The Devil Came on Horseback. Working towards peace in Darfur, Sudan.

2.2 million people tuned in to the National Geographic Channel to watch The Devil Came on Horseback on Friday, April 18. Many thanks to all who watched the broadcast or, even better, invited your friends and family to watch and learn about the Darfur conflict. Now, please follow up by supporting efforts to end the Darfur conflict and bring security to the region.

In coming weeks, Darfur advocacy groups are organizing rallies at the headquarters of Olympics corporate sponsors, asking them to use their relationships with China to bring attention to Darfur.  Let’s give the Olympics sponsors a reason to act for Darfur– join a rally near you.  If you’re not close to a rally location, you can still participate by sending letters, emails and phone calls to these sponsors.

See Rally Locations and Sign Up Here: http://www.standnow.org/campaigns/seal/takeAction/corporateRally 

Email corporate sponsors here: http://www.dreamfordarfur.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=85

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.