Sudan is the largest country in Africa, located just south of Egypt on the eastern edge of the Sahara desert. The country’s major economic resource is oil. But, as in other developing countries with oil, this resource is not being developed for the benefit of the Sudanese people. As much as 70 percent of Sudan’s oil export revenues are used to finance the country’s military.

Darfur, an area about the size of Texas, lies in western Sudan and borders Libya, Chad and the Central African Republic. It has only the most basic infrastructure and development. The approximately 6 million inhabitants of Darfur are among the poorest in Africa. They exist largely on either subsistence farming or nomadic herding.

The current crisis in Darfur began in 2003. After decades of neglect, drought, oppression and small-scale conflicts in Darfur, two rebel groups – the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – mounted an insurgency against the central government. These groups represent agrarian farmers who are mostly “non-Arab black African” Muslims from a number of different tribes. President al-Bashir’s response was brutal. In seeking to defeat the rebel movements, the Government of Sudan increased arms and support to local tribal and other militias, which have come to be known as the Janjaweed (meaning Devil on Horseback). Their members are composed mostly of “Arab black African” Muslims who herd cattle, camels, and other livestock. They have wiped out entire villages, destroyed food and water supplies, and systematically murdered, tortured, and raped hundreds of thousands of Darfuris.

This scorched-earth campaign by the Sudanese government against Darfuri civilians has, through direct violence, disease, and starvation, already claimed as many as 400,000 lives. It has spilled over into neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic. In all, about 2.3 million Darfuris have fled their homes and communities and now reside in a network of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Darfur, with over 200,000 more living in refugee camps in Chad. These refugees and IDPs are almost entirely dependent on the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations for their basic needs – food, water, shelter, and health care. Approximately 1 million more Darfuris still live in their villages, under the constant threat of bombings, raids, murder, rape and torture.

Reference: www.savedarfur.org

Haggadah

“We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but Adonai our God led us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 6:21).  If the Holy One, praise God, had not liberated our ancestors from Egypt, then we, our children, and our children’s children would still be slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.  And even if all of us were wise, all of us understanding, all of us experienced, all of us learned in Torah, we would still have the obligation to tell about the Exodus from Egypt. And whoever tells about the Exodus from Egypt at length is praiseworthy.