JEWISH VOICES CRY OUT: SAVE DARFUR!
Jewish Herald-Voice, TX
Aug 2 2006
Being taught at a young age never to be silent, Danielle Tobias,
Abby Klein and Leore Tobias came from Houston to participate in the
Save Darfur! rally.
Temperatures well into the 90s greeted two busloads of Houstonians
and other Texans as the red granite of the Texas Capitol building
was transformed into a glistening backdrop Sunday for a rally to call
attention to the murder of more than 400,000 in the Darfur region of
western Sudan.
Of the more than 800 people attending the rally, the majority were
college students from The University of Texas and the Texas Hillel.
More than 100 members of Houston’s Jewish community, including
children, teens and college students also attended.
As the crowd assembled on the capitol steps, Austinite Greg Klyma
performed his original music for Darfur. Student-staffed tables were
available as part of a national letter-writing campaign, encouraging
President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Texas
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Senator John Cornyn, Louise Arbour,
high commissioner for human rights and United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan to stop the genocide.
Also on the grounds were exhibits of artwork from children in
Darfur, a photo exhibit and opportunities to donate to the cause
and buy T-shirts. Representatives of the White Rose Society
() were present.
The rally, the brainchild of UT Hillel students Heather Zidow and
Jonathan Panzer, was co-sponsored by 30 Austin-area multicultural and
faith-based associations, the majority being synagogues and Jewish
organizations, and a dozen Houston Jewish organizations. The event
was one of 19 held across the United States and Canada, organized as
part of the Save Darfur CoalitionÕs effort to draw attention to the
ongoing conflict in that region of Africa. The Coalition represents an
alliance of more than 160 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights
organizations, with the Jewish community in the forefront.
Houston co-sponsors included the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston’s
Community Relations Committee; Anti-Defamation League; American Jewish
Committee; Congregations Beth Yeshurun, Brith Shalom, Emanu El, Or
Ami and United Orthodox Synagogues; Holocaust Museum Houston; Houston
Hillel; Houston Rabbinical Association; Jewish Community Center;
and the Jewish Herald-Voice. The rally was held simultaneously with
the national rally in Washington, all with the intent of bringing
visibility and awareness to the ongoing Sudanese genocide.
The conflict in Darfur was ignited initially when armed forces and
Arab, government-backed militia known as Janjaweed, began fighting an
uprising of African rebels in 2003. Civilians of the same ethnicity as
the rebels continue to be killed as part of a campaign that includes
rape, arson, murder and starvation.
Opening the rally was master of ceremonies Alex Merced, who introduced
co-chairs Heather Zidow and Jonathan Panzer. ÒJust two months ago,"
Zidow began, "Jonathan and I were sitting at a [B’nai BÕrith Hillel
Forum on Public Policy] conference in Washington, D.C., when we
learned about the 400,000 Darfurians who had lost their lives and
the millions more who had lost their homes simply because they were
Africans instead of Arabs. I was appalled, not only by the flagrant
violations of human rights that were occurring every day, but also
by the fact that I, an educated American citizen, didnÕt even know
this was happening. Flying back from that conference, Jonathan and
I decided that we were going to do something about it.Ó
When Heather and I got back to Austin, we formed a committee to
help us plan the rally,Ó Panzer explained. ÒThe committee that was
formed represents such diverse groups as Texas Hillel, the Muslim
Student Association, the McCombs Diversity Council and the Armenian
Culture Association.
In the past few weeks, our committee has given talks across campus,
sold over 500 Darfur shirts, and gotten over 700 students to sign
postcards to President Bush. We are educating our fellow students,
we are raising awareness and we are telling our leaders that we demand
stronger action.
But this is only the beginning,Ó Panzer continued. ÒToday, as we join
with hundreds of thousands rallying in cities from San Francisco to
D.C., our message goes far beyond The University of Texas, far beyond
Austin and far beyond the borders of our great state. We are making a
statement to the world that the American people will no longer stand
for this injustice.
Following the genocide in Rwanda, Senator Paul Simon said, ÔIf every
member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people
back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, then I think the
response would have been different.Õ Well, hereÕs our chance to make
that difference. Today, as we write letters to our representatives,
sign petitions and postcards, and support Doctors Without Borders teams
in Sudan and Chad, we are sending a clear message to our political
leaders that the American people care about this crisis and will not
rest until the murder, rape and violence end,Ó Panzer said.
Religious leaders from Austin and around the state encouraged
the crowd not to leave the rally feeling indifferent about the
situation in Darfur. Speakers included Rev. Emilee Whitehurst,
director of Austin-area Interreligious Ministries; Chaja Verveer,
Houston Holocaust survivor; State Representatives Elliott Naishtat
and Mark Stramp; State Senator Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso; Nelson
Linder, president of the Austin chapter of NAACP; Houston Rabbi Barry
Gelman of United Orthodox Synagogues; a statement read from Imam
Safdar Razi of the Islamic Ahullbayt Association of Austin; Houston
Rabbi Brian Strauss of Congregation Beth Yeshurun; Judy Yudof of the
United States Holocaust Memorial Council and Alan Potash, director,
AustinÕs Anti-Defamation League.
Daniel Garang, a 24-year-old Sudanese refugee living in Houston,
was one of the featured keynote speakers. He is one of more than
100 Sudanese refugees living in Houston and one of the ÒLost Boys
and Girls of Sudan,Ó a group of young, orphaned refugees forced from
their villages by war.
When Garang was 6 years old, his family was attacked, and his father,
mother and two uncles were killed. He fled into the forest, where he
joined other orphaned children in a struggle for survival. Many were
killed and eaten by wild animals. Those who survived did so on a diet
of wild berries. After a month, he reached the area of Panyidu on the
Sudan-Ethiopia border. There, the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees provided the children with food, shelter, medical treatment
and schooling. Without their help, Garang states, the children would
have died of hunger. Nelson Linder, president of the Central Texas
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, stated,
Anytime people are being slaughtered anywhere in the world, it is
a threat to the soul of the world. This is not just a Sudanese problem.
If this can happen there, it can happen anywhere.Ó
Rabbi Gelman told the crowd he was able to be there with three of his
four children because, during the Holocaust, someone of a different
faith had enough courage to save his wifeÕs father. ÒYears down
the road, are we going to be able to stand here with children from
Darfur?Ó Rabbi Gelman asked. ÒWill they be able to stand up here
and say, ÔIÕm here with my children because people who practiced a
different religion, came from a different part of the world, were
a different color and race and they stood up and they raised their
voices? The answer to that question is up to us!Ó
Every single day,Ó Rabbi Gelman continued, Ò500 people die in Darfur,
because of delay.Ó He acknowledged the many college students who put
studying for finals aside and not delaying their help. He concluded
by enjoining the audience to cry out: ÒSave Darfur Now!Ó
Rabbi Strauss spoke of the genocides from 1915 to 1923, when more than
1? million Armenians were murdered in Turkey; from 1933 to 1945, when
more than 6 million Jews and 5 million others were murdered during the
Holocaust; from 1975 to 1979, when more than 2 million Cambodians were
murdered; from 1993 to 1995, when hundreds of thousands of Bosnian
Muslims were murdered; in 1994, when 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis were
murdered. He added: ÒInnocent men, women and children were killed
for no reason. The world did not do enough. Too many people were quiet.
Hundreds of thousands of black Muslims have been killed in the
Darfur region of Sudan,Ó Rabbi Strauss continued. ÒToday, hundreds
of thousands of lives are at stake. Innocent men, women and children
may be killed if the world will not stop it Ð if too many people
are quiet.Ó
The crowd chanted with the rabbi: ÒWe will not be quiet!Ó
Simultaneously, in Washington, thousands took part in the ÒMillion
Voices for DarfurÓ campaign to generate one million postcards for
delivery to President Bush, who recently pledged to push for additional
UN and NATO help to protect the people of Darfur. Elie Wiesel addressed
the crowd: ÒWhen we needed someone to help us, nobody came.Ó
Jewish Houstonians who took advantage of the CRCÕs two buses were
privileged along the way to hear the personal stories of two of the
refugees who are part of HoustonÕs Sudanese community. Daniel Garang,
founder of the Houston Sudanese Education and Leadership Organization
(SELO), and Emanuel Kuol.
Garang explained SELOÕs mission: ÒFor educational and charitable
purposes to promote education, job training and leadership skills
in the Sudanese community, without regard to ethnic or religious
background. SELO works, in particular, with those vulnerable
individuals, students and community members desiring to accomplish
their educational and career goals. By working directly in the
Sudanese community and with the greater Houston community, SELO can
build individual capacity for growth through educational development,
job training opportunities and leadership development.Ó
Emanuel Kuol, a Bible college student, who first came to Ft. Worth by
way of the Refugee Service of North Texas, was overcome with emotion
by dayÕs end. ÒThe first time I met a Jewish person was at the rally.
I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of the Jewish
community. I donÕt have words to express my feelings.Ó
Houston riders also were touched by three brothers from the Leuth
family: Wei Wei, Deng and Malaat, who contracted polio. ÒMalaat
is in a wheelchair,Ó Garang said, because the government of Sudan
has denied him his future [by not providing a polio vaccine].Ó The
brothers and their family, including their mother, two other brothers
and one sister, came to Houston after their father was killed.
You have saved my life and the life of other Sudanese and I know you
are going to save the life of the Darfur children,Ó Garang said to the
rally audience. ÒIt is very sad when I look at what the government of
Sudan has done. They kill those people because they are African. When
I ran through the bushes, I said Ôwhy, why do they kill me? What do
I do wrong?Õ
But still, the government of Sudan is killing. The world is too
slow to respond. Today, in a matter of three years, 400,000 people
are dead in Darfur. ThatÕs why I come with you today, to find out
what we can do to save the lives of innocent children.
In 2001, when I first came, President Bush said he would not see
genocide on his watch. When are we going to respond? Together we can
make a difference and put an end to the genocide in Sudan.Ó
Vicki Samuels contributed to this report.
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