Save the Congo is a member of the Congo Now campaign

52 RABBIS CALL FOR ACTIONS TO END THE KILLING IN THE CONGO

Following the commemoration of Yom HaShoah, the Jewish annual commemoration of the Holocaust, 52 Rabbis in the UK have issued a public statement urging Prime Minister Brown and the two leaders of opposition Nick Clegg and the David Cameron to pledge an unwavering resolve to make saving the Congo an absolute priority for the next Parliament.

The statement, drafted by Rabbi David Mitchell of Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue and Vava Tampa    , director of Save the Congo, was delivered to Prime Minister Brown, and the two Leaders of Opposition: Mr. Clegg and Mr. Cameron, on Tuesday, April 20^th by Paul

Rusesabagina –the real lofe Hero of the acclaimed film Hotel Rwanda, Rabbi David Mitchell and Vava Tampa    , director of Save the Congo.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, a country the size of Western Europe with a population of approximately 60 million, is one of the most fragile states in the world, despite its abundance in natural resources. Its torrid history is marred by human tragedy, spanning back to its horrific colonisation by King Leopold II of Belgium, through to a brutal dictatorship under Mobuto Sese Seko, and, since 1998, by a succession of invasions by Rwandan and Ugandan troops fighting to gain control of Congo’s easily appropriable and highly valuable natural resources destined for sale in London, New York and Paris

In April 2007, the International Rescue Committee’s pivotal study placed the death toll in the DR Congo since 1998 at 5.4 million.[1] This horrific figure continues to rise at a rate of 45,000 mortalities a month.[2] It is now three years since the study in 2007 and the additional consequences of disease and malnutrition have resulted in a staggering rise in the death toll to at least seven million fatalities, not to mention the millions of refugees.

The full text of the Statement from the 52 Rabbis follows:

The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) have, for over eleven years, endured the evils of violence, war crimes, corruption, humanitarian crisis, looting, and rape on a scale that defies comprehension.

In April 2007, the International Rescue Committee’s pivotal study placed the death toll in the DR Congo since 1998 at 5.4 million.[3] This horrific figure continues to rise at a rate of 45,000 mortalities a month.[4] It is now three years since the study in 2007 and the additional consequences of disease and malnutrition have resulted in a staggering rise in the death toll to at least seven million fatalities, not to mention the millions of refugees.

What these shocking figures cannot convey is the scale of ongoing rape, torture and mutilation occurring throughout the DR Congo. As recently as February, fifteen women were abducted and raped by armed assailants—five were brutally tortured and then beheaded, three survived and were taken to Panzi Hospital in Bukavu for emergency medical care. The remaining seven are still missing, presumed dead.[5] The Human Rights organisation Genocide Watch lists DR Congo at the top of its 2010 list of countries facing ongoing massacres.[6]

There is still no end in sight to the atrocities or to this humanitarian crisis. Moreover, political stability and peace within the DR Congo are critically important not just for the citizens of the DR Congo, but for all those who live within the African Great Lakes region. Yet, to the majority of the world, the plight of the people of the DR Congo remains invisible.

We have just marked Yom HaShoah, the Jewish annual commemoration of the Holocaust. When we recently discovered the suffering and scale of the atrocities in the DR Congo, we cannot but recall our own six million innocent victims of Nazi Genocide. The “hear nothing, see nothing and do nothing” approach the world community has thus far adopted, regarding this crisis in the DR Congo, fails to fulfil the promise to “NEVER AGAIN!” stand idly by while innocent human beings are slaughtered. It denies justice to the victims and questions our very commitment to humanity. As Rabbis we cannot ignore the call of our tradition: “whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a).

Accordingly, we the undersigned, Rabbis, united in this statement, appeal to you on behalf of all peoples of the DR Congo. We have a responsibility to speak for those who cannot, so we urge you to do likewise. As a significant contributor to the UN and a permanent member of the UN Security Council as well as a core member of the European Union, British Commonwealth and the G20, the UK could and should play a more central role in mobilising world opinion to address the root causes of this conflict. We are therefore asking you and your party to pledge an unwavering resolve to make Saving the Congo[7] an absolute priority for the next Parliament.

We recognize that there are, sadly, numerous humanitarian crises and atrocities around the world, all of which require urgent attention. Yet the war and humanitarian crisis overwhelming the DR Congo are on a scale that can no longer remain ignored. Now is the time for action, now is the time for leadership. We hope that you will heed the call.

Yours in the name of peace

Rabbi David Mitchell , Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Dr. Tony Bayfield, Head of the Movement for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Danny Rich, Chief Executive Liberal Judaism

Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, Executive Director of the Movement for

Reform Judaism

Rabbi Professor Marc Saperstein        , Principal Leo Baeck College

Rabbi Tony Hammond, Bromley Reform Synagogue & Chair of the Assembly

of Reform Rabbis UK

Rabbi Peter Tobias, The Liberal Synagogue, Elstree & Chair of the Rabbinic

Conference of Liberal Judaism

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, New North London Masorti Synagogue

Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire, Vice Principal Leo Baeck College

Rabbi Colin Eimer, Southgate & District Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, New London Masorti Synagogue

Rabbi Michael Hilton  , Kol Chai Hatch End Jewish Community

Rabbi Deborah Kahn-Harris, Southgate and District Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Janet Darley, South London Liberal Synagogue

Rabbi Richard Jacobi, Woodford Liberal Synagogue

Rabbi Miriam Berger  , Finchley Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Maurice Michaels, South West Essex & Settlement Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Kathleen de Magtige-Middleton, Middlesex New Synagogue

Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, North Western Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Rodney Mariner, Belsize Square Synagogue

Rabbi Sybil Sheridan, Wimbledon and District Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild, Wimbledon and District Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Joshua Levy, North Western Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Steven Katz, Hendon Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Paul Freedman, Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Helen Freeman, West London Synagogue

Rabbi Amanda Golby, Member of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK

Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers, West London Synagogue

Cantor Zoe Jacobs, Finchley Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Michael Pertz, South West Essex & Settlement Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Barbara Borts, Newcastle Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Ian Morris, Sinai Synagogue – Leeds

Rabbi Brian Fox, Menorah Synagogue – Manchester

Rabbi Irit Shillor, Harlow Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Larry Becker, Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue - Wanstead

Rabbi Neil Amswych, Bournemouth Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Stephen Howard, Southgate Progressive Synagogue

Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah, Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue

Rabbi Francis Ronald Berry, Bristol and West Progressive Jewish Congregation

Rabbi Dr. Andrew Goldstein, Emeritus Rabbi of Northwood & Pinner Liberal

Synagogue & Chairman of the European Union for Progressive Judaism

Rabbi Charles Wallach, Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue (and former

member of the President’s Religious Advisory Council, South Africa)

Rabbi Michael Foulds OBE, New Essex Masorti Synagogue

Rabbi Jacqueline Tabick, North West Surrey Synagogue

Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk, Westminster Synagogue

Rabbi Janet Burden, Ealing Liberal Synagogue & West Central Liberal

            Synagogue

Rabbi Dr Frank Hellner, Emeritus Rabbi of Finchley Progressive Synagogue

Rabbi Warren Elf, Southend and District Reform Synagogue

Rabbi Monique Mayer, Member of Rabbinic Conference & Leo Baeck College

Rabbi Dr. Margaret Jacobi, Birmingham Progressive Synagogue

Rabbi Jeffrey Newman, Director Earth Charter UK

Rabbi Charley Baginsky, Kingston Liberal Synagogue

Rabbi Judith Levitt, Leo Baeck College Recruitment Officer