The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
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Western ideology: Ideology must here be unders<strong>to</strong>od <strong>to</strong> encompass all<br />
new ideas introduced by Westerners during the colonial conquest <strong>of</strong><br />
Rw<strong>and</strong>a. To appreciate the importance <strong>of</strong> Western ideology, two fac<strong>to</strong>rs<br />
must be taken in<strong>to</strong> account: the structure <strong>of</strong> personal identity <strong>and</strong> the<br />
prestige <strong>of</strong> the Western intruder in Africa generally, <strong>and</strong> specifically in<br />
Rw<strong>and</strong>a. <strong>The</strong> personal identity <strong>of</strong> each individual consists <strong>of</strong> what he or<br />
she is in their own eyes, in the eyes <strong>of</strong> others, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> what he or she<br />
real ly is. <strong>The</strong> Western view, which ignored what the Rw<strong>and</strong>ans were<br />
for themselves, <strong>and</strong> <strong>to</strong>ld them what they were for the West, resulted in<br />
a fission <strong>of</strong> Rw<strong>and</strong>an identity. In effect, what the Westerner said <strong>to</strong> the<br />
Rw<strong>and</strong>ans was:<br />
that they were <strong>of</strong> different races: which they rejected;<br />
that one race was superior <strong>to</strong> the other two, which they rejected,<br />
since they still only had, at most, a hierarchy <strong>of</strong> three brothers;<br />
that they were <strong>of</strong> different origins <strong>and</strong> had arrived in Rw<strong>and</strong>a at<br />
different times, successively, the Twa, then the Hutu <strong>and</strong> finally<br />
the Tutsi.<br />
But the Westerner who said that was equipped with an immense prestige<br />
<strong>of</strong> knowledge <strong>and</strong> power; Rw<strong>and</strong>ans believed them <strong>and</strong> did not,<br />
more over, doubt that it would one day be <strong>of</strong> consequence. Consequences<br />
there would be, <strong>and</strong> they would be significant:<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tutsi obtained, without their knowledge, three poisoned gifts:<br />
racial difference, racial superiority (which earned them a monopoly<br />
on power) <strong>and</strong> alien status.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hutu were relegated <strong>to</strong> the margins in terms <strong>of</strong> political power,<br />
a marginalization which would lead <strong>to</strong> resentment, then <strong>to</strong> conflict –<br />
when the Hutu Manifes<strong>to</strong>, published in 1957, challenged the Tutsi<br />
monopoly <strong>of</strong> power – <strong>and</strong> finally <strong>to</strong> the conflict <strong>of</strong> 1959 that led <strong>to</strong><br />
the genocide <strong>of</strong> 1994: “<strong>The</strong> path does not notify the traveller”<br />
(inzira ntibwira umugenzi).<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rw<strong>and</strong>an nation would experience a collapse, which would lead<br />
<strong>to</strong> the first attempt at Hutu-Tutsi separation.<br />
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