News flash: ending genocide is tough work. But despite what Shmuel Rosner and his unidentified lunch companion might suggest, surely the ‘lesson of Darfur’ is not to give up just because we haven’t quite achieved our goal. In fact, the Darfur advocacy movement has come farther and achieved more than anyone would have thought possible when we got started.

For example, while Rosner rattles on about the Darfur movement running out of steam, the Chinese government is getting more and more rattled by Darfur activists. After long being Sudan’s “heat shield” in the UN, Chinese Special Envoy Liu Guijin this week warned Sudan that “the world is running out of patience over what’s going on in Darfur.” And don’t forget – Liu was only appointed in the first place after we brought pressure on China to leverage its influence with Sudan to help bring peace to Darfur.

This pressure also prompted China to support the UN resolution to deploy the largest peacekeeping mission in history to Darfur, after it had abstained on previous resolutions. But that mission risks being stillborn, so we can’t let up. On February 12, six months before the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, Darfurians, activists, athletes and celebrities will gather at Chinese embassies around the world to apply more pressure. And of course, China is not our only target.

So Shmuel, here's an idea: let's do lunch . . .