1. 

   Esra'a

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   Indeed there are no words to describe one’s reactions to this …

   It is hard to think that this can still go on in this world. We think we’re so advanced and that we’ve come so far … when did it become acceptable to leave these forgotten millions behind?
2. 

   Lynne

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   Where is the UN? Where are the voices of world condemnation? The silence is sickening.
3. 

   Esra'a

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   I don’t think enough people are truly aware of what’s going on. There is hardly enough coverage about this.
4. 

   Jina

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   Media can’t make money off of dead black people… so you won’t see this shit till it blow up really bad then the media will make untold amount of documentaries about how media and teh world ignored Darfur and make millions if not billions.

   America and Europe don’t care because they are poor and black.

   Arabs/Muslims won’t care because they are Christians and black.

   Overall, this is another Rwanda.

   PS: I don’t think most people can spot Darfur on the map or Sudan.
5. 

   Esra'a

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   I think we should blame ourselves just as much as we blame the media. It is not just the media’s responsibility to spread awareness on such issues, it’s also our responsibility. If campaigns were all over the place when the Rwandan genocide was still a “current event,” the overwhelming amount of pressure and public concern would make countries want to take more action, militarily or otherwise, and thus the media will focus on the issue. But if we don’t add the pressure and show the media that we are concerned and are in need of more information, then they will not consider this important enough for coverage.

   Lack of resources is also an issue however. We do not know enough to act due to there not being enough extensive coverage of what’s going on. So I guess that for us to act we will need the media to work with us, and so far it is not doing that.

   Arab networks really should act more responsibly when it comes to this. There is hardly any coverage in our part of the world. You will get the average 3-minutes or a brief headline, but that’s it.
6. 

   Lynne

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   The media is to blame. They “decide” what is news or not by what they choose to highlight on the front page or to bury in the back…or not to print it at all. I’m going to try to contact my state representative tomorrow and to try to find out how to impact this is some way. There is an interfaith initiative here in Texas, and I’ll contact them. I cannot stand this terrible feeling of helplessness that I have in this situation. Would you all consider posting more about the situation, as many of us do not understand what is going on (hey, no media coverage)? Thanks, Esra!
7. 

   Esra'a

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   I disagree that we shouldn’t take any responsibility whatsoever while insisting that it’s just the fault of the media. If we sit back and expect the media to inform us of anything worth “thinking” about, we’ll always be helpless. I wrote an article about it here.

   The reason why we are so mislead is because we rely solely on the media. Why not BECOME a medium of our own instead of relying on the works of other biased media outlets for our information? We can do so much with the information we already have. And yes, of course we’d post more about this whenever we have more information to add. That’s a good suggestion.
8. 

   Lynne

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   I agree with everything you said in the above comment, but the problem that I can blaming the media for is that they do not make others aware of what is going on. This is particularly bad when others depend on the news. I agree with you; I have learned NOT to depend on the news media and go to a huge number of blogs daily to try to get a picture of what is going on. Many people do not have computer access or they fully trust the media to give them the “news”—and this is where I do blame the media. There has been barely a peep in our local newspaper, a large newspaper in the Texas state capital. I totally —100%—agree with your statement, “Why not become a medium of our own instead of relying on the works of other biased media outlets for our information?” I have been saying that myself loudly for the past year at least. Checking out your article now! Thanks for all that you are doing through ME Youth!
9. 

   Lynne

   November 19, 2006 // Reply

   Oh, checked out your article. Miscommunication: When I asked if you’d consider posting more about the situation, I actually meant giving us updates on the situation in Darfur, as there is little real coverage –or even coverage at all–in the mainstream news media. I’ll surf around and see what I can find myself today, as well. Your site is great for making others aware of the situation in Darfur as well as the media issue. I have long been aware of media bias and sick of it (Master’s in Political Sociology years ago cured me of any notion that there is unbiased news through the mainstream media.) It’s good to see you posting about it here, informing as many people as possible who may still rely on the mainstream news media. Best regards, lynne
10. 

    Esra'a

    November 19, 2006 // Reply

    When I asked if you’d consider posting more about the situation, I actually meant giving us updates on the situation in Darfur, as there is little real coverage

    Yeah, I got that part, and still think it’s a good suggestion. We will give more attention to this and surely Drima will do his best to fish out any articles about this as he could find. And of course if you come across anything we should add you can always tell us about it too.

    The issues with the media is an important one and it’s very unfortunate that many Arabs are not aware of it. People generally are so easily misled by this nonsense. This is what I hope to focus on.
11. 

    Lynne

    November 19, 2006 // Reply

    Esra, here in the US if you did a survey, most people would say that they get their news from TV or the major news sources–and few question what they see or read. The so-called news sources yank news items on and off the front page manipulating people’s ideas of what is pressing and important, just like a conjurer’s trick. And, I assure you that too many people here completely rely on the major news sources and look no further. It is not a good situation. But, some people are aware. Years ago when I lived in a small bayou town, my elderly neighbors told me one day not to believe what I read in news sources or hear on the news because most news sources in the US are part of a huge media organization that is biased in their presentation of the news. Of course, I knew this but did not know that they did! I have found that such awareness is rare, but perhaps it is growing. With people reading your site, more people will become informed. I am so glad that this is part of your focus. People all over are easily misled, as you say. I plan to contact my state representative tomorrow to let him know that I do not expect for the US to sit idle while such terrible things are occurring in Darfur. Again, thanks for your efforts!
12. 

    EdoRiver

    November 19, 2006 // Reply

    Nicholas Kristof has won 2 Pulitizer Prizes for News reporting. Since the latter part of October he has written 5 major opinion articles about Darfur. He is the number 1 columnist for International news at the New York TIMES newspaper in New York USA. Probably America’s #3 ranked newspaper overall.

    Mr. Kristof grew up on a sheep and cherry farm near Yamhill, Oregon. He graduated from Harvard College, Phi Beta Kappa, and then won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, where he studied law and graduated with first class honors. He later studied Arabic in Cairo and Chinese in Taipei. After working in France, he caught the travel bug and began backpacking around Africa and Asia, writing articles to cover his expenses. Mr. Kristof has lived on four continents, reported on six, and traveled to 120 countries, plus all 50 states, every Chinese province and every main Japanese island. He’s also one of the very few Americans to be at least a two-time visitor to every member of the Axis of Evil. During his travels, he has had unpleasant experiences with malaria, wars, an Indonesian mob carrying heads on pikes, and an African airplane crash.”–from his biography and my notes

    He wrote this at the beginning of his newest article:
    A woman named Marguerite H. wrote to me recently to complain about my columns on Darfur. “While the situation there is dreadful, we have plenty of needs to be filled at home,” she wrote. “You would be better off putting your energy into making a difference here at home.”

    So, Marguerite, meet Halima Abdelkarim. Her life is partly in your hands. Watch her story, and see if you still think we should put off helping her until we have solved our own problems.

    Halima, 20, belongs to the Dajo tribe, one of the black African tribes being slaughtered by Sudanese-sponsored Arab militias called the janjaweed. The attacks began three years ago, but the world largely shared your view, Marguerite, that Darfur was a tragedy but not of strategic significance. And so we have fussed a bit but allowed the genocide to spread.

    This March, Darfur’s slaughter crossed the border and reached Halima’s hometown in Chad. The janjaweed killed many men and seized 10 women and girls, including Halima and her little sister, Sadia.

    Halima says that the janjaweed, many of them wearing Sudanese military uniforms, mocked the women with racial epithets against blacks, beat them with sticks, and gang-raped them all. ”

    I would provide the link for this, but you can’t enter without being a subscribed member. Mr Kristof has had a personal crusade in his columns about Darfur for 2YEARS.

    We are responsible. We are responsible in Iraq too. All of us bear some responsiblity.
13. 

    Drima

    November 19, 2006 // Reply

    Jina,

    “Arabs/Muslims won’t care because they are Christians and black.”

    Actually no, the victims are all Muslims too. This is a Muslim VS Muslim conflict.
14. 

    Heimo

    November 19, 2006 // Reply

    what I read in that article moved me too – living in the fat lazy self complacent European world ruled by consume & tv & own littled deeds of success – I feel urged to also raise my voice & spread what’s going on there – & yes Esra’a is right with paragraph 7 in comments here – but of course press & news media should be blamed too – so loudly & by so many voices, that they just don’t dare to stay silent anymore..
15. 

    Jina

    November 19, 2006 // Reply

    Drima, that’s news to me. Here I thought I knew things… all I hear in the news is that the once who are killing are Arabs/Muslims and those dying are Christians/blacks…. sigh in this case talk about the racism in the media.
16. 

    Yael

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    Hey guys and gals,

    What about doing something like a “blog for Dafur” day blogburst. The media isn’t covering this but if say a couple hundred bloggers all covered it in a day with a call for all their readers who also have blogs to put up a post about it then the information would get out there and maybe more people would start pressuring for something to be done. Having a lot of bloggers doing this might cause the media to sit up and take notice and start covering it more as well –they tend to take a lot of cues of late of the topics to cover from bloggers who start up a firestorm over issues they are ignoring.
17. 

    Drima

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    OMG Yael that’s such a great idea!!

    We should choose a date maybe a month or 2 from now so at least word can get around in the mean time. When the date arrives BAM we start the fire all over the place so at least the damn media can notice.

    Any better ideas?
18. 

    Esra'a

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    Let’s get a domain. Our tagline can read, “We blog for Darfur.” We can gather articles about Darfur from all over and post them so that people can have enough resources.

    I’ll work on it this weekend. Drima we shouldn’t wait – let’s just do it and see what comes out of it. By the time people hear about it, we would at least have the space provided for them to participate. If it’s just an “idea,” it will hang around the air too much and people will not think about it.

    If you have an idea, make sure you have the base for it. Sometimes people talk too much and do nothing, so people assume that your idea is just that: an idea. The best thing we’re good at here is bringing our ideas to reality.

    Let’s make this the first joint project between Mideast Youth and GN. We will make banners and spread them out like crazy, and our blogroll can include whoever “Blogs for Darfur.”

    Yael you have more contacts than we do – when this is done you can be in charge of publicity. I will gather articles about Darfur hopefully with the help of our busy little Drima (go study!) and the project will be running by the first of December. By then Drima will be free and can probably dedicate some time to this project. I would have exams by then, this is why I should get this stuff out of the way now before I get too busy to even think about any of this.

    LET’S DO IT!

    Expect the site to be running by Saturday at the latest.
19. 

    Yael

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    Wheeeeee Esra’a you rock! Girl, you move and shake! Let’s definitely do it!!!!

    Do you think we should put up a sample post on the site you are creating for folks, complete with links to additional info, that people can feel free to copy and paste into their blogs on the day if they don’t have time to write up a more personalized post or feel that they don’t know enough about the issue to make an effective post? Activism made easy, heh.

    Wow, I’m excited!! The idea of linking to all the bloggers for Dafur is a fantastic idea too.

    Definitely count me in. I’ll start working on a list of listservs to post the call for participation on and collecting emails and when you get the site up I’ll get to publicizing it!
20. 

    Esra'a

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    Yesss Yael THAT IS THE SPIRIT! We are already successful when we are this hopeful and active.

    Okay, my suggestion is that you put up a post asking for information. For example, things that we can link to from the sidebar – existing online campaigns, petitions, press releases, YouTube documentaries, “Rock for Darfur” concerts/pictures, and let’s just keep asking people to help us gather all of this information. A google search might give us all of what we need but you never know! There’s lots that the google bots don’t pick up and we especially need independent bloggers to participate with us.

    I’m not sure how many responses we might get, maybe not many, BUT everything is worth a shot! Let’s see what we can do with the information we get.

    Secondly, yes, the most important thing is a VISIBLE ATTRACTIVE BANNER. Something attention-grabbing.

    After we have at least one post on the front page, which I can write about lack of media coverage and how this is a direct response to that, we can publicise it. Definitely through banners – Encourage people to post it through your blog, and contact all bloggers you know, especially ones with the most traffic. Then we will start linking to other articles, providing as much info as possible and then maybe comment on what can be done by us or what should be done in general.

    The site’s main goal is awareness. Awareness will do wonders and might result in an even bigger movement or event. Remember, also, these campaigns are also a hit for media coverage – if people cover this campaign, we can be sure to know that some journalists might even be inspired to work with us by doing research and providing more information. I’m sure it will inspire someone influential, somewhere. We just need consistency. If we get no attention or support – DON’T GIVE UP. We will do this, hand in hand, and work harder each day. At least 5 minutes just to make research and find stuff online, no matter how much work we have to do outside the blog, we just look and find and post and rest assured the results will be amazing.

    Excellent stuff! This is going to work. Definitely get your hopes up for this worthwhile project. Thanks for this Yael.
21. 

    Esra'a

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    Did I say by Saturday? Oops.

    I already got the domain. Once the site is officially registered, I will set up WordPress with the help of our great Sankar for graphics. Should be up by tomorrow – the design might take slightly longer.

    I will reveal everything when it’s ready to be publicised. Complete with the banners and everything. So instead of getting the initial stage ready by Saturday – we’ll have the entire thing running by then.

    DAMN. I am impatient. Must be the coffee. Hahaha.
22. 

    Drima

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    OMG Esra’a MUAX. LOVELY. This is so damn good. Keep me in the loop closely. I’m going to be 100% into this as soon as 1st December comes. I’m going to go through the contents and make sure everything is consistent with what’s actually happening rather than most of the same inaccurate stuff you see being reported about the conflict in many places.

    One thing that MUST be really brought to attention is the fact that in the last 3 years it’s estimated that about 200,000 Darfurians have died. That’s more than all the Muslims killed during ALL the Arab-Israeli wars and YET we seem to focus 95% of the attention on 5% of Muslim deaths. I’m not going to sugar-coat my posts there for sure.

    Darfur deserves attention but it’s not getting enough. Why? Is it because they’re a bunch of black darkie monkies or because the Joooooz and evil CrUSAders aren’t in the picture?

    I can’t wait for this… Woooohoooo!!!

    Keep me updated on all the details ya 3ajeeba
23. 

    Jina

    November 20, 2006 // Reply

    Weeee neat me help me help. o.O
24. 

    Yael

    November 21, 2006 // Reply

    Ok, am on it. I’m pretty much in a swamped-to-nearly-drowning state with work until the weekend but on Friday I’m throwing myself into the fray for it.

25. Pingback: Mideast Youth » Blog Archive » Thank You Guys

26. 

    Ellen Goldhammer

    March 8, 2007 // Reply

    so, yall are cool XD
    i am liking the discussion you are putting into this

    im just a student in debate class researching the darfur subject; and bloggs never seize to amaze me.

    i aswell have a large opinion on this subject; but i have a 6th grader reading as im writing; and it may be inapproiate

    just keep on truckin yall

    peace and love always
    Ellen

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