Friday, January 27, 2012

Blog 2: Witnesses give graphic accounts of South Sudan ethnic violence

In Johannesburg, South Africa there is an ethnic war going on in the Jonglei state that has been going on for centuries. Most people are unaware of this ethnic clash, I certainly wasn't, but the level of violence has escalated over the years. Fighting with spears is a thing of the past now that these tribes have gained access to guns, knives, and other automatic weapons. Of course, as the danger of the weapons increase, the level of violent attacks increase as well.

The attacks were carried out by the Murle people on the Luo-Nuer tribe. The Murle's motive for their attacks was revenge for previous attacks upon them by the Luo- Nuer tribe. In the article, there is some witness testimony about the level of violence and brutality of these attacks. Many women and children are killed or beaten severely and left for dead. According to the United Nations, fifty-five people dies in the January eleventh attack and dozens were wounded. The numbers for those who are missing are large, but not certain and in Jongwei alone there are at least 120,000 who need aid. Along with the missing, the number of dead is unknown as well. 

The reason for the attacks has to do with larceny that may seem petty to us, if we use a ethnoc
entric view, but if we are culturally relative then it would make sense. In these tribes, cattle is very important. The cattle your family owns is a symbol of power and determine your stance within the tribe in terms of family value. The larceny comes in where one tribe would attack the other and steal the cattle, leaving many people dead or wounded as well. 

The battle between the two tribes looks, at the surface, as though it is just a battle over cattle, but in actuality the cattle stand for more than that. The battle is over power and prestige that was stolen along with the cattle. The number of cattle you have is the only way the families really knew their worth and when they were taken, so was the wealth of the family. 

In a world where we are so focused on economic issues and politics, stories like these can get lost in translation behind those things that we deem more important. However, we need to pay more attention to issues like these because they are not just happening in Johannesburg or Africa, they are happening all over the world. Diversity is a great thing, but it can cause issues as well.

No comments: