www.stand4islam.blogspot.com: Haiti, NGOs and the modes of colonisation

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In recent times a plethora of misconceptions, misrepresentation and myths have been forged about Islam
and Muslims. Many western influentials from politicians, policymakers to judges have taken it upon
themselves to undermine the Islamic beliefs, values and rules so to make it palatable to their
egotistic minds and the secular liberal thoughts.

This blog is dedicated:-

1. To argue the point for Islam in its belief and systems and to refute the misconceptions.
2. To expose the weakness and contradictions of all forms of secularism.

15 Feb 2010

Haiti, NGOs and the modes of colonisation

A month on from the Haitian earthquake and the images of mothers and young children trying to rebuild their lives after the devastation is upsetting for all. Although such disasters cannot be prevented, the post earthquake events in the country reveal some startling facts about Haiti. Firstly, the tiny state is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and has development indicators comparable to some of the poorest African states. In terms of illiteracy and mortality, it is on par with countries such as Bangladesh, Chad and Sierra Leone. Such characteristics are quite unsettling, especially as it is only 600 miles from the United States.

The reasons for Haiti's poor development record are still being debated by historians and political scientists but a brief glance into her history offers some insights. When Christopher Columbus arrived in Haiti on 5th December, 1492, he claimed the island for Spain -subsequently, the Spaniards mined the island for gold and exploitation of the land. At a later stage, the French settled on the land which gave rise to hostilities and tension with the Spaniards because both countries wanted to colonize the island.

When Haitians won their independence from France in 1804, they attempted to claim reparations from the powers that had profited from three centuries of colonisation. France, however, was convinced that it was Haitians who had stolen the property of slave owners, by refusing to work for free. So in 1825, French warships threatened to re-enslave the former colony, King Charles X came to collect 90 million gold francs - 10 times Haiti's annual revenue at the time. With no way to refuse, and no way to pay, the young nation was shackled to a debt that would take 122 years to pay off.

The ill-treatment suffered by the host population included malnutrition, forced labour and slavery - such enormous societal disruptions led to a sharp decline in population and this was further exacerbated by infectious diseases bought by the Europeans that were new to the people of the Caribbean, therefore lacked immunity to. The newly formed colonized lands quickly became very profitable, especially for the French as they gained immense profits from sugar and coffee. This was made possible by the thousands of slaves that were shipped from Africa to work on the land - it is said that they were part of the ‘most brutally efficient slave colonies' as one third died within a few years.

It is clear from this brief account that international powers have always vied with each other in competition to secure resources and strategic interests. The only difference now is the style employed to achieve the same objective. Unfortunately, for the people of Haiti, the earthquake was the perfect pretext for the Capitalists to set foot in the impoverished nation once again. Of particular interest is the fact that Haiti has the highest number of NGOs per capita in the world. On the surface, such a realisation may not seem to be vested in exploitation or self-interest and although, it is not necessarily a bad thing that a state has so many NGOs but the ramifications of such a reality can be disconcerting. As a general rule of thumb, the more NGOs there are in a country, the less developed it is. This can suggest one of two factors. A heavy NGO presence in a country may indicate that the state has abdicated its responsibility to its citizens or that it doesn't have the infrastructure to adequately respond to the people's needs.

One would then beg the question: if there are so many NGOs in Haiti than anywhere else, why has the country not been able to pull itself out of the quagmire of underdevelopment and poverty? Could it be related to the fact that such a large presence of NGOs has the effect of downplaying the duties of government by not advocating the need for development? Essentially, such a situation means that the country will always rely on foreign hand-outs and will never be self-sufficient.

It is a historical fact that any country that opens its doors to foreign donors and humanitarian agencies eventually loses sovereignty over its own people. Similar scenarios can be seen in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately, much of the money raised will end up in the pockets of highly-paid consultants, corrupt government officials and UN bureaucrats; very little of it will go to the people who need it most.

It may appear that the premise of this discussion is questioning the morality of NGOs and it may seem cruel to suggest that donors and NGOs should not help countries like Haiti at the time of need but the history of humanitarian aid and assistance to poor countries has shown that a crisis is used as a convenient entry point by foreign players to impose a particular system or vision for the people. On the other hand, it is true to state that a blanket rejection of NGOs is rather unfair but a healthy critique of such practices would warrant suspicion, especially as their operations are conducted within the framework of capitalist thought, an ideology that is marching forth towards global domination. As for the Haitian government, they will be pushed further to the periphery and most decisions about the state will be made in Washington, Paris or London - a type of proxy colonialism as it were.

Ultimately, giving charity and assistance to the poor and grief stricken is a commendable act and should be encouraged, however, they should be viewed as pseudo-solutions. More often than not, the underlying fundamental problem is overlooked and with the case of Haiti, it is an example of centuries of subjugation and interference by outside powerful forces. Very little attention is given to how Haiti can develop its infrastructure and mode of government or how IMF loans are becoming increasingly oppressive.

Although, we do not see the barbaric slavery of the French anymore, the essence of Colonialist politics has not shifted. It is no longer a case of brute force neo-colonialism but we now live in the times of subtle NGO colonialism - an idea that hinders self development and increases reliance on others.

[Article written by Saqib Bukhari]

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What they said...

“Islam represented the greatest military power on earth…It was the foremost economic power in the world…It had achieved the highest level so far in human history, in the arts and sciences of civilization...Islam in contrast created a world civilization, poly-ethnic, multiracial, international, one might even say intercontinental.”

[Bernard Lewis, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Orientalist and Historian, 2001]

"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world. It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts…the civilization I'm talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600… Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage"

[Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2001]

"For the first three centuries of its existence (circ. A.D 650-1000) the realm of Islam was the most civilized and progressive portion of the world. Studded with splendid cities, gracious mosques and quiet universities where the wisdom of the ancient world was preserved and appreciated, the Moslem world offered a striking contrast to the Christian West, then sunk in the night of the Dark Ages."

[Lothrop Stoddard, Ph.D (Harvard), American political theorist and historian, 1932]

"Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and open to innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates than in contemporary Europe;it assimilated the legacy of classical Greek civilization to such a degree that many classical books are now known to us only through Arabic copies. It invented windmills ,trigonometry, lateen sails and made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical and chemical engineering and irrigation methods. In the middle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Only after the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin to reverse."

[Jared Diamond, UCLA sociologist and Author, 1997]

"No other society has such a record of success in uniting in an equality of status, of opportunity and endeavour so many and so varied races of mankind. The great Muslim communities of Africa, India and Indonesia, perhaps also the small community in Japan, show that Islam has still the power to reconcile apparently irreconcilable elements of race and tradition. If ever the opposition of the great societies of the East and west is to be replaced by cooperation, the mediation of Islam is an indispensable condition."

[Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, Professor at Harvard University, 1932]

“The Muhammadan Law which is binding on all -- from the crowned head to the meanest subject is a law interwoven with a system of the wisest, the most learned and the most enlightened jurisprudence that ever existed in the world.”

[Edmund Burke, British Statesman and Philosopher, 1789]

"The Exile here is not like in our homeland. The Turks hold respectable Jews in esteem. Here and in Alexandria, Egypt, Jews are the chief officers and administrators of the customs, and the king’s revenues. No injuries are perpetuated against them in all the empire. Only this year, in consequence of the extraordinary expenditure caused by the war against Shah Tahmsap al-Sufi, were the Jews required to make advances of loans to the princes."

[David dei Rossi, Jewish Traveller 17CE, quoted by Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands]

"The notable religious tolerance towards Christians and Jew under Muslim rule had given way to the uncompromising zealotry of Spanish Inquisition. Jews and Muslims thus fled Spain with large numbers of Jews immigrating to the Ottoman Empire which was known for its tolerance to the Jews."

[Graham Fuller, Author and former CIA, 1995]

“If there is much misunderstanding in the West about the nature of Islam, there is also much ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilization owe to the Islamic world. It is a failure, which stems, I think, from the straightjacket of history, which we have inherited. The medieval Islamic world, from central Asia to the shores of the Atlantic, was a world where scholars and men of learning flourished. But because we have tended to see Islam as the enemy of the West, as an alien culture, society, and systems of beliefs, we have tended to ignore or erase its great relevance to our own history”

[Charles Philip Arthur George, HRH The Prince of Wales, 1993]

"...Not being subject to the Sharia, Jews and Christians were free to go to their own religious authorities for adjudication of disputes; but in many cases they went instead to the [Muslim] Qadi"

[Richard W. Bulliet, Professor of History and Author, 2004]

"Here in the land of the Turks we have nothing to complain of. We possess great fortunes; much gold and silver are in our hands. We are not oppressed by heavy taxes and our commerce is free and unhindered. Rich are the fruits of the earth. Everything is cheap and each one of us lives in freedom. Here a Jew is not compelled to wear a yellow star as a badge of shame as is the case in Germany where even wealth and great fortune is a curse for a Jew because he therewith arouses jealousy among the Christians and they devise all kinds of slander against him to rob him of his gold. Arise my brethren, gird up your loins, collect up your forces and come to us."

[In his book 'Constantinople', Philip Mansel quotes a rabbi in Turkey writing to his brethren in Europe where they were facing increasing persecution after 1453]

"Praise be to the beneficent God for his mercy towards me! Kings of the earth, to whom his [the Caliph’s] magnificence and power are known, bring gifts to him, conciliating his favour by costly presents, such as the king of the Germans, the king of the Gebalim, the king of Constantinople, and others. All their gifts pass through my hands, and I am charged with making gifts in return. (Let my lips express praise to the God in heaven who so far extends his loving kindness towards me without any merit of my own, but in the fullness of his mercies.) I always ask the ambassadors of these monarchs about our brethren the Jews, the remnant of the captivity, whether they have heard anything concerning the deliverance of those who have pined in bondage and had found no rest."

[Hasdai Ibn Shaprut (915-990 CE) Jewish physician, chief minister of Islamic Caliphate in Cordova, 'The Jewish Caravan']

"In Baghdad there are about forty thousand Jews, and they dwell in security, prosperity, and honour under the great Caliph [al-Mustanjid, 1160-70 CE], and amongst them are great sages, the Heads of the Academies engaged in the study of the Law…’"

[Benjamin of Tudela, Rabbi in Baghdad in the year 1168 CE, 'The Jew in the Medieval World']

"Those Eastern thinkers of the ninth century laid down, on the basis of their theology, the principle of the Rights of Man, in those very terms, comprehending the rights of individual liberty, and of inviolability of person and property; described the supreme power in Islam, or Califate, as based on a contract, implying conditions of capacity and performance, and subject to cancellation if the conditions under the contract were not fulfilled; elaborated a Law of War of which the humane, chivalrous prescriptions would have put to the blush certain belligerents in the Great War; expounded a doctrine of toleration of non-Moslem creeds so liberal that our West had to wait a thousand years before seeing equivalent principles adopted.

[Leon Ostorog, French Jurist]

"The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist in startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to Arab culture, it owes its existence"

[Robert Briffault, Novelist and Historian, 1928]

"The only effective link between the old and the new science is afforded by the Arabs. The dark ages come as an utter gap in the scientific history of Europe, and for more than a thousand years there was not a scientific man of note except in Arabia"

[Oliver Joseph Lodge, Writer and Professor of Physics, 1893]

“Thus, when Muslims crossed the straits of Gibraltar from North Africa in 711 and invaded the Iberian Peninsula, Jews welcomed them as liberators from Christian Persecution.”

[Zion Zohar, Jewish scholar at Florida International University, 2005]

“Throughout much of the period in question, Arabic served as the global language of scholarship, and learned men of all stripes could travel widely and hold serious and nuanced discussions in this lingua franca. Medieval Western scholars who wanted access to the latest findings also needed to master the Arabic Tongue or work from translations by those who had done so.”

[Jonathan Lyons, Author, Writer and Lecturer, 2009]