We are civilised. What happens in Somalia stays in Somalia. We are civilised. And we are cowards
Ideas find expansion in the presence of solid intellectual companions. James Oppenheim is a close personal friend who has informally tracked what he has coined the ‘Islamic Small Wars’. For Jim, the Islamic Small Wars (ISWs) are “all civil wars within Islamic-majority states that have some interface with the west, largely determined by location, albeit universally characterised by a nearly global xenophobia. Ultimately, they are about the development of power, largely through intimidation and fear, and not so much concerned with constituent needs, the earth, or insight into the character of humanity within nature and engaged with God.”
Somalia certainly meets the criteria for the definition of an Islamic Small War. It is a region engulfed in population decimation by forces that are numerically small but capable of casting a long shadow via fear and intimidation. Today, this fear can be traced on the faces of the women.
Somali women are suffering greater incidents of rape than at any time in recent history. The UN states that in the last two months reports have emerged of 2,500 acts of gender-based violence in Mogadishu alone. Switch these rape statistics to capitols such as London, Paris or Istanbul and this despicable state of affairs would have already created intense public alarm with an equally intense governmental intervention. Unfortunately, Mogadishu does not have anything even remotely resembling governance. International aid is a monetary transaction unrelated to the scheme of things on the ground. A tragic disintegration of culture and society are being orchestrated by a mere few thousand men belonging to a militia known as Al-Shabab. Somalia has the eyes of an abandoned woman.
‘Gender-based violence’ is a soft way of saying that women are attacked with weapons and superior force. It is the nary-a-glance way of noting that women are being beaten and forced into sexual acts with strangers. And dare we consider the worst? The gender-based violence is not limited to one-on-one encounters. Gang rape is the ragged edge of the emerging picture.
We like to imagine ourselves civilised. Hence, we cannot allow ourselves to envision a sexual assault. We dare not contemplate the emotions felt by women confronted by armed men seeking violent outlet for their predatory lust. To put ourselves in their place creates emotional peril to our own carefully guarded nervous system circuitry. We must remain looking over the balustrade to the street below. It is the safe view of the chaos beneath our collective feet.
Rape reduces the most intimate of all loving acts to forced sexual involvement. Women are left with post-traumatic stress disorder and possible physical injuries. At times they are left with the amazing gift of conception. These things occur without regard to bonds of marriage and as a witness to the design model given by the Creator. All of the aforementioned is happening in Somalia today as the world averts its gaze.
The men of Al-Shabab walk away from their latest victims, ignoble as common donkeys working up a good sweat. They sneer at the rest of us. Why should they not? There is little need for fear. Life is good for rapists in Somalia.
Stark terror reminds us of our own slow march towards death and final judgement. It is better to be genteel. It is so much better to read poetry and great literary classics. We dine at tables with linen napkins and drink from crystal goblets. We are civilised. What happens in Somalia stays in Somalia. We are civilised. And we are cowards.
Certain headlines catch our attention as the Somali madness continues to slither across the years. The head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is murdered leaving a mosque in Mogadishu. It is accomplished in gangland fashion. The deputy director of a local aid organisation linked to the German organisation Bread for the World dies from a volley of bullets. Their names can be found using a search engine. We remember the names of the men. What of the names of the women? They remain the haunting but nameless casualties for undisciplined rogues roaming the landscape of a disintegrated society. Somalia sounds like the wailing of a grieving woman.
I was gifted with a small red hardcover book several weeks ago. Only 41 pages in length, the book begins with the following: “Ninety-three years old. The last leg of my journey...” These are the initial words of Stéphane Hessel in Time for Outrage (Indignez-vous!). Fascinated that a man in his 90s would capture my attention so quickly, I read the words of this aged statesman with careful reflection. Monsieur Hessel was a man engulfed in a historic tumult not of his own making. But it allowed for a fine display of his convictions. He was not one to run from the fight. And when the dust settled, he sought solutions for the ailments of society. He brings the book to a close with a reminder of the need for non-violent solutions. I always support non-violent solutions as the best of options within stable geopolitical spaces. But when women are being raped en masse, I support the use of extreme violence against the perpetrators.
Families in Somalia continue to find themselves with frighteningly few options for a better life. Al-Shabab militants are engaged in an Islamic Small War. Bent on the destruction of both home and habitat, these men take advantage of the chaotic geographic space in which they dwell. They are like the Jagannath speeding through the streets and crushing all in its path. The women are being crushed under the heavy wheels of injustice.
We err in imagination if we consider ruthlessness as solely being wrought by lack of conscience. What of the ruthlessness of a benign and inactive conscience that refuses to respond to a powerful call to collective social action? Who are the real ‘bad boys’ here?
The writer is a freelance columnist. She can be reached at tammyswof@msn.com
No comments:
Post a Comment