blindactivist.com :: Africa Activism

Stop Genocide in Darfur

Darfur is the western province in Sudan. Sudan was engaged in a civil war previously between the north province and the southern province. People in Darfur were often forced to fight for the north in this previous battle. The northern province is the one where the power lies in Sudan. The government there has sponsored genocidal actions against the people in Darfur. Some have been able to flee, often to neighboring Chad; some are displaced within Sudan. Over 400,000 are dead and over 1.2 million are displaced with these numbers increasing daily.

Because of the killing and because of difficulty with transportation and other problems, getting humanitarian aid to the region has been difficult. The genocidal actions have been occurring since 2003. The United States has acknowledged the problem, but hasn’t taken firm action to stop it. The U.N. has a special position for someone to monitor genocide and potential genocidal actions and report to the U.N. at large. He has been prevented from speaking on at least one occasion, which has made it more difficult for the U.N. to do enough. Finally, a resolution did pass, which allows for a peacekeeping force. The Sudanese government is resisting action by the United Nations, claiming that it infringes on their sovereign rights. The African Union has been assisting as well, although the resources they are sending are still insufficient to create peace. According to recent reports, Sudan is now agreeing “in principle” to some peacekeeping forces and some resolution of the situation, but that is as of Nov. 16, 2006 and sufficient troop size and a timeline that would actually help the people of Darfur seems lacking. As of November 20, 2006, the government of Sudan has reportedly reneged on that and is not allowing the agreed upon U.N. peacekeeping troops in Darfur.

On November 30, 2006 BBC News reported that fighting had again broken out in southern Sudan. It appears that mostly soldiers died along with some civilians. The fighting in southern Sudan has apparently died down again. It demonstrates the tensions that still are raging all over Sudan.

In the meantime, people die daily from the killing and from the malnutrition that results from the internally displaced people. More of the villages in Darfur have been destroyed than still exist, so even after this is over, the internally and externally displaced people do not have anything to go back to.

You can get involved to help! A great source of information and action is Africa Action (click here). Amnesty International (click) and the American Jewish World Service (click) also have sections on Darfur, as does CARE (click) whose projects include specifically protecting women in the area. Amnesty has a list of links about other groups that have more information about Darfur.

Here are some things you can do! For talking points, click here for Africa Action’s list.

Contact the U.S. government and ask for more effective, decisive action in Darfur to save the people.

Call President George Bush 202-456-1111
Call your Senators and Congresspeople (click here for contact info for your state)
Contact Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - 202-647-4000
Call your state governor’s office and ask for them to pressure the President and Congress to take more decisive action. You can also ask if humanitarian aid can be allocated directly from the state’s budget for this emergency situation.

Contact religious groups and ask them to include information about how to get involved on Darfur on their websites and/or in their newsletters or bulletins. There are religious and non-religious groups as well as many coalitions involved in Darfur. Any religious group is bound to be able to find one they feel comfortable linking to. Ask them to hold a service, interfaith or not, about Darfur. Africa Action has an interfaith service kit which can be downloaded for free - click here. Ask them to consider making a donation to one of the many groups striving for change in Sudan such as Africa Action or Amnesty International.

Since it is genocidal actions taking place in Darfur, special attention by Jewish organizations is a natural fit. The places listed below have websites and at the time of posting, did not have information on their websites or online newsletters (at least that we could find) about Darfur. If it’s not directly a synagogue, but a group or society based on a religious background, you can ask that they make a statement as a group or have their president make a statement. They can post the statement on their website and forward it to groups like Africa Action or American World Jewish Service or Amnesty International which can add it to their advocacy efforts. They can also send it to the President and their Congresspeople. We all need to be committed to change for it to happen!

When you call, you want to be polite, but encouraging! You can call places that are not in your state, we’ve just listed it by state for your convenience. By the way, if you’re interested in what the religious organizations that do list information about Darfur have to say or are doing – click here!

Jewish Synagogues

(click on synagogue name to visit their website) California

Or Zarua – in Berkeley, CA - 510-526-5874
Chico Havurah – in Chico, CA – 530-520-3946
Ner Shalom – in Cotati, CA – 707-664-8622 – Darfur was mentioned in their newsletter and in service and a donation was given in May of 2006, but it doesn’t appear that anything has happened since then. It is definitely time for more action; until the genocide has stopped and the people are relocated, the work is not finished.
University Synagogue – in Irvine, CA – 949-553-3535
Temple Shalom of the South Bay – in Hermosa Beach, CA - 310-613-3855
Kehillat Israel - in Pacific Palisades, CA - 310-459-2328
Congregation Dor Hadash - in San Diego, CA – 858-268-3674
Beit Keddem – in Los Altos, CA - 650-494-6400