An Eye on Sudan

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First appeared on my older blog on March 11, 2009.

About two weeks or so separated the death of the famous Sudanese novelist al-Tayyib al-Salih and the charges of war crimes made against the Sudanese president ‘Umar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

Since Clinton’s bombing of Al-Shifa pharmaceutical company in 1998, Sudan went under the American media radar to re-emerge with the problems in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first acting head of state to be charged by the ICC for war crimes. Is this a progress for international justice to be celebrated or a precedent that will be regretted even by the people who pushed so hard for it?

Since Clinton’s bombing of Al-Shifa pharmaceutical company in 1998, Sudan went under the American media radar to re-emerge with the problems in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first acting head of state to be charged by the ICC for war crimes. Is this a progress for international justice to be celebrated or a precedent that will be regretted even by the people who pushed so hard for it?

It is ironic that al-Salih most celebrated novel “Season of Migration to the North” dealt with the South-North cultural relations, the same relations that are souring these days due to the civil war in Darfur and the alleged genocide being committed by the government-supported Janjaweed militias. Al-Bashir’s response to the charges of the ICC were far from the ethereal language of al-Salih. In a orchestrated public appearance of al-Bashir in northern Darfur (among his supporters) he used the, now famous, “shoe” symbol to tells us what he thought of the ICC charges. However, I would have to say that al-Zaidi’s shoes flying in Bush’s face tell a completely different story than the charges of ICC being “on al-Bashir’s shoe” (symbolizing his utter disdain for the ICC and its backers). Al-Zaidi was empowered by his shoe when he used as a medium of expression, whereas al-Bashir seemed rather helpless and out maneuvered.
While Mustafa Sa’eed, the main protagonist of “Season of Migration to the North”, conquered the west with his southern charm and masculinity, al-Bashir looks today rather emasculated.