Tuesday, June 24, 2008
For more information...
The BBC has published a series of questions from people around the world and answers from people living inside refugee camps in the Sudan. It's an interesting look at the conflict, and a good way to grasp some of the more personal aspects about this conflict. Find it here.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Spreading to Chad...
This isn't a real post, I just wanted to post a link to this BBC article. The violence in Sudan has been spreading to Chad almost since it began, and that's an aspect that doesn't get talked about by Darfur activists so much. Now it's looking like a full out war between Chad and Sudan is a possibility.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Should Reads...
At the end of this year, one thing a lot of members of the UMass Amherst Darfur Campaign said was that they wished they had more information about what was actually going on on the ground in Darfur. With that in mind, I've decided to post occasionally about books, news articles and columns that are good sources of information about Darfur and related subjects. Today, I have 3 should reads for you:
Nicholas Kristof's New York Times columns - located here - are always a should read. Kristof is perhaps the loudest media voice when it comes to Darfur, and his columns have at times blurred the lines between activist and journalist. Not all of his columns are about Darfur, he actually focuses on Asia, but he has published quite a bit of information about the conflict and it's a good place to start.
The Devil Came on Horseback by Brian Steidle and Gretchen Steidle Wallace - Brian Steidle is an American and a former Marine who spent six months in Darfur working with an African Union team that was supposed to be maintaining the ceasefire between rebel troops and the Government of Sudan. The book chronicles his time in Sudan (including time he spent in South Sudan before he went into Darfur), and discusses his frustration with the African Union mandate which didn't allow for intervention. It also provides specific, detailed and graphic information about the situation.
Steidle publishes a document from the Government of Sudan that he managed to get his hands on while in Sudan. Without reprinting the entire thing, I'd like to say that after reading this document, if I had ever had any doubts as to whether the situation in Darfur was a genocide, this paragraph would have silenced them (it's been translated into English, so the grammar is not so great, but you get the idea):
"Killings, burnings of villages, farms and terrorize and rob properties from African tribes and force them to migrate outside Darfur, killing of intellectuals, the youth that may participate with the rebels in fighting and celebrate by raising the Arab Coalition flag after two years." (Steidle and Wallace, 187).
The government wants to completely wipe out these citizens because they are not Arabs. The killings of intellectuals, leaders and youths are all clear signs of genocide.
And my final should read:
Any and everything by Eric Reeves. His essays on Darfur can be found here. He's also written a book called A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide (I haven't read it yet, so you'll probably see Eric Reeves on the should read's list again, when I have). Reeves has been working tirelessly for the people of Darfur for a decade, working as a full time researcher and analyst on the conflict. He's written a LOT about Darfur, but it's all worth sifting through.
Nicholas Kristof's New York Times columns - located here - are always a should read. Kristof is perhaps the loudest media voice when it comes to Darfur, and his columns have at times blurred the lines between activist and journalist. Not all of his columns are about Darfur, he actually focuses on Asia, but he has published quite a bit of information about the conflict and it's a good place to start.
The Devil Came on Horseback by Brian Steidle and Gretchen Steidle Wallace - Brian Steidle is an American and a former Marine who spent six months in Darfur working with an African Union team that was supposed to be maintaining the ceasefire between rebel troops and the Government of Sudan. The book chronicles his time in Sudan (including time he spent in South Sudan before he went into Darfur), and discusses his frustration with the African Union mandate which didn't allow for intervention. It also provides specific, detailed and graphic information about the situation.
Steidle publishes a document from the Government of Sudan that he managed to get his hands on while in Sudan. Without reprinting the entire thing, I'd like to say that after reading this document, if I had ever had any doubts as to whether the situation in Darfur was a genocide, this paragraph would have silenced them (it's been translated into English, so the grammar is not so great, but you get the idea):
"Killings, burnings of villages, farms and terrorize and rob properties from African tribes and force them to migrate outside Darfur, killing of intellectuals, the youth that may participate with the rebels in fighting and celebrate by raising the Arab Coalition flag after two years." (Steidle and Wallace, 187).
The government wants to completely wipe out these citizens because they are not Arabs. The killings of intellectuals, leaders and youths are all clear signs of genocide.
And my final should read:
Any and everything by Eric Reeves. His essays on Darfur can be found here. He's also written a book called A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide (I haven't read it yet, so you'll probably see Eric Reeves on the should read's list again, when I have). Reeves has been working tirelessly for the people of Darfur for a decade, working as a full time researcher and analyst on the conflict. He's written a LOT about Darfur, but it's all worth sifting through.
June 20th...
The Save Darfur Coalition and Dream for Darfur are asking people to help pressure four of the Beijing Olympics corporate sponsors, Coca Cola, General Electric, Volkswagon, and Swatch, to use their influence to call for an end to the genocide in Darfur. They've set up a national day to protest, with seperate rallies going on all around the country.
In Massachusetts, there will be a rally at 3:30 at Boston Volkswagon, 168 Western Ave, Alston MA 02134.
If you can attend the rally, bring friends. If you're free the 20th but you won't be in Massachusetts, here is a list of other rallies around the country. If you can't make it one the 20th, regardless of the location, but you want to help out, go here and send e-mails to the four corporate sponsors.
In Massachusetts, there will be a rally at 3:30 at Boston Volkswagon, 168 Western Ave, Alston MA 02134.
If you can attend the rally, bring friends. If you're free the 20th but you won't be in Massachusetts, here is a list of other rallies around the country. If you can't make it one the 20th, regardless of the location, but you want to help out, go here and send e-mails to the four corporate sponsors.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Where Does Staples Come In?
One last post today...
Staples is a sponsor of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A few entries back, I explained how China plays a role in the Darfur but here's a one-sentance refresher: They send lots and lots of money and weapons to the government in Khartoum. As a sponsor of the Olympics, Staples has a lot of sway over China right now, and until the closing ceremony in August. STAND chapters around the country have asked Staples to use that influence and ask China to call for end to the genocide.
This would involve signing the Dream for Darfur pledge, making a public appeal to China to do all it can to stop the genocide, ask China to ban the Sudanese officials currently indicted by the International Criminal Court from the Olympic Games, send a letter to the UN expressing concern for Darfur and asking for information about the action the UN is taking on the ground there, and work with other corporate sponsors on the issues.
The Dream for Darfur organization gave Staples an "F" on their recent 2nd Olympic Corporate Sponsor Darfur report card for failing to take any of these steps.
OUR RALLY
On April 27, Massachusetts STAND chapters held a rally to ask Staples to take action. Ron Seargant, CEO of Staples, was invited to the rally, but didn't attend. Instead, STAND recieved an e-mail, saying that Staples is not a corporate sponsor, only the sole office furniture provider for the games, and that as such, the company didn't feel it would be appropriate to take a stance on a foreign policy issue as complicated as the conflict in Darfur.
The Staples campaign didn't end with the rally, and I'll have more details about how you can take action on that as they come to me.
For more information about the national corporate sponsor campaign - which is not just calling for action from Staples, but from every sponsor of the Olympics, including Coca Cola, General Electric, Johnson and Johnson, etc - go here : http://www.dreamfordarfur.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=75
Sidenote: All but four of the Olympic Corporate Sponsors have been ruled "silently complicit" in the Darfur genocide by Dream for Darfur; those four are Adidas (which recieved a B+ on its report card), Eastman Kodak (also got a B+), Johnson & Johnson (C+) and MacDonald's (C+).
Staples is a sponsor of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. A few entries back, I explained how China plays a role in the Darfur but here's a one-sentance refresher: They send lots and lots of money and weapons to the government in Khartoum. As a sponsor of the Olympics, Staples has a lot of sway over China right now, and until the closing ceremony in August. STAND chapters around the country have asked Staples to use that influence and ask China to call for end to the genocide.
This would involve signing the Dream for Darfur pledge, making a public appeal to China to do all it can to stop the genocide, ask China to ban the Sudanese officials currently indicted by the International Criminal Court from the Olympic Games, send a letter to the UN expressing concern for Darfur and asking for information about the action the UN is taking on the ground there, and work with other corporate sponsors on the issues.
The Dream for Darfur organization gave Staples an "F" on their recent 2nd Olympic Corporate Sponsor Darfur report card for failing to take any of these steps.
On April 27, Massachusetts STAND chapters held a rally to ask Staples to take action. Ron Seargant, CEO of Staples, was invited to the rally, but didn't attend. Instead, STAND recieved an e-mail, saying that Staples is not a corporate sponsor, only the sole office furniture provider for the games, and that as such, the company didn't feel it would be appropriate to take a stance on a foreign policy issue as complicated as the conflict in Darfur.
The Staples campaign didn't end with the rally, and I'll have more details about how you can take action on that as they come to me.
For more information about the national corporate sponsor campaign - which is not just calling for action from Staples, but from every sponsor of the Olympics, including Coca Cola, General Electric, Johnson and Johnson, etc - go here : http://www.dreamfordarfur.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=75
Sidenote: All but four of the Olympic Corporate Sponsors have been ruled "silently complicit" in the Darfur genocide by Dream for Darfur; those four are Adidas (which recieved a B+ on its report card), Eastman Kodak (also got a B+), Johnson & Johnson (C+) and MacDonald's (C+).
ACTION: Presidential Candidates Respond to Darfur
The three main presidential candidates have issued a joint statement calling for an end to the suffering in Darfur, and calling for United States action. Words spoken on the campaign trail don't necessarily lead to action from the Oval office, as most Americans have figured out. However, if we show these candidates that we've heard their statements, if we keep Darfur in the campaign dialogue, and if we make it clear that we expect this promise to be a kept promise, we might very well see our government do more for the people of Darfur in 2009.
Show the candidates you were listening : http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/thank_candidates_vid
And please leave a comment if you took action, so that the UMass Save Darfur group can keep a tally.
Thanks!
ACTION : Support UN Peacekeepers...
The UN peacekeepers are on the ground in Darfur, and have been since July 2007. They came in late. They are not properly funded. But that isn't their fault. These peacekeepers are making some difference on the ground in the region, and I think it's important for anyone who wants peace to acknowledge their importance, so I'm asking all the people who read this blog to send them a quick thank you, even if you only sign the already written letter. Thank you.
Take action here : http://www.globalproblems-globalsolutions.org/site/PageNavigator/BWC_Peacekeeping_Thankyou
And then tell Congress to support funding of the UN here : https://secure.globalproblems-globalsolutions.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=117&JServSessionIdr007=61oas3hgi2.app8a
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
