News from Darfur

Some news from Darfur:

"Darfur Trembles as Peacekeepers' Exit Looms"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2006%2F09%2F10%2Fworld%2Fafrica%2F10darfur.html%3F_r%3D2%26oref%3Dlogin%26oref%3Dslogin

"What happened in Rwanda, it will happen here," said Sheik Abdullah
Muhammad Ali, who fled here from a nearby village seeking the safety
that he hoped the presence of about 200 African Union peacekeepers
would bring. But the Sudanese government has asked the African Union
to quit Darfur rather than hand over its mission to the United
Nations. "If these soldiers leave," Sheik Ali said, "we will all be
slaughtered."

"Darfur: Waiting for the slaughter"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.independent.co.uk%2Fworld%2Fafrica%2Farticle1603856.ece

Rasha Ibrahim Adam and her children may be about to die - just as she
thought they had all escaped to safety.

The 38-year-old mother of four children is one of the latest to flee
the bombs from the Sudanese government that have dropped on their
homes. Today, she finds herself in one of the dusty, benighted refugee
camps that litter the region of Darfur. She sits in her once bright
red tob - a wrap-around dress - that has been faded by the sand-laden
wind that blows across al-Salaam camp on the edge of the town of
el-Fasher.

She was one of the 50,000 people who swelled the scorched camps for
the "internally displaced" in the past month - bringing to about 2.5
million the number of children, women and men now homeless in a
conflict that has dragged on for three years without an end seemingly
in sight. Until now, that is. Because an end is in sight for the
Darfur camps - where at least 300,000 black African farmers have been
slaughtered by the Khartoum government and its Arab proxies, the
Janjaweed militia, whose name means "devils on horseback". One of
those who died was Rasha's husband, Adam.

It could be an end so terrifying, it defies the imagination.

"Annan issues stark message to Security Council about impending
catastrophe in Darfur"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fapps%2Fnews%2Fstory.asp%3FNewsID%3D19789%26Cr%3DSudan%26Cr1%3DDarfur

Mr. Annan said the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will
have to drastically scale back their humanitarian operations in Darfur
unless the security situation improves.

"Can we, in conscience, leave the people of Darfur to such a fate? Can
the international community, having not done enough for the people of
Rwanda in their time of need, just watch as this tragedy deepens?" he
asked.

"Food crisis looms in North Darfur"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alertnet.org%2Fthenews%2Fnewsdesk%2FIRIN%2F44ebc5a1f83bc561ec2c739dd59de162.htm

On Wednesday, NRF rebels clashed with government forces south of
Tawilla. An Antonov plane and two helicopter gunships reportedly
bombed Dobo Al Umda Dobo and Dobo Al Madrasa town and the surrounding
villages. The number of casualties is unknown.

"If a United Nations force is not deployed soon, something much worse
is going to happen here," the SLM/A commander added.

"Rebels Say They May Abandon Darfur Pact"
http://w9.webmail.telepac.pt/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2006%2F09%2F13%2FAR2006091301996.html

Abdulrahaman Abdallah, a commander of the rebel group's military
police, said that without a strong international force here, "the
government will go back to its strategy, which is genocide, and
inevitably we will go back to the bush."

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Comments:

Kevin G:
And even with the demonstrations, how much face time will this get at the UN this week while the world is watching Bush & the Pres. of Iran battle. And the phrase "Never Forget" from the Holocaust seems to be falling on deaf ears of those in power, forget Rawanda and the rivers running red with blood. "Do unto others" I guess can be taken as "do what you feel you need to do to keep yourself in power!" So much for Humanity!

visitor:
Day 105 24/7 DC VIGIL for DARFUR; Day 35 HUNGER STRIKE (54 days so far this summer, with breaks); ARRESTED Sept 9th at White House with 29 others from Africa Action; http://wwww.standwithdarfurwhitehouseii.blogspot.com
THE ONLY HOPE FOR DARFUR: WE-THE-WORLD’S-PEOPLE. Duh.
It is said that the mark of truly being “crazy” is expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over and…. Ok, we needed to try some new approaches, hoping we could find a new formula for mass social change (stopping Genocide has NEVER been done); looking for an approach that would be comfortable, convenient, safe, executed from our computer terminal / phone / TV or office in some combination. The variations we’ve tried are: * Blame (Bush, UN, EU…) , * Emails, letters, postcards…,* Letting the Nonprofits do it, * Divestment. And the results are in. WE ARE NOT, STOPPING THE GENOCIDE!
You mean that the answer for Darfur is the same answer we found for…* Ending the Vietnam War, * Gaining Civil Rights in the US, * Gaining Women the right to Vote in the US, * Ending apartheid in South Africa, * Throwing off the British oppression at our start....?
Yup. No one else, nothing else can stop it, can save 4,000,000 in Concentration Camps in Sudan and Chad. The buck stops with WE-THE-WORLD’S-PEOPLE. Let’s stop talking and start - marching, demonstrating, sitting-in, hunger striking….
The next step is September 17th (SaveDarfur.org; DayForDarfur.org). BUT, then we need to be ready on SEPTEMBER 18th, 19th… AS LONG AS IT TAKES, WHATEVER IT TAKES.
Jay McGinley, jymcginley@cs.com