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Abeed

Abeed or abīd (عبيد, plural of ʿabd, عبد), is an Arabic word meaning "servant" or "slave". The term is usually used in the Arab world and is used as an slur for slaves, which dates back to the Arab slave trade. In recent decades, usage of the word has become controversial due to its racist connotations and origins, particularly among the Arab diaspora.[1]

Usage

Usage in Sudan

In North Sudan, the terms "Abeed" and "Abid" are commonly used to refer to South Sudanese people (mostly Dinka and Nuer), who are considered by many North Sudanese as a "slave tribe" due to their enslavement during the trans-Saharan slave trade. Usage of the terms in North Sudan is considered derogatory in nature and has fallen into relative disuse in recent decades. In South Sudan, people from North Sudan are in turn referred to derogatorily as "Mundukuru" (meaning untrustworthy) and "Minga".[2][3] However, Ugandan historian Mahmood Mamdani has noted that the north–south ethnic conflict in Sudan does not reflect Western preconceptions of "race" and the Western view of the conflict as a conflict between "Arabs" and "Black Africans" is simplistic and inaccurate.[4]

South Sudanese politician Francis Deng framed an allegorical microcosm of British colonial rule in Sudan as Britain stating to the North Sudanese that "You Northerners are slave traders and you treat the Southerners like Abeed. Don't call them Abeed! They are slaves no longer."[5]

South Sudanese scholar Jok Madut Jok has argued that slavery in Sudan remains widespread in the 21st century despite being ostensibly outlawed on paper, claiming that South Sudanese people who work in North Sudan in low-paying working class jobs are regarded as "Abeed" due to the social standing which is gained from being in such occupations. Jok noted that South Sudanese labourers who only make enough money to feed themselves are commonly treated as the property of North Sudanese landowners and merchants. According to him, "Displaced Southerners are at the bottom of the racial hierarchy in Northern Sudan", as they depend upon patronage and exploitative relationships with power brokers, with relations ranging from servitude through bonded work to serving as attractants for resources from foreign aid agencies. "The lines dividing slavery and cheap labor", as he writes, "are blurred."[6]

Usage in Palestinian territories

The practice of owning slaves by Arabs in Mandatory Palestine and Jordan was observed at least until the 1930s,[7] many of these slaves were from African descent and as a result many of today's Afro-Palestinians are themselves of African descent.[8] The legacy of this practice is still evident in today's Palestinian territories: The term "Abeed" (slave) is used as a slur against dark-skinned Palestinians. Moreover, Afro-Palestinian also face several aspects of de facto segregation:[9] They are limited in who they can marry[10] and have limited employment options.[10] They also live in separate neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are often referred to using the Abeed slur. For example, in the Gaza city district of Al-Jalla, the Afro-Palestinians live in a neighborhood called Al-Abeed[10] or in Jericho, Afro-Palestinian's neighborhood is still called the "slaves of Duyuk".[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Arabic Speakers on Twitter Campaign to Make 'Abeed' the New 'N-Word'".
  2. ^ Bixler, Mark (2005). The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience. University of Georgia Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-8203-2499-X.
  3. ^ Peter Russell and Storrrs McCall (1973). "Can Secession Be Justified?". In Dunstan M. Wai (ed.). The Southern Sudan: The Problem of National Integration. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 0-7146-2985-5.
  4. ^ "Analyzing Darfur's Conflict of Definitions: Interview With Professor Mahmood Mamdani". Archived from the original on 2011-02-17. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  5. ^ John Obert Voll (1991). Sudan: State and Society in Crisis. Indiana University Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-253-20683-9.
  6. ^ Jok Madut Jok (2001). "The South-North Population Displacement". War and Slavery in Sudan. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 129. ISBN 0-8122-1762-4.
  7. ^ [1]Clarence-Smith, W. (2020). Islam and the Abolition of Slavery. USA: Hurst.
  8. ^ Buessow, Johann. "Domestic Workers and Slaves in Late Ottoman Palestine at the Moment of the Abolition of Slavery: Considerations on Semantics and Agency." Slaves and Slave Agency in the Ottoman Empire (2020): 373–433. Web.
  9. ^ Park, Hannah. "Subject Guides: Antiracist Praxis: Segregation and De Facto Segregation". subjectguides.library.american.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  10. ^ a b c "Black Palestinians face subtle racism in Gaza". gulfnews.com. 2017-05-05. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  11. ^ Qous, Yasser. "The Africans of Jerusalem: alienation and counter-alienation". Goethe-Institut Cairo/Perpectives. Chris Somes-Charlton. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
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