STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR, SUDANA Resolution Adopted by the Board of Trustees
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Bethesda, MD -- August 5, 2004

At the request of the Sudan Task Force of the Social Action Committee, the Board of Trustees of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation urges all members of the congregation to join with many other Jewish individuals, organizations and institutions in taking immediate actions designed to encourage international pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the genocidal activities now being perpetrated by armed Arab militias (Janjaweed) in the Darfur region of Sudan. In so doing, we join with many other institutions and groups--including the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, the American Jewish World Service, the Anti-Defamation League, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum--who are working together on this effort through the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief (JCDR). In addition to giving and raising money--the Sudan Task Force is currently working on a major fundraising event which will take place on Saturday night, December 4th--the JCDR is encouraging the following "action options:"

  1. Write letters to President Bush, Secretary of State Powell and/or UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urging that the U.S. and the UN:
    • denounce the killings and rapes in Darfur and provide a deadline to the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed militia;
    • insist on deployment of UN monitors and peacekeeping forces to Sudan;
    • insist that the Sudanese government allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Darfur;
    • declare the killings in Darfur genocide--Congress has already passed such a resolution--which would require sanctions against the Sudanese government under international law.
  2. Participate in demonstrations and candlelight vigils at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.
  3. Contribute money to organizations providing aid to those displaced by the actions of the Janjaweed militia (See JRF, InterAction, or AlertNet for a list of such organizations).
  4. Write letters to the editor and op-ed pieces and call in to TV and radio talk shows, calling attention to the genocide in Sudan. Call network and cable news stations and ask for more coverage about the situation in Darfur.

The Social Action Committee will monitor the situation and will apprise the congregation--via the website, listserv, bulletin board, handouts, etc.--regarding changes in the situation in Sudan and new actions that are being suggested by the JCDR and other groups. Individual congregants can learn about the issues and actions being taken at the following websites:

interfaith coalition to stop the genocide; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; InterAction; ReliefWeb; Sudan Tribune; Darfur Genocide; American Jewish World Service, JRF, and JCDR-Sudan.