IN THIS EMAIL:
- Upcoming Events
- What Can YOU Do to Help?
- Understanding the Conflict: Understanding the
Violence (article from Washington Post)



UPCOMING EVENTS:
1. Drumming for Sudan- Fundraiser with music and
speakers
$10 for students or volunteer for FREE , $18 for
non-students
Saturday, December 4 — 8:00 PM (volunteer from 5-8)
Sixth and “I” Synagogue, Washington, D. C.
We need volunteers from 5-8 to help set up a sound
system, fold and distribute programs, take tickets,
provide hospitality to performers and speakers, etc.
 Of course, volunteers would be invited to stay for
the program.  It would be a good way to network with
groups other
than college students that are interested in creating
action for Darfur (possibly meet some nice donors). We
will be leaving at 4:30 from GW if anyone wants to
come with or meet us there.
Email jhkramer@... to sign up.

Signed up so far: Julia Kramer, Sara Weisman, Phil
Getz, Adam, Adaeze, Sarah B., maybe Annie, Tsufit



2. Third Crazy Night: Chanukah Hoopla
Thursday, December 9 -- 7 to 9 pm
We need 2 volunteers to come to Hilliel at 5:30 to
help transport supplies to J-Street.
We need 2 volunteers to help set-up from 6 - 7.
We need at least 2 volunteers from 7 -9 pm to run the
booth.
We need 2 volunteers from 9 - 10 pm to help clean-up.
GW STAND will be running a table where people are
making green keychains. We will have our posters out
and information packets on the situation in Darfur as
well as green ribbons and possibly a sign up sheet to
buy green bracelets (like the Livestrong ones)
Email jhkramer@... to sign up.

Signed up: 6-7 Phil
5:30 + Julia, Sara, Anne
Tsufit jumping in between organizations

3. International Human Rights Day, 2004: Rwanda and
Darfur, Sudan
$85 with student id
Friday, December 10, 2004-- 11:30 am to 2:00 pm
The Capital Hilton- 1001 16th St. NW
More info:
http://www.globalrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=wwcd_dev_luncheon&autologin\
=true

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
- volunteer to help at the drumming event on December
4 (5-8 pm, if you can only come for part of it that
will still be great)
- volunteer to help at the Hanukkah Hoopla at GW- help
spread our name on campus and inform your peers on
what is happening in Sudan
- send ideas for events, speakers, etc to
gwstand@...

UNDERSTANDING THE CRISIS: Understanding the violence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6961-2004Sep8.html
Help the African Union

By Jon Corzine and Richard Holbrooke
Thursday, September 9, 2004; Page A27

It is now widely understood that the situation in
Darfur, in the remote western desert of Sudan, is the
most serious humanitarian crisis in the world. But the
disaster in Darfur is not the result of natural
causes, such as drought or floods; it is man-made, and
if the outside world continues to treat it simply as a
humanitarian crisis without addressing its underlying
causes, it will not end. With or without peacekeepers,
what we have seen so far would be just the beginning
of a long-term catastrophe that would leave behind an
unresolved political crisis, continuing warfare and
another nearly permanent refugee population, requiring
endless and immense international assistance -- this
time in a trackless area the size of France.

The international humanitarian response, led by the
United States, has saved many lives and must be
continued, despite its huge costs. There are already
at least 500 international aid workers in Darfur,
backed up by at least 10 times as many local
employees. Traveling with them for a few days last
week was inspiring; the outside world can scarcely
imagine how hellish and dangerous their mission is.
But the relief effort is far short of what it needs in
pledges and commitments. The most disgraceful
performance of all comes from the oil-rich Arab
states, which have contributed virtually nothing.

But -- and this is true of almost all refugee crises
-- dealing only with the humanitarian aspect of the
problem is like putting a small bandage on a
hemorrhage. The underlying causes of the suffering in
Darfur are complicated, but the human consequences are
there for any visitor to see: many hundreds of
thousands of ethnic African refugees fleeing into
makeshift and terrible refugee camps before the
attacks of the vicious (and primarily Arab) Janjaweed
militia, who are, despite official denials, supported
and encouraged by elements in the Sudanese government.


The goal of the central government in supporting and
encouraging the Janjaweed seems clear: to "depopulate"
-- that is, destroy -- the villages and create as many
refugees as possible in order to eliminate the village
structure in Darfur, which is a base for the activity
of two rebel movements opposing the central
government.

These movements are virtually unknown outside of the
region; they are the Sudanese People's Liberation
Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. They
are surprisingly well organized and receive outside
assistance, primarily from Sudan's eastern neighbor,
Eritrea, which, despite its small size, has shown
since its independence in 1993 a surprising
aggressiveness toward its much larger neighbors
(including Ethiopia, with which it has fought two
disastrous wars). Both rebel groups find easy
sanctuary in the deserts of Chad, Sudan's neighbor to
the west.

The rebels seek the usual goals of such movements:
redress of a lengthy list of grievances against a
central government that has long ignored the needs of
faraway, desperately poor Darfur. In our meetings with
two of their senior representatives, they talked about
getting a larger slice of the Sudanese budget, greater
self-government and even a new federal system. But
they were careful not to mention independence or
secession.

Surprisingly, the strongest efforts to stop the
fighting have come from the African Union, which is
facing the first test of its viability as an
organization since it replaced the weak and
ineffective Organization of African Unity in 2000. Its
chairman, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, has
convened talks in Nigeria that include representatives
of all sides in this drama, including Chad, Eritrea,
Libya and both rebel groups. These talks, however,
have received too little support from Western powers
and the United Nations, and they are in danger of
collapsing. Only Obasanjo's standing as the leader of
Africa's largest nation, and head of the African
Union, keeps these talks alive. Obasanjo has also
called for a significant increase in the number of
African Union "monitors and protection forces"
(currently a paltry 300) in Darfur. This is a useful
first step toward bringing an international
peacekeeping presence to the area, but it is being
predictably opposed by the Sudanese government.

Secretary of State Colin Powell's trip to Darfur, and
that of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, were
valuable signals of high-level concern; they played an
important role in helping to open the doors for more
humanitarian assistance. But much more needs to be
done by the United States and the United Nations.
Washington should begin by appointing a special envoy
for Darfur, following the model of former senator (and
current U.N. ambassador) John Danforth's mission to
Sudan, which played such a critical role in bringing
the long civil war between Christians and Muslims in
southern Sudan so close to a conclusion. Such an
American envoy -- shuttling between Khartoum, Eritrea,
Chad, Darfur and the talks in Nigeria -- speaking for
the president as Danforth did, empowered with the
strong support of a bipartisan congressional mandate
and the backing of both presidential candidates, could
have a significant effect on the shaky peace process.

Although there is anger among many Sudanese about the
U.S. intervention in Iraq, we are still respected in
the region, and there is power in U.S. leadership and
diplomacy that has not yet been tapped. The United
States and NATO should offer airlift and logistical
support to the impoverished African Union to aid its
monitoring mission -- and that mission, with strong
U.N. Security Council support, should evolve rapidly
into a full-fledged peacekeeping operation. As another
sign of support, we should appoint an ambassador to
the African Union, as we have to many other major
international organizations.

In the end, Darfur is a humanitarian crisis, but one
that was caused by political leaders. The innocent
victims will only increase in number if U.S. and U.N.
diplomatic action in support of the African Union is
not greatly accelerated.

Jon Corzine, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, and
Richard Holbrooke, a former ambassador to the United
Nations, visited Darfur last week.






--
Julia Kramer
The George Washington University
Vice President of External Affairs, Books for Africa
President, GW STAND (Students Taking Action Now:
Darfur)
jhkramer@...


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