Darfur torch passes through Pittsburgh

The genocide in Darfur has claimed more than 200,000 lives and has driven 2.5 million people… The genocide in Darfur has claimed more than 200,000 lives and has driven 2.5 million people from their homes since 2003. Now, Pittsburgh is proving that it’s a leading force in efforts to promote peace and awareness for the cause.

Pittsburgh was one of the 24 U.S. cities selected to carry a replica of the Olympic torch symbolizing peace for Darfur in anticipation of the 2008 games in China.

China is one of the chief economic supporters of Sudan, and while it recently joined a UN Security Council vote to authorize the deployment of police and troops to Darfur, the country is in a position of great power over the situation and has been reluctant to help in the past.

Because the Olympics are a time to promote global peace and unity, yesterday’s event, held by Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition, was about asking China to think about the responsibility it has for its actions.

On the torch’s 12-and-a-half-mile journey through the city, it made a stop at the Hillel Jewish University Center en route to the City Council building downtown. Cara Baldari, president of Pitt’s chapter of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND), spoke at both locations and credited local officials like Congressman Mike Doyle, D-Allegheny, the leading congressman for this issue, for bringing this international event to Pittsburgh.

“The fact that Pittsburgh gets this torch is a testament to how active Pittsburgh is in this issue, especially considering what a small city we are,” Baldari said. “We’ve gotten a lot of … not opposition, but with the idea of advocating against China, people have said: Good luck. But it’s a global event, and when you look at it that way, we’re excited.”

Baldari has been organizing and promoting the relay’s trip through Pittsburgh and its stop at Hillel since the semester began. She and other members of STAND have been giving classroom presentations to instruct students on the worsening conditions in Darfur and promote the event.

Members of the College Democrats, Black Action Society, Panthers for Israel, Student Government Board and other campus organizations also spoke at Hillel yesterday morning. SGB president Shady Henien began his speech by thanking STAND for working to address the issues in Darfur.

“We are a different breed of students here at the University of Pittsburgh,” Henien said. “We are not selfish, self-seeking or boastful. When we see social issues on campus and in the world we take action.

“We are a fortunate people here in the United States of America. We wake up every morning knowing what we want to accomplish in that day without worrying what the government may do to stop us, or even kill us. It is our role as students from the University of Pittsburgh to be the movers and shakers of this powerful institution and take a stand.”

State representative Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, ran the first leg of the trip with the city’s police motorcycle escort starting at the Holocaust Memorial in Squirrel Hill.

“It’s fitting that we’re here at the Holocaust Center,” Frankel said. “In the 21st century we have the opportunity for the first time to stop a holocaust that’s in process.”

Jack Sittsamer, president of the Holocaust Survivors Group, lit the torch for Frankel. Sittsamer spent four years in concentration camps in Europe during World War II and lost his entire family to the Holocaust.

“It’s tragic that today, 60 some years after World War II, something like this is going on,” he said.

Sittsamar said this is just one reason he appreciated the relay’s commencement at the Holocaust Center.

“As long as survivors are still alive we have to speak up,” he said. “It’s not right that innocent people are dying.”

Jordan Hinds, a CMU student, carried the torch seven miles from Oakland to downtown where Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also spoke on the importance of this mission.

“This is a global issue, and I’m proud of Pittsburgh for taking a lead to support this cause for Darfur,” Ravenstahl said.

“What we can do as a city and what we have done is take a leadership role. We’ve divested all our penion funds, for example. It’s a small step, but it’s a step that we can take here.”

While Pittsburgh divests some of its funds, the state currently does not. In Pennsylvania, divestment legislation has passed through the House of Representatives but still needs to go through the Senate.

The mayor also extended his thanks to the student organizations taking part in the relay. STAND chapters from several local high schools and universities participated in the event, and the mayor said it’s the students who have “put Pittsburgh on the map for this issue.”

The torch, which is part of the Dream for Darfur campaign, began in New York City on Sept. 9 and will finish in WashingtonD.C., in December just in time for International Human Rights Day.

Likewise, an international torch began on Aug. 9 in Chad near the Darfur border, and its stops include Rwanda and other countries torn apart by genocide. That torch will finish in Hong Kong in January 2009.