Why does the media ignore African wars

national | anti-war / imperialism | press release

Saturday May 22, 2004 11:49

by hamish arrowsmith - tools for solidarity

tools.belfast at virgin dot net

Edenderry ind est, 326, Crumlin rd Belfast

028 90747473

PRESS RELEASE

WHY DOES THE BBC IGNORE AFRICAN WARS

Tools For Solidarity and the Black Youth Network are commemorating African Liberation Day outside the Bedford St offices of the BBC on Tuesday 25 May from 5 – 6pm. We will be asking the BBC when it is going to start reporting the 22 ongoing forgotten wars of Africa. There will be some street theatre from 5pm and at 5.30pm there will be a 3 minute silence for the forgotten dead. There will be 22 gravestones representing 22 ongoing conflicts in Africa. People are asked to wear something black as a mark of respect for the dead.

PRESS RELEASE

WHY DOES THE BBC IGNORE AFRICAN WARS

Tools For Solidarity and the Black Youth Network are commemorating African Liberation Day outside the Bedford St offices of the BBC on Tuesday 25 May from 5 – 6pm. We will be asking the BBC when it is going to start reporting the 22 ongoing forgotten wars of Africa. There will be some street theatre from 5pm and at 5.30pm there will be a 3 minute silence for the forgotten dead. There will be 22 gravestones representing 22 ongoing conflicts in Africa. People are asked to wear something black as a mark of respect for the dead.

Estimates of the dead in the Congo are 4 million since 1998, the worst casualties in any conflict in the world since the 2nd WW. Despite peace deals this war continues in the east of the country and under the smokescreen of war, western based multinational corporations loot precious minerals essential for the running of our economy.

African wars receive less than 5% coverage of global conflicts in UK TV news programmes. Of this limited coverage only 4.4% is about the worst conflict in the Congo because British TV focuses on bombs in Kenya or the situation in its previous colony Zimbabwe. Wars without the direct involvement of the western nations do not seem newsworthy and the little coverage given only focuses on the brutality of the conflict and not on possible solutions.

But we are involved because the wars are fought by proxy on behalf of western commercial interests. Rebel and government armies trade diamonds, hardwoods, oil, coltan (used in everything from mobile phones, play stations to space stations) with western corporations. Western and east European arms companies sell everything from AK47s to helicopter gunships. UK exports £400mn of arms to Africa annually and companies receive export credit guarantees. Tanzania, one of the poorest countries on the earth, bought a £28mn air defence system from UK when there exists no real Tanzanian air force or real enemy from the air. Allegedly this was a sweetener/bribe enabling Tanzania to reach HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Country) status and thus qualify for some limited debt relief. British companies sold arms to both rebel and government forces in Sierra Leone and to all principal protagonists in Congo war. The ordinary people receive no share of the wealth looted by African elites and their masters in the west. On the contrary they flee their villages, abandon their fields of crops and hide in the “bush” to avoid rape and torture.

While there are now independent African states economically the Africa is still controlled by western governments or institutions (World Bank/IMF) and corporations controlled by western governments.

Tuesday 25 May commemorates the founding of the OAU, Organisation of African Unity, which set about under the inspiration of visionaries like Nkrumah (Ghana) and Nyerere (Tanzania) to liberate the African continent economically and politically from the European colonies. Nkrumah was deposed in a coup when he tried to use the country’s diamonds for the benefit of his country. Lumumba, the first elected PM of the Congo was assassinated with the collusion of the Belgium government & CIA when he tried to do the same.

This is why Africa needs liberation and why it is important that we get fair and decent reporting of the events taking place. Similar events are taking place in London and across the African continent.

Further information from: 07708 189768

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Comments (10 of 10)

_former colony_ Zimbabwe

by iosaf - Good Luck With It.

Sat May 22, 2004 14:00

plays cricket.
BBC interested.
Kenya plays cricket, good for royal safari.
BBC interested.
Western Africa - up to it's neck in corruption and Oil and dirty stuff has never fielded a good cricket team.
BBC not interested.

There is an equation here.
Seriously, French media covers Central and Western African affairs, not very well but better than the BBC. French cricket coverage is shit though.

in indymedia land, Nigeria.imc is an embarrasing failure of the project, I really don't understand why there is still a site portal. Good luck w/ your campaigns.
there's good stuff here on some countries search the archives and link /refresh /inspire others to do the same.

The world’s forgotten genocide

by Raymond McInerney

Sat May 22, 2004 21:09

The international community are slow to respond to the genocide that is happening in Sudan.

Sarah Green of Amnesty International is looking for media coverage and celebrities to speak out in order to mobiles the international community to respond to the atrocities.

Relevant increase in media exposure are making the humanitarian efforts that much easier.

Such is the anti-Semitic hate in Europe

by avi H.

Sun May 23, 2004 00:18

that the media is far more worried whether the IDF has ransacked Rafah zoo or not than whether Arabs are committing genocide against christians in Sudan. In 15 European dailies, I counted 12 articles today about that and one about Sudan.

no coverage of the sudan today?

by random input

Sun May 23, 2004 20:06

well i counted stories in the Observer, FT, Telegraph, London Independent and The Scotsman - and thats just on one island.

But its true, african (and asian and latin american) wars and conflicts are rarely discussed in the same detail and with the same sense of urgency and relevancy as wars involving the west.

But then, they have been have they?

sod the rest of them

by adam

Sun May 23, 2004 21:04

Who gives a stuff about thousands of Africans being slaughtered in Sudan, Nigeria and numerous other places, when we've got 'Palestinians' to worry about. For that matter sod the Tibetans, Chechen's and many others who just don't cut it in the suffering league table. I'm afraid we've used up all are news time with the Palestinians and Iraq's so you'll just have to wait. That is unless there's any of those bad jews involved - then we might be able to find a few reporters.

Please Go Into Detail

by Ken

Wed May 26, 2004 04:26

Bad Jews are involved in Iraq just like Israel?

Looking for a rock to hide under

by Adam Ant

Wed May 26, 2004 10:29

As usual as soon as there is any criticism of Israel out they come trundling the usual accusations in front of them. If you were so concerned about human rights worldwide Adam, rather than seeking cover for Israel's crimes, you would have been raising your concersn about the situation in Nigeria, Sudan etc. BEFORE the massacres of innocent civilians in Rafah, and the wanton pogroms and destruction of property there? If you were so concerned about human life in general you would be critical of these illegal actions by the IDF and their criminal masters in Tel Aviv? If not it is obvious that you too believe that they aren't worth a fingernail?

anti-jewish bias

by huanita vegana

Wed Aug 11, 2004 19:17

People are so obsessed to single out jewish minority group while don't care about MILLIONS AND MILIONS animals and humanoids killed deliberately in Sudan. and/or in thousand other countries.

In fact,
IDF soldiers just LIBERATED animals from the Zoo. Rafah's children abused,and terrorised those poor animals using them as a living "toys".

RELEAZE ALL ANIMALS FROM THE ZOO

Wild Animals At Loose In Zoo

by Nordie

Wed Aug 11, 2004 20:00

They're good wee lads them Israelis - even bringing freedom to the zoo pets in the same way they bring it to the Palestinians every day:

'After 10 days of destruction and death in which Israeli soldiers in Rafah and nearby communities fired rockets and machine gun bullets at anything that moved, 57 Palestinian were dead, including at least 10 children. “Neighborhoods entered by Israeli troops resembled the aftermath of an earthquake,” a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote on May 22. He described mounds of smashed concrete, crumpled refrigerators, broken toys and furniture, and flattened cars. Bulldozers and tanks had shredded streets, broken water mains and power lines, uprooted crops, and even plowed through a zoo. At least a dozen animals were killed, and many were injured, including a deer and a racoon. '

From The Washington Report On Middle East Affairs

Stormfront propaganda above

by huanita

Wed Aug 11, 2004 22:12

Long cut and pasted report from Human Rights Watch has been snipped by an editor.

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Why does the media ignore African wars

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