2006 – Advocacy for Divestment
The TIOH 6th grade Day School class took the lead on behalf of JWW in persuading the City of Los Angeles to divest from companies doing business in Sudan.
JWW advocates for a campaign of targeted divestment, the ultimate goal of which is to protect the victims in Darfur. Advocacy efforts focus on divestment efforts intended to maximize the impact on the Sudanese government and its policies while minimizing any adverse impact on innocent Sudanese. JWW’s divestment campaign targets companies that are complicit in the genocide or that are benefiting from it, companies that have refused to take a stance against the atrocities, and companies that offer only minimal benefits to the country’s oppressed and underprivileged.
Although by and large, the Jewish community abhors divestment campaigns — since all too often they are used unfairly and unjustly against Israel. However, JWW has determined that we cannot desist from using this very important weapon solely because there are those who misuse or abuse it. JWW believes that relative to Sudan, the divestment tool is not only morally appropriate, but is indeed, a moral imperative. The Sudanese regime is engaged in genocide of a large portion of its population. The criminal, genocidal acts of the Sudanese government against its own citizens are so morally egregious that all political and economic means must be used to save lives.
Urged on by comments made to the council by members of the 6th grade class at Temple Israel Day School, the Los Angeles City Council voted to support AB 2941 (Koretz-Horton), which calls on CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest their funds from the Sudan.
The 6 th grade class and representatives from Jewish World Watch (JWW) met with Council President Garcetti several weeks ago to propose a City Council stance against the genocide in Darfur. The 6 th graders testified before the full Council again imploring them to accept the resolution.
Natan Reches, one of the 6 th graders, challenged the Council members to help make a difference. “Why do I ask for your help?” asked Reches. “I ask because I am a small voice that wants to be heard in a crowd of big voices. You are those voices. All of them together will be heard as one gargantuan voice.”
The 6 th graders had studied the situation in Darfur in class and assisted by Jewish World Watch, they prepared a resolution on the genocide in Darfur which they presented to Garcetti.
This speech was delivered by Natan Reches, then a 6th grader at TIOH to the Los Angeles City Council:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the council, I ask for your attention and for your patience. I am here today to ask for your help, help to make a difference. Why do I ask for your help? I ask because I am a small voice that wants to be heard in a crowd of big voices. You are those big voices. All of them together will be heard as a one gargantuan voice. That voice can make more of a difference than 1, 2, 3 even 4 of my voices. Darfur is in need of help and you can give it. The Janjaweed are killing the people of Darfur each and every day. They are raping the women and teaching the children to kill their own people or be killed. After the Holocaust, we, as people swore that never again would humans slaughter fellow humans. Never again would people starve and suffer. Never again would we stand idly by and not do something about it. Of course I know that there have been many disasters this past year such as Hurricane Katrina, but those were natural disasters. Those could not have been prevented. The genocide in Darfur could have been prevented. I’m sure some of you are wondering how this affects us. My answer to that is simple. We as people are judged by our religion, our color and our ethnicity. These are barriers that hide the fact that we were all created in the image of G-d and that we are all part of the human race. My class and I have done a big part in trying to help Darfur. We have raised money by washing cars, holding a bake sale and selling rubber bracelets. We also started a letter writing campaign called 1 Million Postcards! The letters were sent to President Bush addressing the issue. It is now your turn to help. On behalf of Temple Israel of Hollywood Day School, I would like to thank you all for your time and patience. I feel that my classmates and I have been heard and we feel that we have made a difference.
March 2006 – Eye Witness to Genocide – Brian Steidle
TIOH and B’nai David-Judea Congregation co-hosted an evening at TIOH with Captain Brian Steidle, USMC Former U.S. representative to the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Darfur. Captain Steidle served from September 2004 to February 2005 as an unarmed military observer and U.S. representative to the African Union peacekeeping mission to stop the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan. As one of only three Americans serving with a coalition of African representatives, Capt. Steidle spoke from a unique and personal perspective about witnessing mass murder, rape and other atrocities in Darfur sponsored by the Sudanese government and perpetrated by its paramilitary allies, the Janjaweed militias.
March 2007 -- Flowers Aren’t Enough
TIOH and St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church co-sponsored a very special evening to benefit the JWW Solar Cooker Project. The Project was established in spring 2006, in response to the increasing vulnerability of Darfurian women to rape and sexual assault by the Janjaweed militiamen.
The need for firewood for cooking drives women to leave the relative safety of the refugee camps into the brush where they are attacked and brutalized by the Janjaweed. JWW is sponsoring a pilot Solar Cooker Project to provide two solar cookers to each family in the Iridimi refugee camp, located on the Chad-Darfur border. These solar cookers will virtually eliminate the need for women and girls to leave the camp in search of firewood for cooking.
Tragically, violence against women is not limited to the deserts in Africa, and the more we know, the more we can do to change a world in which such terrible crimes are perpetrated here and in the refugee camps in Chad and Sudan.
Nomi Ackerman presented her captivating one-woman show "Flower's Aren't Enough,” at TIOH as a benefit for the Solar Cooker Project. The show skillfully wove together true stories shared by women who have experienced domestic violence into a compelling monologue that was not to be missed.
June 2007 and June 2008 – Walk for Darfur
TIOH proudly participates in the annual JWW Walk for Darfur with a strong team of walkers drawn from our congregation and our schools.
In an effort to inform and mobilize the community to act on behalf of the people of Darfur, Jewish World Watch holds its annual WALK FOR DARFUR on the morning of the first Sunday in June, in the San Fernando Valley. In 2008 over 1,500 individuals participated in the Walk from synagogues, schools and communities. The Walk covers just under 3 miles on city streets in the West San Fernando Valley and it offers individuals a real opportunity to stand with others in opposition to the genocide.
Walkers make a small donation to participate in the Walk and are asked to secure sponsors to raise funds for the refugees of Darfur. In addition, each walker over the age of 13 receives a “Memory Card” with the story of a refugee family to wear during the walk to honor those who walked from their destroyed villages in Darfur to the refugee camps.
The Walk for Darfur culminates in an AWARENESS FAIR with prominent members of the community addressing the crowd, information booths about Darfur, a solar cooker demonstration to showcase the JWW Solar Cooker Project, music, crafts and refreshments.
Annual Outreach and Education
The TIOH JWW Committee spearheads efforts to educate and mobilize the TIOH community at our congregational and school events. Tables are staffed by committee members at the Purim Carnival, the Chanukkah Bazaar and at Big Sunday every year. Members of TIOH can purchase Tribute Cards, wristbands or yarmulkes to support the work of JWW, get updates on the crisis in Darfur and take steps to advocate for change and an end to the genocide.
