Never Again?
Save Darfur Rally to Stop Genocide
Tries to Raise World’s Awareness
By Julie
Dorsey (May 6, 2006)
Right here in our nation’s capital, an estimated
50,000 people, including a number of George Mason students, gathered
on the Mall last Sunday to hear several speakers address the genocide
that is taking place in Sudan’s Darfur region. In
addition to raising the public awareness about this devastating issue
that has been occurring for the last three years in Sudan, the primary
goal of the rally was to pressure the Bush Administration to support
a multinational peacekeeping force to stop the genocide.
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The rally took place from 2 to 4:30 p.m. and
was jam-packed with diverse activists including evangelical Christians,
Muslims, Jews, Baptists, liberals and conservatives. All with
a shared passion, these people converged on the Mall to hear
numerous speakers from various backgrounds and careers. Speeches
were given by many politicians including Sen. Nancy Pelosi (D),
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill), celebrities such as George Clooney,
and many religious figures such as Rabbi David Saperstein and
the Reverend Al Sharpton.
Many people in the crowd held signs
saying, “Save Darfur” or “Never Again,” referring to the slogan
adopted following the world’s discovery of the Holocaust’s devastating
facts following World War II. Several speakers addressed the similarities
between the Holocaust and the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia
to what is occurring right now in Darfur. Clooney made reference
to this slogan when he said, “If we turn our heads and look away
(again) and hope it will go away, then they will, and an entire
generation will disappear.” |
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The Capitol
is visible in the background behind a Save Darfur sign at Sunday’s rally. (Photo by Julie Dorsey)
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In the past three years, over 200,000 Sudanese people have been killed
by a government-supported militia known as the Janjaweed, and well over
2.5 million Sudanese have been displaced from their homes and are striving
to survive in refugee camps scattered across the Darfur-Chad border.
The genocide continues and the refugees are
still dying frequently from lack of aid (starvation, dysentery, etc.).
The rally urged the Bush Administration to act now, before it is too
late.
As a result of the rally, 760,000 postcards
have been sent to President Bush to reiterate the need for help in Darfur
immediately, and to no longer deny the slogan we once promised, “Never
Again.”
