65 Holocaust Scholars Urge Obama to Arrest Sudan's President

The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies

News Release:   September 24, 2013

For more information, contact: rafaelmedoff@aol.com / 202-434-8994

65 HOLOCAUST SCHOLARS URGE OBAMA:

ARREST SUDAN'S PRESIDENT IF HE COMES TO U.N.

Washington, D.C. - Sixty-five leading Holocaust and genocide scholars from around the world have sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to arrest Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, if Bashir comes to New York City this week to address the United Nations General Assembly.

Bashir was indicted in 2009 by the International Criminal Court for his central role in the Darfur genocide. He is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC.

The letter of protest was organized by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, based in Washington, D.C. It is the latest in a series of Wyman Institute initiatives seeking U.S. action to stop the Darfur atrocities and bring Bashir to justice.

"For the past four years, Bashir --the Butcher of Darfur, as he is known-- has openly traveled to numerous Arab and African countries, while the Free World has refrained from taking action against him. The time has come to act," the letter argues.   

"We urge you to arrest Bashir upon his arrival in New York City, and hand him over to the International Criminal Court for prosecution," the scholars' letter continues. "This will demonstrate that the United States is committed to bringing war criminals to justice, and it will serve as a powerful deterrent to future would-be perpetrators of atrocities."

The 65 signatories on the letter, who come from the United States, Canada, Israel, England, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Australia, and Chile, include many of the most distinguished figures in the field of Holocaust and genocide studies. The signatories include:

*  Prof. David S. Wyman, author of the best-selling The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941-1945.

*  Prof. Yehuda Bauer, senior historian at Israel's Yad Vashem’s Holocaust center.

*  Prof. Michael Berenbaum, former director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The complete text of the petition, with all the signatories, follows below.

* * *

The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies

Hon. Andrew L. Somers Division of Public Education

September 24, 2013

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President,

As scholars who have written or taught about the Holocaust or other genocides, we are deeply troubled by the news that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir intends to address the United Nations General Assembly this month.

Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity," involving "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing, and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property." 

For the past four years, Bashir --the Butcher of Darfur, as he is known-- has openly traveled to numerous Arab and African countries, while the Free World has refrained from taking action against him. The time has come to act.  

We urge you to arrest Bashir upon his arrival in New York City, and hand him over to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. This will demonstrate that the United States is committed to bringing war criminals to justice, and it will serve as a powerful deterrent to future would-be perpetrators of atrocities.

Cordially,

Prof. David S. Wyman

University of Massachusetts - Amherst (emer.)

Prof. Yehuda Bauer

Yad Vashem and Hebrew University (emer.)

Prof. Irving Abella

York University, Toronto

Prof. Taner Akçam

Clark University

Prof. Mehnaz Afridi

Director, Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center

Manhattan College

Prof. Elizabeth Baer

Gustavus Adolphus College

Prof. Marie Baird

Duquesne University

Prof. Karyn Ball

University of Alberta, Edmonton

Prof. Paul R. Bartrop

Director, Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies

Florida Gulf Coast University

Prof. Michael Berenbaum

American Jewish University

Prof. Alan L. Berger

Director, Center for the Study of Values and Violence after Auschwitz

Florida Atlantic University

Prof. Paul Bookbinder

University of Massachusetts Boston 

Dr. Harold Brackman

Simon Wiesenthal Center

Prof. Daniel Burston

Duquesne University

Prof. Israel W. Charny

Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide

Prof. Abram De Swaan

University of Amsterdam - The Netherlands

Prof. Deborah Dwork

Director, Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Clark University

Prof. Allon Gal

Ben-Gurion University (emer.)

Prof. Zev Garber

Los Angeles Valley College (emer.); Editor, Shofar

Dr. Edyta Gawron

Jagiellonian University, Krakow - Poland

Dr. Myrna Goldenberg 

Bethesda, MD 

Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin

Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies

Prof. Bernard Harrison

University of Utah / University of Sussex (emer.)  

Prof. Susannah Heschel

Dartmouth College

Dr. Steven Leonard Jacobs

The University of Alabama

Prof. Paul F. Knitter

Union Theological Seminary (emer.)

Dr. Rebecca Kook

Ben-Gurion University

Dr. Neil J. Kressel

Director, Honors Program in the Social Sciences

William Paterson University

Prof. Fred Lazin

Ben Gurion University (emer.)  / New York University

Prof. Marcia Sachs Littell

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (emer.)

Dr. Rafael Medoff

The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies

Prof. Rochelle L. Millen

Wittenberg University

Prof. Stephen H. Norwood

University of Oklahoma

Prof. John T. Pawlikowski

Catholic Theological Union

Prof. Anton Pelinka

Central European University, Budapest - Hungary

Prof. Monty Noam Penkower

Machon Lander Graduate School of Jewish Studies (emer.)

Prof. Susan L. Pentlin

University of Central Missouri

The Rev Peter A. Pettit, PhD

Muhlenberg College

Prof. Eunice G. Pollack

University of North Texas

Prof. Elena G. Procario-Foley

Iona College

Dr. Carol Rittner, RSM

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Prof. Paul Rose

Pennsylvania State University

Prof. John K. Roth

Claremont McKenna College (emer.)

Professor Suzanne D. Rutland

University of Sydney - Australia

Prof. Robert Shapiro

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Prof. Baila R. Shargel

Manhattanville College

Prof. Robert Skloot

University of Wisconsin-Madison (emer.) 

Prof. Philip Spencer

Director, Bamber Centre for the Study of Rights, Conflict and Mass Violence

Kingston University

Prof. Leon Stein

Roosevelt University

Prof. Oren Baruch Stier

Florida International University

Prof. Norton S. Taichman

University of Pennsylvania (emer.)

Prof. Ana Maria Tapia

University of Chile

Prof. Peter Tarjan

University of Miami

Prof. Samuel Totten

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville  (emer.) 

Prof. Carole Gottlieb Vopat

University of Wisconsin

Prof. Kenneth Waltzer

Director, Jewish Studies Program

Michigan State University

Mary Lee Webeck, Ph.D
Director of Education, Holocaust Museum Houston

Prof. Sonja Schoepf Wentling

Concordia College

Victoria Saker Woeste

Research Professor, American Bar Foundation

Prof. Linda M. Woolf

Webster University

Prof. Randall C. Zachman

University of Notre Dame

Prof. John C. Zimmerman

University of Nevada Las Vegas

Prof. Bat-Ami Zucker

Bar Ilan University

Kelly J. Zúñiga, Ed.D., CFRE
Executive Director, Holocaust Museum Houston

(Institutions listed for identification purposes only.)

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ABOUT THE WYMAN INSTITUTE: The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, based in Washington, D.C. is a research and education institute focusing on America’s response to the Holocaust. It is named in honor of the eminent historian and author of the 1984 best-seller The Abandonment of the Jews, the most important and influential book concerning the U.S. response to the Nazi genocide.

The Institute’s Advisory Committee includes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, Members of Congress, and other luminaries. Its Academic Council includes more than 50 leading professors of the Holocaust, American history, and Jewish history. The Institute’s Arts & Letters Council, chaired by Cynthia Ozick, includes prominent artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers. (For a complete list, please visit www.WymanInstitute.org)