Genocide brought home A discussion Saturday aims to translate dire news from abroad into a deeper understanding here.
By Kathy Korengel of the Union-Bulletin
It's estimated at least 200,000 people have died as a result of fighting in Darfur, in the Sudan, in east Africa. News sources estimate another 2.5 million people have had to flee their homes and now live in refugee camps.
The conflict, widely recognized as a genocide, is half a world away. But several people Saturday will be taking part in a discussion about what it means for local people, and even what they can do to help stop the killings.
Noah Leavitt, an organizer of the event, said ``Genocide In The Human Heart: From The Holocaust To Darfur'' will ``be a conversation about genocide: why it happens, why do people go along with it or decide not to do anything about it when they know it is taking place, why, even though we heard `never again' after the Holocaust, it happens again and again.''
One of the speakers, Rabbi Stanley Yedwab, said he agreed to take part as ``repairing the world'' is a tenet of his denomination, Reform Judaism.
Yedwab, like Leavitt, belongs to the local Congregation Beth Israel, which came up with the idea of
Saturday's discussion.
Bruce Magnusson, a Whitman College associate professor of politics, also will take part in the discussion and share his knowledge of African politics.
In a phone interview from his Redmond, Wash., home, Yedwab said Reform Judaism has always had a sense ``the purpose of religion is to help people become God's instrument for repairing and making a better world.''
He sees Saturday's discussion as a chance for people to become ``aware of genocide happening in order to plan and act in a way to help stop it.''
And although there is growing international pressure to resolve the conflict in Darfur, Yedwab feels ``we can do better, as we have done in a number of other situations.''
He points to the success of international efforts to quell violence in the former Yugoslavia and in Northern Ireland.
On the other hand, he recalls how badly many people felt after the international community did little to stop the ethnic cleansing that killed at least 500,000 people in Rwanda in 1994.
``The same regret is going to be there if we don't have a hand (in Darfur), whether it works or not,'' he said. ``God is concerned you try.''
What it will take to end the conflict, however, is unclear to him, as it's a complex situation. ``But making (our) government aware we are aware of the situation would be a first step,'' Yedwab said.
He and Leavitt say, as Jews, they have a special empathy for victims of genocides, a result of the Holocaust.
``Out of 7 or 8 million Jews in Europe, six million were killed,'' Yedwab said. ``That helps me as a person, knowing the history of my people, to have a feeling for what it must be like for people of Darfur.''
But he stressed Saturday's discussion pertains to all people. ``You don't have to be Jewish. It's for people of all faiths,'' he said. ``It's about people to people.''
Asked why the average U-B reader should care about what is happening in Darfur, Yedwab recalled the words of a Protestant minister who lived in Germany during the Holocaust.
According to Yedwab, the minister has been quoted as saying, ``When the Nazis came for the communists, I said, I'm not a communist, and I don't need to do anything. When they came for the Jews, I said, I'm not a Jew, so I don't need to do anything. When they came for me, there was no one left to do anything about it.''
`GENOCIDE IN THE HUMAN HEART: FROM THE HOLOCAUST TO DARFUR'
A discussion on why genocide happens, including the current situation in Darfur, as well as how people can help stop the killing there, will be from 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday in the public library, 238 E. Alder St.
Discussants include Bruce Magnusson, associate professor of politics, Whitman College; and Rabbi Stanley Yedwab of the local Congregation Beth Israel. City Council member Barbara Clark will moderate. The event is free and open to the public.
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