The Sin Of Being African 1

We are all equal, but some are more equal than others.

There's hardly a war on earth that has been fought on a good premise. Times without numbers we have seen men, fathers, sons, brothers, friends and colleagues armed and sent off with the mission to go and kill other men whom are dispatched for that same exact purpose and why? For the greed, ego and gains of a few; the wealthy or/and political elite. This has been the case and is still the case today.

The war raging today in Ukraine is appalling quite frankly. It's really a shame that an issue that could have been easily dealt with diplomatically had to result in war, blood and death all over. My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people whose opinion wasn't asked before Russia decided it had to 'remove the illegitimate regime in Kiev and demilitarise Ukraine'. I sympathize with the average Russian whose opinion wasn't asked but has to suffer as a result of the numerous sanction that the actions of Putin has brought upon them.

In the early days of the war, I was really keeping up to date as the story developed, but I don't do that anymore as I can bear the blood, destruction and death anymore. This should be the tenth day of the war, I think. From even before the onset of the war through it, there has been massive outcry and coverage. It's the stuff of front pages of newspapers and magazines, of primetime shows on TV, of headline and breaking news. The condemnation from all arrange the globe has been alarming. The EU, UN and the whole of the world seem to have found ground to be united and all these are quite impressive, if only.....

For this paragraph, I would like to borrow from the BBC article that awakened this feeling of betrayal by the world in me. 'We are all equal, but some are more equal than others. This play on George Orwell's adage has been brought to life as war broke out at the gates of the European Union. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has rightly led to widespread condemnation. But from an African perspective, watching global powers unite in pulling out all the stops to curtail the conflict, has been simultaneously impressive and frustrating. On the one hand, the crippling sanctions and UN resolution are more than understandable because no-one wants a war involving a nuclear-armed superpower to descend into an even more catastrophic situation. On the other, there has been palpable surprise on our continent that not all armed conflicts are treated with the same lack of resolve that much of the fighting in Africa gets'

This really sums the theme of my article. While the widespread condemnation and the actions of powerful nations going all the way to try and end the violence are impressive, it confirms the existence of what I'll term internationally institutionalised racism. Before the war in Ukraine, war had been raging in Ethiopia for over a year, with the fighting between the Ethiopia federal government and the regional government (TPLF) causing massive destruction and death in the Tigray region. The world leaders informally agreed all the violence and death of innocent Ethiopian women, children and men deserve were statements of concern and international envoys been sent on missions, but no wall-to-wall coverage, no live televised statements from global leaders and no enthusiastic offers of help. The international news outlets decided the news of the raging war and death in Ethiopia wasn't the stuff for front pages or primetime shows, nor headline and/or breaking news.

According to Algerian-Canadian journalist Maher Mezahi, who wrote in series of letters from African writers on the BBC, 'In Ethiopia, the last 16 months have been hell. In the north of the country, as a result of a conflict in Tigray, more than two million people have been forced from their homes. In addition hundreds of thousands face starvation, and the government has been accused of blocking deliveries of aid and essential medicines - something it denies. There is mounting evidence that war crimes may have been committed by both sides, include mass killings and widespread use of rape as a weapon of war On the scale of human suffering it is surely on a par with anything else that is grabbing the world's attention. There are many other conflicts that barely get a mention. Same thing is happening in Cameroon and a lot of other African countries, forcing Maher Mezahi to ask 'Why hasn't the world shown a fraction of the concern that's been on display over the past week or so for African suffering? Somehow the wider audience doesn't really see it in the same way.'

Apparently she's write.. I'll continue on this article tomorrow when I've already gotten enough of the sleep I need.