海角大神

As famine, mass displacement, and even genocide threatened a faraway war-torn region in Africa called Darfur a decade ago, Americans responded to the horrors they were becoming aware of by demanding a US response. A movement was born.

鈥淪ave Darfur鈥� began showing up on automobile bumpers. Groups demanding an end to the brutal repression of the Texas-size province by the government of Sudan were formed on college campuses, in places of worship, in Congress.

Today Darfur still suffers from human rights violations and attacks against displaced populations. But public awareness and demands for action are credited with motivating international powers to take up the Darfur issue and stop the worst of the province鈥檚 violence.

Which raises a question: When was the last time you saw a bumper sticker demanding, 鈥淪ave Syria鈥�?

Unlike Darfur, which caught the attention of enough Americans to lead to a national campaign, Syria and its three-year-old conflict have not experienced the same degree of public interest or urgency.

A conflict that is destroying a Middle Eastern country has already left as many as 130,000 Syrians dead, has resulted in millions of internally displaced people and refugees, and 鈥� with this week鈥檚 brief humanitarian cease-fire in the besieged city of Homs 鈥� has opened a window onto the horrific actions of a regime willing to starve its own people into submission. And yet nothing even close to the 鈥淪ave Darfur鈥� movement has sprung up.

Some US officials say they have a hunch why that is, but they add that the reasons are probably about as complex as the Syrian conflict itself.

鈥淚 would like to see the US mobilization that we saw with 鈥楽ave Darfur,鈥� but we just haven鈥檛 seen that with this crisis aside from the Syrian-American community,鈥� says Anne Richard, the State Department鈥檚 assistant secretary for population, refugees, and migration.

Secretary Richard says she first thought the explanation lay in the fact that very few Americans have traveled to Syria as tourists or have a close (family) connection to it 鈥� but then she dismissed that reasoning after considering Darfur.

At least part of the answer, she says, must be found in the particular groups that took an interest in Darfur. Interviewed recently on the margins of a Washington conference on 鈥淪aving Syria鈥檚 Civilians,鈥� organized by the non-profit International Relief and Development (IRD) and the Middle East Institute, Richard says there was a triad of interest groups that made Darfur a national cause.

鈥淲ith Darfur it started with conservative 海角大神s who pushed Congress on the sanctions鈥� imposed against the Sudanese government, 鈥渁nd then Jewish-Americans intent on preventing a genocide played a growing role,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd then celebrities joined in,鈥� she adds, 鈥渁nd it really took off.鈥�

Richard says she finds 鈥渟trong left and right support in Congress for humanitarian aid to Syria鈥� 鈥� indeed, the Obama administration is fond of pointing out that the US is the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance aimed at the Syrian crisis 鈥� but it鈥檚 the public pressure that 鈥渇rankly" is missing, she adds.

鈥淲e need to somehow get [the interest] down throughout the society,鈥� she says.

But others, from US foreign policy experts to college students, say there are reasons it will be difficult to make that happen. Among them: Americans are tired of involvement in Middle East crises; people have trouble singling out the 鈥済ood guys鈥� in Syria they would march (or slap on a bumper sticker) for; in a civil war like Syria鈥檚, it may just have to play out, as sad as that sounds.

鈥淚 think most people my age just think there are no answers in Syria, it鈥檚 just one more fight in the Middle East, and so they pretty much turn it off,鈥� says Jason, an American University student who, though he preferred his last name not be used, had enough interest in Syria to attend the IRD conference.

The sense of 鈥渘o good options鈥� isn鈥檛 restricted to the public, either. President Obama painted a dire picture of Syria and the dismaying suffering going on there in his White House press conference Tuesday with French President Francois Hollande. But his inability to offer any steps or initiatives that might make the situation any better any time soon was hardly an encouragement to public action.聽聽

Another explanation for a lack of public outrage might be the dearth of human-interest stories out of Syria, some regional experts say.

The challenges that journalists face in getting stories from the ground-level of Syria鈥檚 conflict 鈥渃ould be the reason the heart-tugging stories that we [aid workers] hear and see every day are going under-reported,鈥� says Uma Kandalayeva, Jordan country director for IRD.

鈥淢aybe if you could put a human face on this crisis it would make a difference,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut this is a brutal, vicious conflict,鈥� she adds, 鈥渟o that makes it difficult.鈥�

Still searching for an explanation, Dr. Kandalayeva says another factor may be the diminutive size of the Syrian-American community. Not that masses of Darfurians lived in the US, but they did have key power groups on their side.

鈥淭he diaspora makes a difference,鈥� Kandalayeva says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the full explanation鈥� for why one humanitarian crisis catches on, and another doesn鈥檛, she adds. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 true there鈥檚 not a large Syrian diaspora in the US.鈥�