AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE LEADER URGES SUPPORT FOR DARFUR

By STEPHANIE SANCHEZ
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Friday, Nov. 16) _ The president of American Jewish World Service urged 16 Arizona high school students Friday to raise their voices against genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

“People in Darfur feel as they have been abandoned by the rest of the world,” Ruth W. Messinger said during a session at the Arizona State Capitol.

“I am offended that people say that this is just a thing that happens in Africa,” said Messinger, who has spoken around the country on the situation in Darfur.

Messinger, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor in 1997, shared stories and slides from her visit to Darfur in 2004 and the border of Chad in 2005 and later made a presentation to six Democratic state lawmakers.

American Jewish World Service is dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease in the developing world.

Katie Macdonough said she joined the Save Darfur club at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale after learning about the bloodshed in the region.

“We are now doing a fundraiser to send cookers,” Macdonough said.

Members of the Barness Center for Social Justice, Tzedakah of Temple Chai and the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix also attended the event.

Critics contend that Sudan’s government has enabled widespread atrocities against civilians in Darfur, a region of western Sudan. The region has been wracked by violence since early 2003, when members of Darfur’s ethnic African majority rebelled against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, organized a session with Messinger and Democratic state lawmakers. Sinema said she plans to introduce legislation based on the Sudan Divestment Task Force’s recommendation that states divest funds from companies that do business with the Sudanese government.

“I was so horrified about the genocide and I felt compelled to act,” Sinema said.

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Web Link:

_ American Jewish World Service: www.ajws.org