April 27th, 2008 - Nikki Serapio Permalink View & Add Comments
Darfur Now College Tour
[Note from AADG: For more info on this film tour, please visit www.darfurnowtour.com]
Los Angeles, CA, March 28th, 2008 - STAND and Participant Media are proud to sponsor a nationwide tour of the critically acclaimed new documentary, Darfur Now, which will be available on DVD May 27th. Schools around the country, chosen for their outspoken efforts to fight genocide, will host a special screening of Darfur Now and a concert to raise awareness, funds, and send the message that NOW is the time to end genocide in Darfur. Across the country, tens of thousands of students have shown that they will not stand idly by in the face of genocide. From passing legislation to fundraising for relief and protection efforts in Darfur, they have declared that they are the anti-genocide generation. But we can do more…
Continue Reading: Darfur Now College Tour
April 18th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG) Permalink View & Add Comments
ACTION: Tell President Bush - Don’t Normalize Ties with Khartoum
[Apr. 23, 2008 Update: This is a key action alert, so please keep calling! Thank you. -Nikki]
How: Call the White House comments line (202-456-1111), and leave this message with the operator on the other end:
“The U.S. must NOT normalize ties with the Government of Sudan. If anything, our administration should do the opposite in order to pressure the perpetrators of the Darfur genocide. Namely, the U.S. should lead the international community in imposing targeted multilateral sanctions against Khartoum’s senior leaders.”
Why: Now’s not the time to let up. Last week, The New York Times reported that the U.S. is considering normalizing ties with the Sudanese government and lifting the unilateral sanctions that are currently in place against it. This would be in exchange for Khartoum’s acceptance of Thai and Nepalese peacekeepers into Darfur, among other things.
Here’s the problem, though: Sudan has already formally agreed to let these UN peacekeepers in.
The U.S. cannot take this conciliatory approach to stopping genocide. If anything, the current administration needs to do the exact opposite — it needs to ramp up the pressure by helping to impose targeted multilateral sanctions against Khartoum’s senior leaders.
[End of Post]
Continue Reading: ACTION: Tell President Bush - Don’t Normalize Ties with Khartoum
April 13th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG) Permalink View & Add Comments
ACTION: Stay home, Mr. President
[From the Save Darfur Coalition:]
If you were invited to a party hosted by the enablers of the genocide of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, would you go?
Join me in urging President Bush not to attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Tell President Bush to take a stand for human rights and skip the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
China has the power to convince the Sudanese government to accept deployment of the United Nations-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping forces for Darfur. But instead China remains Sudan’s major weapons provider, largest foreign investor and trade partner, and diplomatic apologist.
Continue Reading: ACTION: Stay home, Mr. President
April 13th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG) Permalink View & Add Comments
J.K. Rowling and others take action for Darfur - a letter from children’s authors
Signed by: Mike Berenstain; Judy Blume; Gillian Cross; Anne Fine; Cornelia Funke; Julia Golding; Michael Morpugo; J.K. Rowling; Louis Sachar; Rawya Sadek; Amanda Sthers; R.L. Stine; Tracey West
In Darfur there is a story that is being told, re-told, and told again. It is a story of loss, fear, and trauma. Of children’s fates being dictated by armed men. It is a not a story that we want to tell you. But it is a story you must hear.
Continue Reading: J.K. Rowling and others take action for Darfur - a letter from children’s authors
April 4th, 2008 - Nikki Serapio Permalink View & Add Comments
Join us on April 9
[End of Post]
Continue Reading: Join us on April 9
April 4th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG) Permalink View & Add Comments
ACTION: Darfur can’t wait. U.S. aid needed now
[From American Jewish World Service:]
In response to the ongoing suffering of the Darfuri people, the very least our Congress can do is provide the funding needed for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.
The upcoming emergency supplemental bill is the only opportunity for Congress to provide critical financial assistance to the Darfuri people this year. Please click here to send an email to your legislators — demand that the U.S. plays its part by fully funding these urgent needs.
[End of Post]
Continue Reading: ACTION: Darfur can’t wait. U.S. aid needed now
March 23rd, 2008 - Nikki Serapio Permalink View & Add Comments
New York Times Op-Ed: “Dropping the Torch”
Dave Eggers has a great Darfur Op-Ed in today’s New York Times. I’ve emphasized some important parts below. To sign up for the April 9, 2008 Olympic Torch relay action in San Francisco, click here.
Dropping the Torch
By DAVE EGGERS
March 23, 2008
San Francisco — THERE’S only one stop in North America on the Olympic torch’s 95,000-mile trip from Athens to Beijing, and that’s here. On April 9, standing side by side with sports fans along the parade route, there will be thousands of protesters who hope to bring attention to China’s complicity in the genocide in Darfur.
When the presidential campaigns swung, ever so briefly, through California, those advocating for Darfur tried to get the issue into the debates and on television. But nothing seemed to work. The last time a questioner raised the issue in a significant forum was during one of the YouTube debates last year.
During a speech in November, Hillary Rodham Clinton said of Darfur: “Every day we fail to act is a betrayal of our common values.” In a YouTube video last year, Barack Obama said: “We can’t say ‘never again,’ and then allow it to happen again.” In a similar video, John McCain said the United States “has the obligation to lead, to act.” But since then, the campaigns have been quiet on the subject of the 21st century’s first genocide.
It’s easy in California, far from the active primaries and farther from Sudan and China, to feel powerless. That’s why the organizers of the protest feel they have a rare opportunity to put the crisis back on the national stage. In 418,000 copies of the April 4 edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, subscribers will get a placard that on one side explains the connections between China and the genocide in Sudan, and on the other side says, “China: Extinguish the Flames of Genocide in Darfur.” How’s that for an early morning jolt?
The placard and the protest are the work of a group called the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition. Its thousand or so members have been agitating for more than a year to remind Americans that the violence in Sudan is increasing and that the time to act is now.
Continue Reading: New York Times Op-Ed: “Dropping the Torch”
March 20th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG) Permalink View & Add Comments
ACTION: Stop China’s Sale of Arms to Sudan
[If you’ve already followed up on this action alert, please send it to your friends and family! We’ll keep this posting up above-the-fold until Mar. 20 or 21. Thank you!]
Help us stop China’s sale of arms to Sudan.
Today, we’re launching a new campaign to halt the deadly transfer of arms from China to Sudan, and I’m asking you to join us.
“Made in China: Stop Arms Sales to Sudan” comes at a critical moment. The continuing violence in Darfur, combined with China’s latest “charm offensive,” gives us a unique moment to get China-the largest provider of small arms by far-to promote peace by halting its arm sales to Sudan.
Help us stop China’s sale of arms to Sudan. Sign the petition today.
Continue Reading: ACTION: Stop China’s Sale of Arms to Sudan
March 16th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG) Permalink View & Add Comments
ACTION: Tell your mutual fund to become genocide-free!
[An important action alert from Investors Against Genocide:]
Investors Against Genocide is running a campaign to make sure mutual funds do not make investments that contribute to genocide. They have submitted resolutions to more than 50 mutual funds.
As early as March 19, large and small shareholders of the following Fidelity funds will have a chance to vote on our resolution: Blue Chip Growth, Blue Chip Value, Capital & Income, Contrafund, Dividend Growth, Equity Income, Growth & Income Fund, Low Priced Stock, Puritan, Real Estate Investment, Select Health Care Portfolio, and Utilities.
Votes at more Fidelity funds plus other major fund companies, including Vanguard, Franklin Templeton and Barclays, will follow. To see the list of mutual funds with a pending vote on genocide-free investing, please visit: www.investorsagainstgenocide.org/shareholderhelp.
Continue Reading: ACTION: Tell your mutual fund to become genocide-free!
March 9th, 2008 - Nikki Serapio Permalink View & Add Comments
In case you missed it…Darfur commentary from The New Republic
First, an Op-Ed from Eric Reeves, published last month:
“Boiling Over”
Second, some clear-sighted commentary on Darfur from TNR’s Editors:
“Balkan Ghosts”
[End of Post]
Continue Reading: In case you missed it…Darfur commentary from The New Republic
Go to the Darfur Blog Archive »
The Genocide in Darfur: Hundreds of thousands have died. Millions are in need.
The Darfur region of Sudan is the site of an ongoing genocide and the world's worst humanitarian
crisis. Since 2003, the government of Sudan and its Janjaweed militias have executed a systematic
campaign of mass murder, rape, and starvation against the black African tribes of Darfur. As of
today, more than 500,000 Darfuris have died, and more than 2.5 million have been driven from
their homes.
Read our "Background on Darfur" page »
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