Darfur Genocide Witness Tells NYC Holocaust Museum Symposium Participants What They Can Do to Help Stop Slaughter

New York City is Part of 21,000 Mile, 21-City U.S. “Tour for Darfur: Eyewitness to Genocide” to Promote “Million Voices for Darfur” Campaign
 

New York, NY - The U.S. representative to the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan from September 2004 to February 2005 told participants at a call to action symposium this afternoon hosted by a Manhattan Holocaust museum what Americans can do to put public pressure the Bush administration to lead an international effort to end the genocide in Darfur, and on Congress to provide the resources necessary to do so. Former Marine Captain Brian Steidle spoke at 1:20pm-2:15pm at “A Call to Action on Darfur Symposium and Action Fair” hosted by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. The event is part of a 21,000 mile, 22-city, 11-state photo exhibit and speaking “Tour for Darfur: Eyewitness to Genocide” (see Holocaust Museum photos of Sudanese refugees in Chad at: http://www.savedarfur.org/photos/view.php?q=sudaneseInChad and Darfurians in Sudanese camps at: http://www.savedarfur.org/photos/view.php?q=20040802).

“President Bush deserves credit for asking Congress for emergency supplemental funding of $514 million for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid projects in Sudan, but that’s just the first step to resolving this crisis,” said Steidle. “As compassionate Americans, we must pressure the Bush administration and Congress to take the many steps needed to end the suffering for millions of Darfuri people, including matching or exceeding the President’s Sudan funding request and passing the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, so we can sanction the genocide perpetrators.”

Since February 2003, an estimated 300,000+ people have died in Darfur as a result of what the President and Congress recognized in 2004 to be genocide - sponsored by the Sudanese government and its Janjaweed militia allies - with 3.5 million dependent on foreign aid for their survival, and 2 million people forced by violence to live in make-shift camps.

The Tour for Darfur is part of the “Million Voices for Darfur” campaign to generate one million postcards to President Bush asking him to use the power of his office to fulfill his February 17 pledge to support a stronger multi-national force to protect the Darfuri people. Anyone can send an electronic version of this postcard in just a few seconds by visiting www.SaveDarfur.org/rally). The tour, Million Voices campaign and rally are sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition (www.SaveDarfur.org), an alliance of 150+ faith-based, humanitarian and human rights groups representing 130 million Americans.

The other tour sites are: Coconut Grove, Jupiter and Deland/Orlando, FL; Los Angeles, Pasadena, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Sacramento, Saratoga, and San Francisco, CA; Ithaca, NY; Nashville, TN; Henderson, NV; Seattle, WA; Pittsburgh, PA; Bloomington and Fort Wayne, IN; Chicago, IL; Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth and Dallas, TX.

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