Crisis in Darfur warrants attention and action, speaker says

A year ago, when Abby Liebman of Jewish World Watch began making presentations about the crisis in Darfur, she says almost no one had heard of the mass killings and abuse taking place in the underdeveloped region in eastern Sudan.

Although today the deaths of 400,000 and displacement of millions more in Darfur have recently garnered attention from the United Nations and media across the globe, more actions must be taken, Liebman said.

Abby Liebman of Jewish World Watch shows a slide with a photo of Janjaweed militiamen.

“It may feel like the problem is really big and overwhelming, (but) you can do something, and little things make a difference,” she told students during a lunchtime talk sponsored by the Jewish Law Students Alliance.

The violence in Darfur began in 2003, according to Human Rights Watch. A Sudanese militia force that had been fighting rebel forces began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Sudanese civilians belonging to the same ethnic group as the rebels. The militia, known to its victims as the “Janjaweed,” has since killed hundreds of thousands – mostly men – raped and abused women and children, and burned numerous villages, forcing more than 2 million to retreat to refugee camps in the Darfur region or neighboring Chad.

“Every time it looks as if there’s a lull – things have slowed down a little bit – the Janjaweed launch another attack, and often they attack where they haven’t before,” Liebman said.

Recently, the Janjaweed have begun attacking the refugee camps themselves and even crossed the border into Chad to attack a camp there, Liebman said.

Some are reluctant to label the Darfur conflict genocide, she said, because both groups are Sudanese Muslims. However, the Janjaweed and Sudan citizens living in the eastern part of the country are ethnic Arabs, while most in Darfur are ethnic Africans.

The Sudanese government claims the Janjaweed is acting alone, yet the military-grade weapons used by the group and the government’s refusal to stop the killing or encourage humanitarian aid suggests otherwise, Liebman said.

Liebman asked students to take some sort of action.

“Do not stand idly by,” she said, echoing Jewish World Watch’s slogan taken from a Bible passage.

JWW was formed in 2004 as a coalition of synagogues working together to educate the community about, and assist the victims of, genocide. Created largely in response to the genocide in Darfur, JWW offers a number of educational materials, advocacy programs and ways to donate, available on its web site.