Eighty-two leading Holocaust and genocide scholars from around the world have sent a letter to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, protesting his embrace of Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who was been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his central role in the Darfur genocide. 

In a photograph distributed worldwide by Reuters, Abbas was shown embracing Bashir at at the African Union summit in Ethiopia on January 30.

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.
"The first step in ending the genocide and other atrocities in Darfur, and in deterring future genocides, is for the international community to treat the perpetrators of genocide as pariahs, not as respected leaders. We urge you to reconsider your support for Bashir and his regime," the letter argues.   

The letter emphasizes that the atrocities in Darfur are continuing, pointing to the February 12 report in the New York Timesthat Bashir's soldiers recently carried out the mass rape of more than 200 women and girls in Darfur.

The 75 signatories on the letter, who come from the United States, Canada, Israel, Belgium, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Panama, South Africa, and Hong Kong, 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. Walter Reich, former executive director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

*  Prof. Michael Berenbaum, former research director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

*  Dr. Gemma Del Duca, director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education.The complete text of the letter, with all the signatories, follows below.

* * *

The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies 

February 16, 2015

Hon. Mahmoud AbbasPresident of the Palestinian AuthorityRamallah

Dear President Abbas,

As scholars who have written about the Holocaust or other genocides, we are writing to express our dismay at your embrace of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir at the African Union summit in Ethiopia on January 30, 2015.

President Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, for sponsoring the Arab militias, or janjaweed, that have carried out the slaughter of more than 300,000 members of non-Arab tribes in the Darfur region of Sudan. The ICC indicted him for "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." According to the Save Darfur Coalition, the atrocities are continuing.

Just last week, the New York Times reported (Feb. 12, 2015) that Bashir's soldiers recently carried out the mass rape of more than 200 women and girls in Darfur.

The first step in ending the genocide and other atrocities in Darfur, and in deterring future genocides, is for the international community to treat the perpetrators of genocide as pariahs, not as respected leaders. We urge you to reconsider your support for Bashir and his regime.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Navras Jaat AafreediGautam Buddah University, India
Prof. Irving AbellaYork University, Toronto
Prof. Marie L. BairdDuquesne University
Prof. Paul BartropFlorida Gulf University
Dr. Harold BrackmanSimon Wisenthal Center
Prof. Michael BerenbaumAmerican Jewish University
Prof. Paul BookbinderUniversity of Massachusetts-Boston
Sara E. BrownStrassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide StudiesClark University
Prof. Daniel BurstonDuquesne University
Prof. Israel CharnyInstitute on the Holocaust & Genocide
Eric CohenChairperson, Investors Against Genocide
Dr. Menachem DaumDocumentary Filmmaker, Brooklyn NY
Dr. Thierry De WinCollege du Sacre-Coeur, Brussels
Gemma Del Duca, S.C., Ph.D.National Catholic Center for Holocaust EducationSeton Hill University (emer.)
Prof. Michael DobkowskiHobart & William Smith Colleges
Prof. Deborah DworkClark University
Dr. Helen FeinInstitute for the Study of Genocide 
Prof. Jonathan C. Finkelstein (emer.)University of Maryland, Baltimore County  (UMBC)
Prof. Zev Garber Los Angeles Valley College (emer.)
Prof. Jay GellerVanderbilt Divinity School
Prof. Myrna Goldenberg Montgomery College, MD (emer.)
Rabbi Dr. David GolinkinSchechter Institute of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem
Dr. Henry GonshakMontana Tech
Prof. Gershon GreenbergAmerican University
Dr. Elvira GroezingerScholars for Peace in the Middle East, German Section
Dr. Alex Grobman
Prof. Sara R. HorowitzYork University, Toronto
Prof. Susannah HeschelDartmouth College
Prof. Robert K. HitchcockUniversity of New Mexico
Prof. Steven L. JacobsUniversity of Alabama
Janice Kamenir-ReznikCo-Founder & President, Jewish World Watch
Prof. Katharina von KellenbachSt. Mary's College
Dr. Nili KerenThe Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Dr. Mark D. KielsgardCity University Hong Kong
Hon. David Kilgour, J.D.Former Secretary of State for Canada, AfricaOttawa
Prof. Gerd KormanCornell University (emer.)
Dr. Neil KresselWilliam Paterson University
The Reverend Vincent A. Lapomarda, S.J.Coordinator, Hiatt Holocaust CollectionCollege of the Holy Cross
Prof. Kevin LewisUniversity of South CarolinaIslamic University of Gaza (1999)
Prof. Selma LeydesdorffUniversiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands
Prof. Richard LibowitzTemple University
Prof. Marcia Sachs Littell The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (emer.)
Rabbi Dr. Haskel LooksteinCongregation Kehilath Jeshurun
Dr. Rafael MedoffThe David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies
Prof. Rochelle Millen Wittenberg University (emer.)
Tali NatesJohannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre
Prof. Stephen H. NorwoodUniversity of Oklahoma
Dawn M. Nothwehr, OSF, Ph.D. Catholic Theological Union
Prof. Michele OsherowUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore CountyProf. Zsuzsanna OzsvathUniversity of Texas at Dallas
Prof.  Natalie PavlikFundación Nunca Olvidar, Panamá (Never Forget)  
Prof. John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D.Catholic Theological Union
Prof. Eunice G. PollackUniversity of North Texas
Prof. Walter ReichGeorge Washington University
Dr. Carol Rittner, RSMThe Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Prof. Hedwig C. RoseVisiting Fellow, Stanford University
Prof. Peter I. RoseVisiting Fellow, Stanford University
Prof. Thane RosenbaumNew York University
Prof. Alvin H. RosenfeldIndiana University
Prof. John K. Roth Claremont McKenna College (emer.)
Prof. Richard L. RubensteinFlorida State UniversityPresident Emeritus, University of Bridgeport
Dr. Rochelle G. SaidelDirector, Remember the Women Institute
Prof. Jonathan SarnaBrandeis University
Prof. Victoria SanfordDirector, Center for Human Rights & Peace StudiesLehman College, City University of New York
Prof. Robert Moses ShapiroBrooklyn College, City University of New York
Prof. Robert Skloot (ret.)University of Wisconsin - Madison
Prof. Leon Stein Roosevelt University (emer.)
Dr. Oren Baruch StierFlorida International University
Prof. Gisela StrikerHarvard University
Prof. Norton S. Taichman University of Pennsylvania (emer.)
Prof. Peter Tarjan University of Miami (emer.)
Prof. Gil TroyMcGill University
Prof. John H. WeissCornell University
Prof. Sonja Schoepf WentlingConcordia College
Prof. Linda M. WoolfWebster University
Prof. David S. Wyman University of Massachusetts-Amherst (emer.)
Prof. Randall C. ZachmanUniversity of Notre Dame
Prof. John C. ZimmermanUniversity of Nevada - Las Vegas
Dr. Bat-Ami ZuckerBar Ilan University
Dr. Efraim ZuroffDirector, Simon Wiesenthal Center - Israel Office
(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)