CHAT Students Play a Leading Role in the Toronto ‘Scream for Darfur’ Rally

There was an amazing rally yesterday at Queen’s Park to scream out ‘Never Again’ and to send a ‘Canada Must Lead’ message to Prime Minister Harper.  The rally paralleled the huge rally in Washington and featured a powerful array of nine or ten speakers, including  The Honourable David Kilgour (Former Secretary of State) The Honourable Irwin Cotler (MP and former Defence Minister) The Honourable Jack Layton (NDP party leader) The Honourable Olivia Chow (NDP MP) The Honourable Bryon Wilfert (Liberal MP – Associate Critic of Foreign Affairs) Dr. Norman Epstein & Acol Dror, Co-Founders of CASTS (Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in Sudan) Mohamed Haroun (President of the Darfur Association of Canada) Elfadil Elsharief (President of The Sudanese Canadian Human Rights Coalition) Jonathan Laski, Director of Media Relations, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) Canada

 

One of the amazing things about yesterday’s rally is that it was spearheaded by a small number of high school students – and two of them were current  CHATniks: Ben Singer ('06),  President of the Tanenbaum Campus Student Council Leora Smith ('06), Vice President of the Richmond Hill Campus They were ably aided by a few key people including two former CHATniks: Danny Richmond ('03), Director, Va'ad Tikun Olam Jonathan Laski ('01), Director of Media Relations, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) Canada Kol HaKavod to them and to all the many CHATniks who came to support the rally.

Project Equity circulated a template for a letter to be sent to MPs.  Here is a sample letter to send to your MP – feel free to edit it as you wish.

Hello, my name is <Insert Your Name> and I live in <Insert Your City>.                    .

I am calling to ask the government to take a leadership role in ending the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The situation in Darfur is deteriorating every day: the United Nations recently cut meager food rations for displaced persons in half, and thousands more were displaced this month due to continuing violence. If powerful countries like ours continue to do little ,the catastrophe will get worse. Therefore, I strongly urge you to support the rapid deployment of a well-equipped United Nations force – of at least 15,000 to 20,000 troops- empowered by a Chapter 7 mandate that will allow them to proactively and effectively protect civilians. This is the only way we can stop the murder, the rape and the massive suffering.

To send this to your MP, go to www.parl.gc.ca and request

• English or French
• Members of Parliament (Current)

Then select your riding’s MP and send the letter.

• The Canadian Jewish News
• The Globe & Mail
• www.projectequity.org
• The Star
• the National Post Report's article is below
  

 Toronto’s Darfur Protesters Let Out a Scream

There was no moment of silence at Queen’s Park yesterday , where hundreds gathered to protest the crisis in Darfur .Instead, there was a moment of screaming.

For ten seconds, a sea of young people raised their fists and let out a thunderous wail for those who have died or been driven from their homes in the Sudan.

“When you see something so utterly wrong, your primal instinct is to scream out,” said rally organizer Ben Singer, 18. “We are screaming for justice and equality.”

Politicians from all levels of government attended yesterday’s Scream for Darfur, including Liberal MP Irwin Cotler and NDP leader Jack Layton- who encouraged the crowd to “scream:, if need be, at the politicians to be heard.

“We could be saving many many  lives as part of an international force,” said Mr. Layton after letting out his own scream.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators including lawmakers and Hollywood star George Clooney, descended on Washington and other U.S. cities yesterday to demand and end to “genocide” in the Darfur region.