(Arab) Eye on Darfur

The Arab media has taken some heat for underreporting events in Darfur. The most simplistic view of the conflict pits Arabs against Africans, with the Arab janjawiid as the most identifiable villains. In reality both Africans and Arabs fight on both sides of the war and the vast majority of both groups share the Islamic faith. Adopting the simplistic view, so the argument goes, Arab media outlets have little interest in covering a situation where Arabs are aggressors, not victims. (Rest assured that Arab media’s coverage of terrorism will be far from underreported during our October 22-23 conference). Regardless of the criticism, Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Vall has filed some interesting pieces of late on SLA rebels around Jebel Marra (here and here, make sure to watch the video for each).Also to keep an eye on: the Sudanese government is constructing a large dam in the North (with Gulf, French, German, and Chinese support) which promises to help ease the country’s electricity shortages, but also poses serious environmental and humanitarian concerns. Perhaps just another instance of Bashir’s authoritarianism; perhaps a catalyst for more conflict.