In the Darfur conflict, hundreds of thousands of human beings were slaughtered, like animals, because they lived where they lived and they weren't Arab. It is commonly thought that the ones who survived should consider themselves lucky. But people like Halima Bashir prove that death isn't always the worst fate in tragedies of this nature. Halima Bashir was beaten, raped and forced to watch as her loved ones were killed right before her eyes upon numerous occasions.
Diary ENTRIES
By way of the book, "Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur" Halima Bashir gave a firsthand account of what life was like before and during the conflict in Darfur as well as how she was able to elude death by making it to a safe haven in Zaghawa. She was actually one of the first non-foreigners to do so. In the book Halima shed light on what the relationship was like between the Arabs and the non-Arabs saying, "...We called these people the Ahrao; a word that for us signifies "the Arab enemy". Traditionally there was little love lost between the Ahrao and us black African tribes. If trouble were to come were to come, it came invariably from the Ahrao"
The author also wrote about how one morning the Janjaweed invaded her school saying, "All around me girls were being raped, regardless of their age. The Janjaweed carried guns, knives, heavy sticks---the ones they use to beat their horses. If any girl tried to resist they beat her with those sticks."
OMAR aL-BASHIR
Many people hold the Sudanese president, Omar Al-Bashir, responsible for the Darfur conflict. After more and more women began to speak out about being raped by the Janjaweed, he felt pressured to make a statement. But in actuality the words he spoke to defuse the situation only made it worst. The president was quoted saying, "It is not in the Sudanese culture or the people of Darfur to rape. It doesn't exist." So not only were these women sexually assaulted but they were pretty much told that it never happened.
Conclusion
In the Darfur genocide, people were hurt in various ways. Although the severity of lives lost should never be overlooked, neither should the struggle of those who had their lives taken from them and just happen to still be alive. So even though about 300,000 were killed as a result of this heinous display of savageness, millions were victimized. The take-away message of this is that in these situations everyone suffers, maybe if more people thought this way future genocides can be prevented.
Bibliography
Bashir, Halima, Aileen Gonzalez, and Damien Lewis. Tears of the Desert. [S.l.]: ISIS, 2009.In this book the author tells the reader about her life before, during and after the Darfur conflict. (Primary Source.)
"Lifting the Veil; Darfur." The Economist (US) 16 Aug. 2008: n. pag. Gale Student Resource. Web. 18 Jan. 2013. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/MagazinesDetailsPage/MagazinesDetailsWindow>.(Secondary Source)