DARFUR DESERVES ATTENTION OF JEWS.

Byline: HAROLD M. SCHULWEIS 

PASSOVER commemorates the exodus and freedom of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. But as Jewish people sit and reflect on their ancestors, they must remember that there is another people who are still in the desert, dispossessed of their homes, belongings, food supplies and security.

Since 2003, more than 400,000 Darfurians have been killed by the Janjaweed militia. The Arab Muslim Janjaweed have been given free rein by the Sudanese government to destroy villages, kill, rape and abduct the black African Muslims in Darfur. More than 2.5 million people are now in refugee camps scattered throughout Darfur and Chad.

The Jewish community through Jewish World Watch has taken on Darfur as an advocacy campaign. People ask us why the Jewish people should care about another group that is far away and not of our own faith. As we commemorate our own survival and freedom from oppression during Passover, we ask the following four questions.

Who are they to us, those people in Darfur?

Jews see with ancient eyes and hear with ancient ears. Not long ago, we swore over the cremated bodies of our fathers, mothers, and children in the ovens of Dachau, Treblinka, and Auschwitz and cried, "Never again." We dare not shut our eyes or our mouths or our ears.

Who are the people of Darfur to us? They are us.

Why is Darfur our problem?

Suad is a young pregnant mother of two. Last month when she went with her 10-year-old sister, Halima, to collect firewood, she saw the Janjaweed approaching. Suad allowed herself to be caught so that young Halima could escape. Suad endured a beating and gang rape by seven Janjaweed militiamen.

Why is this our problem? Because we were slaves in Egypt; because we were expelled from Spain; because we were ashes in Auschwitz; because we are free today. They are us.

To whom are you loyal?

Are you essentially a Jew or a human being? Compassion and justice are not like pieces of pie from which you cut a slice for yourself and by so doing take away from the other. The moral choice is not either/or. The Jewish response is "both/and."

Genocide of any fabric is the ultimate blasphemy to the image of godliness and must not be endured. By speaking out against genocide in the world, we give voice to the message of outrage from our murdered out of the ovens of Treblinka and Auschwitz and Dachau.

They are us.

What can I do?

Elie Wiesel noted, "The wise child asks, 'What are our responsibilities, as Jews, to the oppressed people of Darfur?' The wicked child asks, 'Why should we care what happens to people thousands of miles away?"'

We are mandated to love the stranger because we were strangers in the bondage of Egypt. Egyptian midwives disobeyed Pharaoh's decree to slaughter first-born Jewish males. It was their commitment to preserve human life that saved Moses and the children of Israel.

The strangers are us.

These questions must be asked. Slaves don't ask questions. They are muted. We are no longer slaves. We ask questions so that others will no longer be slaves.