ern Sudan. Another 2.5 million have been
displaced.
Israel's quandary is a difficult one.
"Sudanese refugees are right now con-
sidered enemy nationals because Sudan
is an Islamic fundamentalist country,"
explained Anat Ben Dor, the country's
leading refugee rights lawyer, who
has emerged as a top advocate for the
Sudanese refugees. "Yet Israel is a signa-
tory to the International Convention on
Refugees, which guarantees humane treat-
ment and a safe haven from genocide."
Ben Dor, 40, directs the Tel Aviv
University Law School Refugee Rights
Clinic and in late February filed suit
against the government for its alleged
treatment of three refugees.
Israel helped author the convention
in the aftermath of World War II. Jewish
refugees fleeing Nazi Germany were rou-
tinely refused safe haven because they, like
the current Sudanese, were classified as
enemy nationals.
Activists enjoyed a small victory March
21 when Israel's Supreme Court gave the
state 45 days to determine whether the
detainees were getting a fair and proper
judicial review.
"Bringing justice is the issue here
said Supreme Court Chief Justice Dorit
Beinisch, who is presiding over a three-
judge panel hearing the case.
"This is very significant;' said Ben Dor,
who together with the Hotline for Migrant
Workers, filed the appeal to the court
arguing that those Sudanese arrested and
put in jail for illegally entering the country
should not be charged as infiltrators of an
enemy state.
The petition against Israel's defense and
interior ministers argues that even though
150 Sudanese have been released into
alternative detention, the lack of formal
judicial review makes the detention illegal.
Under Israeli law, other nationals who
sneak through the Sinai desert into Israel
are charged with the Law of Entry. In
those cases, the government must review
their cases every 30 days and justify their
imprisonment. But since Sudanese are
considered "enemy nationals;' they are
Freedom's Cry
A former Sudanese slave
will ask Detroiters to save
his countrymen.
Alan Hitsky
Associate Editor
A
s a free people, we have a moral obligation
to speak up for those who are not free,"
says Simon Deng, a 37-year-old former
black African slave who left his homeland to raise
more voices against slavery and genocide.
Deng will speak at Congregation Beth Shalom in
Oak Park at 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, at a community-
wide program.
Deng was 9 when Sudanese government troops
stormed his village, killed the men and gave him to a
Sudanese Arab family in the north as a slave.
After 3 1/2 years, he was able to escape when the
family moved to a city to school their son and Deng
found fellow tribesmen on the street.
He rejoined his own family in the south, but
was always afraid that he would be re-captured.
Eventually, he moved to Khartoum, worked as a mes-
senger for the Sudanese Parliament and eventually
became a national swim champion. He left Sudan in
1990.
"Ididnotachievewhat I wanted,"hesaysabout leaving."I
couldn'tconvincethegovernmenttostopthiskindoftreat-
ment. I was accepted as a champion, but my people were
charged under the harsher Infiltration
Law, which has no official review mecha-
nism and by which detainees can be held
indefinitely.
Irwin Cotler, Canada's former minister
of justice and human rights attorney to
such well-known dissidents as Natan
Sharansky and Nelson Mandela, has
joined with the Israel Bar Association in
filing supporting documents on behalf of
the Sudanese to the Israeli High Court.
"Israel should be more part of the
international struggle against genocide in
Darfur;' Cotler said. "If Israel grants refu-
gee status or temporary resident status to
the Sudanese, it can be Israel's own mod-
est contribution to speaking up against the
genocide rather than interring them and
making the opposite statement."
Although the numbers are fluid, an esti-
mated 300 Sudanese have arrived in Israel
over the past two years. Of these, some 120
remain in prison; the rest are in alterna-
tive detention, meaning crisis centers, kib-
butzim or moshavim, where many of them
work and live but are not free to leave the
rejected."
Deng now works as a lifeguard for
the City of New York and as a speaker
forthe Boston-based American Anti-
SlaveryGroup.Hehas spoken around
the world about his experiences and
met with President Bush last May to
discuss the U.S. role in Sudan.
Has the advocacy begun to work?
Deng thinks so.
"The world is becoming more
aware" of the 3.5 million Christians
and blacks who have been slaugh-
tered in the southern Sudan, and the
7 million refugees fleeing govern-
menttroopsand government-backed Simon Deng
Arab militias.
"No onewas talking about it before," he says."Now,they
are. Now, even the government of Sudan is trying to find a
solution."
Local Push
DannyKochavi,BethShalom'seducationandyouthdirector,
thought Deng would be a great way"to bring Darfurto life"
for his students and theJewish community."We don't often
get a firsthand look,a tangible experience" of a world situa-
tion, Kochavi says.
Beth Shalom members are sponsoring Deng's visit
and any donations at the event will be earmarked for the
American Anti-Slavery Group.
Kochavi deliberatelyscheduled thevisit forApri116, the
day after Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"We always say, 'Never again!' But here it is, happening
again," Kochavi says."NottoJews, but another genocide."
He hopes the program will begin a series of events at the
premises.
Another estimated dozen or so
Sudanese men in the Sinai are partnered
with Israeli women and have children, but
cannot enter Israel for fear of arrest.
Sigal Rozen, 39, co-founded the Hotline
for Migrant Workers with a grant from
the New Israel Fund. Her tiny fourth-floor
offices next door to a Tel Aviv police sta-
tion are a hot spot for undocumented
workers of all colors and nationalities who
come knocking for assistance.
The Hotline brings them to the U.N.
High Commission on Refugees offices to
get protection papers, documents that ver-
ify their refugee status so they can qualify
for a temporary work visa.
"There are people from all over the
world who come to Israel ) ) Rozen said. "If
a Turk and a Chinese come across the bor-
der with a Sudanese, only the Sudanese is
imprisoned. That is discrimination."
Israeli government officials say the situ-
ation is a difficult one.
A Troubled Exodus on page 18
schoolandthesynagogue,includ-
ing letter-writing and fundraising.
Kochavi heard about Deng
through a computer listsery for
Jewish educators. Many other
local efforts over the last 18
months have been an outgrowth
of a Jewish Community Relations
Council (JCRC) effort promoting
the Detroit 2 Darfur Coalition.
Coalition pioneers include the
localAnti-DefamationLeagueand
American Jewish Committee, and
rabbis Jennifer Tisdale of Temple
Israel, Eric Yanoff and Jonathan
Berkun, both of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek.
JCRC associate P.J. Cherrin says that when the
first coalition meeting was called, "all these activists
sprang into action."
He says the coalition is seeking to pressure the
Bush administration and Congress.
"We need the president to appoint a special envoy"
for the Darfur issue "and we need the United Nations
to send in troops." II
Former Sundanese slave Simon Deng will speak
at 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, at Congregation Beth
Shalom, 14601 W. Lincoln, Oak Park. There is no
charge, but donations will be sent to the American
Anti-Slavery Group (www.iabolish.com ).
April 5 2007
17