Messinger brings her message to Oregon

By Paul Haist

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During her April visit to Portland, American Jewish World Service President Ruth Messinger took time out to meet with local Jews April 22 at the Lake Oswego home of Steven A. and Patricia Bilow.

Messinger, who has played a highly visible role in focusing world attention on the genocide in Darfur, reminded the informal gathering in the Bilow living room of the commandment in Leviticus: Thou shalt not stand idly by the blood of your neighbors."

"We take this commandment seriously," she said. "Who falls in our circle of responsibility?" she asked. "We say everybody," she answered.

A longtime former New York City Council member and Manhattan borough president who ran as a Democrat for New York mayor against Rudolph Giulliani in 1997, Messinger, who has led the AJWS since 1998 and elevated it from relative obscurity to front and center on the world stage today, was named one of America's top 50 influential Jews by The Forward newspaper.

"If a genocide continues," she said, "then, by definition, we are not doing enough."

But, she added, "Our work extends way beyond the genocide. The core of our work is to address the ongoing consequences of oppression in the world. We think all people are made in the image of God and are our responsibility."

She pointed to the great success of so many Jews in America and lamented that they are not doing more to address important needs.

"What are we doing with all this comparative wealth and power," she asked. "We focus on Jewish issues to the exclusion of others."

She adjured her small audience not to "retreat to the convenience of being overwhelmed" by the great number and variety of needs in the world.

One Bilow guest asked, "What can I do to get involved besides write letters and pull out of Fidelity."

Fidelity Investments is America's largest mutual fund company and a top investor in two Chinese oil concerns that reportedly help finance the Sudanese-government-backed genocide in Darfur.

"Do the few things we know that help and then tell all the people on your e-mail list what you have done," said Messinger.

Messinger, whose success in raising world awareness of the suffering in Darfur has been held up as evidence of her gift for communication, is a believer in the democratizing potential of the Internet and its power to effect change.

"All of us have the power to communicate that we didn't have 10 years ago," she said. "To get this genocide to stop, you have to exert maximum international geopolitical pressure."

Messinger thinks "we are close to making some things happen."

She pointed to actress Mia Farrow's recent assault on China's link to the Darfur genocide in which she dubbed the forthcoming Beijing Olympics the "Genocide Olympics," and took film director Stephen Spielburg to task for serving as artistic advisor to China for the Games.

China, for whom the Olympics are a vitally important stamp of worldwide recognition, responded by sending an emissary to Sudan to press the government there to accept an international peace-keeping force.

Spielburg responded by sending a letter to President Hu Jintao of China condemning the killings in Darfur and asking the Chinese government to use its influence in the region "to bring an end to the human suffering there," according to Spielberg spokesman Marvin Levy.

"We owe a huge debt to Mia Farrow," said Messinger, in recognition of the effectiveness of star power, the influence celebrity can have on public affairs.

However, she was quick to remind everyone of the necessity of grassroots activism.

"Every time you do something (for the cause of justice), tell everybody. Be a little bit of a noodge on that," she said.

Even if what people do at the grassroots level seems inconsequential to them, it remains important, said Messinger.

"We are not going to complete the task, but we have an obligation to continue the fight," she said.

"Results are not guaranteed," she said, adding, however, that we must ask ourselves, "What are we doing to pursue justice in the world? What am I doing to change the world? Am I doing enough?"

Among those who attended the intimate session with Messinger were two local rabbis, Annette Koch of South Metro Jewish Congregation, and Michael Cahana of Congregation Beth Israel, both Reform congregations.

Messinger spoke during Shabbat evening services April 20 at CBI. Earlier, she spoke at Portland State University.