Synagogues on a march to assist Darfur

Event will raise funds and awareness about genocide



On June 1, synagogues throughout Los Angeles will participate in a Walk for Darfur to raise funds and awareness about the genocide that has claimed 400,000 lives and displaced another 2.5 million people over the past five years in the western region of Sudan.

Congregation Or Ami in Calabasas has signed up 105 walkers to participate in the walk. Students from Heschel Day School and congregants from Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills, Temple Adat Elohim and Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, Adat Ari El, Shomrei Torah, Temple Aliya, and Temple Kol Tikvah also are participating.

The walk will begin at the Jewish Federation Valley Alliance at 22622 Vanowen St., West Hills and end at Shadow Ranch Park, West Hills, said Illece Buckley Weber, an Agoura Hills participant. Buckley Weber serves on the Agoura Hills Planning Commission.

All walkers over the age of 13 will receive a “memory card” that tells the true story of a refugee from Darfur, Buckley Weber said. After the walk there will be a brief program to commemorate genocide victims and inspire action.

Speakers will include Janice KamenirReznik, president, Jewish World Watch; Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, founder of Jewish World Watch; Dennis P. Zine, Los Angeles City Council member, Third District; and Laurel Warner, president of the Valley Alliance.

“The goal of the walk is to raise awareness, support and hope for the survivors of the Darfur Genocide because there is a moral imperative to do so,” said Schulweis. “With this walk we hope to send a message that we will not tolerate this genocide for one minute longer. We must stand by the words ‘never again’ and see the genocide stopped.”

Walkers will be given an advocacy kit with postcards that they can send to President Bush asking him to help bring an end to the genocide by pressing for a full deployment of United Nations peacekeepers and U.N. sanctions against those obstructing peace in Sudan.

Jewish World Watch is a coalition of almost 60 synagogues working together to mobilize synagogues, schools and the community at large to combat genocide and other egregious violations of human rights around the world.

Jewish World Watch has chosen Darfur as its first advocacy campaign, Buckley Weber said.

The synagogues have allocated more than $600,000 in direct assistance to the people of Darfur.

– Stephanie Bertholdo


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