❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
Friday, February 8, 2013
DEAR PEOPLE ON EARTH, WILL YOU PLEASE CARE ABOUT OTHERS IN NEED?
NOTE: This blog is nearly at its end as the 5 GB free space is 88% full. Which at the time I run out of space on this blog, I will most likely begin a blog somewhere else. At that time, I will put a link here to the new blog.
As we plan for a blizzard here in the northeastern USA, in Sudan, they can't even make plans to remain in their homes and neighborhoods. Their government has been bombing their homes for many years and humanity has done nothing and worse isn't even aware of the news that our media has ignored increasingly over the last several years.
A child's drawing of the homes of their community.
As head of the UN in Sudan in 2003-4, Professor Mukesh Kapila blew the whistle on the Darfur crisis. Now the Aegis Trust's Special Representative on Crimes Against Humanity, in January 2013, he took this journey back to Sudan to visit the forgotten warzones of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, Blue Nile State, and South Sudan's frontier with Darfur. Meeting civilians bombed out of their homes and cut off from international humanitarian relief for over 18 months, he saw extensive evidence of war crimes on the part of Omar Bashir's government in Khartoum, and witnessed the consequences of the international community's failure to respond effectively to Sudan's ongoing crises. All filming and photography by Tim Freccia, commissioned by the Aegis Trust.
A video I put together April 8, 2011 for a submission to the Compassion Film Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, screenings at the 494 seat Jane Pickens Theatre, April 8, 2011. The Festival rules limited the video submissions to 5 minutes. Unfortunately the lips and audio became out of snyc due to compression of uploading here at Youtube. Fortunately, the DVD of this video is in sync.
Will you and your group join a fast in solidarity and to strengthen our commitment to Sudan?
Once again, i-ACT and Stop Genocide Now are launching a 100-Day Fast for Darfur (http://www.iactivism.org/100-day-fast-darfur/). It will begin on April 6, the day the Rwandan Genocide started and end July 14, 2013. We hope people will join by fasting water-only or refugee rations of 1000 or less.
February will be 10 years of targeted killing and violence against Dafuris in Sudan. There will be many opportunities to act in the coming months, and we hope that you conceder fasting as one of those. If you are part of a group or organization, please share your commitment to fast with them and invite them to join.
US Envoy says Darfur Crisis Overshadowed South Sudan
Alan Boswell | Nairobi 10 March 2010
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Photo: AFP
US Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration attends the 14th Extra Ordinary Summit of Inter-Governmental Authority (IGAD) Heads of State and Government in Nairobi, 09 Mar 2010
U.S. Special Envoy Scott Gration says the peace process between North and South Sudan was "overshadowed" by the crisis in Darfur, causing the international community to shift its attention away from the 2005 Sudanese peace deal. An estimated two-million people died during the two-decade North-South civil war.
Speaking in Nairobi, U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration says the focus on North-South Sudanese peace relations suffered because of the Darfur crisis that broke out in 2003. A final Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the southern SPLM rebels and the northern ruling NCP party was signed in January 2005.
"Frankly we were pulled off message and off focus when Darfur happened, and Darfur sort of overshadowed what was happening in terms of implementation of the CPA," said Gration. "So things just sort of muddled along. Last June, we pulled together a conference for supporters of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and we started at that time talks," he said.
Gration's remarks have been matched by the private, and sometimes public, views of U.N. and aid officials based in Sudan's south, who say the international community's focus on Sudan's western region of Darfur has often come at the expense of the southern Sudanese people.
In a January interview with VOA, U.N. Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan Lise Grande said South Sudan humanitarian operations received only one-fifth the funds allotted to Darfur last year.
"If you have such desperate social, economic, and humanitarian conditions, and you have so little money to address them, this is why we say what we say - that we had a fraction of the money which is going to Darfur," said Grande.
About 300,000 people are thought to have died in Darfur since 2003 during a counter-insurgency campaign in which Khartoum enlisted proxy Arab militias that have terrorized the mostly black-African population of the region. The people of Darfur say the region has suffered from severe economic and political marginalization.
An average of 100,000 people a year, mostly Southerners, are thought to have been killed during the North-South civil war, fought over issues of religion, race, political ideologies, and oil.
The U.S. special envoy to Sudan traveled to Kenya to attend a special summit on Sudan organized by IGAD, a bloc of Horn of African nations that was instrumental in forging the original peace deal.
Speakers at the conference warned that a number of outstanding issues threaten the final implementation of the peace deal, which is to culminate in a Southern secession referendum scheduled less than one year from now.
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The sides have yet to fully agree on where the North-South border lies, and no deal has been struck on revenue from Southern oil fields or on Sudan's sizable foreign debt.
Southern officials have on many occasions warned that a return to war would be imminent if they are denied their self-determination portion of the 2005 CPA. Most expect Southerners to overwhelmingly vote for independence if given the chance.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, as well as other top Khartoum officials, has recently stated publicly that the South's choice in the poll will be respected.
Gration said he was encouraged by the increasing involvement of Sudan's neighbors in the peace process. He said a viable independent South will only be possible if ties in the region are strengthened.
"IGAD countries and the bordering countries on the south are going to have to increase significantly their communication and transportation links and trade with the South [Sudan]," he said. "I think that in order for the South to be successful, it is going to have to maintain and build on the relationship it has with the North, and it is going to have to strengthen the relationship that it has with [countries to] the south," he added.
A recent national census put Darfur's population at 7.5 million and that of South Sudan's at more than 8 million, though the counting has been criticized by some as highly flawed.
________________________
I am one of the state leaders as a part of the 50 days running up to the Sudan elections, scheduled to happen April 11-13, 2010. The campaign is Sudan Sham 2010 and you can visit our website: sudansham2010
From Crunch Time for Sudan “I just wander if Pol Pot was running in Cambodia would we send in an election observer mission?” asks a bemused John Prendergast, co-founder of enough!, a project to end genocide and crimes against humanity. “Would we send an election observer mission to Uganda if Idi Amin held an election? This is what we’re talking about here.” Source: www.sudantribune.com
The USA government is spending $95 million on the Sudan elections. The President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir is having activists rounded up, detained, intimidated, murdered at this time. And he is indicted by the International Criminal Court for "crimes against humanity" and "war crimes". So, free and fair elections will be fraud elections. And yet Scott Gration is cutting deals with him and working with him as if he was worthy of trust. Well, Gration is wrong. Gration is either stupid, uninformed about Bashir or chooses to be naive. And President Obama is wrong to have appointed him in the first place. Since the beginning, Gration has made statements that prove that. Obama doesn't care about Darfur as he stated he did. The proof is that he keeps Gration in a job that he clearly is ill-suited for. And one can only conclude that doing nothing about Darfuris and justice for them and the genocidal regime that has marginalized them - is what Obama wants. He wants to do nothing. He has said nothing about Darfur of importance or shown any proof that he plans to be engaged.
This is the thread that I started in our Sudan Sham 2010 campaign after reading the above article - only my name appears:
This is so disturbing.
In this statement, does Gration mean Bashir, when he says "with the North"?
. "I think that in order for the South to be successful, it is going to have to maintain and build on the relationship it has with the North...
Sandra Hammel
Answer from a Darfuri: Yes, of course, he does mean al-Bashir. simply because Gration consider him a representative of the North. Thus why he is doing all he can to create a convenient atmosphere for al-bashir to run and succeed in the upcoming elections. Then to push the south to maintain his relationship theories with the North of al-Bashir.
**********************
My comment:
What can we do to get Gration out of this job? He makes no sense. I can't imagine Obama thinking like Gration, if he relied on his own brain to do what needs to be done for Darfur and southern Sudan. Obama is just letting Darfur hang. It just looks to me like Obama has a "suit" (Gration) in this job so that he can do nothing and pretend he has appeased us.
I would like to hear Obama answer some pointed questions. I don't know how Gration ever operated as a General. He sounds weak just listening to him deliver a sentence.
Sandra
GENOCIDE WILL only STOP WITH US - Our leaders have taught us this
Another state leader's comment:
What scares me the most is the tone of Gration explanation.
"Frankly we were pulled off message and off focus when Darfur happened, and Darfur sort of overshadowed what was happening in terms of implementation of the CPA," said Gration. "So things just sort of muddled along. Last June, we pulled together a conference for supporters of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and we started at that time talks," he said.
Frankly, With in this statement we can see the Obama Sudan policy clearly. The General will downplay what happened in Darfur to the press and speak the praises of the GoS and their “progress” toward a “free and fair” election and implementation of the CPA. The General doesn’t even have the guts to say what happened in Darfur was Genocide he just says “Darfur happened”. This administration isn’t going to do anything about Darfur or South Sudan other then buddy up with a Bashir and lift the sanctions.
They are going to paint a pretty picture about Sudan that the general media will eat up and spit out to the masses. Let’s face it, the vast majority of people don’t know about or care about what has or is happening in Sudan so they will eat up the “good” news on Fox or CNN and never give it another thought. For those that do care (us and others) it is almost a slap in the face. To think that we would buy what Gration is selling. Anyone with half a brain cell can see that the scum bag Bashir unleashed the dogs of hell on Darfur to not just send a message to any resistance looking to mobilize BUT to stall the CPA implementation as well. He NEVER planned to implement the CPA and if you believe that he will respect the South’s decision to succeed if they should vote to do so, well then you should be the next Special Envoy for the Obama administration.
am so utterly disappointed with this administrations Sudan policy at this point that unless I see some “Change” in their direction, I will refuse to vote from Obama again. You say no I can’t or shouldn’t do that? I say “Yes I Can”.
Gration sucks.
Well, as I was writing my comment re Scott, you had sent yours, so I pasted my comment on the thread with your email. I think we need a Gration Has Got to Go walk in Washington, D.C.
I remember sitting with Senator Lincoln Chafee's two legislative assistants the lobby day after our first DC rally. And I told them how moved I was watching the streams of people come up out of the metro stop I was stationed at to steer them to the mall as my volunteer job. And said, "The people didn't have to come, but they did." And one of them stopped the conversation and said, "They DO have to come." It took me a minute to get inside his train of thought. He meant of course that we do have to come to give our leaders the direction that they must take. And without us showing up - nothing will get done. Of course, mistakenly we thought, well I thought, that this "leader" would be different. He has proven me wrong.
Obama has decided he will lose nothing politicallly if he lets his words die that he spouted during the campaign. Senator Obama was better than President Obama. About Darfur and Sudan anyway. And that pretty much says more than I want to believe about him and his character, but we, I, must face the facts.
In Samantha Power's book A Problem From Hell - America and The Age of Genocide in the Rwanda Chapter, segment Society-Wide Silence on page 373-374 - I always remember this sentence: "No group or groups in the United States made Clinton administration decisionmakers feel or fear that they would pay a political price for doing nothing to save Rwandans." This sentence is followed up with" Indeed, all the signals told them to steer clear. Only after the genocide would it become possible to identify an American "constituency" for action."
Obama must be shamed.
He is not going to lead us, or the world in this deeply defining issue. We must lead him. HIS DEFINING MOMENT is now. And I am not happy. His organization continues to call and ask me to do more door knocking for democratic Senators, this health care bill. Well, that isn't going to happen - I'm busy working on this issue.
I am tired of leaders not leading from a sense of justice. I am tired of the media not doing its job. I happen to think Patrick Kennedy made a relevant and valid point - though MSNBC has been putting him down for what he said yesterday about the media failing and reporting on Massa and not real news.
Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir is playing a breathtakingly cynical double game: harboring a notorious Ugandan death cult while pledging to work for peace in Darfur.
The Lord's Resistance Army has come to Darfur, Sudan, and that is not good news for anyone. The Lord's Resistance Army is a vicious militia led by self-proclaimed messiah Joseph Kony, and though he does not appear to be with the contingent that has moved into Darfur, Kony is widely and rightly regarded as one of the most heinous war criminals still on the loose in the entire world.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has long operated as a hybrid between a cult and a rebel army. Kony and the LRA originally sprang up in northern Uganda and waged a brutal campaign trying to overthrow that country's government. Millions of Ugandans fled the fighting, and the LRA engaged in virtually every depravity known in warfare. The LRA's ranks have been swelled with kidnapped child soldiers, girls are regularly treated as sex slaves, and innocent civilians are maimed and killed in a fashion too brutal to describe.
In recent years, Kony and his forces have fallen on harder times, though their brutality has not diminished. Dislodged from northern Uganda, Kony and his troops first fled into northeastern Congo and then the Central African Republic. However, the Ugandan army -- with quiet assistance from the United States -- has remained in dogged pursuit of Kony and his forces. The LRA is a relatively small force these days, probably numbering less than 1,000 hard-core fighters who remain loyal to Kony,but it is still causing mayhem and suffering well disproportionate to its size. Kony and his men have killed around 2,000 civilians in the last year and driven another 450,000 from their homes. Although the Ugandan offensive against Kony has suffered some significant missteps along the way, it has put increasing pressure on the LRA.
Read Sean Brooks's article on the current state of peace negotiations in Darfur, and check out the Middle East Channel for insights and ground truth on one of the world's most volatile regions.
Just this week, the Enough Project learned from multiple, credible sources in the field that elements of the LRA had crossed into Darfur. These forces appear to be seeking safe haven under the protection of the Sudanese military, and Sudan's notorious president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has been a longtime LRA patron, so this does not come as a surprise. Clearly, Kony and his deputies believe that Sudan is one of the few places left where the Ugandan army will not pursue them, and they are likely increasingly desperate.
The even larger story is what all of this says about Sudan and Bashir at a time when U.S. diplomacy has been geared to striking a new tone in the relationship. Although Bashir has been eager to portray himself as willing to repair relations with the world after last year's International Criminal Court indictment, and the United States in particular, giving safe haven to the LRA is yet another slap at Darfuris, at Washington, and at fundamental human decency. The evidence clearly suggests that advance LRA scouts coordinated with Sudanese armed forces well in advance of the LRA's arrival in Darfur, and it seems implausible that local Sudanese armed forces commanders would welcome the group in Darfur without seeking approval from Khartoum, including Bashir. There are also suggestions that the LRA has received direct logistical support from the Sudanese army since arriving in Darfur.
The last two weeks have offered breathtaking examples of Bashir's duplicity. Even as he traveled to Doha to proudly declare "the war is finished"in Darfur after signing a preliminary peace deal with a rebel faction, Sudanese troops intensified military attacks in Darfur that killed hundreds and displaced thousands, according to the United Nations. During a recent campaign speech in southern Sudan, Bashir equally proudly declared that his party is working to end "insurgent attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army in the south." As he spoke, Bashir's own armed forces were providing the LRA with the cover it needs to regroup in Darfur, rearm, and again terrorize innocent civilians across the region.
International diplomats are already deeply concerned that an independence referendum for South Sudan in January 2011 could result in a return to the North-South civil war that claimed 2 million lives in a conflict that ran for 20 years. The LRA's arrival in Darfur and a recent uptick of its activities in southern Sudan suggest that Bashir and his allies remain willing to once again use proxy forces as their favorite method for sowing mayhem and maintaining their grip on power. In Darfur and South Sudan, the Sudanese government has used proxy militias, such as the LRA and the janjaweed, to carry out the most egregious attacks against its enemies while trying to maintain a thin veneer of plausible deniability.
The news of the LRA's arrival in Darfur should be a clear wake-up call for not only U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, but the entire international community. It is precisely because Bashir has never been held accountable for his past actions that he feels fully empowered to welcome the LRA into his arms and engage in dangerous adventurism on multiple fronts. In recent months, there has been an increasing push by some elements within the Obama administration to ease sanctions against Sudan. The arrival of the Lord's Resistance Army in Darfur will likely let the air out of that particular balloon, and congressional oversight committees might take some genuine umbrage that they were not informed of these developments in a timely or transparent manner. Both Kony and Bashir deserve to face their charges fairly at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but that will only happen if the world no longer treats accountability as an afterthought.
Click on this post's title to read Darfur conflict is on the backburner, Russian envoy says posted Friday, March 12, 2010
And at http://sudansham2010.org/page3/page3.html do the tweets but replace any reference to Senate Resolution 404 with something important like "Gration has got to go" in words of your choosing.
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images AsiaPac Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images AsiaPac
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match against James Blake of the United States during the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 at Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 14, 2009 in Shanghai, China. Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images AsiaPac
Photo credit by Victor Fraile/Getty Images AsiaPac
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after winning his match against James Blake of the United States during day four of 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre on October 14, 2009 in Shanghai, China. Photo credit by Victor Fraile/Getty Images AsiaPac
Photo credit by Victor Fraile/Getty Images AsiaPac
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First things belong first, not last or never
Darfur needs attention from those with freedom of speech ........................................................
........................................................ Keeping Your Word ~ apparently isn't a priority to the Obama administration Sorry to have to say so. Uploaded bydontgiveupondarfur
- GoS (Government of Sudan) is intent to close down the Kalma IDP (Internally-Displaced-People) people, reported a refugee to Radio Dabanga. The refugee said that the GoS has introduced lately rules and regulations that will result in fear and starvation in the camp. The refugee, who sounded educated, said to Radio Dabanga that these rules and regulations will affect the security inside the camp and will slow down the flow of food and other necessary goods into the camp.
- Security forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying civilians and wounded 4 passengers, reported Radio Dabanga. The vhicle was traveling from IDP_ camp of Alsalam and Nyala in south Darfur when, with no apparent reason, security forces opened fire on the vehicle wounding 4 people among them a 5 months child in the lap of his mother, the mother to Radio Dabanga. It is reported that the injury of the child was on the head and was very serious.
- IDP leaders in the camps of Shaddad and Ottash met yesterday with some NGOs and complaint about lack of blankets (winter is approaching), food, education materials, and other necessary items, reported Radio Dabanga.
PRESS RELEASE
US-BASED DARFURIS CALL ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO REPLACE SPECIAL ENVOY GRATION
In open letter to President, Darfuris express grave concern about direction of US policy on Sudan
CITIES NATIONWIDE – October 12, 2009 – Today Darfuri organizations representing over 1000 Darfuris who live throughout the United States called on President Obama to replace Special Envoy Major General Scott Gration. In an open letter to the President, the Darfuris expressed their grave concern about the recent attacks in Darfur and the direction of US policy under Special Envoy Gration. Copies of the letter were also sent to key decision makers in the Administration and on Capitol Hill, and a translated version has been disseminated to foreign media outlets. (Full text of letter and list of signatories are below.) The letter states:
“Given the track record in the past nine months, we believe that the violence, terror, death rates in Darfur are greater after the appointment of Major General Scott Gration as Special Envoy than before his appointment. The good-intentioned yet soft approach of the General towards the Government of Sudan is abused and exploited by a regime that has continued to rule Sudan with fire and blood throughout the last twenty years. The Darfuris and the Southern Sudanese are the ones who are paying the price now. Major General Scott Gration, after hearing the complaints of the victims in the camps, is stubbornly staying the course of treating the government of the killers of our people, with the same soft approach. Not even a public condemnation of the latest round of violence in Darfur is heard from his office.
We, the undersigned, in order to save the lives of our people in Darfur, respectfully request from your excellency that Major General Gration be relieved from his post as Special Envoy to Sudan. We hope that a candidate who has better understanding of dealing with the Government of Sudan will replace him.”
According to Mohamed Suleiman, spokesman for the group, the Darfuris in United States of America believe that the current U.S. policy carried out by the U.S. Special Envoy is futile. “We believe that the current soft approach policy towards the regime in Khartoum by the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Major General Scott Gration, has emboldened the government of Sudan which is headed by a President who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court to commit further atrocities against our people in Darfur. We understand that the selection process of the next candidate for this post may take time, yet we believe that having the post vacant is greater deterrent to Khartoum regime than having Major General Gration in the post. . “In Darfur we have lost already more than 400 thousands and the numbers are climbing. Worse than Rwanda, the Government of Sudan is holding now 3 millions Darfuris as hostages in the refugees’ camps. It is not wise to wait for something terrible to happen to our people to prove that the policy of Major General Gration is wrong,” stated Suleiman.
FULL TEXT OF October 12 LETTER
October 12, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20500
cc: Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ambassador Susan Rice, Senator John S. Kerry, Senator Richard G. Lugar
Dear President Obama,
We, Darfuris in the United States of America, write to you with grave alarm and concern about the latest news coming from our native land, Darfur. The Government of Sudan is brutally taking advantage of the fact that the world is turning numb to the news of atrocities occurring in Darfur and is now wreaking havoc in North and West Darfur.
At the end of last month, the Government of Sudan mounted fresh attacks on our people in the areas of Korma, Ain Siero, Jabal Marra, and Miliet. The news we get from our people is that the Government used the now familiar tactics: Antonov aerial bombings, Janjaweed attacks on civilians, burning, looting, raping, and savage killings. The news is chillingly so familiar that it escaped the attention of the news media and the international community. This familiar method of executing genocide in Darfur in a fresh wave of violence is an evil, clever way for the Government of Sudan to hide its crimes in the open.
Yet there is a fresh Darfuri blood spilled over the hills and valleys of Darfur as recently as last week. The society is further destroyed. Now even those who are fleeing the hellish killing fields are prevented from reaching the camps or the large towns and cities. In these recent attacks, the Government of Sudan has unleashed its surrogate militias, the Janjaweed, to block the trails and ways that lead from Korma to the major refugees’ camps or cities like ElFasher. Many civilians are stranded in the mountains and hills between Korma and ElFasher with little food and water.
Last month, our beleaguered people in the Internally-Displaced-Persons (IDPs) camps near ElFasher met with your Special Envoy Major General Scott Gration. Despite the heavy presence of the government’s security agents, our people braved the authority of the Government of Sudan and told your Special Envoy that his current approach in handling the Darfur problem is simply wrong and deadly. They called on you from their camps to replace your current Special Envoy.
We whole-heartedly agree with our people in Darfur. They are the ones who are paying the price with the loss of their lives almost daily by a government that committed and still is committing genocide against them.
Given the track record in the past nine months, we believe that the violence, terror, death rates in Darfur are greater after the appointment of Major General Scott Gration as Special Envoy than before his appointment. The good-intentioned yet soft approach of the General towards the Government of Sudan is abused and exploited by a regime that has continued to rule Sudan with fire and blood throughout the last twenty years. The Darfuris and the Southern Sudanese are the ones who are paying the price now. Major General Scott Gration, after hearing the complaints of the victims in the camps, is stubbornly staying the course of treating the government of the killers of our people, with the same soft approach. Not even a public condemnation of the latest round of violence in Darfur is heard from his office.
We, the undersigned, in order to save the lives of our people in Darfur, respectfully request from your excellency that Major General Gration be relieved from his post as Special Envoy to Sudan. We hope that a candidate who has better understanding of dealing with the Government of Sudan will replace him.
Truly yours,
Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization Adeeb Yousif, Founder & Chairperson Zalingei-West Darfur and San Francisco – California
Fur Cultural Revival Mansour Ahmed, President Portland, Maine
San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition Mohamed E. Suleiman, Member Executive Committee San Francisco, California
Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy Mohamed Yahya, Founder and Executive Director Washington, D.C.
Darfur Human Rights Organization of the USA Abdelgabar Adam, President Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Darfur Human Rights Organization of the USA Garelnabi Abbass Abusikin, Director of Operations Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Darfur People’s Association of New York Bushara Dosa, President New York, New York
Darfur Renaissance Association Ismail Omer Ibrahim, Executive Director Dallas, Texas
Darfur Working Group Dr. Badawi Osman Washington, D.C. Rahama Deffallah Brooklyn, NY
Fatima M. Haroun Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mahdi Musa Nouk Fort Wayne, Indiana
Ibrahim Hamid Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Motasim Adam Brooklyn, New York
Yahya Osman New Jersey
Eltayeb M. Ibrahim San Jose, California
Sabah Ibrahim Springfield, Virginia
Isam Omer Brooklyn, New York
Hamzah Ibrahim Brooklyn, New York
The letter of U.S. Darfuris to President Obama has picked up some interest in the media, English and Arabic.
The Alarabia satellite news TV interviewed some of those who signed the letter. U.S. based Radio Afia Darfur interviewed some of those who signed the letter. Mohamed Suleiman was interviewed by Voice of America. The interview will be aired tomorrow and will appear also on their website.
blogfordarfur.org "The Most Important Office is That of Private Citizen" Louis D. Brandeis Comments to President Obama: 202-456-1111 or 1-800-GENOCIDE Join the Fast for Darfuris "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
As I was watching the Wimbledon final on Sunday with Rafael Nadal defeating Roger Federer, the commercial for the Beijing Olympics certainly caught my attention. But not for the reason that it would be expected. The NBC Olympic promotion music was John Lennon's Imagine. The words written across the screen were Imagine the World United and at the end of the spot the words of Imagine that were left with us were The World Will Live As One. The Beijing Olympics theme of One World, One Dream has been promoted for months now. All this "Warm and Fuzzy" spirit is wonderful. The contradiction is the part that China is playing in being a central player in the Darfur genocide that is in its sixth year. The World Will Not Live As One as long as we all ignore the genocide going on while we celebrate the spirit of the Olympics.
NBC Coverage of the Chinese Olympics versus the Coverage of the Darfur Genocide - Imagine the contrast. .................................
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Satirical animation shows China's cynical use of the Olympics to burnish its own image -- while underwriting a genocide in Darfur. From: dream4darfur Switch Over to Darfur
I caught a portion of this HBO movie, White Light, Black Rain last Friday. I was supposed to be working on the Dream for Darfur event, as I am the lead organizer of it for Providence, Rhode Island, USA. But I have my television on a lot just for background. I came across this movie and had to sit down and be sucked into the story. The Truth. Nuclear War is one thing for those who lived through it. And another for those who know nothing about its truthful effects. I heard a man say at a dinner party a few years ago that we should just "Nuke 'em over there...in Iraq". In my most polite tone of writing - this is simple ignorant and mindless bluster and ego talking.
Each person on the planet who has a television or the means should see this movie. And all politicians should see it and have to write a public response to it after viewing for public reading.
"All things are on the table" has outlived its usefulness in a world that has country after country building or wanting to build nuclear weapons. You have no respect for Life if you want a world with nuclear weapons. We, the USA, have no power over which countries have a nuclear bomb. We might want to pretend that we do, but we don't. ...................................................................................
................................................................................... You MUST see this ...................................................................................
................................................................................... The Director talks
On August 9, 1945, the American B-29 bomber, Bock's Car left Tinian carrying Fat Man, a plutonium implosion-type bomb. The primary target was the Kokura Arsenal, but upon reaching the target, they found that it was covered by a heavy ground haze and smoke, pilot Charles Sweeney turned to the secondary target of the Mitsubishi Torpedo Plant at Nagasaki.
Of the 286,00 people living in Nagasaki at the time of the blast, 74,000 were killed and another 75,000 sustained severe injuries.
................................................................................... At Sundance. Thank Goodness for Sundance.And HBO.There just may be a god who cares.
<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:<:
STOP GENOCIDE
The Beijing, China 2008 Olympics has chosen this theme:
ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM
And yet, China has been instrumental in the continuation of the Darfur genocide since its conception
As a human rights activist,
I bring to your attention the four and a half year old genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
WE CAN’T SAY THAT WE CARE ABOUT JUSTICE
WHEN WE DO NOTHING TO STOP THE INJUSTICE
We each have a voice.
We each have a presence.
Let us not be silent.
We have been called to be human
in the most basic way
on this subject.
Where there is a will - there is always a way.
And where there is no will - there is never a way.
Our collective silence is a weapon used by the genocidaires.
Silence kills.
Complicity encourages and emboldens.
Apathy disgraces us individually and collectively.
We are, each one, responsible for our personal silence.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
to watch Mia Farrow reporting from a Darfurian refugee camp during the Olympics.
