The People of Darfur Need Our Help

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has adopted a resolution addressing the terrible humanitarian situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Janjaweed militia, with the support of the Sudanese government have killed over 400,000 people and driven millions from their homes. As Jews we have an obligation to try to bring this to the end. The USCJ resolution calls for targeted divestment of Sudan. In short this means divesting from companies that help the government promote its policy of genocide, without divesting from companies that help the Sudanese economy.

The Save Darfur Coalition is one of the groups leading the effort to bring the genocide to an end. They lobby the White House, Congress, the U.N., and even China to do their part. This weeks action item is to send a letter to the Chinese Embassy. It’s very easy, you basically fill out your name and address and click send. You can put down jibberish in the street address field if you’re sensitive about giving that out online. You can also sign up for weekly action item alerts. They even have a television commercial [watch below] that they recently put out.

It’s really important that we each do our part to bring this genocide to an end. Please sign the petition to the Chinese Embassy. You can also call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 and leave a message with an operator. Ask President Bush to support the deployment of U.N. peace-keepers to Darfur.