[Peace-discuss] "Save Darfur": Evangelicals and Establishment Jews

[C. G. Estabrook]

[An acquaintance writes in her always interesting blog 
<montages.blogspot.com> about the dubious enthusiasm for Darfur. 
Another writes this morning, "I note from today's Democracy Now! program 
that the people of Darfur seem to be in dire need of food aid, 
apparently donations have fallen way short of the need. Query: why talk 
about military intervention when people are at risk of starving? Funny, 
how Americans, both liberal AND Conservative, always seem to believe 
military force is  the solution to a crisis."  --CGE]


Friday, April 28, 2006

"Save Darfur": Evangelicals and Establishment Jews

It's embarrassing that America -- and the world -- will be witnessing a 
PRO-WAR rally for a third oil war in Washington, D.C. on April 30 (see 
SaveDarfur.org) that is far more highly publicized than an anti-war one 
(that appears to be poorly organized) in New York City on April 29, even 
while Washington is still soldiering on in Afghanistan and Iraq and 
gunning for sanctions or war on Iran.

Who is behind this astonishing pro-war rally in war-weary America? A 
rag-tag coalition of evangelicals and establishment Jews (those whom the 
corporate media designate as official leaders of Jewish communities):

     "Keeping the peace within the diverse Save Darfur Coalition has not 
been easy. Tensions have arisen, in particular, between evangelical 
Christians and immigrants from Darfur, whose population is almost 
entirely Muslim and deeply suspicious of missionary activity.

     "Organizers rushed this week to invite two Darfurians to address 
the rally after Sudanese immigrants objected that the original list of 
speakers included eight Western Christians, seven Jews, four politicians 
and assorted celebrities -- but no Muslims and no one from Darfur.

     "Some Darfur activists also have complained about the involvement 
in the rally of a Kansas-based evangelical group, Sudan Sunrise.

     "Last week, after an inquiry from The Washington Post, Sudan 
Sunrise changed its Web site to eliminate references to efforts to 
convert the people of Darfur. Previously, it said it was engaged in "one 
on one, lifestyle evangelism to Darfurian Muslims living in refugee 
camps in eastern Chad" and appealed for money to "bring the kingdom of 
God to an area of Sudan where the light of Jesus rarely shines."

     "Although it is not formally part of the Save Darfur Coalition, 
Sudan Sunrise helped arrange buses and speakers, and it is co-hosting a 
dinner for 600 people on the rally's eve."

     (Alan Cooperman, "Groups Plan Rally on Mall To Protest Darfur 
Violence: Bush Administration Is Urged to Intervene in Sudan," 
Washington Post, 27 April 2006: A21)

Wow, fascinating.

     "For this effort, the coalition has recruited major celebrities 
like George Clooney and Elie Wiesel to speak to those assembled. Though 
recent reports have indicated that the turnout might be lower than 
expected, organizers, while refusing to give a concrete number, believe 
it will be in "the tens of thousands."

     "Little known, however, is that the coalition, which has presented 
itself as "an alliance of over 130 diverse faith-based, humanitarian, 
and human rights organization" was actually begun exclusively as an 
initiative of the American Jewish community.

     "And even now, days before the rally, that coalition is heavily 
weighted with a politically and religiously diverse collection of local 
and national Jewish groups.

     "A collection of local Jewish bodies, including the Jewish 
Community Center in Manhattan, United Jewish Communities, UJA-Federation 
of New York and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, sponsored the 
largest and most expensive ad for the rally, a full-page in The New York 
Times on April 15.

     "Though there are other major religious organizations, like the 
United States Conference on Catholic Bishops and the National 
Association of Evangelicals, both of which have giant constituencies 
that number in the millions, these groups have not done the kind of 
extensive grassroots outreach that will produce numbers.

     "Instead, the Jewish Community Relations Council, a national 
organization with local branches that coordinate communal activity all 
over America, has put on a massive effort to bus people to Washington on 
Sunday. Dozens of buses will be coming from Philadelphia and Cleveland. 
Yeshiva University alone, in upper Manhattan, has chartered eight buses.

     "Besides the Jewish origins and character of the rally - a fact the 
organizers consistently played down in conversations with The Jerusalem 
Post - the other striking aspect of the coalition is the noted absence 
of major African-American groups like the NAACP or the larger Africa 
lobby groups like Africa Action. When asked to comment, representatives 
of both groups insisted they were publicizing the rally but had not 
become part of the coalition or signed the Unity Statement declaring 
Save Darfur's objectives.

     "The coalition's roots go back to the spring of 2004 following a 
genocide alert, the first ever of its kind, issued by the United States 
Holocaust Museum. An emergency meeting was coordinated by the American 
Jewish World Service, an organization that serves as a kind of Jewish 
Peace Corps as well as an advocacy group for a variety of humanitarian 
and human rights issues.

     "At the meeting, which was attended by numerous American Jewish 
organizations and a few other religious groups, it was decided that a 
coalition would be formed based on a statement of shared principles.

     "After a year of programming that involved raising awareness about 
the genocide, the coalition came up with the idea for a rally in 
Washington. Planning began in the fall of 2005.

     "David Rubenstein, the director or "coordinator," as he prefers it, 
of the coalition says that, given that the groups who started the 
coalition were Jewish, "it's not surprising that they had the numbers of 
more Jewish organizations in their rolodexes."

     "He says that the Jewish community has been "extraordinarily 
responsive and are really providing the building for this thing," and 
yet he insists that the coalition has worked "very, very hard to be 
inclusive, to make sure there are people beyond the usual suspects."

     "This is a sentiment echoed by Ruth Messinger, president of 
American Jewish World Service and one-time Manhattan borough president 
and Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City. The world service 
and Messinger personally have been at the forefront of planning for the 
rally. Much of the Jewish turnout has been a result of her lobbying efforts.

     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

     "The fact that the aggressors in Darfur are Arab Muslims - though 
it should be said that the victims are also mostly Muslim - and are 
supported by a regime in Khartoum that is backed by the Arab League has 
made some people question the true motives of some of the Jewish 
organizations involved in the rally."

     (Gal Beckerman, "US Jews Leading Darfur Rally Planning," Jerusalem 
Post, 27 April 2006)

Should we laugh or should we cry?