In 2005, the JCPA plenum adopted a comprehensive resolution “Stopping Genocide in the Sudan,” which called for a concerted effort to seek U.S. and international action to stop the killing, rape and destruction in the Darfur region of Sudan.  That resolution cited approximately 100,000 civilian deaths.  Today, it is estimated that over 200,000 people have been murdered. The situation in Darfur has deteriorated in recent months, including the intentional targeting of humanitarian aid workers by the government-backed Janjaweed.  As a result, a number of humanitarian organizations have been forced to leave the area, exposing the civilian population to greater risk.

The JCPA, which is working to mobilize the organized Jewish community and to expand interfaith activity through the Save Darfur Coalition, urges the community relations field to make this issue an even higher priority in the year ahead.