'Tents of Hope' to stand on National Mall
Written by Staff Reports October 31, 2008
During the weekend of Nov. 7-9, over 300 colorfully painted refugee tents will be erected on the National Mall in Washington DC to call attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
The "Gathering of the Tents," the culminating event of the year-long Tents of Hope campaign, includes speakers, panel discussions, workshops, music and displays. The campaign, which is urging the new president to put ending the Darfur genocide at the top of his agenda in 2009, includes 360 cities in 48 states.
A vigil is scheduled at the Sudanese Embassy on Friday, Nov. 7 where activists will present a "citizens' arrest warrant" for Sudanese President Omar Bashir. American and Sudanese students will be painting 10 tents on Saturday, Nov. 8 and a rally is planned for Sunday, Nov. 9.
Among the speakers will be Al-Ghali Yahya Shegifat, president of the Association of Darfur Journalists. In May 2008, he was arrested and brutally tortured for several months by the Sudanese government. An international campaign led by Amnesty USA and International PEN helped to secure his release. Mr. Shegifat, who is currently seeking political asylum in the United States, will speak on several occasions during the weekend.
"The tents are symbols of suffering and hope," said Tim Nonn, national coordinator of Tents of Hope and a member of Petaluma (Calif.) UCC. "Some of the tents show scenes of death and destruction painted by Darfuri children in refugee camps. They are side by side with beautiful images painted by American schoolchildren who have raised thousands of dollars for humanitarian relief."
The "Interfaith Weekend of Prayer & Action for Sudan" will be held the same weekend. Hundreds of cities will hold interfaith services to protest the genocide in Darfur. Local groups will take part in Save Darfur Coalition's "Add Your Voice" postcard campaign, which aims to deliver one million postcards to the new president. Painted refugee tents will be erected in dozens of cities.
"The weekend marks the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht," said Rabbi Or Rose, "a key moment in the destruction of European Jewry during the Holocaust. Tragically, the world has not yet internalized the piercing cry of "Never Again" that emanated from Auschwitz. The Tents of Hope project is a bold expression of the conscience of grassroots activists from across the country who refuse to be bystanders to genocide. The refugee camp we are creating in the heart of the nation's capital is a vivid symbol of the humanity of these communities."
Prof. Eric Reeves, a leading expert on Sudan, has accused the Sudanese government of disrupting humanitarian relief operations. "Khartoum is of course well aware of the disruptive and costly effects of these and other new restrictions on humanitarian vehicles and travel. Indeed, disruption is precisely the point."
In addition to disrupting international relief operations, the Sudanese government has recently coordinated attacks on camps for internally displaced persons. The United Nations reports that 2.7 million internally displaced persons in Darfur and 250,000 refugees in Chad are endangered by government attacks on relief operations. The ongoing genocide, which is entering its seventh year, has already claimed more than 300,000 civilian lives.
More than 5 million Darfuris are dependent on international relief operations. But the World Food Program and other relief organizations have suspended operations in parts of Darfur due to government attacks on relief convoys and UN camps. Some relief groups have been forced to entirely withdraw from the country since the Sudanese government stepped up harassment of relief workers several months ago.
Tents of Hope is a one-year campaign that encourages a community-based response to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan through education, advocacy and fundraising for humanitarian aid.
Nonn, a UCC member from Petaluma, Calif., provided vision for the project which has bloomed into an interfaith movement across the United States and spread to other countries. UCC Wider Church/Global Ministries and Justice and Witness Ministries, along with the UCC Central Atlantic Conference, have provided creative and administrative support to this movement.
"Gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing provided the seed money to get the Tents of Hope project started," said Susan Sanders, minister for Global Sharing of Resources. "Thanks to the generosity of our UCC churches, this project has been a success."
UCC and Disciples of Christ members from Maine to California will be present at the event, along with representatives from twenty other agencies, proclaiming to the President Elect and the world, that people of faith will not sit idly by as people suffer in Darfur.
Delegates to the event are invited to a reception on Saturday morning, Nov. 8, 8:30 to 9:45, at the Methodist Building on Capitol Hill. UCC national staff members, Sanders, Derek Duncan and Michael Neuroth.
More information is available at <globalministries.org>, <savedarfur.org> and <standnow.org>.