c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Here’s what the United Nations envoy to Darfur, Jan Pronk, said a while ago about international efforts to stop the violence there: “The people on the ground are laughing at us.”

Somehow, laughter isn’t quite the response you want from government-backed militias responsible for the deaths of some 400,000 people, and the displacement of 2 million others, over the past three years in the western Sudanese province.

What you want is something more along the lines of abject terror that sends the militias scurrying back under their rocks. But so far, the United States, the member states of the U.N. and the underfunded and puny 7,000-member African Union force in Darfur have failed to strike fear into the cold heart of Sudan’s government. The result is that the merciless slaughter that the United States has termed a genocide not only continues briskly but is spreading into neighboring Chad.

What can you do about it?

Here’s a start: Go to the rally on the National Mall in Washington on April 30 planned by the Save Darfur Coalition, an organization of faith-based and human rights groups. Go to the Web site (http://www.savedarfur.org) and send a postcard to President Bush, who has, to his credit, been a consistent advocate of more muscular intervention to stop the killing. Or attend a rally hosted by a number of local interfaith groups.

The needle on the public-awareness meter has started to move on this issue. You can give it a salutary nudge.

“Public opinion does influence governments,” says Mark Malloch Brown, the deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, who wears on his wrist a green Not On My Watch bracelet.

The words allude to Bush’s response to reading a memo about the Rwandan genocide; the bracelet itself (for those who like a fashion statement with their politics) can be ordered from the Save Darfur site. Malloch Brown says he tries to do “something every day” to keep the Darfur issue on the front burner. True, the “something” he can do from his perch at the U.N. _ talking with nongovernmental organizations, giving speeches _ may be a bit loftier than trudging to Washington at the end of the month, but his point has merit. Action is preferable to silence.

Despite the Bush administration’s prodding, action on Darfur has been slow. Efforts to rally support to double peacekeeping forces in Darfur and put them under U.N. command floundered last month when the Khartoum government managed to convince African Union members that they would be accepting a neocolonialist breach of Sudan’s sovereignty.

“What’s needed is a much larger United Nations or NATO-supported troop force on the ground with enough resources and members to keep the peace, and with a specific mandate to protect the citizens of Darfur,” says Ruth Messenger, executive director of the American Jewish World Service, one of the groups in the Save Darfur coalition.

Even if a U.N. deployment isn’t feasible for the moment, the United States and its allies can push for an enlarged African Union force, with an expanded mandate, and support it with funding and logistics. The U.S. can and should offer to help enforce a no-fly zone in Darfur, foiling Sudanese government helicopters that provide cover for ground attacks by its militias.

On Tuesday (April 4), the Senate appropriations committee is expected to vote on an amendment to increase by $100 million funding for the African Union mission. The House recently approved an additional $50 million.

These are steps forward, incremental but significant, and they deserve support and encouragement.

“You study the history of the 20th century, and the tragedy of all tragedies (the Holocaust), and what hurt us was (not just) the cruelty of the killer, but really the indifference of the good people,” Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel told an audience in Short Hills, N.J., last week.

A rally in Washington may not be as effective as boots on the ground in saving lives in Darfur, but at least it sends the message that you don’t think genocide is a laughing matter. It’s a small stand against indifference.

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

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There are plenty of Web sites and a growing number of books about Darfur.

BOOKS

“A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide” by Samantha Power: Not about Darfur, but a seminal, Pulitzer-Prize-winning exploration of 20th-century genocides and how they were allowed to happen.

“Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide” by Gerard Prunier: A careful, concise analysis of how the conflict in Darfur, whether or not it’s characterized as genocide, is perpetuated by the Arab government in Khartoum.

“Darfur: A Short History of a Long War” by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal: A solid introduction to the conflict.

WEB SITES

http://usinfo.state.gov/af/africa/darfur/darfur_links.html: A link to humanitarian emergency aid organizations.

http://www.phrusa.org/research/sudan/: Physicians for Human Rights site has useful links to articles on Darfur and advocacy information.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/world/sudan_genocide.html: From PBS, an inspired lesson plan for teachers who want their students to learn about Darfur.

http://www.hrw.org: The Web site of Human Rights Watch.

http://www.amnesty.org: The Web site of Amnesty International.

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/: The Web site of Doctors Without Borders

http://www.icg.org and http://www.cfr.org: The Web sites of International Crisis Group and Council on Foreign Relations. Good sites for keeping up with Darfur policy issues.

MO/PH END JEROME-COHEN

(Deborah Jerome-Cohen is deputy editorial page editor for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.)

Editors: Material at end is suitable for graphic treatment