Darfur, a Jewish Issue?
Genocide is being committed in Darfur. It has already claimed the lives of
over 400,000 people and left a further 2,000,000 people as refugees or
internally displaced. Despite the reluctance of the international community
to recognise these events for what they are, we have a responsibility as
Jews to speak out.
In the aftermath of the Holocaust we said ‘Never Again’ and this has
been a significant phrase to the Jewish people ever since. The world has
not learnt the lessons of history. Again there is a Genocide being
perpetrated. We hope you feel as we do that this is an issue for the Jewish
people, and that it is our responsibility as victims of the Holocaust to lobby
the British government to take meaningful action.
Please write to your MP and stress the importance of acting now. There is
a suggested letter attached. You can find you MPs address from
http://www.writetothem.com.
Thank you
Click here to download the letter to send to your MP.
:Letter from Ruth Messinger, President of the American Jewish World Services;
As president of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), I direct an international
development organization that is working in 36 countries and leading the American
Jewish community’s response to the crisis in Darfur with both humanitarian relief and
advocacy. I have been invited by the JCC to London this month to share with Britain’s
Jewish community how Jews in the United States are campaigning to bring an end to
this genocide in Darfur. Jews everywhere are compelled to respond.
Since 2003, the Sudanese government and governmentbacked
militias, known as the
Janjaweed, have waged a vicious war on women, children and men in Darfur, an
isolated region of Sudan. This campaign includes bombings, displacement, rape, torture
and murder. It has claimed an estimated 450,000 lives and driven more than 2.5 million
people from their homes. In recognition of these atrocities, in 2004 the US government
declared the crisis “genocide.”
Most displaced Darfuris now live in crowded camps in Darfur and Chad where aid
workers are under attack and their agencies are pulling out or being expelled. The small
African Union peacekeeping force there is underfunded and has no mandate to prevent
attacks on civilians; its troops cannot effectively stop the violence.
I have been to Darfur and Chad, and I can bear witness to the tragedy that continues
unabated. One woman told me that she gave birth to twins the day the militia came to
her village. She saw her brother, aunt and uncle murdered; she managed to escape with
her family, her newborn
babies tucked into a straw mat. This is just one story of
thousands about the violence being committed to annihilate a people.
Jewish communities must speak out and take action against ethnic cleansing regardless
of the ethnicity, race or religion of the people being victimized. We learned these lessons
only too well from the Holocaust, when six million Jews suffered the consequences of
silence from the international community. The world looked the other way then, and did
again later in Rwanda when 800,000 people of the Tutsi minority were slaughtered, and
then again in Bosnia when 200,000 were murdered. We cannot remain silent any longer.
As Leviticus teaches, “Thou shalt not stand idly by the blood of your neighbors.”
There are many ways to speak out and stop history from repeating itself, and in
American Jewish communities this is taking many forms. Synagogues and community
centers are holding speaker series, screening films, and building interfaith coalitions.
Across the country, communities are joining together for rallies, marches and vigils to
call attention to the atrocities and demand action from elected officials. Rabbis are
speaking from the bimah and writing about the crisis in Darfur and the imperative in
Judaism to work for social justice. Thirteen yearold
girls and boys are using their B’nai
Mitzvah projects to educate their families and friends by talking about Darfur at their
synagogues and schools, donating their monetary gifts, and organizing fundraising walkathons.
It will take an international movement of concerned citizens to end the genocide
in Darfur.
We can and must make a difference. I applaud the momentum that is growing in the
British Jewish community to become a more active and vocal participant in global efforts
to end the genocide in Darfur: the rallies on Downing Street and university campuses;
donations for humanitarian aid; discussions prompted by the booklet "Darfur: A Jewish
Response"; and pressure put on businesses to engage in targeted divestment, to
highlight a few. American and British leaders have said they will press for a new UN
resolution imposing an arms embargo, tightening financial sanctions and allowing further
monitoring of military aircraft. In the US, there has been a lot of talk but no action on this,
whereas the UK has a real possibility of gaining multilateral support.
Our work is far from done. Without a concerted effort by the international community,
there will be no end to the destruction of lives and whole villages that is now entering its
fifth year. The world’s Jewish community cannot allow that to happen. We said “Never
again,” and now it is time to make that a reality.
Ruth Messinger will be addressing an audience at the Hampstead Theatre on Sunday
20 th May at 8pm for an event organized by the Jewish Community Centre for London. To
book, call Hampstead Theatre on 020 7722 9301. Tickets £10 (concessions available).
More information is available from: www.jewishcommunitycentre.org.uk
Ruth Messinger is president of American Jewish World Service, an international
development organization that is leading the American Jewish community’s response to
Darfur with aid and advocacy.
Click here for pictures of Ruth’s visit to Darfur:
http://www.ajws.org/press/sudanphotos.htm
