Hundreds Rally in Sacramento to Save Darfur

An estimated 200-300 people rallied Sunday April 29 at the West steps of the Capitol in Sacramento for a Save Darfur rally. The event was organized by the African Peace and Conflict Center at CSUS, Sacramento Committee on Conscience and Sacramento City College Honors Program.
400,000 photos meant to represent those who have died since the start of the current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan lined the sidewalks as a reminder of the suffering these people have endured.
Since 2003, more than 400,000 people have been killed in the Darfur region of the African country of Sudan by Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the government-backed Janjaweed. Millions of innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has described the situation in Sudan and Chad as “the largest and most complex humanitarian problem on the globe.”
Member of the Sacramento Committee On Conscience Ian Lobel, 26, Sacramento, stressed the importance of community awareness when it comes to Sudan.
“You can still go up to most people and say the word 'Darfur' and they don't know what you are talking about,” Lobel said, “Anytime that there are more people who know about it then when it [the event] started, then that's a great event,” Lobel said.
Much like Adam Block, 27, Sacramento, who said that he attended the rally to learn more about the Darfur Conflict and how he could get involved.
“I believe that silence is complicity,” Block said. Block plans to research the conflict further and do what he can to help.
A fiery speech by Rabbi Rueven Taff urged the crowd to do everything they could to not allow the genocide to continue.
“We were silent in Bosnia, we were silent in Rawanda, we cannot be silent in Darfur,” Taff said.
After the speeches, a small crowd gathered around Rueven Taff, Dr. Albaqir Mukhtar El-Afifi, once an insider in the Sudanese government and a former fellow at the Institute of Peace in Washington, and Chris Opper to further discuss the genocide and possible solutions.