Darfur Rally To Be Held in D.C.

Broad Range of Organizations Expected to Participate

Ruth Messinger , president and executive director of American Jewish World Service (AJWS) , was online Thursday, April 27, at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the upcoming "Rally to Stop Genocide" in Washington, D.C. and her experiences visiting Darfur. The rally is being coordinated by the Save Darfur Coalition .

Recent news on the Sudan: 5 Truths About Darfur , ( Post, April 23, 2006 )

'It's Not Just Sudan That's to Blame' , ( Post, April 17, 2006 )

The transcript follows.

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Washington, D.C.: 1. Why has your organization taken an interest in this conflict?

2. What is the purpose of Sunday's rally and what will it accomplish?

3. What must the Bush administration do to help bring peace to Darfur?

4. What must the American people to usher in peace in Darfur?

Ruth Messinger: We are interested because this is a humanitarian crisis and we are the Jewish organization that responds to crises around the world. But we are also interested because this is a genocide which has particular meaning to Jews who have sworn never again.

The purpose of the rally is to bring people together across religious, racial lines to pressure our government to do more to stop the violence. The Bush administration must take a more active role to promote a strong force on the ground that can make an immediate difference in people's lives.

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Chicago, Ill.: Hi. Has Kofi Annan ever gone on record to describe what's happening in Sudan as a genocide? Beyond the U.S., Bush, and Colin Powell, what other countries have labeled it as such? thanks for the discussion...

Ruth Messinger: Only the U.S. has labeled Darfur a genocide and it is the first time we have labeled a genocide while it is occurring. that is the good news. The problem is that we have not taken strong action or pushed the U.N. to do more. The U.N. has described Darfur as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today but not called it a genocide.

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Washington, D.C.: What's the "ask" for the rally? When everyone goes home for the night, what do you want government to do - and what do you want the attendees or those who can't attend but are with you in spirit to do? What realistically can be done; particularly since the U.S. has a military not a "peace keeping" force to contribute and it is spread very thin at the moment? Even if the U.S. has money, in the face of rising gas prices.... well, I don't enjoy being cynical, but what are realistic outcomes/next steps?

Ruth Messinger: The ask is to stop the genocide. A strong first step would be to use money, resources to strengthen the African Union troops on the ground. They are 7000 in an area the size of Texas. If we helped other countries add their troop strength, involved NATO and the U.N. in a more robust commitment to peacekeeping, got helicopters to the troops it would make a huge difference. Regardless of how else we are committed there is a moral responsibility to stop a 38 month long genocide.

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The morning of the rally: Hi Ruth,

Just wanted to let you and your readers know that the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will be showing a series of Darfur videos from 10am-12pm on the morning of the rally. Everyone is also invited to tour the Darfur Display at the Museum, located in the Wexner Learning Center. The Museum is on the Mall, so the rally is just a short walk away. It should be a great way to get geared up for the rally.

Ruth Messinger: Indeed all should be aware of and take part in these events on the museum Web site now and at the museum when you get to D.C.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: What is preventing the United States from acting in a purely humanitarian effort to have troops protect people from attacks and to guarantee that food and essential supplies are delivered? It is my understanding that American troops may not even be needed but that we could see in other fashions that these humanitarian efforts are successful. Again, what is the hesitation on the part of our government?

Ruth Messinger: Hopefully the hesitation will be less after the rally. Right now the U.S. is not welcome by Sudan [which is perpetrating the genocide] so the groups doing humanitarian work must depend on this very weak African Union force. that is why a good next step would be to strengthen them with numbers, money and materials. why we hesitate seems to be out of our "respect" for Sudan, but I think we must stop that as long as they continue the violence.

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San Francisco, Calif.: Israel gets more aid from the U.S. than the entire continent of Africa. Do you think that maybe that is part of the problem?

Ruth Messinger: I would recast the problem very differently. We are one of the nations that signed the millennium challenge agreement that by 2015 we would give 7/10 of 1 % of our budget to non military foreign aid. We currently give less than 2/10 of 1 % and rank almost at the bottom in the percentages given out of all the developed world countries. With more dollars we could help important allies like Israel and invest seriously in the developing world as well.

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Washington, D.C.: What will happen to the people of Darfur if we (as in everybody) continue to move slowly in our effort to stabilize the region? It has been three years and it does not appear as if the janjaweed are losing steam.

Ruth Messinger: More and more people will die. violence continues in both Darfur and Chad AND the UN now feels that it is too dangerous to get aid to about 700,000 of the 2.5 million displaced. That means many many more deaths from hunger, malnutrition, water borne disease.

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Oslo, Norway: Why is it that the world community remains silent about the genocide in Arab-occupied Sudan, yet Israel gets criticized every time they kill a terrorist? Is it that the world community is afraid to condemn anything "Islamic?"

Ruth Messinger: I do not understand the hesitation on the part of the world nations to respond more aggressively to this genocide.

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Wheaton, Md.: We constantly hear how atrocities, such as the genocide in Sudan, don't represent "mainstream Islam" but we see on condemnation from Muslim leaders. Where is the moderate Islamic voice?

Ruth Messinger: There are I believe 6 or 7 Moslem organizations that are part of the save Darfur coalition. There will be Moslem speakers at the rally. And remember that the victims of this genocide are Moslem.

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Milan, Italy: Why is Darfur so significant? Arab Muslims have been waging a war of genocide against Christians and other non-Muslims since 1991 and no one cared. Now, that Muslims are also being killed, it becomes an issue. This makes no sense

Ruth Messinger: I agree that the world did much too little in response to the Muslim Christian civil war in Sudan. I think awareness is higher now because Darfur has been called a genocide and probably because people feel guilty about what they did not do in south Sudan and Rwanda.

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Washington, D.C.: A lot has been said of what the U.S. should do, and fair enough, but what about Europe? What actions or support have they been offering? The lesson of Iraq is that we need to act with allies so where are our allies?

Perhaps this is a low blow, but after working in international aid for over two years in the developing world, Europe profits just as much as we do off dictatorships or conflicts and is just as passive as we are in resolving the critical issues that fall outside of their direct interests. This is meant as a criticism of the U.S. as well, not just Europe.

Ruth Messinger: Agreed. the save Darfur coalition which is responsible for the rally on Sunday on the mall at 1:30 and also for the million voices postcard campaign is interested in mounting an effort to reach citizens and governments of Europe to get them to do more.

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Washington, D.C.: As someone who works on relief for Sudan, I agree wholeheartedly with Emily Wax's article from Sunday that said the use of the genocide label has only made it worse. Can you tell me why you think it's helped?

From her article:

5 The "genocide" label made it worse

Many of the world's governments have drawn the line at labeling Darfur as genocide. Some call the conflict a case of ethnic cleansing, and others have described it as a government going too far in trying to put down a rebellion.

But in September 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell referred to the conflict as a "genocide." Rather than spurring greater international action, that label only seems to have strengthened Sudan's rebels; they believe they don't need to negotiate with the government and think they will have U.S. support when they commit attacks. Peace talks have broken down seven times, partly because the rebel groups have walked out of negotiations. And Sudan's government has used the genocide label to market itself in the Middle East as another victim of America's anti-Arab and anti-Islamic policies.

Perhaps most counterproductive, the United States has failed to follow up with meaningful action. "The word 'genocide' was not an action word; it was a responsibility word," Charles R. Snyder, the State Department's senior representative on Sudan, told me in late 2004. "There was an ethical and moral obligation, and saying it underscored how seriously we took this." The Bush administration's recent idea of sending several hundred NATO advisers to support African Union peacekeepers falls short of what many advocates had hoped for.

"We called it a genocide and then we wine and dine the architects of the conflict by working with them on counterterrorism and on peace in the south," said Ted Dagne, an Africa expert for the Congressional Research Service. "I wish I knew a way to improve the situation there. But it's only getting worse."

Ruth Messinger: I agree as i said earlier that when you define the existence of a genocide you must do more than the U.S. has done. But I think the label has actually helped focus citizen attention on what is going on. I have been there twice and when I listen to the stories of the victims I feel I am listening to a text book description of what the U.N. convention describes as genocide.

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Caracas, Venezuela: The U.N. was created to prevent genocide and aggression and has taken no real measures to stop the slaughter in Sudan just as it will do nothing about Iran's threats to destroy Israel, just as the U.N. has never prevented any act of genocide or aggression. The only solution is for the U.S. to end the conflict.

Ruth Messinger: You might be right. But I think that if the U.S. took the strongest possible set of resolutions to the U.N., shone a stronger spotlight on the ongoing violence, pushed this as a world moral crisis there might be more U.N. action.

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New York, N.Y.: Ruth, thank you for giving voice to Darfur. Why aren't more humanitarian leaders speaking publicly against the Sudanese government? Why have some other international aid groups been so quiet about this genocide?

Ruth Messinger: Many groups are speaking out and a growing # of groups and of electeds are getting vocal on this matter. Finally. The aid groups are keeping quiet for fear--entirely legitimate--of being thrown out of the country and unable to continue their mission if they speak up.

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Fairfax, Va.: The crisis in Darfur has been lurking in my conscious for quite some time, so when I saw the headline about the rally today in The Post, I thought, "hey, maybe it's time to get involved." But then I read further down about the in-fighting and it really turned me off. I'm not an evangelist and I don't think that the efforts to establish peace in Darfur should be mixed with evangelism. But Mr. Rubenstein's quote..."I have no idea who these Sunrise people are. With 164 groups, I barely have time to think about the horrible things they're all doing" was really stupid. The -horror- here is the rape, murder, starvation and intimidation in Darfur, not a bunch of religious people trying to share their message. Get a grip.

Ruth Messinger:  I agree that the focus must be on the evil. the vast majority of the groups in the coalition whether human rights, faith based [all faiths] or anything else including the national association of evangelicals, the national council of churches, all Jewish denominations are focused entirely on getting others involved. we share a simple message--stop the violence end the genocide.

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washingtonpost.com: Thank you all for joining us today.

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