The Sudanese civil war has generated a vast
amount of propaganda and disinformation. The intervention
in Sudan by foreign powers, especially the United States,
and by civil groups with partisan religious and political
motivations, has exacerbated and prolonged a tragic conflict
by the deliberate and cynical manufacture of blatantly manufactured
distortions, lies and hoaxes.
A recent and archetypal example of this process was the
manipulation of the image of Sudan for personal and propaganda
purposes in the campaign surrounding a woman calling herself
Kola Boof. (1) The author of 'Long
Train to the Redeeming Sin: Stories of African Women', Ms
Boof's "sudden" appearance on the Internet "several
months ago" was noted by 'The New York Times' in December
2002. (2) Ms Boof came to prominence when she claimed that
she had been made the subject of a Sudanese government fatwa
issued by a Sudanese diplomat in London, Mr Jamal Ibrahim,
and Dr Hasan Turabi, the former speaker of the Sudanese
Parliament, allegedly sentencing her to death for being
opposed to the Khartoum government and blaspheming Islam.
Ms Boof claimed that she had been sentenced to be beheaded.
These claims were carried by several media outlets. (3)
She claimed that the fatwa had been issued in September
2002 by the Sudanese government, and that this had been
conveyed to her by the SPLA, who in turn claimed to have
had it confirmed by a Mr Tanzim Wasti, Mr Ibrahim's secretary
and by Islamist activist Sheikh Omar Bakri.
On the basis of these and other previous claims Ms Boof
quickly emerged as a darling of the anti-Sudan campaign,
and was embraced by activists such as Joe Madison and Maria
Sliwa of "FreeWorldNow". (4) The 'New York Times'
revealed how impressionable members of African-American
society came forward to help her campaign because of having
read her claims as publicised on the Internet. Demonstrations
were held in her name. The Association for Women's Rights
in Development (AWD), for example, arranged simultaneous
demonstrations in New York city, Los Angeles and Washington-DC
on 7 November 2002 to "protest" the "Sept.
26th death sentence from Sudan ordering that Black womanist
writer Kola Boof is to be beheaded". The AWID protest
literature spoke of "our beloved Queen Kola".
(5)
Building on her anti-Khartoum theme, Ms Boof also stated
in interviews for example: "I am a political activist,
a soldier in Dr. John Garang's Sudanese People's Liberation
Army". (6) It subsequently emerged that she had made
a number of other interesting claims. She claimed, for example,
that she was the daughter of an Egyptian archaeologist and
a Somalian princess, and that she had lived in Omdurman,
Sudan, until she was 10 or 11, in 1978. Ms Boof claimed
that in 1978 "my parents...were murdered for speaking
up against slavery and the brutish Islamic government of
Sudan". (7) She claimed that "murahleen"
tribesmen had killed them in front of her. She claims that
her Egyptian grandmother then put her up for adoption and
that through UNICEF she travelled to London and was taken
in by an Ethiopian family who eventually gave her up because,
she said, they thought she might be a witch. She says she
was then adopted by a black family in Washington-DC in 1980.
(8)
Ms Boof also claimed that the Sudan People's Liberation
Army was in existence as early as 1977, and that as a little
girl she had attended SPLA meetings.
The Mundane Truth
Every one of these claims unravelled under examination.
The facts were far less interesting. Mr Jamal Ibrahim, the
deputy chief of mission at the Sudanese embassy in Britain,
wrote an article critical of Ms Boof and claims that she
had previously made, an article published in 'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat'
in September 2002. In this article he criticised her "falsehood
and dishonesty" in previous claims. Ms Boof subsequently
claimed that this article was in fact a fatwa, inaccurately
stating that fatwa is "a contract for assassination".
(9)
Unlike Ms Boof, 'The New York Times' took the trouble to
confirm the claims made to her by the SPLA in London. The
newspaper spoke to Sheikh Omar Bakri, a senior judge of
the Islamic sharia court in London, and
someone noted for his forthright views. Ms Boof claimed
that Bakri had been party to the fatwa. He stated that "nobody
issued a fatwa against Kola Boof". (10) The Islamic
judge went on to state: "I know she was criticized
by a Muslim official in London, but he isn't in a position
to issue a fatwa." This was confirmed by Mr Ibrahim
himself, who said the claim was "bizarre and baseless"
and that: "My own view is that she wants to make use
of this to help her in selling her books. It is a bizarre
exercise in public relations." (11) Mr Ibrahim did
criticise Ms
Boof in his article, and there would appear to be considerable
grounds for legitimate criticism, but as 'The New York Times'
observed "criticism isn't the same as a fatwa".
It would appear that the SPLA in London deliberately misrepresented
the issue.
Unravelling the Lies
Ms Boof's claims about her early life are similarly flawed.
She alleged that murahleen tribesmen killed her parents
in Omdurman. These horsemen are only found in southern Kordofan,
several hundred miles away from
Omdurman. It is the equivalent in American terms of being
attacked in a Washington-DC suburb by a band of Oklahoma
cattlemen. She also claimed that the SPLA were in existence
in 1977. It is also a simple matter of
record that the SPLA was founded only in late 1983. (12)
Ms Boof's claim that her father was murdered in 1978 for
speaking "up against...the brutish Islamic government
of Sudan" similarly jars with reality. In 1978 Sudan
was resolutely secular, governed by President Jaafar Nimeiri,
a close American ally whose government was one of the largest
recipients of international American economic and military
assistance. The present Islamic government in Sudan only
came to power in 1989.
Ms Boof made a number of other claims about herself. In
August 2002, she claimed to have been shot at outside Los
Angeles by Arab Muslim gunmen, and that she shot back. Boof
further claimed to be under FBI protection. The 'New York
Times' reported that the FBI "had no knowledge of Ms.
Boof". (13)
Ms Boof was also said by 'The New York Times' to have "told
flamboyant stories about her life in Egypt and Morocco,
where, she said she was a B-movie actress and a high level
prostitute, operating in luxury hotels..." It was during
this time in Morocco that Ms Boof also claimed to have had
an affair with Osama bin Laden in 1996. She elaborated on
this alleged affair in a January 2003 statement when she
claimed that it was a four month sexual relationship in
Morocco. She had met bin Laden in a Senegalese restaurant
"which was the only place in Marrakech where they knew
how to cook lion's meat" (one of her "favorite"
dishes). She claimed that she subsequently became "Osama's
mistress" and that she had "lounged about in silk
and diamonds". (14) One of the most watched men in
the world, there is no record whatsoever of bin Laden being
in Morocco in 1996.
Boof has also made other jarring claims, speaking, for
example, about "rich Palestinians who have black women
slaves working in their kitchens, their tongues cut out
of their heads." (15)
Ms Boof's somewhat elaborate claims began to be actively
challenged by the end of 2002. The 'New York Times' examined
her allegations in some depth. (16) In an interview with
the newspaper, Ms Boof admitted to being manipulative: "I
can't deny that I'm a conniving person...I have to manipulate
the system, and I don't mind if you publish that..."
The newspaper discredited the fatwa claim. Ms Boof was dropped
by her publisher at the end of 2002. And, despite having
been warmly embraced and extensively publicised by the anti-Sudan
lobby within the United States and elsewhere, Ms Boof's
claims soon became even too outrageous for all but the diehard
fringe. The SPLA has distanced itself from Ms Boof. The
'New York Times' reported that the SPLA "embraced her
and then backed away, as Ms. Boof's personal, if not literary
credentials have been called into question."
Deng Ajak, secretary-general of the anti-government Sudan
Commission for Human Rights, stated that he was initially
supportive of Ms Boof "but when she said in one of
her own e-mails to me that she had a brief encounter of
dating Osama bin Laden, I said to my colleagues that we
need to pull the plug on this one". He stated that
"This could be one of the most impressively spun and
choreographed pieces of fiction that one could imagine".
Nevertheless, Ms Boof claimed that "the Southern Blacks
of my homeland" have accorded her the title of "Queen
Kola". (17)
The 'New York Times' reported that Ms Silwa has also "distanced"
herself from Kola Boof's claims, quoting her as stating:
"I don't think it behooves our human rights interest
to connect ourselves with someone who
is inconsistent and can't prove her identity." (18)
Joe Madison continues to publicise Ms Boof.
Conclusion
Ms Boof and her claims provide a clear example of how patently
false and self-serving lies about Sudan have been accepted
at face value and publicised by the anti-Sudan industry.
She has sold more of her books as a result of these claims. Ms Boof has deliberately sought
publicity, both personal and commercial on the basis of
these assertions.
The pattern is a sad one. Outrageous claims are manufactured
and disseminated widely. Eventually allegations are exposed
as either exaggerated or utterly groundless, or collapse
in the face of their own absurdity and self-contradictions.
All but the most bigoted or partisan of their disseminators
retreat into a discrete silence - but never have the honesty
or integrity to admit their complicity in a hoax, or to
publicise the falsity of their previous articles. The miasma
of defamatory claims against Sudan is once again added to,
and only a short time elapses before yet another hoax or
lie is launched and credulously disseminated by a media
that never seems to learn the lessons of its previous blunders.
Notes
1. There appears to be some doubt as to her original name.
On one of her websites, she says that her name is Naima
Bint Harith ("The Woman is Dangerous: Biography of
Kola Boof", at http://www.kolaboof.com/dangerous.htm).
On another of her websites, she gives her name as "Naima
Alu Kolbookek "("Kola Boof", at http://authors.aalbc.com/kola_boof.htm).
In an interview with 'The New York Times' she states that
her given name is Naima Bahri (Julie Salmon, "Mystery
Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002). In her 2003 book, 'Diary of a Lost Girl', Ms Boof
says that she calls herself Kola Boof "in honour of
Clara Bow and Betty Boop - I'm a silent movie buff,you see"
(http://authors.aalbc.com/kola_boof.htm).
2. Julie Salmon, "Mystery Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer
and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002.
3. See, for example, "'Anti-Islam' Books Spark Fatwa:
Author Speaks Out Despite Warning From Bin Laden",
News Article by World Daily Net, 9 November 2002. This article
claimed that Sudanese diplomat Jamal Ibrahim
had issued a fatwa calling for her to be beheaded. It also
claimed that Ms Boof was "under the protection of U.S.
government agents". On 7 November 2002, CNSNews.com
claimed in an article entitled "Islam, Religion of
Peace: Sudan's Threat to Behead Author Sparks US Protests",
that there was a "Sudanese government death warrant
calling for the beheading of best-selling author Kola Boof",
and that this had prompted anti-Sudanese demonstrations
in Washington, New York and Los Angeles. An article in 'The
Washington Times' claimed that Ms Boof was "sentenced
to death for denouncing the oppression of women under Islamic
law and the enslavement of non-Muslim black Africans in
Sudan" ("Eminem's Raunchy Rap", 'The Washington
Times', 15 November 2002). The 'Village Voice' has also
echoed her claims stating, for example, that "Prominent
Sudanese writer Kola Boof has recently taken refuge in the US after
death threats in Sudan, "Taslima Nassrin Speaks (Still)",
'The Village Voice' (New York), 13-19 November 2002. The
Russian newspaper, 'Pravda' also repeated Ms Boof's claims
("Kola Boof, Some Lady", 'Pravda', Moscow, 26
July 2002).
4. Madison, for example, provided Ms Boof with considerable
coverage on his radio program, a program already noted for
its anti-Sudanese propaganda.
5. "Kola Boof Fights Back!", Press Release by
The Association for Women's Rights in Development, November
2002.
6. "Kola Boof Surrenders", Interview by Nathan
Lewis, at http://www.nathanlewis.com/artist_of_month/Ko.../body_kola_surrenders-interview.htm
7. Ibid.
8. "'Anti-Islam' Books Spark Fatwa: Author Speaks
Out Despite Warning From Bin Laden", News Article by
World Daily Net, 9 November 2002.
9. The 'New York Times' correctly pointed out that far
from being a murder contract, a fatwa "is a juristic
opinion issued by a Muslim scholar to address a specific
problem, that can be related to political, economic or social
issues", ("Mystery Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer
and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002).
10. Julie Salmon, "Mystery Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer
and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002.
11. Ibid.
12. See, for example, the 1983 SPLM Manifesto, published
in 'Horn of Africa', Volume VIII, Number 1, New Jersey,
1985
13. Julie Salmon, "Mystery Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer
and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002.
14. "Who's Afraid of Kola Boof?". Statement by
Kola Boof, 3 January 2003, available at http://poetwomen.50megs.com/custom2.html
15. Ibid.
16. Julie Salmon, "Mystery Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer
and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002.
17. "Statement by Kola Boof", 'North African
Book Exchange', 11 December 2002.
18. Julie Salmon, "Mystery Enshrouds Kola Boof, Writer
and Internet Persona", 'The New York Times', 11 December
2002. Ms Sliwa does, however, continue to publicise a number
of similarly discredited claims
about Sudan, including allegations of "slave redemption"
still made by groups such as Christian Solidarity International.
