World
Save The Date
Detroit coalition raises awareness
for Darfur rally in Washington.
Harry Kirsbaum
Staff Writer
B
efore he took the stage
Sunday at the Jewish
Community Center
in Oak Park to rouse a Detroit
audience to action, Matthew
Emry of the New York City-
based American Jewish World
Service (AJWS), sat down with
the Jewish News to talk about
the dire situation in the Darfur
region of the Sudan. In the last
year, more than 400,000 people
have been killed by the govern-
ment-backed "Janjaweed" mili-
tias.
Emry is senior program officer
for conflict, post-conflict and
emergency relief at the AJWS. It
is part of a nationwide coalition
called Save Darfur of faith-based
and secular organizations plan-
ning the April 30 "Rally to Stop
Genocide" in Washington, D.C.
The April 16 event was spon-
sored by the Jewish Community
Council and the Jewish News.
What do you do for the
AJWS?
"I am in a position to help my
organization develop policies on
how we can best address conflict
and emergencies worldwide as
a donor organization. When it
comes to Darfur, I have been
responsible for the management
of our support to the organiza-
tions providing humanitar-
ian assistance and relief in the
region."
How long has Darfur been
in the Jewish consciousness?
"When it started to be recog-
nized that there was a problem
going on in the region [in early
20031, that there was a genocide
happening, the AJWS — with
a small group of other interna-
tional organizations — decided
to create a Save Darfur coalition
to specifically say we need to do
something to end this."
When did America first
recognize the genocide?
"Bush's administration first
acknowledged a genocide in
Darfur a year ago last September.
Under U.S. law, when our govern-
ment claims
or labels
something a
genocide, we
are bound by
our own laws to
act upon it. So
when President
Bush said there
is a genocide
there, then he
himself was
committing our
country to do
something to
stop it."
And what has
our country
done?
"Very little.
They have not
given the type
of support
needed to the
African Union
peacekeeping forces, like they
promised they would. They have
not put it to the U.N. Security
Council in a way where we can
perhaps make this a United
Nations peacekeeping force. The
United Sates has also backed
away from potentially having
sanctions on very specific people
who are part of the intelligence
community there. What we have
done is made statements that
there is a genocide in Darfur,
and we have sent some of our
own political delegates there,
including Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, but it's mainly
been focused on talk."
What should we be doing?
"We need to be putting actual
pressure on Sudan through the
form of sanctions. We need to be
strengthening the aid forces with
financial and logistical support
to make sure that the United
Nation sends a peacekeeping
force with a robust enough man-
date to have the ability to protect
civilians. Even if we decide not
to contribute troops we can con-
tribute so much more
What's the purpose of the
Rally to Stop Genocide?
"To hold this government
— and it doesn't matter that it's
Bush, it could be any president
— accountable and responsible
fOr the fact that they said there
is a genocide but had yet to do
anything concrete about bringing
it to an end. We are telling them:
You are our public servants, you
have already made to us a prom-
ise, but you have yet to fulfill that
promise
Who will be speaking, and
what's the plan?
"There will be a wide range of
speakers, but one of the best
known is Paul Rusesabagina, the
person the film Hotel Rwanda
was based on.
It's a half-day rally on the Mall,
but we really don't see it as just
one event. This is a piece of a
much larger event, something
Matthew Ernry
speaks about the
Darfur genocide.
The Detroit 2 Darfur Coalition includes the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and the Holocaust
Memorial Center, among others.
The coalition-organized Detroit contingent is heading to
the Rally to Stop Genocide set for 1 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at
Washington's National Mall,
Buses will depart from Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield on April 29 at 10 p.m. and will return on May 1,
between 5 and 6 a.m. The cost is $100.
For details on traveling, call the Council at (248) 642-
5393, or click on http://detroit2darfur.blogspot.com .
that has been going on and
something that will continue to
go on. Dozens of organizations
will be involved."
How many do you expect
at the rally?
I personally would like to see so
many that it actually makes the
news in such a way that it can't
be ignored. I'd be happy if 40,000
or 50,000 would show up. E
Answering
Israel's Critics
The Charge:
Jewish community com-
plaints about anti-Israelism
and anti-Semitism on U.S.
college campuses are merely
an effort to quash pro-
Palestinian activists and their
arguments.
The Answer:
Even the U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights is concerned about
campus anti-Israelism and
anti-Semitism. The commission
recently voted to recommend
that the Civil Rights Office use
Civil Rights Act enforcements,
which include funding cuts, at
universities where Jewish stu-
dents face a hostile environ-
ment; called on university lead-
ers to denounce anti-Semitism;
and called on universities to
maintain academic standards
and respect intellectual diver-
sity.
— Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
April 20 • 2006
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