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Planet Waves | for May 6,
2005
This week we turned our attention -- with humility and trembling, I trust -- to Holocaust Remembrance Day. PBS and The History Channel have filled their programming with amazing footage of the final days of World War II, the death camps, the astounding cruelty and inhumanity. Moving and remarkable documentaries tell us, from survivers, from relatives, what it's like to enter into the twilight world of genocide -- racial and geopolitical mass murder. What we do not learn from, we have been admonished, we are destined to repeat. As transfixed as I was on all that I watched, my mind was moving restlessly, urging me to fold time, to come to present. We will NOT forget, I was reminded again and again from those archives of film. We CANNOT forget. But we did. We forgot in Rwanda. We're forgetting in Sudan. In Rwanda in 1994, half a million people were hacked to death while we mulled over the semantics of "genocide." Evidently it was only mass murder -- ethnic cleansing. If you want a quick review, rent a copy of the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, based on the true story of one man's heroism. Bill Clinton called his lack of response to this humanitarian crisis one of his few regrets. In Darfur, today, the death toll stands at an estimated 650,000 and counting, with over 3 million people displaced. It is, we're told, a "crime against humanity" but not a genocide. Not a "holocaust." Not yet. It's easier not to think about this, I grant you. Our plates are full with our own issues, confusions, relationships, challenges. Life is seemingly more complex today than it's ever been, and we're overwhelmed with all of it. If you're reading this and thinking -- I don't know what to DO about this -- you're in good company. The rest of the world is wondering too. The African Union won't move on this situation -- they're not convinced Dafur constitutes a genocide. The UN is dancing around the issue, pondering the same question. The United States House and Senate unanimously passed amendments to the current war-time supplemental bill that called on the Bush administration to ratchet up its diplomatic efforts to help end the crisis in Darfur, but thanks to pressure from administration officials, the Dafur provisions have now been removed. [The Sudanese government is cooperating in the fight against Al Qaida, it is reported.] This December, when the tsunami swept so many of us away, the outpouring of assistance and relief from the world was astounding. We were all one, on that tragic day -- each child ours, each death personal. Earthquakes and weather are not political, however ... we are allowed to offer our compassion uncompromised by our fears of "getting involved." We can give our money and our concern without asking ourselves for bravery or entanglement. Maybe we need to look at that. The Sudan is obviously not the only place where war and civil strife takes the lives of innocents, today. I find it revealing what the United States will involve itself in, and what it won't, but the complexity of the political situation is not my focus, under these circumstances ... the continuing murder, the death by disease and starvation of an entire African population is. I don't know what to do, as a private citizen, besides barrage my senators with mail, support virtual groups, fax, email and urge action. And there's another thing I can do ... something I owe
myself, the Sudanese and all of humanity -- I won't pretend this isn't happening
in the 21st century, I won't pretend it isn't my business. If all I can do is
look at genocide, with eyes wide open ... then that is what I will do.
I won't forget. "The lessons of the Holocaust are simple to understand, however hard they are to live," said Britians Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks. "Never blame others for your troubles. A society is as large as the space it makes for the stranger. Cherish life. Fight for the rights of others." Peace ~ Jude See the drawings of Darfur children, below: Darfur Drawn: The Conflict in Darfur Through Children's Eyes http://hrw.org/photos/2005/darfur/drawings/ Do Something ... But What? http://motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/05/darfur_intervention.html Zoellick's Appeasement Tour http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=9622 Eric Francis is on holiday. Jude, the editor of Political Waves, is standing in for his daily blog this week. You can subscribe to Political Waves (our all-politics news distribution list) for free at the link below. You’ll receive between five and 10 news articles each day. You may write to Jude with your responses to her commentaries at moderator@planetwaves.net. Political Waves list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/political_waves/ | ||||||
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