Israel Matzav: Israeli - Sudanese friendship association

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Israeli - Sudanese friendship association

Taraji Mustafa, a Sudanese human rights activist living in Canada, has founded an Israeli - Sudanese friendship association. In an interview with al-Arabiya, she takes the Arab world to task for its racism. This article came from YNet (Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs)

Taraji Mustafa, a Sudanese human rights activist living in Canada, recently said in an interview with the al-Arabiya network, "Ever since I announced the establishment of the fellowship association between Israel and Sudan, the phone in my house hasn't stopped ringing for two days.

"The response was amazing, from all around the world as well as from Sudan. I got calls from many students and citizens, as well as lawyers who said that they plan to sue the Sudanese government for noting in its passport that citizens are allowed to travel to all countries in the world apart from Israel, thus preventing a large number of its Christian and Muslim citizens from visiting Jerusalem," she added.

Mustafa was invited to give an interview to the Arab news network after she announced the establishment of the new association. During the interview, which was held about a week ago and is brought to you by Ynet courtesy of MEMRI – The Middle East Media Research Institute, she was asked to defend her controversial stance.

"Do you have an official mandate or a mandate from the people to establish an Israeli-Sudanese fellowship association, or is this your private initiative?" She was asked.

"I don’t need a mandate to discuss my private beliefs, and those of part of the Sudanese people. Why do I need a mandate to establish a fellowship association with part of the Israeli people which believes in fellowship?" She asked, expressing her surprise over the question.

"We were able to meet good people of the Israeli people and I am here to say clearly all traditions and stereotypes I heard about Jews and Israelis were erroneous," she said.

"Today there is a Sudanese exiles in Israel who are being protected, and this while we were massacred in Cairo, assassinated in Iraq or expelled from Jordan," she added.

And what about Arabs? "Over the years that passed since we joined the Arab League and won our independence the Arabs failed to give us the feeling that we are Arabs. They always they had an attitude towards the Sudanese people based on stereotypes," she charged.

"The Arabs are involved in what is happening in Sudan in favor of the tyrant regimes … and I don't want to remind you of the disappearance of thousands of members of the opposition in Cairo and the assassinations," she said.

She also criticized the Palestinians: "The Palestinian people shouldn't forget that we, the Sudanese people, opened our doors for them in the days of Sabra and Shatila. The Palestinians should not forget that Jaafar Numeiri (a Sudanese dictator that ruled from 1969 to 1985) burst out during Black September to save Yasser Arafat. Unfortunately this is not taken into account by the Palestinian public and people, who treat the Sudanese people in the most terrible, racist and persecutory manner, only because they are a black people."

She blamed the Arab media of fanning racist attitudes towards the Sudanese, citing that black actors always play the role of waiters, chauffeurs and goalkeepers in Egyptian movies.