Don't Call Them "Do-Nothing"

Yesterday, 5 U.S. Congressmen were arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy while protesting President Bashir's crimes against humanity. Don't say Congress is completely useless!

Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Donna Edwards (D-Md.) along with three activists were arrested on charges of civil disobedience by Secret Service and were released a few hours later after each paying a $100 fine.

U.S. Rep. John Lewis, center, is led away in handcuffs by a Secret Service officer during an act of civil disobedience to protest the Sudanese government's ongoing genocide in Darfur on Monday outside the Sudan embassy in Washington, DC.

After reading statements calling on President Obama to pressure the global community into action regarding Darfur, the congressmen and activists crossed the yellow tape and refused to move during the large and reportedly peaceful demonstration, which is what lead to their arrests.

"I hope that is very clear to our administration and to international communities that violence in Darfur must end," said Representative Woolsey. Bashir , she added, "must allow the NGOs back into the country and admit he has only worsened the crisis in Darfur."

It has been over two months now since the International Criminal Court issued its arrest warrent for Bashir and since 13 major international relief and aid groups were expelled from the country. This has left over 1 million people at risk and since these events not much has happened. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times reported on his blog yesterday that there is talk of Sudan appeasement by the Obama administration, who appears to be taking the "let's be friends" approach to the Darfur crisis and Bashir.

The fact that nothing has been done by anyone in any country around the world is pretty dispicable. The confict and genocide in Darfur began in 2003 about the same time as the Iraq war began. It has been five years of silence by an international community that seems to have plenty to say about Iraq.

Where is the outrage? Where is the humanity? Where is the responsibility?

Photo credit: Tim Sloan / AFP/Getty Images

The World is Your Stage

Eight years after its first attempt to host a global summit on racism, the U.N. is not finding much luck the second time around (maybe third time will be the charm?). Everyone's favorite, furry leader, Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, decided to use his thirty minute speech to call Israel a racist nation, which was followed by a mass walk-out of about by the 30 diplomats, including 23 E.U. member nations who are in attendance (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland have boycotted the conference altogether along with the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand who describe it as a forum that is tainted with bad blood).

Certainly, Israel has not played fair in its occupation of some of the Palestinian territories, complete with some pretty atrocious behavior in its recent war in Gaza but then again, many Arab nations haven't been too active when it comes to atrocities committed by fellow leaders. Since the International Criminal Court issued its arrest warrent for Sudanese president Oman Al Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Israel's neighbors have acted as if there wasn't any sort of genocide happening in the region. In March, at the Arab Summit in Qatar, which followed the issuing of the ICC's warrant, not one of the attendees condemned Bashir and the deaths of over 300,000 in Darfur, rather supported him.

Two wrongs never make a right. Israel must answer for the illegal deaths of hundreds of innocent Palestinians but until Iran takes the lead to help bring Bashir to justice, it is no less guilty for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Darfuris than the rest of the world, which is idelly standing by.

**Photo by Erin Cunningham**