Canadian  STAND students use film to bring awareness at their university campus.

(http://www.themuse.ca/view.php?aid=41027) 

Days brings grim reality

Student activists encourage genocide awareness

By Katie Hyslop

Darfur Days are coming to Memorial this month, asking students to pay attention to a grim situation – genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) Memorial, a faction of STAND Canada, are holding three events this month in order to educate the public about the situation in Darfur, where since 2003 the Sudanese Armed Forces and Janjaweed militias have been carrying out a systematic genocide campaign against non-Arab tribes, which has resulted in the deaths of 200,000 to 400,000 people, and the displacement of over 2 million.

On Tuesday, March 18, STAND will show The Devil Came On Horseback, a documentary based on the memoirs of the same name by former US Marine Brian Steidle who spent time in Darfur in 2004.

The second event, on the following Tuesday, March 25, will be “Darfur and the Responsibility to Act” a panel discussion with Anne Wagner, directory of advocacy for STAND Canada, Natalie Oman, professor of philosophy at MUN, and keynote speaker Sergeant Debbie Bodkin. (more…)

On Wednesday, 24th of October a group of Israeli Activists fom ActiveVision organized an evening on behalf of the Sudanese refugees in Israel. The event took place in the “Red Lounge”, a cultural forum in the Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem, one of the few places in Israel where Jewish, Palestinian and International activists can still meet eachother. The event’s highlight was the announcement of the screening of “ The Devil Came on Horseback”.

The background for the crisis in Darfur is little known among the Israeli and Palestinian public. After the screening of the movie the audience, about 40 people, was deeply emotionalized. Adam Abbu from Darfur, a former teacher who arrived in Israel 4 months ago and is now the spokesman of the self-organized refugee committee endorsed the movie.  He told his own touching personal story. Further he explained the political coherences of the situation in Sudan and critisised the indifference of the Arab nations towards the Darfur crises, in full accordance with the statements of the movie. 

Palestinian students from East Jerusalem’s Al Quds University immediately offered help in educational issues. Further they will try to organize a campaign for the Darfur refugees among the Arabic student campus. Other visitors exchanged email addrese and phone numbers with the activists.

The word already has spread. There are many requests for additional screenings of the novie, indicating a growing awareness for the crisis in Darfur and the harsh living conditions for the refugee community in Israel.

The Producers are delighted to announce the official launch of the educational website for The Devil Came on Horseback. This site offers a comprehensive set of educational tools and resources for taking action on Darfur, a viewer feedback blog, a map of current screenings internationally, and instructions to arrange local screenings of the film.The Blog is the place for you to share how you have used The Devil Came on Horseback to generate awareness and action for Darfur. Check back for more information or email vsmith@globalgrassroots.org to contribute to the blog with your own activist story!