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PSU HOSTS CONFERENCE ON DARFUR
By Christie Toth
PSU Daily Vanguard, OR
March 14 2006
Student groups sponsor event aimed at raising awareness of violence
and genocide in Africa.
Portland State will host an all-day conference March 15 with the goal
of providing context regarding the current violence, displacement and
famine in the Darfur region of Sudan. The conference opens at 8 a.m.
in the Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 228. All of the workshops
are free for students and require no prior registration.
Although the 20-year civil war between northern and southern factions
in Sudan was halted by a cease-fire more than a year ago, the situation
in the Darfur region continues to worsen as the government-supported,
predominantly Arab Janjaweed militias attack black African communities
because of their supposed alliance with rebel groups. Widespread rape
of women and children, as well as crop destruction and the disruption
of planting, have destabilized communities and created a creditable
threat of famine.
U.N. peacekeeping troops will replace African Union forces in Darfur
in 2007.
After opening remarks and a panel discussion of the history of conflict
and genocide in Southeast Asia, there will be three two-hour workshop
sessions at the conference, with three to four workshop options
each session.
In addition to the current situation in Darfur, the workshop topics
include genocidal histories in Rwanda, Uganda and Guatemala, the
effects of genocide on women and public health, and discussions of
the historical treatment of genocide and the definitions of genocide
under international law.
Two of the workshops will be led by Ruth Messinger, president and
executive director of American Jewish World Service. Messinger,
who topped the 2005 list of the "50 most influential Jews," in the
Jewish newspaper Forward, will speak on global responsibility in the
21st century, and discuss her own experiences visiting Darfur in 2004
and 2005.
"Ruth is our most famous speaker," said Lew Church, an organizer
of the event. "One of the things she will be talking about is the
indicators for where genocide will occur."
Along with the more conventional workshop offerings, attendees will
have the option of making peace tiles with local artists, and viewing
"Ararat," Atom Egoyan's controversial film about the first documented
genocide, Ottoman Turkey's 1915 attempt to wipe out its Armenian
population.
The conference will close with an address from keynote speaker
Mohamed Yahya. Yayha is a Sudanese activist living under political
asylum in the United States, and the executive director of Damanga,
an organization promoting human rights, peace and democracy in Darfur
and Sudan. He and the Representatives of the Massaleit Community
in Exile, which he chairs, have been working since 1995 to bring
international attention to the situation in Darfur and to assist
refugees from Sudan in receiving asylum.
Among the many organizers and endorsers of the conference are ASPSU,
the PSU College Democrats, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility,
and Portland Amnesty International Group 48.
"This is education," Church said. "It's learning for its own sake,
to make people better people."
Event organizers hope the conference will be a starting point for
students and members of the community to push for change on the
international handling of the suffering in Darfur.
"We're hoping it will lead to action steps beyond just letter
writing," Church said. "We're planning to do more direct action,
such as protests, legal actions and sit-ins."
By Christie Toth
PSU Daily Vanguard, OR
March 14 2006
Student groups sponsor event aimed at raising awareness of violence
and genocide in Africa.
Portland State will host an all-day conference March 15 with the goal
of providing context regarding the current violence, displacement and
famine in the Darfur region of Sudan. The conference opens at 8 a.m.
in the Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 228. All of the workshops
are free for students and require no prior registration.
Although the 20-year civil war between northern and southern factions
in Sudan was halted by a cease-fire more than a year ago, the situation
in the Darfur region continues to worsen as the government-supported,
predominantly Arab Janjaweed militias attack black African communities
because of their supposed alliance with rebel groups. Widespread rape
of women and children, as well as crop destruction and the disruption
of planting, have destabilized communities and created a creditable
threat of famine.
U.N. peacekeeping troops will replace African Union forces in Darfur
in 2007.
After opening remarks and a panel discussion of the history of conflict
and genocide in Southeast Asia, there will be three two-hour workshop
sessions at the conference, with three to four workshop options
each session.
In addition to the current situation in Darfur, the workshop topics
include genocidal histories in Rwanda, Uganda and Guatemala, the
effects of genocide on women and public health, and discussions of
the historical treatment of genocide and the definitions of genocide
under international law.
Two of the workshops will be led by Ruth Messinger, president and
executive director of American Jewish World Service. Messinger,
who topped the 2005 list of the "50 most influential Jews," in the
Jewish newspaper Forward, will speak on global responsibility in the
21st century, and discuss her own experiences visiting Darfur in 2004
and 2005.
"Ruth is our most famous speaker," said Lew Church, an organizer
of the event. "One of the things she will be talking about is the
indicators for where genocide will occur."
Along with the more conventional workshop offerings, attendees will
have the option of making peace tiles with local artists, and viewing
"Ararat," Atom Egoyan's controversial film about the first documented
genocide, Ottoman Turkey's 1915 attempt to wipe out its Armenian
population.
The conference will close with an address from keynote speaker
Mohamed Yahya. Yayha is a Sudanese activist living under political
asylum in the United States, and the executive director of Damanga,
an organization promoting human rights, peace and democracy in Darfur
and Sudan. He and the Representatives of the Massaleit Community
in Exile, which he chairs, have been working since 1995 to bring
international attention to the situation in Darfur and to assist
refugees from Sudan in receiving asylum.
Among the many organizers and endorsers of the conference are ASPSU,
the PSU College Democrats, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility,
and Portland Amnesty International Group 48.
"This is education," Church said. "It's learning for its own sake,
to make people better people."
Event organizers hope the conference will be a starting point for
students and members of the community to push for change on the
international handling of the suffering in Darfur.
"We're hoping it will lead to action steps beyond just letter
writing," Church said. "We're planning to do more direct action,
such as protests, legal actions and sit-ins."