Friday, May 07, 2010

The Jewish community must keep its attention focused on Darfur

In this era of the 24-hour-a-day news cycle, media outlets are always looking for the next big story. An earthquake happens; there is 24-hour saturation coverage, and then a few days later (if that), it’s on to the next big story. The crisis of today, whether it is a war or a plume of volcanic ash from Iceland, can be gone tomorrow. Some issues, however, must not be allowed to slip away. Some things are just too important.

The ongoing genocide in Darfur is one of those issues. After intense international pressure, a peace agreement was signed to end the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. One of the elements of that agreement was the provision for free and fair elections in that country. Those elections took place last month. They were not, however, free or fair.

The government of President Omar al-Bashir conducted a campaign of intimidation and outright fraud. This is not surprising given his history. Why should anyone expect a leader who has organized genocide against the inhabitants of a region in his own country to then turn around and permit fair elections?

The Sudanese government, organizers of the suffering and genocide, is doing nothing to change its behavior. It is time once again to apply all possible pressure to put an end to that horrible situation. Read more >>>>>

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