Darfur Tragedy

Did anyone notice? On October the 1^st Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon drawing this dreadful conflict to a close. Under cover of darkness, a column of tanks and about 200 Israeli soldiers slunk home. We must all give thanks that a war that claimed some 1800 lives is over. I suspect that no one much did notice, and this makes me rather angry.

It was only recently that local Liberal and Labour politicians were advertising their distress at the tragedy. Amongst the many who went into print were James Kempton, Emily Thornberry and Lucy Watts. Some thought it odd that the war provoked such a public reaction from “local” officials, but I took them at face value. Not any more; all of these people stand in my eyes as pious frauds until they speak out on Darfur

Darfur hits a Lebanon total of deaths every ten days and the current butchers bill is estimated by NGO`s at 400,000. It is not a natural disaster; it is the ethnic cleansing policy of the Khartoum Government. Last year, under international pressure, a Comprehensive Peace Treaty was agreed for South Sudan and the nervous calm holds good. Everything hangs in the balance now, most urgently for Darfur, but also for the South. So why, when the smallest voice could help, are our local representatives silent?

We can only speculate. A Jewish attack on advanced Hezbollah positions pricks their consciences. An Islamic Arab mass genocide against Black African Christians does not. I shall try to think the best our local spokesmen. The arrival of the formally agreed UN force is , after all, of considerably more importance. There is one condition though; that James Kempton, Emily Thornberry Lucy Watts, join me in condemning Islamic Arab slaughter of African black men and women in Sudan, today.