Keeping Our Promise – Never Again

The Community Relations Committee works to end genocide in Darfur, Sudan and has been a leading advocate for this cause in New Jersey. We believe that we, as the Jewish community, must ensure that the U.S. government and international community take strong actions to end the government endorsed genocide of an ethnic group.

Since 2003, the government of Sudan has been waging a genocidal campaign against African communities in Darfur. The result is:

• 400,000 people have been killed since the crisis in Darfur began
• 2.5 million or more civilians have been driven from their homes
• 3 million individuals have become reliant on international humanitarian aid for survival

Currently ceasefires and international efforts have not stopped the genocide.

To advocate for the end of genocide in Darfur the CRC has undertaken the following action strategy:

• Educating
  The CRC is a founder and co-chair of the N.J. Coalition responds to the Crisis in Darfur, Sudan, a coalition made up of diverse organizations that act as a resource on Darfur which produced an education resource manual on genocide and organized a media advocacy conference on Darfur for high school students.
  • Darfur Instructional Guide – NJ Commission on Holocaust Education. This resource provides the history of the term genocide, prints the Convention on the Preventions and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and discusses the History and background of Sudan and Darfur.
    
    
• Raising our voices
  The CRC joins with local interfaith coalitions, endorsing and providing support to local grassroots initiatives, speaking at rallies and raising funds to help persons displaced by the crisis in Darfur. Learn more about recent or upcoming initiatives.
  
  • North Jersey Coalition for Darfur – sponsored Rally for Darfur on March 18
  • Article from Daily Record about rally
  • 
    Save Darfur: Rally to Stop Genocide, April 30, 2006 in Washington D.C. – the CRC, with the JCC and local synagogues, led over 500 people from the MetroWest, uniting with an estimated 75,000 other impassioned citizens. We also helped mobilize the MetroWest community to accomplish the goal of the Million Postcards for Darfur Campaign.
    
    
• Advocating
  Along with direct advocacy to our elected representatives, CRC helps to mobilize UJC MetroWest to advocate for local, state, national, and international action to end genocide.
  • In 2006, CRC galvanized national and local community leaders in Million Voices for Darfur and the Rally to Stop Genocide and worked with Assemblyman Payne on the State of NJ Divestment from the Sudan (A-3482).

What you can do

• Demand International Action: Petition President Bush and the U.N. Secretary-General to stop the killing in Darfur
• Educate yourself and others: Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to inform them why the issue is important to you and your community.
• Visit the following websites for current information on the situation in Darfur and find out how you can take appropriate action:
  • American Jewish World Service
  • International Rescue Committee 
  • Save Darfur Now
  • United Nations
  • Genocide Intervention Network
  • Holocaust Memorial Museum, Committee on Conscience
  • www.sudandivestment.org