”˜Nuff Said:

No More Genocide in Darfur, So Let’s Take on Sudan

Jolted by the tepid response to the genocide in Darfur, Jewish communal organizations are mobilizing at an unprecedented level for an issue that might appear tangential to Jewish concerns....

[T]he strong grass-roots involvement is impelling major Jewish groups to be even more vocal in lobbying the administration and Congress....

Some Jewish officials acknowledged privately that the idea of pressuring Sudan’s radical Islamic regime motivated some Jewish groups to join the action. They said, however, that the fact that Jews are mobilizing to end Muslim-on-Muslim violence in Darfur sends a positive message to the Muslim world.

Source: “Jewish Organizations Plan a Big Push Against Genocide in Darfur,” The Forward, Jan. 27, 2006

We do know that these casualties [in Darfur] were not the random, collateral damage of a war with a broader purpose, but rather the result of a systematic offensive by the Arab-led government to drive darker-skinned civilians from the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit ethnic groups off their land and to destroy their lives.

In other words, an act of genocide. The United Nations never used that word, but the United States did, along with other nations, as well as human rights and activist organizations....

Jews were and continue to be at the forefront on this issue, much to the community’s honor. At the first, massive rally to “Save Darfur” on Washington’s National Mall in 2006, one could not count all the kippot worn by protesters, they were so numerous.

But it’s time to shift the focus from Darfur to the broader, even more complicated, and potentially more ominous situation in all of Sudan. If civil war breaks out between the politically powerful north and the oil-rich south, “the atrocities in Darfur will pale in comparison to what will happen,” predicts Andrew Natsios, special envoy to Sudan in 2006 and 2007....To save Darfur, we must help save Sudan.

The shift is driven in part by a changing reality in Darfur, where the mass killings have largely stopped and, while massive humanitarian challenges remain, the heartbreaking narrative of death and deprivation is lifting....

In recognition of this shift, the Holocaust Museum on Aug. 3 changed its categorization of conditions from a “genocide emergency” in Darfur—the highest level of alert—to a “genocide warning” for the entire country....

The world cannot wait. All the attention, emotion, organizing and sympathizing that has been directed toward the suffering of Darfur now must focus on persuading the Obama administration to develop a strong and coherent plan to bring about a political settlement in Sudan.

Source: “Save Sudan,” Editorial, The Forward, Aug. 14, 2009

Campaign Launches Ads: Throughout the week of Aug. 24, we are placing ads targeting President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton in major newspapers and online outlets. The ads challenge these top officials to fulfill the promises they have made for strong and immediate action on Sudan.

Source: <www.sudanactionnow.com>