Why Hollywood's still talking about Darfur
IN INTERVIEWS for their new movie, "Ocean's Thirteen," Don Cheadle and George Clooney are always sure to include information on the worsening crisis in Darfur.
IN INTERVIEWS for their new movie, "Ocean's Thirteen," Don Cheadle and George Clooney are always sure to include information on the worsening crisis in Darfur.
We in Hollywood, along with hundreds of student, religious and human-rights organizations, many headed by the group Savedarfur, are still speaking out. After Sudan's President Al-Bashir made a "deal" last month to let U.N. and African Union peacekeeping forces into the war-torn region, some people have asked why we're all still so concerned. Why do we continue to squawk and rally?
Forget the fact that nearly 400,000 people have lost their lives and 2.5 million have been displaced in what has been called the "first genocide of the 21st century." We've all heard the numbers over and over again. But we know that every day, more innocent lives are being lost. The government of Sudan continues to bomb villages, and the government sponsored Janjaweed militia hasn't halted its campaign of rape, torture and murder.
Just last month, the international aid agency Oxfam was forced to pull out of Darfur's largest internal displaced-persons camp in Gereida. The camp is home to 130,000 displaced Darfurians and has been the site of unprecedented violence against aid workers that precipitated this departure.
President Bashir promised last month to allow the deployment of a joint AU-U.N. force to replace the under-funded, undermanned and under-equipped African Union force that has so far been ineffective in protecting Darfur's innocent civilians from his own genocidal campaign.
So how are we to trust this time that he will keep his "promise" (when his track record stinks) to protect the people of Darfur? The truth is, we can't.
That's why we're still speaking up.
Last month's news suggested that the United States is essentially "in bed" with the government of Sudan, which is now reportedly giving us terrorist intelligence after having hosted Osama bin Laden for years. People are being systematically slaughtered, and still we are letting our government make secret deals to continue to get information. This must be stopped, and Al-Bashir has to be held accountable to his new promise of allowing the deployment of 20,000 troops. We are continuing to write letters to our members of Congress. Web sites like SaveDarfur.org make it easy to submit your concerns.
To find out more of what you can do, pick up the book by Don Cheadle and Philadelphia's own Jon Prendergast called "Not on Our Watch."
Or to bear witness to the ongoing genocide unfolding in Darfur, visit the traveling Darfur/Darfur exhibit when it comes to the National Constitution Center.
This exhibit, sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, serves as a vehicle to educate viewers about the ongoing atrocities being perpetrated in Darfur by presenting horrifying images captured by internationally acclaimed photojournalists. The wall-sized photos will be projected on the front and west facades of the building on 6th Street beginning tomorrow.
I say, Go, George! Go, Don!, and Go! to anyone who will not stay silent in the face of genocide. And we Philadelphians are certainly not known for our silence. So let's speak up! *
Maria Bello is an actress and a native of Norristown.
