Stop the Genocide in Darfur, Sudan
On April 30, 2006, over 100 Adat Shalomers joined
thousands of others on the National Mall to participate in the SAVE
DARFUR: Rally to Stop Genocide. Some photos
of the Rally are attached here.
DC ♥ DARFUR
A
project of the Greater Washington Jewish Task Force on Darfur
A call to your conscience The situation in the
Darfur region of Sudan is the worst humanitarian crisis facing the world
today. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have died and
millions are being forced from their homes. As Jews, it is our duty to
speak out against ethnic cleansing and genocide and help those in need.
The meaning of chai In Judaism, the word chai
means life, and the numerical equivalent of the letters is 18. Between
Thanksgiving and Chanukah (11/24/05-01/01/06), the Greater Washington
Jewish Community hopes to give life by raising at least 18 cents for
each of the 215,000 Jews in our community ($38,700) to support
humanitarian aid as well as education & advocacy programs. Please join
us.
How you can save lives:
Mail
Send a check to American Jewish World Service, AJWS Sudan Fund, 45 West
36th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10018, Write “DC ♥ Darfur”
in the subject line
Phone Make a credit card donation at
800-889-7146.
Online Donate at www.ajws.org/dclovesdarfur
STOP THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR, SUDAN
A Resolution Adopted by the Board of Directors
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Bethesda, MD - July 19, 2005
At the request of the Sudan Task Force of the Social
Action Committee, the Board of Directors 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 what the Bush Administration has
declared to be 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, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the
SaveDarfur Coalition.
The Board of Directors also gives its approval to the
request of The Sudan Task Force to become a founding member of the
Greater Washington Jewish Taskforce on Darfur (GWJTD). The goals of the
GWJTD are:
- To inform and communicate with synagogues/organizations regarding
issues and events relevant to the Darfur crisis
- To maximize resources of individual synagogues/organizations by
collaborating on events within the Jewish community and in the wider
community
- To utilize our unique position of being in the nation's capital to
lend local resources to plan and support major events that take place in
the Washington, DC Metro Area.
The GWJTD is planning a series of events that will
continue as long as the crisis in Sudan continues. Some specific actions
include, but are not limited to: an August event sponsored by the
American Jewish Committee (AJC) that is intended to raise awareness
about the Darfur crisis); a "Dear Sudan" letter writing campaign, the
goal of which is to raise money for the people of Darfur; and
consideration of a large scale community event in the Fall.
The Board of Directors also approves the Sudan Task
Force's request to hang a "Save Darfur" banner in a visible location on
the synagogue site. The exact location and the amount of time that it
will be displayed will be mutually agreed upon by the Social Action
Committee and the President.
The Sudan Task Force also encourages Congregants to take
the following "action options":
- Write letters to President Bush, Secretary of State Rice 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.
- Participate in demonstrations and candlelight vigils at the Sudanese
Embassy in Washington.
- 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).
- 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.
Stop the Genocide: Drumming and Voices for Peace and Justice in Darfur,
Sudan
December 4, 2004 at the 6'th & I Street Historic Synagogue, Washington, DC
The Darfur fundraiser/consciouness raiser was a huge success! Over 700
people attended and Adat Shalom and our coalition raised more than $25,000
for relief efforts. The program
included music, moving presentations about the crisis in Darfur, and
speeches by advocates for aid. Musical highlights featured performances by
Calliope, the Turner AME Memorial Church Choir (see photo, below), and our own
Hazzan Rachel Hersh Epstein. Omer Ismail (see photo, right), Program Director,
Darfur Peace and Development, made a powerful case for why we need to
support Darfur and help stop the crisis. The event ended with a
reverberating drumming performance by Drumtalk39 and audience participants
intended to be heard all the way to Darfur.
If you would like to donate money for relief efforts, here's how you can
contribute to the American Jewish World Service (AWJS) or Doctors Without
Borders.
Go to the AJWS website and specify your donation for Sudan relief.
For contributions to Doctors Without Borders: call 1-888-392-0392, 24 hours
a day, 7 days a
week. Please specify that the donation should be used for Sudan relief
efforts. Note: You cannot specify what your donation is for through
Doctors Without Borders' website.
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Rabbi Fred, Rabbi Sid, and event
chair Craig
Sumberg are joined by
program participants and sponsors.
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