Jewish Community Organizing to Save Darfur
The growing movement within the American Jewish community to end the Darfur genocide presents an opportunity to examine religion’s civic role and the interaction between congregations and activists to address social issues. The USC Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life funded a faculty research grant to study the Jewish role in organizing and raising awareness about the situation in Darfur. Donald Miller, Richard Flory, and Brie Loskota are examining Jewish activism on Darfur, which has brought reinvigorated social action, significant youth involvement, and an emerging network of congregations, organizing under the banner of Jewish World Watch (JWW). Through interviews with participants from ten congregations and the leadership of JWW, we explore the factors that led to the JWW’s formation, the growth of its five-year synagogue organizing effort and the issues it faces in the current global climate.