The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

(please note: The reason why I am “calling out” our black politicians on this issue is because if they can give voice to issues like Haiti, Iraq, AIDS and hunger in Africa, and blame America for not doing enough in the process, they can certainly give a greater voice to the millions of African women and children that have suffered due to slavery that is going on today. People like Maxine Waters find it convenient to refer to America’s role in the slave trade [when she wants to blame America for injustice towards black Americans]. Now it is time for her and others like her to use the power that they have to give voice to these silent screams of her own people!)

First, some background on the current slave trade in Sudan and Mauritania:

UN Report on slavery in Sudan, genocide in the Nuba Mountains, and “ethnic cleansing” in Blue Nile, August 30, 2001

Slavery and racial discrimination in Sudan are highlighted in a long-overdue study by the United Nations. A report from the UN’s Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) declares, according to Agence France-Presse, “that a decades-long civil war in Sudan has led to ‘growing and persistent reports of enslavement of Africans by Arabs, genocide in the Nuba Mountains area, and ethnic cleansing in the Blue Nile area” (AFP, August 30, 2001). Of course the same racist and genocidal realities can be found in the oil regions of Upper Nile Province, and other areas of southern Sudan. As the UN report goes on to note, “fundamentalist Islam and Arab fanaticism play a very important role in this.” (Eric Reeves - Professor of English Language and Literature at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. He has spent the past six years working full-time as a Sudan researcher and analyst, publishing extensively both in the US and internationally.)

And this:

Gang-rape by Arab Muslim slave raiders are an integral element of Sudanese slavery.

The UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) reported that “fundamentalist Islam and Arab fanaticism” play a crucial role in the enslavement of Black Africans in North Africa, especially in Sudan and Mauritania. The case of Sudan is particularly disturbing because of the central role played by an Arab-Muslim supremacist state in reviving the country’s ancient slave trade in the context of a declared jihad.

The publication of this report coincided with a fact-finding visit by CSI’s Slavery Research Unit to the Afro-Arab borderlands of Sudan. Our research team, which has just returned from the field, interviewed 97 female slaves above the age of 12 who were recently liberated from bondage. The preliminary statistical findings of racial abuse are as follows:

Form of Abuse Percentage

Forced Labor without Pay 96.9%

Forced Conversion to Islam 25.8%

Frequent Beatings 96.9%

Racial Insults (i.e., Arabic terms for “slave”, “nigger” etc.) 97.9%

Rape 79.3%

Gang-rape 77.0%

Female Genital Mutilation 40.2% (more…)

With all of this hell our dear bruthas and sistahs have been enduring (and still are), one would think that our politicians (especially the black ones) in Washington would bring this whole issue into both the national and international spotlight in the same fashion that they have with affirmative action and the use of the confederate flag. Unfortunately, this has been treated as nothing more than an afterthought (let me remind you as I did in the last posting that although (generally speaking) most blacks in these highly visible political positions have been silent on this issue, there are some that are giving this issue the much needed attention that is needed).

The truth is (as a couple of my readers suggested), the reason why some black politicians have virtually ignored this issue is because unlike America’s involvement in the slave trade over 200 years ago, white people as well as the United States government cannot be blamed for it. These politicians have no problem traveling all over the world (places like Lybia, Haiti, and various African nations) to place themselves in the middle of a controversy in order to blame America or the white establishment for not doing enough to solve the issue at hand. However, when it comes to black on black crime here in the US or black slavery instituted by other blacks abroad, they become very somewhat silent.

As discussed earlier, the modern slave trade that is going on right now in Sudan and Mauritania is largely being fueled by Arabs. Coincidently, you will find that many of these politicians who are strangely silent on this issue have also received campaign donations from Arab lobbyist groups who to this day have not publicly denounced the inhumane treatment of Africans at the hand of their fellow kinsman–Arabs.

From time to time in this series, I will highlight a black politician that has received such payments from these various Arab groups. Please understand, this is not to say that all Arabs are pro-slavery. Instead, what I am suggesting is that if they will not only condemn these atrocities committed by their fellow Arabs, then they are just as guilty–and black folk should have nothing to do with them, let alone take their money.

Here is a list of Arab/Islamic donors for congresswoman Cynthia McKinney:

Hani Y. Awadallah — president, Arab American Civic Organization, New Jersey.

Jesse Aweida — co-founder, American Task Force on Palestine.

Belal Dalati — a vice president of Arab-American Broadcasting Co. (Orange County Register, February 19, 2002) associated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Hasan Elkhatib —member, board of directors, American Islamic Educational Foundation (MetroWest Jewish News, October 10, 1996)

Yaser Elmenshawy – chairman, Islamic Council of New Jersey.

Rafeeq Jaber — president, Islamic Association for Palestine, a Hamas offshoot.

Oussama Jammal — president, Bridgeview Mosque.

Samer Khalaf — chairman, American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee’s Political Outreach Committee in New Jersey.

Faroque Khan — president, Islamic Center of Long Island, also connected to the American Muslim Alliance and Islamic Society of North America.

Mahmoud A Nimer – member, board of directors, Islamic Academy of Florida, Tampa (an Islamic school established by Sami al-Arian; al-Arian’s indictment indicates the school was used as a base of support for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad).

Ayman Osman – member, board of directors, Islamic Academy of Florida, Tampa; employer of Hatem Fariz, arrested on terrorism charges and charged with being a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Talat Othman – former chairman of the Islamic Free Market Institute; secretary/treasurer of the American Task Force on Palestine.

Khalid Qazi — former president, American Muslim Council of western New York State.

Hareth Raddawi – member, board of directors, American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, Chicago.

Allam Reheem – former member, board of directors, Islamic Academy of Florida, Tampa.

Talal Sunbulli — former chairman, Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.

James Zogby — president, Arab American Institute.ddition, the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee gave $1,000.

“Such an outpouring of extremist support comes as no shock; as Erick Stakelbeck documents in today’s New York Post, “McKinney has long associated with militant Islamic groups whose members have openly supported terrorism,” plus “she has taken to the floor of the House to defend them.” (list compiled by website Little Green Footballs, but the actual information can be found at Center for Responsive Politics website www.opensecrets.com)

A lobbyist group will invest their money into any candidate that they feel will give voice to their agenda (mind you, she was one of the first politicians to blame the Bush administration for its Middle east policies just days after 9/11).

The Augusta Chronicle was also able to shed some light on McKinney’s ties with fringe Arab groups:

“McKinney received nearly $3,000 from radical Arabs and Arab groups on the very date of the terrorist attack, Sept. 11. The congresswoman says she wants to know what President Bush knew and when did he know it regarding the events of Sept. 11. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for her to answer the question: Why did Arab groups feel the need to pay her thousands of dollars on the day of the worst attack ever on our country.” (more…)

UPDATE: “Molotov” of Booker Rising has added that McKinney has spoken out against this issue. The point that I am raising in this piece is two-fold: #1. Why then is she still receiving money from the very people that are condoning these actions through their silence, and #2. In comparison to the other international controversies she has given voice to, why has this issue have seemingly been in her “least” column?

There are many other black politicians that are on the Arab dole as well. They will also be featured throughout this series.

I leave you with this true story from a former black slave that was fortunate to escape:

Abuk Bak is a 28-year-old native of southern Sudan. In 1987, her village of Achuru was raided by Sudanese government militia forces.

Ms. Bak was enslaved – along with her aunt and dozens of others – and taken to a slave market in the town of Daien filled with women and children. Every morning Arab men would come to buy African slaves. A man named Ahmed Adam purchased Abuk as a slave.

Ms. Bak’s main work was to shepherd Adam’s goats. She was beaten, called “abeeda” (black slave), and was given little or no food at all. For ten years she lived as a slave.

In 1997, when Ms. Bak was 22, Ahmed Adam attempted to rape her, but she resisted. Adam took a knife and stabbed Ms. Bak in her right leg, as she ran out of the house into the night, never to turn back.

Ms. Bak hid in the back of truck filled with goats and eventually found a fellow Dinka, a man named Majak, who helped her escape to Egypt. In Cairo, Ms. Bak married Majak’s brother, and the family was resettled to Buffalo, New York by the United Nations in January of 2000.

Today, Ms. Bak and her family live in Boston, Massachusetts, and Ms. Bak speaks out regularly about her experience. She has been profiled by Reuters, the Buffalo News, and New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis. In September of 2000, Ms. Bak led a protest outside the Sudanese Mission in New York during the United Nations Millenial Summit. She has also spoken at numerous schools and universities. (from iAbolish.com – The Anti-slavery portal)