Monday, October 30th, 2006
Elissa Test, senior and cocoordinator of the Students Taking Action Now for Darfur (STAND) Stanford chapter, came to speak at De Anza College on October 26 at 1:30 p.m. in MQ-10.
In a clear and passionate voice, she educated students about the genocide and human atrocities being committed in Darfur. The citizens of Darfur, a western region in Sudan, have been suffering constant armed conflict between the Janjaweed, a militia group aided by the Sudanese government, and various rebel groups.
There has been a long history of conflicts in Darfur; but when the violence escalated to new extremes in 2003, the deeply troubled region gained international attention. The cold, systematic killing of ethnic groups in Darfur has caused many public outcries, labeling these actions as a genocide. The mass murder in Darfur continues to this day, making it three years since this situation escalated.
Up to 75 percent of villages in Southern Darfur and much of Western Darfur have been bombed, pillaged, and burned to the ground; countless number of women were raped on the streets; water wells poisoned with dead bodies; roughly 450,000 killed; and around 2.5 million more left displaced and on the brink of starvation.
Elissa Test is urging the public to care, stand up, and fight these terrible crimes against humanity. “Because of the Holocaust, because of the killing fields in Cambodia, because of the genocide in Rwanda, and because the international community did not respond to these atrocities, the promise that weve all heard after each case of never again feels like an empty promise”, she said.
“In times when there is genocide, then there is a simple and forthright moral response. We can choose to restore the dignity and rights of the victim, or we can choose to ignore.” Test said.
One reason why students dont do anything may be that people felt the sheer enormity of the situation and think what they do will not make a difference.
Test disagrees completely with this notion. “The power this act doesnt come from one letter, or one phone call of outrage that the U.S. hasnt done more to help. The power in this act lies from our hopes and expectations that our advocacy will become a common thing”, she says.
Finishing her presentation, Test passed out packets on how to write letters to the U.S. government about Darfur.
She ended on a positive note, saying, “There is hope that if there is enough pressure put on the government and President Bush, then they will use their diplomatic and political powers to bring about help in Darfur. If the international communities respond, then its not too late to save those 3 million people”
Darfur on the web at http://www.stanford.edu/group/stand/