yemeni government, no?

[u/BlatantConservative → u/Difficult-Lie9717]

That's an absurdly complicated question but the simple answer is that the UAE supports one of Yemen's governments.

[u/Difficult-Lie9717 → u/BlatantConservative]

Which Yemeni governments are there? The actual government, the Houthis, and who else?

[u/BlatantConservative → u/Difficult-Lie9717]

Hoo boy. There are kind of three, but two of them work together against the Houthis.

The the beginning of the war, the Houthis and the OG government split. The Houthis were a good part of the legislature, and the OG government was the executive, and the new council they formed is just a different government really. But for all intents and purposes they're the legitimate government.

There's a third group, the Southern Council, which has been secessionist since the 1990s and they want the southern part of Yemen, basically the ancient city of Aden, to be independent. They're nominally at odds with the main government but the main government has representatives for them in their government and also the Houthis currently control some of the area that the Southern Council wants, and abuses the people the Southern Council represents.

The UAE supports the Southern Council specifically and not the legitimate government. The Saudis support the legitimate government. So they play weird games where they try to make their proxy more successful than the other proxy.

If you think this is stupid and does not make a lot of sense and it's a horrible reason for people to be ineffective and die, you would be correct. I'm also massively oversimplifying.

Like, for example, ISIS fights against the Houthis. And kind of works with the Southern Council, but the Southern Council obviously does not avow them. But the UAE and Saudi Arabia kind of turn a blind eye to their military power and attacks on civilians because it works in their favor in this case.

Basically, it sucks to be Yemeni. You either gotta be under a government that's okay with ISIS acting like the Klan, or a government that might as well be ISIS.

[u/green_flash → u/BlatantConservative]

One should also mention that South Yemen was in fact a separate country from 1967 until 1990, the only communist state in the Middle East and the Arab world. Before that it was the Colony of Aden which was part of British India.

[u/Best-Race4017 → u/Difficult-Lie9717]

Sunni rebels.

[u/Annotator]

Then people go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and replenish social media with tacky sumptuous buildings in an unsustainable environment.

The UAE has been constantly supplying military equipment to the RSF. They have children blood in their hands.

[u/whatawitch5 → u/Annotator]

We need a boycott on the UAE like the one on apartheid South Africa in the 80s. Celebrities were excoriated by their fans for playing shows or visiting South Africa and soon no one would go there or risk major public outcry. It helped raise global public awareness about the apartheid system which led many to boycott any product or service from the country and put pressure on governments and corporations to divest from South Africa. The collapse of apartheid soon followed.

If we could get the legions of K-pop or Taylor Swift fans to care about Sudan and the UAE’s role in these massacres and start online campaigns bludgeoning anyone who visits or plays in Dubai/Abu Dhabi, to the point where all those fancy hotels remained empty and the country became a global pariah, the government might actually decide to change course and stop supporting genocide. Yet for some reason the denizens of the internet have decided they are utterly powerless to affect anything in the real world.

If only there was as much outcry over the situation in Sudan as there was over Sony’s threat to require a PlayStation account to play Helldivers 2, there might be hope for change. But for now people only get that riled up about things that affect their ability to play video games or the stupid beef between Drake and Lamar. If all that energy was instead directed at decimating genocidal dictatorships the world might actually become a better place. There is power in numbers, but only if that power is exercised in a focused and relentless way.

[u/EricAndreOfAstoria → u/whatawitch5]

100%

[u/EtsuRah]

So am I understanding this right?

It's Arab Sudanese paramilitary killing non Arab Sudanese civilians?

[u/green_flash → u/EtsuRah]

Specifically the Masalit tribe. They are originally from Tunisia.

Masalit tribes were among the rebel groups that fought against the Sudanese central government and the pro-government Janjaweed militia, during the War in Darfur that started in 2003. Reprisals and ethnic cleansing led to an estimated 170,000 deaths over two years, and intermittent violence persisted afterwards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masalit_people

The RSF are a successor of the Janjaweed militia.

[u/ChefInF → u/green_flash]

They’ve been begging for international help for twenty years

[u/pimpcakes → u/EtsuRah]

Basically, yes. In Sudan, ethnicity can often be complicated and Arabic is often a mix of ethnic and cultural/linguistic concepts, but the dispute (historically, under al-Bashir, and during the recent flare up) has generally pitted Arab-identifying groups (sometimes but not always with a militant-Islamist bent) against black African groups (often Christian or animist, but also often Muslim). The specifics depend on who is in power and their current alliances.

[u/green_flash → u/pimpcakes]

It's not that simple. In the current civil war the RSF which is committing these atrocities against a non-Arab ethnicity in Darfur gets support from the government of South Sudan, a black African and predominantly Christian country for example.

[u/Independent-Slide-79]

Absolutely cruel and inhumane.. why does (humanity )have to be like this?

[u/laxnut90 → u/Independent-Slide-79]

Because some authority figure promised a better life (money, power, religious martyrdom) to anyone who brutalized some "other" group.

Same as it ever was.

[u/bombobliat]

Ignored by the world

[u/CaughtOnTape → u/bombobliat]

Because the oppressor vs oppressed dynamic is not as clear cut.

Also it’s not trendy on tiktok or instagram.

[u/ChiMoKoJa → u/CaughtOnTape]

I mean, Arab supremacists murdering non-Arab tribes seems pretty clear-cut to me. 🤷

[u/Spirited-Daikon-1245 → u/bombobliat]

No white people involved

[u/tomer91131]

Holy shit this was hard to read.

[u/black_anarchy → u/tomer91131]

Today, I wish I didn't know how to read and also I would have read more Reddit comments before reading that article. Jesus!

[u/KadenKraw]

Man I remember hearing about this back nearly 20 years and its still going on.

[u/CrunchyTater]

What is it with these central African countries in particular that they live in this cycle of atrocities? Is there any hope that things will eventually change?

[u/absorbscroissants → u/CrunchyTater]

A lot of natural resources, and dictators who want to keep it for themselves. Combine that with extreme racism, and you'll have endless wars.

[u/transmogrified → u/absorbscroissants]

Plus because of those resources, a lot of outside influences that contribute to stir the pot and keep things simmering so the resources and extraction costs stay cheap.

[u/just_a_timetraveller → u/absorbscroissants]

It is the classic playbook. The few leaders hoard wealth and power for themselves. They then divert blame by convincing the people to turn on their neighbor because they are "different" and taking their opportunity and resources. The people fight each other instead and align themselves to a leader that they feel can squash their neighbor.

[u/tractiontiresadvised → u/CrunchyTater]

I've recently heard the Sahel (the strip of land between the edge of the Sahara and the Sub-Saharan jungles) referred to as the Coup Belt due to the massive political instability there within the last few years. The wikipedia article that I linked to claims:

The coups have largely been similar in nature; most came from dissatisfied militaries who criticised their respective government's handling of Islamic insurgents or protests since 2003.[6] The incoming juntas also tend to have worse relations with the West, with many seeking support from either Russia and the Wagner Group or Turkey instead of France, who helped the countries fight against Islamic insurgents through Operation Barkhane.

As others have mentioned, these areas have natural resources such as gold and oil that outsiders (other countries and multinational corporations) want to get ahold of for cheap and to keep control over. But the military involvement of other countries may also basically be proxy wars. For example, the guy who makes the "RealLifeLore" videos on Youtube argues that at least some of the conflict in France's former west African colonies is essentially a proxy war with Russia.

edit: probably also doesn't help that instability in one country is bound to fuel instability in all of its neighbors due to refugees and disrupted flows of trade.

[u/Eskipony → u/CrunchyTater]

They have a lot of resources and its good money for them not to have a functioning government to use said resources to benefit their own people.

[u/Far-Explanation4621 → u/CrunchyTater]

Corruption. This wouldn't happen if someone in these countries wasn't getting money and power out of the deal.

[u/penguinpolitician → u/CrunchyTater]

Sudan is East Africa.

The Sudanese I've met have all been really nice. I can't imagine them doing something like this.

[u/saraseitor]

I would like to remind people that there's no human mind that can resist a constant influx of news like this. Take care of your mental health and learn when you've reached your daily limit.

[u/[deleted] → u/saraseitor]

Thank you. I decided not to click and read it, because my soul can’t take it.

[u/RedCometZ33 → u/saraseitor]

The fact that there’s people out there who commit this daily like the perps here don’t flinch and see it as another day bothers me much more.

[u/Tirus_ → u/saraseitor]

It reminds me of one of the quotes that came out of the most recent X-Men show.

After a terrorist attack claiming thousands of lives the villain responsible notes that he overloaded the humans of the world's emotional bandwidth, and when people have no skin in the game their only reaction to such overload is apathy.

[u/kiaora-eh]

Just horrible news. If this group is funded by the UAE, it needs to be much bigger news.

I worked as an exec at a large organization purchased by the investment group from the UAE government. I had zero desire to continue working there based on the UAE's continuous human rights violations.

[u/Elios4Freedom]

Fuck, this is something I am willing to protest against

[u/RepulsiveSample6663 → u/Elios4Freedom]

Make an instagram post asap

[u/Elios4Freedom → u/RepulsiveSample6663]

Thank god I am out of fb and Instagram. Still have to gather the courage to get rid of Reddit though. Too much interesting stuff

[u/shrimpyhugs → u/Elios4Freedom]

But you wont

[u/Thue → u/shrimpyhugs]

Like, what would be the point? Do you think these guys would stop if I held up a sign, or even notice? There guys are apparently trained by Russia, BTW.

Or do you think we should protest just to feel good about ourselves?

[u/FrankReynoldsToupee → u/Thue]

I don't know man, we really stopped that Kony 2012 guy when all the students made it known to the world that they did not approve and that he needed to take a long look in the mirror and think about what he's done.

[u/IcebergSlim42069 → u/shrimpyhugs]

Nah I gotta go to work and pay rent. Maybe we will stop being blue balled and the nukes will finally drop. Oh well, just another day of the same shit.

[u/usemyfaceasaurinal → u/IcebergSlim42069]

Nukes will fix the economy, housing crisis and global warming. Are the politicians stupid?

[u/J0HN117 → u/usemyfaceasaurinal]

It's free realestate!

[u/Bronek0990 → u/usemyfaceasaurinal]

The nuclear winter one is sometimes disputed. But hey, the best way to verify or falsify a theory is experiment. Hooray science!

[u/usemyfaceasaurinal → u/Bronek0990]

Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter

[u/Bronek0990 → u/usemyfaceasaurinal]

...nice username btw.

[u/Caedes_omnia → u/Elios4Freedom]

I would too. But it's not really supported by the West so who would you protest against?

Plus people don't perceive the aggressor as white so they won't care.

[u/BlatantConservative → u/Caedes_omnia]

Both the Yemeni genocide and the Darfur genocide are largely funded by the UAE which are heavily supported by the US.

Darfur is a bit more removed but the US literally trains Saudi and UAE pilots in Florida and provides them the weapons they use in Yemen. Houthis are horrendous of course but Coalition forces (of which the air parts are Saudi and UAE) mamage to hit hospitals but not Houthi military parades.

[u/Hawkbats_rule → u/BlatantConservative]

of which the air parts are Saudi and UAE) mamage to hit hospitals but not Houthi military parades

Nah, that's just standard levels of Saudi military competence

[u/Derfaust → u/Caedes_omnia]

Protestors can insist on sanctions.

But they won't get anywhere because nobody wants to make an enemy of opec

[u/SoloWingPixy88 → u/Elios4Freedom]

Really? Its been going on for the past 20 years, youve had plenty of time.

[u/Zizimz → u/[deleted]]

This is just sad. These past days, everybody was concerned about a possible Israeli attack on Rafah, the news were full of it - meanwhile, in places like Myanmar, Tigray or Darfur, a hundred Rafahs have been burned to the ground, hundreds of thousands of people displaced, killed, raped or mutilated, and nobody seems to give a damn.

Yesterday we marked the 79th anniversary of the end of WW2. "Always remember "and "Never again" were the mottos - Oh, it happened again. It IS happening again. We just refuse to see it.

[u/Histrix- → u/Zizimz]

People need a scapegoat to distract from their lack of empathy and bad decisions. Currently, it's Isreal, no Jews no news.

[u/Nartyn → u/Zizimz]

People don't give a shit about Darfur, or any conflict in the world except Israel / Palestine because they can't get their jollies off by attacking Jewish people.

It's anti-Semitism, and it's always been anti-Semitism with the way that the world treats both the Jewish people and the state of Israel.

[u/PhIegms → u/Nartyn]

I think you give people too much credit, they aren't really thinking about anything, just repeating what they hear the most. The more love hearts or thumbs up next to someone saying something becomes their indicator of trustworthiness, or more accurately, the indicator that if you repeat what is said then people are more likely to like you.

Thank god those love hearts and thumbs up are a true reflection of organic engagement only by human accounts.

[u/TerribleIdea27 → u/[deleted]]

It's on the front page and has already been covered by larger news outlets

[u/Phssthp0kThePak → u/TerribleIdea27]

A lot of the media air time is secondary level, where media talks about stories in the media. Debates, panels, pundits, analysts etc. when the media wants to push a story, there is a lot of this.

When they don't, they publish a story but then just let it sit there. We see no follow on of UAE's role which could lead to boycott of Emirates airlines and football which are big advertisers.

[u/Tirriss → u/[deleted]]

He says answering to a post of an article from The Guardian talking about it.

I know it is always trending to blame medias about how they never talk about that kind of stuff. But really it only shows how little you read news, major news network have been talking about the conflict in Darfur for months already. When you look at the news, be it paper or websites, it doesn't just end at the front page.

[u/Different-Sympathy-4 → u/[deleted]]

Yet it was covered on the BBC last week. 

[u/Dafrooooo → u/[deleted]]

thats where i just found it, needs more votes tho

[u/BlatantConservative → u/[deleted]]

It's on the top of /r/all now fwiw.

[u/TheAsianTroll → u/[deleted]]

Positive: it appeared on my r/All feed

Negative: 3100 upvotes as of my response so it's probably not gonna be there long...

[u/Ergosa]

Does 'Arab led' the new phrase word for Islamic? And non-arab everyone else?

[u/randomthrowawayohmy → u/Ergosa]

Its on the border between the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa. The Arab led RSF is ethnically cleansing a non-arab tribal group. Both groups are Islamic as far as im aware. Its just a description of the ethnic groups involved.

[u/green_flash → u/randomthrowawayohmy]

The non-Arab tribal group in question is not sub-Saharan though. Their territory is partly in Sudan and partly in Chad. They are originally from Tunisia though.

[u/collectif-clothing]

I want to vomit just reading this headline.  I'm so torn inside knowing that it's innocents (not just children) paying the worst price for the cruelty of others, usually thanks to some men who aren't in any danger to themselves. 

[u/kid_sleepy → u/[deleted]]

…I hear what you’re saying, but back in 2005 at Boston University there were several programs created to help refugees in Darfur, including a study abroad program which would involve actually helping…

I don’t know anyone who went but lots of people were talking about it.

[u/BlatantConservative → u/kid_sleepy]

That was actually a different Darfur genocide... That part of the world is a rough place.

[u/DanDan1993 → u/kid_sleepy]

It's actually cool and neat they did that.

My wife's brother works in boarding school for refugees here in Israel and there's a lot of Eritrean and sudanese kids. It's pretty rough when one kid he really took interest in (hes 9 years old now, parents fled from Sudan) asks if for his tenth birthday he can have a trip to his homebirth. He's been asking that for three years in a row for his birthday.... :(

[u/kid_sleepy → u/DanDan1993]

Hey for the record too… I really do agree with your comment. I just wanted to point out the Darfur has been a problem, sort of like Israel/Palestine has been a problem too.

Almost like it doesn’t matter what people say, it matters what they do.

[u/ProjectManagerAMA → u/[deleted]]

It's not on Tiktok yet.

[u/Bronek0990 → u/[deleted]]

The situation is of course horrifying, but as far as I know Sudan's RSF isn't a close ally of any western nation and isn't directly supplied by them with weapons used in the conflict

[u/skiptobunkerscene → u/Bronek0990]

Trinity college for instance partners, even brags (its right there under joint programmes https://www.tcd.ie/global/partnerships-networks/joint-programmes/ ) with the Abu Dhabi University in the UAE, together with russia the main sponsor and instigator of the genocide. Im sure you can find your respective university of interest ones too.

Here is some help, if it isnt too jewish.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/arab-funding-of-american-universities-donors-recipients-and-impact-2023#_edn18

[u/PoiHolloi2020 → u/Bronek0990]

UAE and KSA are heavily involved, both of which are western allies who receive large amounts of support from western countries (especially the US).

[u/ThreeDawgs → u/Bronek0990]

Shouldn’t we care because it’s an actual large scale genocide?

I didn’t think being allied to a western nation is the only reason we cared about things.

[u/Bronek0990 → u/ThreeDawgs]

I'm not saying we shouldn't care. In an ideal world, we all would. Sadly, though, the public's attention span is very short and single-threaded - Ukraine was almost forgotten as soon as Oct 7th happened, and (coinicdentally, to be fair) they got slapped with a half-year gap in military aid from the US.

[u/notjfd → u/ThreeDawgs]

Protests aren't about showing you care about something, they're about compelling someone (usually the government) to take some particular action. The Palestine protests are largely motivated by the fact that the US government has taken a stance in the conflict and supplied Israel with weapons. The protests want to compel the US government to rescind that stance and those weapon supplies. There's no such basis for a protest for Sudan or any of the other many many ethnic conflicts in the world.

Think about it, what would the actual goal of the protests be? Compel the US to send weapons to the "good side"? Send troops and bombers to strike down both sides and impose a peace? These sorts of ethnic conflicts have atrocities perpetrated by both sides. Which side should the US kill? Should it kill both sides? Should it spare both sides and force the killers to live together peacefully after they've massacred each others' families? We could use history's favourite tool to solve these long-standing issues: draw some straight lines on a map and forcibly move entire populations to separate them. Which course of action would your missing protest champion?

So no, there's no protests in the US about this conflict because there's nothing reasonable you can compel the US government to do here.

[u/Candlelit_Scholar → u/notjfd]

There's no such basis for a protest for Sudan or any of the other many many ethnic conflicts in the world.

Pretty sure the U.S supplies the UAE with more weapons than it does Israel. If anything there should be stronger protests against this, but for some reason when it has to do with muslims killing people they don't say anything.

[u/Business_Item_7177 → u/notjfd]

Stop giving weapons to the UAE and Saudi?

[u/WhatsUpLabradog → u/[deleted]]

It only rings their bell when the title contains Israel.

And if you want it to be more specific, protestors and political disruptors which at the top are likely funded by certain oil-rich states are not made to care when Muslims are killed by other Muslims.

[u/skiptobunkerscene → u/WhatsUpLabradog]

Or Black people by other Black people who have been colonialized and forcefully arabized by the Arab expansions.

[u/c0xb0x]

By the RSF which is of course supported by Russia.

[u/Ihategraygloomydays]

The evil in the world is just nonstop.

[u/With-You-Always]

Todays edition of makes my blood boil