WASHINGTON—Actor George Clooney, his father, as well as four members of Congress were among those arrested Friday at a protest in front of the Sudanese Embassy organized by United to End Genocide and co-sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of America, among others.
Also arrested for civil disobedience were representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), James Moran (D-Va.), John Olver (D-Mass.) and Al Green (D-Texas), as well as Tom Andrews, President of United to End Genocide and John Prendergast of the Enough Project and the president of the NAACP, Ben Jealous. Also participating in the protest was Martin Luther King III.
“We were pleased by the broad public awareness generated by George Clooney and all of the participants in today’s protest, which we were proud to cosponsor with United to End Genocide”, said ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian. “As Americans of Armenian heritage, who continue to bear witness to the dangerous precedent set by Turkey’s still unpunished crimes of genocide and exile against the Armenian nation, we look forward to helping to translate today’s energy into concrete action by the U.S. and the international community to stop the killing, punish the perpetrators and serve justice for the victims.”
Nahapetian led a group of Armenian-Americans who joined the more than 100 activists to protest the Sudanese government’s continued blockade of humanitarian aid to the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile, where half a million residents are on the brink of starvation.
The ANCA was a co-sponsor of the protest, along with Jewish World Watch, Amnesty International, the NAACP, STAND and a slew of other national organizations. Since July of last year, the ANCA has worked with members of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and United to End Genocide to raise alarm bells regarding the Sudanese Government’s attacks against the civilians of the Nuba mountains – urging Congress to take immediate action to stop the killing.
The Sudanese Armed Forces are conducting a campaign of indiscriminate bombing against civilians of the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, causing wide-spread destruction. This combined with the blockade of humanitarian aid has created an urgent humanitarian crisis in the region.
The protest began earlier in the morning with a rally at Sheridan Circle and then moved to the Sudanese Embassy, where Clooney, who testified earlier this week before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discussed his recent trip to the Nuba Mountains.
Clooney praised the activism of the local Nuba Mountain residents who are calling for the immediate arrest of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Darfur.
Rep. McGovern has introduced legislation that calls on increasing sanctions on Sudan and engaging countries that have influence on Sudan, among them Turkey. The ANCA will be launching an online action campaign to secure Congressional support for the resolution.
why don’t President Obama and Secretary Clinton Join Clooney with the congressmen too to be arrested for this cause!???
They would not have been arrested because they have too much political clout. It is doubtful that Mrs. Clinton will ever be arrested for the bungling of national security with her emails. A friend who worked in national security said to me that since he is not a rich, important person, had he done what she did, he’d now be in Leavenworth prison.
The golden age is almost here ….
If I were Nahapetian I would have gotten arrested as well to make ANCA part of national news headline… What an opportunity missed!
Indeed, but I gather she was too busy wetting her pants and being careful to not be “too involved” in the matter, just enough to be part of it but not risk anything of her own such as an arrest on her record, TYPICAL HYE BEHAVIOR. What Armenians have to learn and have yet to practice, is that if you want something done, you’ve got to DO IT YOURSELF. You’re either all in or not at all when it comes to these types of issues. For centuries perhaps, the Achilles heel for Hyes has been the mentality of aspiring to progress but expecting odars to do the leg work for us.
In the Diaspora, we are content with sending dollars to Armenia and Arstakh, but until the neighborhoods look like a comfortable suburb with a Westfield shopping mall and a Starbucks, many of the “hyeaser” Diasporans refuse to legitimately relocate and settle back into the homeland and Arstakh and certainly they infuse their kids with the same degenerate outlook of it simply is not “good enough yet”. Simultaneously, we expect changes to be made to the substructure of the government and the way of life there via our remote control puppeteering from abroad in the comfort of our homes in US, EU, etc.
The same parroting is constantly repeated “But I WANT to invest there but its soooo corrupt” or “I wish someone would cause a regime change there so we can get rid of those crooked MPs” or “in 20 years it will be better and the next generation can settle there, but it’s not ready for my family yet”. Certainly these problems exist in Armenia and Arstakh, but let’s face it, as Diasporans we also need to seriously do some self evaluation on how our own approach is to solving these solutions and how are “hands off” approach the past 100 years has led us to this point in time. So far it’s been “I’m not risking my neck to get things changed, WHY SHOULD I DO IT?”
Armenians need to develop a carnal and violent streak against oppression the way other ethnic groups have. There were eastern european leaders who pulled off similar unlawful privatization of state valuables and formed monopolies after the Soviet collapse, yet in many cases, at some point the population said “enough is enough” and revolt combined with uprising led to the unlawfully privileged crooks in those government being tarred, feathered, then put in front of a civilian firing squad. Not us, we only know how to bark “paikar paikar minchev verch” like idiots in Hollywood every year, only see Genocide recognition as a priority while ignoring everything else, and complain to foreign powers about the state of affairs within our own homeland borders.
We are waiting until somehow, magically, the West or the East helps us oust crooked, uneducated, and corrupt MPs and government officials so that those of us in the “just Diaspora” can waltz right in and claim our rightful place at the helm of Armenia’s government and lead it to a magnificent glorious future.
This way of getting our goals and aspirations completed is a pathological disease of our Armenian mentality that needs to be cured, ESPECIALLY in the Diaspora. More over, this type of “passing the buck onto odars” to get things done for us is exactly why we as a nation and ethnic group are at the impasse of possible extinction today. It’s high time we stopped expecting others to do things for us and instead we man up and take care of things ourselves, otherwise just shut the hell up and stop whining until the inevitable extinction occurs.
I can’t agree more. You said it all. I couldn’t have said it better.
Armenia needs to emulate other success stories. And Israel is the best example.The reason Israel is successful is because of their Immigration policy. They don’t just encourage immigration, but actually support it. Armenia seems to favor rich young investors. Those people are busy making money. They will not give all that up for a new uncertain start in Armenia. That leaves, the poor, the retirees,, pensioneers etc. These people need to have sponsorships. Money for the transport, money or facilities when they arrive, etc. None of that is available. There is a quarter million of Hamshen Armenians willing to move to Artsack, but not one has been resettled there. Supposedly because they are muslim. What about the 300,000 plus Moldovan Armenian community. They are all christian orthodox and agricultural workers, and they live in a country that is on level economically with Armenia. They are Romanized and even the Armenian church abandoned them. But every year, they trod on foot from their villages to the Armenian monastary of Hagi Gadar, to sacrifice and venerate certain Armenian religious events. Imagine what 50,000 retirees, earning $700 to $1400 US dollars montly, would do for the Armenian economy. That’s between 420 and 840 million dollars annually to the Armenian economy. Money that just lands in the country from abroad; No investments required.
I agree with Edward Demian 100%.
The Clinton administration and the Obama administration have shown that they care nothing about human rights. Right under Clinton’s nose, the Rwandan genocide occurred and the Clinton Administration did nothing to stop it because Clinton does not consider African lives to be equal in value to Anglo-European lives.The Darfur genocide occurred under Obama’s nose and he never even mentioned nor did he mention the massive human rights violations done by the Sri Lankan Government against the Tamil minority in 2011 where many thousands of civillians were killed. Shame on Clinton and Shame on Obama.
The Obama administration has completely ignored the Darfur Genocide and the ANCA is one of a few organizations that has fought to help these poor people. The Obama Administration has completely ignored the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Bahrain but yet, it demonizes Syria as being the monster when in reality, the biggest monster in the Middle East is Turkey and Saudi Arabia both of whom have been supporting the Arab Sudanese militias who have been carrying out the Darfur Genocide.Germany , Turkey and Sudan are the Axis of Genocide.
Is he DSK…They freed DSK
He is protesting for human rights… is USA a democratic place…I wonder
Don’t blame other lands…
Arab countries are better…
Clooney was born in Lexington, Kentucky.[5][6] His mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren, 1939–),[7] is a former beauty pageant queen. His father, Nick Clooney, is a former anchorman, as well as a game show and American Movie Classics host. Clooney’s ancestry includes Irish, German, and English.[8] His paternal great-great-grandparents, Nicholas Clooney (of County Kilkenny) and Bridget Byron, immigrated to the United States from Ireland.[9] Clooney was raised a strict Roman Catholic.[10][11][12][13] He has an older sister, Adelia (also known as Ada); his cousins include actors Miguel and Rafael Ferrer, who are the sons of his aunt, singer Rosemary Clooney, and actor José Ferrer. He is also related to another singer, Debby Boone, who married his cousin Gabriel Ferrer (son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney).
Clooney began his education at the Blessed Sacrament School in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Spending part of his childhood in Ohio, he attended St. Michael’s School in Columbus, and St. Susanna School in Mason. In middle school, Clooney developed Bell’s palsy, a debilitating condition that partially paralyzes the face. The malady went away within a year. “That was the worst time of my life,” he told the Daily Mirror in 2003. “You know how cruel kids can be. I was mocked and taunted, but the experience made me stronger.”[14]
His parents eventually moved to Augusta, Kentucky, where Clooney attended Augusta High School. He has stated that he earned all As and a B in school,[15] and was an enthusiastic baseball and basketball player. He tried out to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds organization in 1977, but was not offered a contract. He did not pass the first round of player cuts.[16] He attended Northern Kentucky University from 1979 to 1981, majoring in Broadcast Journalism, and very briefly attended the University of Cincinnati, but did not graduate from either.[17] He had such odd jobs as selling men’s suits and cutting tobacco.[18] (Wikipedia, 2012)
Clooney can get votes more than any president …
Without spending any penny…
Everyone should know this…
Because he is special
In addition
He protects human rights…
Black…Brown and Whites…!
Sylva
I et the media will ignore it. If you want press coverage, you have to own the media!
Great job Clooney, ANCA!
Just 4 Congressmen showed up? All Democrats BTW…. How many of these do we have, 0ver 500?
It’s called: UNITED to End Genocide…
I wish an ANCA rep. was also arrested for publicity!
Can anyone plz explain WHY they were arrested? I thought America had freedom of speech 😀
The Darfur Genocide has been completely ignored by the Obama administration which claims to be the great protector of human rights. It has supported regime change in Libya where one group of thugs has been replaced by another even more ruthless group of Islamist thugs that have led many thousands of Christian Libyans to flee out of fear. The same mess exists in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood has taken over and has attacked Christian Egyptians. Christian Egyptians are in real danger . The same thing has happened in Iraq where tens of thousands of Christian Iraqis have fled and thousands have been murdered in various attacks on Churches including an Armenian Church.