Channels

Avner Shalev: Call for action
Photo: Yossi Ben David
Photo: Reuters
Children in Darfur
Photo: Reuters

Yad Vashem says UN must act in Darfur

Military force must be sent to Sudan, Holocaust Museum heads tell UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 'Mere statements are no longer sufficient,' they say

The United Nations must take action to stop the genocide in the Darfur region, Yad Vashem heads said in a letter sent Sunday to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

 

Since the crisis broke out in the south of Sudan, over 200,000 people have been murdered, thousands of women have been raped, 2.5 million have remained homeless, and thousands of soldiers are dying for lack of proper medical treatment.

 

The fourth anniversary of the Darfur conflict will be marked Sunday, April 29th, around the globe. A coalition of actors and musicians have appealed to the international community to do more to protect the citizens of Darfur. These artists, including Elton John, George Clooney, Bob Geldof, Mia Farrow and Mick Jagger, blame the international community for doing little while hundreds of thousands of people are slaughtered.


Global protest for Darfur, April 29. (Photo: AFP)

 

Avner Shalev, chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, said that mere statements were no longer sufficient and a military force must be sent there to restore order.

 

"We would like to be practical," Shalev said. "Ban is a newly appointed secretary-general and during his visit here, a month ago, he expressed a leaning to pragmatism. We raised the Darfur issue during a meeting with him and we told him that the Security Council must send in forces. This letter strengthens our appeal, and similar calls can be heard from other places around the world.

 

"The Sudanese government is preventing any forces from entering its territory. They don't even allow food and equipment in for those who are in need. Pressure must be applied on the Khartoum government to allow entry into the region," he said.

 

"Up to now they were playing a game, saying that the situation in Darfur had nothing to do with them, but the militias operating there. It is now clear, however, that the government is behind everything that has happened there. We believe the international community, and specifically the Security Council, has enough power to start acting," he stated.

 

Shalev told Ynet that, as heads of Yad Vashem, the letter that he and Yad Vashem Council Chairman Yosef Lapid sent to Ban had special validity.

 

"The heart of the matter is condensed in one specific sentence. We wrote that, as those who head the remembrance authority of the Jewish people, who have experienced the horrors of genocide with the whole world standing by, we have the moral obligation to call into action anyone who can prevent the genocide that is raging now. Now is the time for action and the United Nations Secretary General has the power to act," he said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.29.07, 12:24
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment