A torch carrying the symbolic hope that China will use its influence with Sudan to end the genocide in Darfur arrived Nov. 13 in Newark, where it passed through the hands of politicians, activists, and survivors of ethnic cleansing.

Sponsored by a broad coalition of religious and community groups, high school and college student organizations, and Darfurian refugee organizations, the torch was lit in front of Newark's Martin Luther King Federal Courthouse, then passed along a semicircle of activists as several hundred people rallied in the courthouse plaza.
The rally was meant to draw attention to trading ties between China and Sudan, which has been persecuting residents of its Darfur province as it tries to put down a rebellion there.

"How is it that the government of Sudan is still able to kill, rape, and brutalize its people? There is a one-word answer to that question: China," said Jill Savitt, director of the global torch relay, a project of the Save Darfur coalition.

"Why does China do this? It needs oil," she said. "China buys $2 billion a year in oil from Sudan, and that money is used to pay the hired killers, the Janjaweed, to pay for the bombs and the planes. China also sells weapons to Khartoum. Those are the weapons that go into Darfur. So China is underwriting the Darfur genocide, and it is profiting from that genocide."

Taking part were a host of state and local leaders, including NJ Gov. Jon Corzine, State Sen. William Payne (D-Dist. 29), and U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Dist. 10). William Payne is author of a bill that divested $2.6 billion in state pension funds investments in corporations which do business with Sudan.

"This is an issue for the state of New Jersey as much as it is for the United States and for all of the world, including China," said Corzine. It is imperative, he said, "that we do those things that will end this violence against our fellow man. It is absolutely essential that we join hands together."

Conspicuous among the speakers were Jewish leaders whose congregations and organizations have been active in efforts to combat the Darfur genocide.

Rabbi Donald Rossoff of Temple B'nai Or in Morristown initiated the proceedings by offering a prayer for peace. He noted that China, host of the 2008 Olympics, "is effectually sponsoring another set of games — deadly games — in the heart of Africa in a place known as Darfur, teaming up with a government in Sudan, which wages an ongoing genocide while the world watches, as horrified spectators in the cheap seats. In those games, there are no rules save those imposed by violence, and not fair play — only fear and intimidation."

Felice Maranz, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey — a Coalition partner and sponsoring organization of the torch relay — noted the diversity of the speakers and protesters.

"I think it is very significant that so many people from so many generations and so many different faith groups came together to send one united message," she said. "We are looking to China to end this genocide and use its unique influence to make a difference to make things better, and to bring the Olympic dream to Darfur."

Paul Winkler, executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, second from left, and Felice Maranz, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, in white shirt, observe the torch ceremony. Photo by Robert Wiener

The torch carried into Newark was originally lit by a Sudanese child in a refugee camp on the border between Darfur and the African nation of Chad. It then traveled to Rwanda, where it was passed among Tutsis who survived the massacre by the Hutus.

Continuing the theme of linking genocides past and present, the torch was carried to Armenia in memory of the 1915 genocide there. In late November, it will travel to Berlin and Bosnia to commemorate the Holocaust and the Serbian ethnic cleansing of the 1990s, and then to Cambodia, where two million people died under the Khmer Rouge.

Gil Lashow, a Parsippany resident and Holocaust survivor, took the torch "in memory of families who died in the Holocaust." Then, citing a quote often attributed to philosopher Edmund Burke, he said, "All it takes for the forces of evil to conquer is for good men to do nothing."

Fran Malkin of West Orange, another Holocaust survivor, also attended the rally. "It is very important what I am seeing here, because nobody spoke up for us in the 1930s and '40s."

Adelbagy Abushenab, a Darfurian survivor, urged the crowd to "take pride that New Jersey has always been in the front lines for Darfur. For China, the moment in time is right now to join the world community in stopping this genocide."

Following him at the podium was Joseph Sebarenzi, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and the former speaker of its parliament. Sabarenzi said he had learned "that the fact people speak out is very crucial. I hope the United States will use its influence to help the people of Sudan reach a peace agreement so that the suffering in Darfur can end."

Then together, Sebarenzi and Abushenab lit the torch and passed it along the semicircle of survivors and students, community activists, and elected officials.

When the torch reached her hands, Tynesha McHarris, a student on Rutgers University's Newark campus, spoke passionately. "Today we stand here as students, as refugees, as survivors, as Americans, as human beings. And when we stand here our voices are strong. But we cannot do this without the determination of our government."