Never Again Becomes Again & Again

Never again. That's what many said after the Holocaust in which 6 million jews were exterminated in WWII. After those horrors ended there was Bosnia, Rwanda and now Darfur. And some time between the jewish holocaust and Bosnia events, a genocide which is considered to be the first to occur in Africa was perpetuated against the Ibos of Nigeria. This led to a civil war that endured from 1967-1970. Rescently I came across Chimamanda Adichie's fictionalized novel set during that time, and the description of the atrocities committed on innocent civilizians left me anguished. My parents were only teenagers at that time. They went through the war. They survived, but each lost family members and friends. The horrific details of the genocide led war; brutal killings, displacements, rape and starvation is similar to what is currently going on in Darfur. People rallied in the U.S, london and other european countries in support of Biafra. Unfortunately not much attention was given to the Rwandan genocide in 1994 which left 800,000 people dead in only a few months. And now there's darfur, and there are rallies, blogs, articles, images, books, celebrity activism-all aiming to raise awareness about a genocide that has left between 200,000-400,000 people dead since 2003. Sometimes the idea of what one can do to end this war seems overwhelming. But I am the type of person who believes individuals and communities can make a difference. There can never be too much awareness about an issue like this. The bigger the awareness the greater the impact.

In november the presidential elections begin. As genocideintervention.net rightly explains, the future of darfur is dependent on the next President's agenda for this region. To watch clips showcasing each candidate's view on the issue, please visit:

http://www.askthecandidates.org/

For more information about Darfur and ideas on what you can do to make a difference please visit:

http://www.genocideintervention.net/ This site also contains information about rallies, lectures and fundraising events taking place in cities across the U.S. Another great site is : http://www.savedarfur.org/

Lets mean it this time when we say never again!