the piracy lesson

I know so many of us may not like it, but surely, placed in the same position, certainly most of us, if not all, will not act differently. I am a Christian right, whose number one priority is to uphold high moral standards and hopefully, help others walk in the same path. I nevertheless, as a rational being, think that this pirates in Somalia, though their actions cannot be justified morally, have a point!
A human being, in the African context is termed as a social being precisely because he cannot live apart from others and as a matter of fact, others cannot leave them to live alone. Humanly speaking, all human beings have a fundamental right to live, that is to say, live in an orderly society with a right to adequate food, shelter and with the modern world, education and not just education, but a quality one. All human beings have a right to quality medication, free assembly, free association and of course fair trial based on the existing conventional rules. Such are the rights of man!! Now imagine yourself stripped off of all these fundamental rights as in the case of Somalis. For two full decades, these essential rights have been a luxury to these people. No sufficient food, no quality education, to proper shelter, no structures for medication, no peace. All they have known is how to fight, how to hate, how to revenge and possibly, how to kill.
In the background, the United Nations, an organization built with human rights as its backbone and the African Union, a panel set to protect the lives of all the Africans, are ‘blindly’ watching. The G8 (I cannot guess what this means) are silently watching. Basically, the world is silently keeping vigil in this dark hour when Somalis slaughter each other. They seem not to notice, may be because these are Somalis and probably less human: believe me, there are some people considered less human, ask Hegel! Or because these people have no interests in this country, no oil or minerals! Somalis are treated as criminal and may be terrorists. If it was you, wouldn’t you strive to survive?
I so much admire Barack Obama. This guy is not only a great president but also a great rhetoric. While receiving the noble peace price recently, he answered his critics on the issue of sending troops to Afghanistan by stating blankly that indeed “there are times when peace can be obtained by use of force.” I totally agree with him. If the Somalis have refused to come together for a dialogue, a reasonable force can be used to bring the rebels together. As we buy time, these people are becoming more and more dangerous. A rebel group recently claimed to be linked to Alqaida. It means that Somalis have not only become a threat to themselves but indeed to the whole world. When we cry of our loved ones killed by suicide bombers in Israel, Iraq or wherever, we should also remember that there are women and children in the streets of Mogadishu waiting for someone to show their brothers, husbands and sons to stop killing each other. We should know that there are peaceful men who cannot be peaceful anymore because no one is listening to them. Somalia has become a real ‘hell’ in the world.
I have been wondering how someone can afford to kill oneself in the name of suicide! Neglecting Somalia is a sure way of manufacturing such characters. Attaining peace is a collective responsibility we can never afford to ignore.
That’s why it is understandable when the Somali pirates, though it is ‘illegal’, hijack and ask ransom from multinational companies. These people are just trying to improvise ways to survive, to get food, shelter and education. They are reminding the world that yes, ‘we too deserve a better life than this hell.’ They are telling the world that if you don’t act now, it may be too late when you try. Yes, they are saying that we are tired…

I, put in the same position, will not act differently…and I am sure, you too. It is easy to criticize them because we have never faced the same ordeal!!