An unambiguous gesture of Olympic spirit and friendship: a handshake. Join in, and watch it circle the globe

As the Beijing Olympics begin, the world looks on with mixed emotions. It's a moment which should bring us closer together, and Chinese citizens deserve their excitement -- but the Chinese government still hasn't opened meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama, or changed its stance on Burma, Darfur and other pressing issues.

Even worse, extremists in China are promoting the view that Olympic activism like ours is anti-Chinese. We can't stay silent, but we also can't let our efforts be abused to divide people. So what can we do? The answer comes from the Dalai Lama himself, in an unambiguous gesture of Olympic spirit and friendship: a handshake.

It began in London, passed hand to hand by thousands of us -- now the handshake has gone online, and is criss-crossing the globe on its way to Beijing. All of us can join, Chinese and non-Chinese, and it comes with a promise: to hold ALL our governments accountable where they fall short, in Tibet, Iraq, Burma or beyond. We'll deliver our message in a bold media campaign in Hong Kong and around the world: Click below to see how the Olympic handshake started, sign up to join in, and watch it circle the globe --

http://www.avaaz.org/en/handshake

The worldwide outcry has produced a little progress, but much resistance from Chinese officials so far. If we are to see advances not setbacks after the Games, we need to show both that our voices will never fall silent, and that our challenge is a positive one.

We have one last chance to reclaim the spirit of the Olympics, with the message of friendship and dialogue we share with the Dalai Lama. The more people join the global handshake, the more powerful our message will be when it hits the Chinese and international media. So let's forward this email on, encouraging everyone to join in. "One World, One Dream" is an ideal that's bigger than the Olympics -- it's time for citizens around the world to take it back.

With hope and respect,

Paul, Ricken, Ben, Milena, Graziela, Iain, Pascal, Veronique and the whole Avaaz team

PS For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2

In a representative survey of us from all over the world, 92% of respondents recommended we pursue this handshake instead of the often-suggested boycott -- there's a strong consensus that this is the way to get our message across right now.

For more about the Dalai Lama's support for the Olympics and positions on Tibet and China, see:
http://www.dalailama.com/news.229.htm
and:
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/05/chinese-student-interviewing-the-dalai-lama/



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ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns.

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Oscar Pistorius ammesso alle Olimpiadi. Ovvero: quando l'ideologia rende sordi e ciechi i normodotati

Ieri sera guardavo sconcertato l'Interrogatorio da Santa Inquisizione (perchè questo è ciò che molto spesso viene passato come intervista) a Oscar Pistorius, su LA7, 8 e Mezzo.

Di seguito ecco cosa ne scrive Repubblica.it, ed un video.



Il Tribunale di Losanna concede il via libera al velocista con le protesi
Ribaltata la decisione della Iaaf: "Non ci sono elementi per dire che è avvantaggiato"
Tas, Pistorius verso le Olimpiadi
"Posso rincorrere il mio sogno"
Tas, Pistorius verso le Olimpiadi
"Posso rincorrere il mio sogno"

http://www.repubblica.it

LOSANNA - Oscar Pistorius potrà partecipare alle Olimpiadi. Il Tribunale ha accolto l'istanza del velocista sudafricano (che corre con protesi in fibra di carbonio al posto della gambe), contro l'esclusione dalle gare per normodotati, decisa dal Consiglio della Federatletica mondiale il 14 gennaio, in base ai test fatti all'Istituto di biomeccanica e ortopedia di Colonia. "Ora posso rincorrere il mio sogno di partecipare alle Olimpiadi. E se non saranno quelle di Pechino saranno quelle di Londra 2012" commenta il velocista, felice per la battaglia vinta.

Il Tribunale "ha deciso che al momento non esistono elementi scientifici sufficienti per dimostrare che Pistorius tragga vantaggio dall'uso delle protesi".La Iaaf, invece, aveva stabilito che le protesi del velocista davano "un vantaggio meccanico dimostrabile (più del 30%) se confrontato con qualcuno che non usa le protesi". Opposto il parere del collegio giudicante che ritiene che la Iaaf non abbia prodotto "prove sufficienti" relative a "vantaggi metabolici" e a "effetti biomeccanici" derivanti dall'uso delle protesi.

Davanti allo stop della Iaaf, che adesso dice che il velocista "sarà il benvenuto dovunque decida di competere la prossima estate", Pistorius, però, che ad appena undici mesi si è visto amputare sotto il ginocchio entrambe le gambe perchè prive del perone, non si era arreso. Aveva ottenuto una prima vittoria con l'invito al Golden Gala di Roma nel 2007 (ci sarà anche quest'anno) e aveva continuato a perorare la sua causa. "Queste protesi - rispondeva Pistorius intervistato da Repubblica Tv - sono usate dal 1997, dunque da molto tempo. Io le uso dal 2004. Dunque, sono strumenti che lo sport per disabili ha già accettato. E non si sono evolute tecnologicamente. I miglioramenti nei tempi che sono riuscito ad ottenere sono il risultato di impegno, sacrifici, allenamenti, metodo e diete".

La decisione di Losanna riapre i giochi. Attualmente Pistorius detiene il record del mondo per amputati su tutte e tre le distanze su cui corre: 10.91 sui 100, 21.58 sui 200 e 46.56 sui 400. A questo punto, per partecipare ai 400, Pistorius dovrà ottenere il tempo minimo per partecipare alle Olimpiadi abbattendo la barriera dei 45' e 55''. Al momento, c'è già un quattrocentista sudafricano che ha ottenuto quel pass, Sishi Sisubiso (45"84 ottenuto lo scorso aprile ad Addis Abeba). Così Pistorius ò dovrà correre più veloce del connazionale Sishi o scendere comunque sotto i 45"55. Abbassando di un secondo il suo limite. Per scendere in pista nella staffetta, invece, basta la semplice convocazione.

"Oggi è uno dei giorni più belli della mia vita - chiude Pistorius - Ci sono state, negli ultimi mesi, moltissime speculazioni e credo che oggi sia stato raggiunto un risultato importante". Ha sofferto il velocista in questi anni. E oggi bolla saluta una sentenza che "zittisce le folli teorie sul fatto che gareggio con un vantaggio sleale".

(16 maggio 2008)

From The Times
May 17, 2008
Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius allowed to compete in Beijing

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Kevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent

He had become a curiosity and was in danger of becoming a sporting sideshow, but Oscar Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a child, was finally cleared yesterday to compete at the Beijing Olympics against the fastest men in the world.

A ban on Pistorius, 21, competing against able-bodied athletes, because it was feared that he might gain an advantage from running on his carbon-fibre blades, was thrown out by an historic legal decision that marked the end of a long quest for acceptance by the South African.

The IAAF, the governing body for world athletics, had even changed the rules last year, producing new competition regulations banning any athlete using “technical devices that incorporate springs or wheels”.

Most athletes would have given up and remained content with performing in the Paralympics. Not Pistorius, who challenged the athletics establishment all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, which yesterday overturned the ban.

“I hope that it silences many of the crazy theories that have been circulating in recent months about my having an unfair advantage,” Pistorius said. “My focus throughout has been to ensure that disabled athletes be given the chance to compete fairly with able-bodied athletes.”

One problem remains – Pistorius has not yet set a qualifying time in the 400 metres that would guarantee his selection by the South African team for the Games in August. He could, however, run in the relay without achieving a set time.

He says that he wants to run the Olympic standard of 45.55 seconds and race organisers are queuing up to turn him into an attraction who could yield appearance fees of up to £20,000.

An invitation has already gone out for the Rome Golden League meeting in July, which attracts the world’s best athletes. British athletics fans will get their chance to see Pistorius after Fast Track, which stages meetings on behalf of UK Athletics, issued an invitation.

In a relatively brief career, Pistorius has engaged experts and fans as one of the most charismatic emerging athletes. He has triumphed over the adversity of being born with no fibulas, which led to the amputations below the knee as a baby. By the age of 11 he was playing rugby for the Pretoria Boys’ High School as well as water polo, tennis and wrestling. It was not until 2004 that he took up running but he immediately made his impact, winning gold in the 200 metres sprint at the Paralympics in Athens.

A year later, he was competing against able-bodied athletes in South Africa. But his artificial legs were regarded with deep suspicion by the authorities, who questioned whether they gave him an advantage. The prosthetics, called the Cheetah Flex-Foot, were said to allow Pistorius to make longer strides and use less energy. The claims were vigorously denied and rejected by the Court in Lausanne.

Pistorius does have an example to follow. His fellow South African Natalie Du Toit will compete in Beijing in the open water swimming event. But Du Toit, an established athlete when her left leg was amputated after a road accident in 2001, uses no prosthetics. Now the fastest man on Earth with no legs has the chance to become part of Olympic history as the first disabled athlete to challenge able-bodied competitors for medals, if he can be selected for Beijing. Blade Runner could yet fulfil his dream.

Tibet situation update, from The Office of Tibet, London

Tibet situation update and please check www.tibet.net

This is to inform you that because of the overwhelming workload we are unable to update our website on a regular basis. We would therefore like to request you that for updates on the current situation in Tibet please check our CTA website www.tibet.net

We would like to take this opportunity to Thank everyone in the UK and other parts of the world for all their show of concern and support for the just cause of Tibet and the Tibetan people, who despite all the risks to their lives under the Chinese rule have shown to the world in the past few weeks how much they regard His Holiness the Dalai Lama and cherish freedoms that people in the free world take for granted. We appreciate the support we have received also from many Chinese people and have seen that through better awareness and information more and more Chinese are showing great respect to His Holiness and also admire his non-violent Middle Way Approach to resolve the Tibet issue that takes into consideration the long-term stability and interest of both the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. We hope that just like these enlightened Chinese, the current Chinese leadership will also have the courage and wisdom to respond positively to His Holiness the Dalai Lama's peaceful initiatives, which will only help to improve China's own international image and standing in the world.

The Tibetan people, like the rest of the world and the Chinese people also want happiness and do not want suffering.

We hope the international community, lead by the UN, and all the major countries will give due importance to human lives instead of to temporary economic gains when dealing with China. If the current trend of many countries bowing down to China's pressure continues then we fear for the future of humanity as a whole. What is happening in Tibet is not "an internal affair of China"; it is a part of the global problem.

Even the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in her autobiography has said, "China claim to Tibet is dubious on historical grounds", and she has expressed fear for the survival of the Tibetan people and their culture as a result of the massive influx of Chinese settlers in Tibet.

Time is running out for Tibet and the Tibetan people. In view of the present crisis in Tibet, we urgently appeal to the UN and the International community to:

1. Immediately dispatch independent fact finding delegations to Tibet to let the world know the truth;


2. Immediately persuade China to allow free press to visit and cover the whole of Tibet;


3. Immediately urge China to end the brutal killings in the whole of Tibet;


4. Immediately urge China to release all the Tibetans arrested and imprisoned;


5. Immediately urge China to allow international medical teams, such as Red Cross and Medicines Sans Frontiers to take care of injured Tibetans, who are too scared to visit hospitals for fear of being arrested;


6. Immediately urge China to allow free movement of people and provide access to daily needs, such as food and water.

For more information please visit the Tibetan Solidarity Committee website www.stoptibetcrisis.net

We pray for peace in Tibet and the world.

In haste,

The Office of Tibet, London

http://www.tibet.com/NewsRoom/tibetnet1.htm

Hu Jintao hopes positive outcome between representatives of the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials, but Tibetan Youth Congress is ' terrorist spearhead'

Report: Chinese president hopeful on Tibet talks

By WILLIAM FOREMAN – 42 minutes ago

http://ap.google.com

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — President Hu Jintao said he has hopes for a "positive outcome" between representatives of the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials at talks that began Sunday — the first since violent anti-government protests erupted in Tibet in March.

"I hope that the contacts with the Dalai Lama's side from today will yield a positive outcome," Hu told Japanese reporters in Beijing, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Hu said he hoped the Dalai Lama would take concrete actions to stop violence, attempts to disrupt the Beijing Olympics and split China. That would create conditions for further consultation, Xinhua said.

Tibetologists consider "Tibetan Youth Congress" a terrorist pro-independence spearhead

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-04 19:43:25

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/04

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) is a stubborn advocacy group for "Tibet independence" supported by the Tibetan "government-in-exile", which upholds complete violence and has become an armed spearhead of the 14th Dalai Lama group, says a senior Chinese Tibetologist.

The TYC was set up in 1970 under the "direct incitement of the Dalai", said Bi Hua, a senior researcher with the Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC), a research institution established in 1986.

Bi said that in the early 1970s, some Tibetan youths "in exile" became decadent and tired of life, as either independence or returning to China was hopeless years after they fled the country. The group was established against such a backdrop.

The Dalai Lama and major officials of the "government-in-exile" had attended the TYC's inauguration ceremony in 1970 and encouraged Tibetan youths to pursue Tibet independence "with resolution and courage".

Bi said the Dalai Lama intended to break geographical shackles and resolve conflicts among sects via the TYC so as to move Tibetan youths and train his successors.

The TYC constitution's chapter four clearly stated that extensive movement should be organized "even at the cost of blood and life" to achieve the independent goal, said Bi.

The organization affiliated to Dalai Lama supporters, rapidly spread to major Tibetan outposts in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Britain, Canada and the United States in the 1980s and sprouted 81 branches worldwide covering more than 30,000 members, he said.

Eighty percent of the staff of the "government-in-exile" were TYC members. More than 60 key members joined the "government" and assumed major posts since 1980s, he said.

In 1993, six of the seven Kalons (Ministers) in their executive body came from the TYC. Samdom, the current principal Kalon, and Gyarig Lozhoi Gyaincain, were members of the organization when it was newly founded, he alleged.

Bi said the TYC organized many activities to achieve their independence goal. The annual March 10 protest against the Chinese government was typical. It included violent assaults on overseas Chinese embassies and consulates, or means of protest such as sit-ins and hunger strikes.

Bi said the organization also commemorated the Dalai Lama birthday (July 6), the anniversary of the Dalai Lama's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize (Dec. 10) and "Democratic Day" (Sept. 2),Bi said.

Bi alleged that the TYC former president Cedain Norbu told "pro-democracy movement representatives" during an interview in 2002 that they would use various measures, including terrorism, to achieve independence.

Previously, many TYC presidents and secretary-generals had claimed, "armed struggles and violence was the only way to independence" and "terrorism could achieve maximum effect with minimum cost", said Bi.

Bi said the organization exposed its violent nature in many events such as the 1974 incident in Bhutan. In that year, in order to turn Bhutan into a forefront against Tibet, the Dalai Lama group plotted to upset the Bhutan government, but the plan was thwarted and 28 suspects were seized by the Bhutan police when Dalai's people prepared to set a palace on fire and assassinate the King.

Bi said Tibet Autonomous Region had long been considered by the TYC as a major battlefield. The group planned and directly participated in the Lhasa riots in 1987, 1988 and 1989 as well as the March 14 riot.

The day after the March 14 Lhasa riot, the TYC approved a decision to "found a guerrilla movement as soon as possible to secretly enter China and carry out armed struggles" at a meeting of its "central executive committee" in Dharmsala, the location of the Dalai Lama's "government-in-exile" in India, said Bi.

They made detailed plans about personnel, fund and armament purchase, and planned to smuggle into China via the border with Nepal, which they had carefully surveyed, said Bi.

TERRORISM

CTRC senior Tibetologist Liu Hongji told Xinhua that the pro-independence group had actively engaged in training its armed forces and reserve troop. They also sought mutual support from international terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaida and East Turkistan groups.

Liu said that this year the TYC had organized training sessions, such as one on "dynamite techniques" and another on how to carry out violent and terrorist activities.

"The TYC has become a terrorist organization as concepts of violence have taken root in the organization," said Liu.

He said that from the late-1980s Lhasa riots to March 14 incident, the TYC was behind the scenes organizing and masterminding these events.

"The group's shadow was evident when the police confiscated a large number of guns and ammunition in some monasteries in China's Tibetan-inhabited regions after the March 14 riot," Liu said.

Lian Xiangmin, a researcher with the CTRC, said the expansion of power of the TYC was closely linked with the Dalai Lama as the group's tenet was to "comply with the guide of the Dalai Lama even at the cost of life".

Lian said the Dalai lama and the TYC shared the same goal and the so-called differences lay only with means or strategies. Picking up the Dalai Lama's hints, the TYC would fight for independence at any cost.

On the one hand, the Dalai Lama and "government-in-exile" advocated "more autonomy" and "peaceful and non-violent" steps, which had won support from members of the Western public and become a card to play with the Chinese central government; on the other, radical youth organizations such as the TYC declared independence and acted violently even at the cost of blood and life, Lian said.

"How come the Dalai Lama says he has 'lost control' (over his radical subordinate)? Actually they support and complement each other well. It's just presented as two approaches between the Dalai Lama and the TYC. They seem to be on two routes, but ultimately reach one goal," he said.

Lian said the TYC would become a "public enemy" if it did not stop violence and terrorism against the Chinese government and the people.

Disruption activities staged by the Dalai clique would become an unstable and unharmonious factor in Asia as well as the world, he added.

Lian said it was important to differentiate between a tiny minority of the TYC backbone members from a majority of the 30,000members who did not uphold violence.

"We hope the 14th Dalai Lama could truly give up 'Tibet independence', stop secessionist activities, stop instigating violence, stop disrupting the Beijing Olympics, effectively prevent TYC's violence and denounce its terrorist acts," he said.

TIBET: COLLOQUI IN CORSO TRA INVIATI DALAI LAMA E FUNZIONARI PECHINO

TENZIN TAKLHA, DURERANNO ALMENO DUE GIORNI A SHENZHEN

New Delhi, 4 mag. (Adnkronos/Dpa) - I colloqui informali tra i due inviati del Dalai Lama, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari e Kelsang Gyaltsen, e funzionari cinesi sulla crisi in Tibet sono in corso nella citta' cinese di Shenzhen, nella provincia del Guangdong, e andranno avanti almeno per i prossimi due giorni, secondo quanto affermato dal portavoce della guida spirituale Tenzin Taklha

http://www.adnkronos.com/

Cina, dalla stampa di regime attacchi agli inviati del Dalai Lama
dal nostro corrispondente FEDERICO RAMPINI

La Repubbica, 4 Maggio 2008

http://www.repubblica.it

Hanno varcato la frontiera cinese ieri sera arrivando all'aeroporto intercontinentale di Hong Kong: uno in provenienza dalla Svizzera, l'altro dagli Stati Uniti. Poi sono sbarcati sulla terraferma a Shenzhen, la città-boom cresciuta dal niente a dodici milioni di abitanti in meno di vent'anni, un simbolo della potenza economica cinese. E oggi a Shenzhen i due esuli tibetani, rappresentanti ufficiali del Dalai Lama, avranno un incontro con le autorità cinesi. Si apre così quello che è stato battezzato il "dialogo" tra il regime di Pechino e il Dalai Lama, un termine che rischia di rivelarsi ottimista e prematuro...

... Il sospetto che i due portavoce del Dalai Lama possano essere strumentalizzati è avvalorato dall'atmosfera che si respira a Pechino. Mentre l'incontro è stato pubblicizzato all'estero, a uso e consumo dei governi occidentali, in Cina nessun mezzo d'informazione ne ha dato notizia. Al contrario i mass media governativi continuano a lanciare contro il Dalai Lama bordate di accuse a cadenza quotidiana. Ieri il Quotidiano del Tibet ha pubblicato un editoriale di fuoco: "Il popolo patriottico del Tibet condanna duramente e denuncia con vigore la catena di crimini commessi dal Dalai Lama e dai suoi seguaci". Nella migliore delle ipotesi, la tattica cinese punta a intimidire gli interlocutori per avviare il negoziato da posizioni di forza, e concedere il minimo possibile. Ma è azzardato pensare che il regime cinese sia intenzionato a negoziare e a fare concessioni.

Chinese are burning all the dead bodies of people who have been killed since the March 14 protest in Tibet

1 May 2008
Toelung Dechen (Ch: Duilongdeqing) County, Lhasa Municipality-Evidences being destroyed by the Chinese army

The Chinese armed forces in their attempt to wipe out any kind of evidence related to the recent protests in Tibet are burning all the dead bodies of people who have been killed since the March 14 protest in Tibet.

On 28th March, around 83 corpses were burnt altogether in an electrical crematorium, which was built by the Chinese government a few years back in the Dhongkar Yabdha shang town in Toelung Dechen county under Lhasa Municipality.

Moreover, some eyewitness accounts confirmed that at around10.30 pm (Lhasa local time) on March 17, dead bodies of several were seen in two army trucks near a petrol pump located towards the west of Lhasa [this petrol pump has been one of the most restricted sites since the protests began in Tibet]

Due to a heavy traffic jam around this petrol pump, a few Tibetans reported having seen blood discharges from the two trucks that were carrying dead bodies. In addition to this, there are more reports of dead bodies being transported to Toelung Dechen County in army trucks.

On the evening of March 15, an eyewitness source confirmed seeing dead bodies being carried in a truck towards Toelung County.

http://www.tibetnews.com/node/127

Tra i manifestanti a Hong Kong anche l’attrice Mia Farrow che ha denunciato la Cina non soltanto per la repressione in Tibet ma per la copertura data, in cambio di forniture di petrolio, al regime sudanese nelle atrocità perpetrate nella regione del Darfur. Il governo di Khartum, ha detto l’attrice, “incassa dalle esportazioni di petrolio 4 miliardi di dollari l’anno, di cui il 70 per cento viene utilizzato per attaccare la popolazione in Darfur”.

Intanto il governo tibetano in esilio fa nuovamente sentire la propria voce. In un comunicato apparso sul loro sito web ufficiale accusa la polizia cinese di bruciare i corpi dei tibetani morti durante i moti di Lhasa cominciati lo scorso 14 marzo. Secondo il comunicato, il 28 marzo circa 83 corpi sono stati inceneriti nel crematorio elettrico nella città di Dhongkar Yabdha, nel distretto di Toelung Dechen, che rientra sotto la Municipalità di Lhasa. Il motivo - viene denunciato nel documento - sarebbe stato quello di “pulire interamente dall’interno ogni prova relativa alle recenti proteste in Tibet”. Il comunicato, inoltre, denuncia che molti tibetani rimasti feriti durante gli scontri, trasportati al Peoplès Hospital, sono morti e stanno ancora morendo senza cure.

http://www.repubblica.it/

La Repubblica, (2 maggio 2008)

The Dalai Lama welcomes offer for talks from China, but the Kagyudpa Dainzin Qoizhag denies cultural genocide

Dalai Lama welcomes China’s offer for talks with his envoy

DHARMSALA, India (AP) — The Dalai Lama is welcoming China’s offer to meet his envoy, but he wants serious talks to reduce resentment about Chinese rule in Tibet.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader says he has yet to receive detailed information about the offer, but that talks would be good.

He said the two sides need to explore the root of the problems that have sparked unrest in the Himalayan region and seek solutions through talks. He was speaking to reporters on Saturday after his return from a two-week visit to the United States.

http://ap.google.com/

Living buddha: Dalai Lama’s claim of cultural genocide in Tibet untenable

http://news.xinhuanet.com

LHASA, April 26 (Xinhua) - The Dalai Lama’s claim of cultural genocide in Tibet is untenable in front of such facts as the use of the Tibetan language and the compilation of Tibetan books, says Dainzin Qoizhag, a living Buddha of the Kagyudpa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

“When I was 11, I began to work as a teacher in such areas as Zhanang and Nagarze counties, because there were few educated people in the whole Tibet in the past,” says Dainzin Qoizhag, also vice chairman of the Standing Committee of Tibet Autonomous Region’s People’s Congress.

“At that time, except for some religious books in big noble families, there were no storybooks about Tibet at all,” said the living buddha. “But now, there are all kinds of books. And all kinds of culture and arts are booming.”

In March, the Dalai Lama told a press conference that “somewhere cultural genocide is taking place.”

Refuting the claim, the living buddha says to protect the cultural heritage of the Tibetan ethnic group, the region has published 261 volumes of ancient Tibetan books in recent years.

Born in 1951 and a witness of Tibet’s development in the past 50 or more years, the living buddha says in the past some people chose to be nuns or monks either to avoid corvee or for subsistence.

Currently the country’s law protects the freedom of religion of civilians and their legal religious activities, he says.

“Nowadays, in the streets or alleys of Lhasa, you can see religious believers everywhere who turn wheels of the sutra and recite their religious texts.”

2008-04-26 12:30

Il Dalai Lama, si’ al dialogo se serio

NEW DELHI - “Si al dialogo se serio”. Queste le parole del Dalai Lama appena arrivato in India dagli Stati Uniti relative all’offerta di incontro avanzata ieri dal governo cinese. Parlando alla stampa al suo arrivo in aeroporto, il leader tibetano ha detto che l’incontro non avrebbe significato se le due parti si incontrassero sono per una formalità.

http://www.ansa.it

TIBET: China Calling- My Language Is My Nation (You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyzjIo-XNo4%20

Please Visit
www.italiatibet.org/
www.dalailamafoundation.org/
and www.movinguniverse.org.uk or
email info@movinguniverse.org.uk

My language is
Non-violent
Ancient
Sacred
Happy
Wise
My language is
My hope
My comfort and
My joy
Our play
It is the colour of our land.
My language is my history
It is my Mother
Son and wife
It is my father, husband, daughter
My language is my culture and
My faith
It's our identity
My language
Is my Mind

In my occupied land
My language knows its borders
Mountains, lakes and winds
My mind is occupied by
Prayer
Until my last breath
My word shall be Tibetan
My OM MANI PADME HUM
My language is
My Nation

"The Tibetan national flag is intimately connected with the authentic history and royal lineages of Tibet which are thousands of years old. Furthermore, in the Tibetan Royal year 820 or in the seventh century of the Christian era, at the time of the Tibetan religious King Song-Tsen Gamp the Great extensive land of Tibet was divided into large and small districts known as "gö-kyi tong-de" and "yung-g'i mi-de". From these large and small districts, an army of 2,860,000 men was chosen and stationed along the borders of Tibet, and the subjects thus lived in safety. The bravery and heroism of the Tibetan people at that time in conquering and ruling even the adjacent empire of China is well known in world history.

"History attests to the fact that Tibet is one of the most ancient nations of the world. Therefore, in all the three regions of Tibet, irrespective of caste and creed, this national flag inherited from our ancestors is universally accepted as a common, peerless treasure and even today still continues to be highly respected and esteemed as in the past." Source the Government of Tibet in Exile.
-:-
For some, the Tibetan cause has engaged us in protest since 1959. For others, coming to know the plight of the Tibetan nation, the occupation of their land and the systematic and brutal cleansing of the Tibetan identity by the Chinese, is a horrific awakening.

Now you can support us in making change, we' found our compassionate voice. Call China with us. Call it loud and strong.

China continues to silence the cry for a free Tibet. China silences Tibetans by torture. Getting footage of China's atrocities out of Tibet is prohibited. China's contempt for the rest of the world is firm. China educates the Chinese that we are ignorant of Chinese history. And China abuses human rights because China believes China defines what human rights are.

We have found our compassionate voice and we're calling China.
It's time to stop the atrocities. Stop the harm. We believe together with H.H. Dalai Lama that non-violent change comes through compassion, reasoning and education. Chinese people need the world's love and support to help them reason; to help the Chinese people learn. Help us help the Chinese. Support China, my Language is my Nation.

Moving Universe Productions is committed to the My Language is My Nation project. In addition to raising global awareness of China's atrocities in Tibet, Moving Universe is developing Universal Education programmes through publishing, music, theatre, and film. The China, My Language is My Nation project has had invaluable visual assistance from Associazione Italia-Tibet, link.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Associazione Italia-Tibet, the Dalai Lama Foundation so they and we, can continue our commitment to working for a better world.

Moving Universe Productions invites bands all over the world to make a cover of the China song. Contact Moving Universe Productions to get your licence now. People are invited to produce their music videos and to post them on the net to share as a One World for Peace creative movement. Through right action One World for Peace can soon become a blueprint for our sane, happy and peaceful future on our beautiful planet earth.

Video Editor - Hamish Lyons

Save Tibet before it's too late!

PROSEGUONO MANIFESTAZIONI E ARRESTI IN TUTTO IL TIBET

3 aprile 2008
Mentre a Pechino, in piazza Tienanmen, alla presenza del presidente Hu Jintao e tra impressionanti misure di sicurezza, è stata accesa il 31 marzo la fiaccola olimpica, continua a Lhasa e in tutti i territori tibetani l’ondata di arresti da parte della polizia e dell’esercito cinese. Si ha notizia certa dell’arresto, a partire dal 10 marzo, di 1072 religiosi e 2500 laici, con oltre 1000 persone fermate nella sola Lhasa: le stesse autorità cinesi hanno fatto sapere che il numero dei dimostranti arrestati a Lhasa supera le 800 persone mentre 280 sono i tibetani che si sono consegnati spontaneamente nelle mai della polizia. Impossibile accertare il numero dei morti: 22, secondo le fonti cinesi, almeno 140 secondo le fonti tibetane, ma si teme che le vittime della repressione superino le 200 unità. Oltre 1000 i feriti di cui molti in gravissime condizioni.

(continua…)

http://www.italiatibet.org/

Azioni urgenti:

Lettera al CONI (da inviare entro il 10 aprile)

Lettera da inviare al console indiano a Milano

Lettera al presidente del comitato olimpico

Tibetan monks? NO! They were Chinese agent provocateurs (Canada Free Press)

April 1, 2008

On This Day April 1, 1959

The Times reports on Peking’s drive to cut off the Dalai Lama’s escape routes

http://www.timesonline.co.uk

China rejects rumor of soldiers disguising as rioting monks

www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-31 23:28:22

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) — China on Monday rejected a rumor cited by the Dalai Lama that hundreds of soldiers disguised as monks in the Lhasa riots on March 14.

“The truth of the violent crimes in Lhasa is there for all to see and proved by ironclad evidences that can not be denied,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu.

She was responding to a question concerning the Dalai Lama’s recent press briefing in New Delhi, India, where he denied having supported the riots and said he heard a few hundred Chinese soldiers were masquerading as monks in the riots.

“Dalai Lama’s citing of hearsay rumors can not change the truth of the incident. It only shows the sense of guilty conscience in his deep heart so that he was trying to pass the buck using rumors and cheating,” she said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/31

Pechino orchestrava la rivolta nel Tibet’
Canada Free Press [Venerdi, 21 Marzo, 2008 10:20] spie britanniche confermano la denuncia del Dalai Lama sulle violenze inscenate
di Gordon Thomas

http://buddhismoitalia.forumcommunity.net

Beijing orchestrating Tibet riots

Just in case you wondered why these “Tibetan monks” were so violent in Lhasa….

This is not an uncommon ‘tactical move’ from the Chinese government as could be seen on the back-cover of the 2003 annual TCHRD Report

Canada Free Press [Friday, March 21, 2008 10:20] Brit spies confirm Dalai Lama’s report of staged violence

By Gordon Thomas

London, March 20 - Britain’s GCHQ, the government communications agency that electronically monitors half the world from space, has confirmed the claim by the Dalai Lama that agents of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the PLA, posing as monks, triggered the riots that have left hundreds of Tibetans dead or injured.

GCHQ analysts believe the decision was deliberately calculated by the Beijing leadership to provide an excuse to stamp out the simmering unrest in the region, which is already attracting unwelcome world attention in the run-up to the Olympic Games this summer.

For weeks there has been growing resentment in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, against minor actions taken by the Chinese authorities.

Increasingly, monks have led acts of civil disobedience, demanding the right to perform traditional incense burning rituals. With their demands go cries for the return of the Dalai Lama, the 14th to hold the high spiritual office.

Committed to teaching the tenets of his moral authority—peace and compassion—the Dalai Lama was 14 when the PLA invaded Tibet in 1950 and he was forced to flee to India from where he has run a relentless campaign against the harshness of Chinese rule.

But critics have objected to his attraction to film stars. Newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch has called him: “A very political monk in Gucci shoes.”

Discovering that his supporters inside Tibet and China would become even more active in the months approaching the Olympic Games this summer, British intelligence officers in Beijing learned the ruling regime would seek an excuse to move and crush the present unrest.

That fear was publicly expressed by the Dalai Lama. GCHQ’s satellites, geo-positioned in space, were tasked to closely monitor the situation.

The doughnut-shaped complex, near Cheltenham racecourse, is set in the pleasant Cotswolds in the west of England. Seven thousand employees include the best electronic experts and analysts in the world. Between them they speak more than 150 languages. At their disposal are 10,000 computers, many of which have been specially built for their work.

The images they downloaded from the satellites provided confirmation the Chinese used agent provocateurs to start riots, which gave the PLA the excuse to move on Lhasa to kill and wound over the past week.

What the Beijing regime had not expected was how the riots would spread, not only across Tibet, but also to Sichuan, Quighai and Gansu provinces, turning a large area of western China into a battle zone.

http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org

La questione tibetana non è spirituale ma politica ?

La questione tibetana non è spirituale ma politica ?

( http://buddhismoitalia.forumcommunity.net )

A me sembra che il problema stia proprio qui. E non si scioglie il nodo tagliandolo.

Il Dalai Lama è nello stesso tempo

1. un uomo tibetano, nato nel 1935 in Tibet e che “Nel 1954 fu a Pechino per negoziati con i capi cinesi Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai e Deng Xiaoping, che si conclusero senza successo.” ( http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso ), dunque in esilio dall’età di 24 anni (ora ne ha 73)

2. alla stessa età “Superò l’esame con onore e gli venne conferito il diploma Lharampa, il titolo di studio più alto.”

“I buddhisti tibetani si riferiscono a lui come Yeshe Norbu (”la gemma che realizza i desideri”) o semplicemente Kundun (”la Presenza”). ”

Nel 1989 Tenzin Gyatso ricevette il premio Nobel per la pace. Il 14 maggio 1995 il Dalai Lama proclamò Gedhun Nyima undicesima reincarnazione del Panchen Lama, ma la Cina rapì il bambino e nominò come reincarnazione un altro bambino Gyancain Norbu. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (oggi sedicenne) è tuttora prigioniero della Cina.

3. E’ il rappresentante del Popolo Tibetano, “l 17 novembre 1950 Tenzin Gyatso venne incoronato come guida temporanea del Tibet” ecc.

Dunque:

se il problema è quello di un suo ritiro (dimissioni) da leader politico, le conseguenze per l’intera area, India, Cina, Pakistan ecc. sarebbero a dir poco imprevedibili, considerato che sono in gioco ragioni politiche-territoriali (l’indipendenza o meno del Tibet) e politico-religiose (il futuro del Buddhismo nell’intera Cina)

se il problema è quello di boicottare o meno le Olimpiadi, io penso che quando il Dalai Lama, o gli stessi Studenti Tibetani chiedono il boicottaggio, o che la fiaccola olimpica non passi attraverso il territorio tibetano, pongono una questione paradossale, che come tale va capita, perchè è proprio la risonanza mediatica offerta dall’insieme degli eventi olimpici e la loro durata che puo’ garantire risonanza alla causa tibetana, e anche la presenza di non cinesi in Cina e in Tibet, stampa, mezzi di informazione, nuovi media ecc.

se il problema è quello spirituale, si deve capire che colpendo il Tibet, e in particolare il Dalai Lama, si colpisce al cuore l’intero movimento non violento per la pace mondiale, in tutte le sue forme ed espressioni, religiose o meno

se il problema è quello come si dice oggi etnico, anche questo va capito: decine o centinaia di migliaia di cinesi che vanno a vivere e lavorare i Tibet pongono un problema per la sopravvivenza della cultura tibetana, del modo di vivere, e anche della spiritualità di tutti i Tibetani

In Italia ne abbiamo qualche esperienza, in Alto Adige / Sud Tirol, da quando il fascismo cercò, come fa ora la Cina, di colonizzarlo inviandovi a vivere migliaia di famiglie italiane. Chi conosce un po’ la storia di quella regione, sa che la richiesta di ritorno all’Austria era solo un pretesto, perchè quel popolo ha tradizioni di radicata autonomia (il protestantesimo nelle sue forme più radicali nacque proprio qui). Consiglio in proposito la lettura di qualcuno dei bellissimi libri di Rigoni Stern ( http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Rigoni_Stern )

Passo e chiudo

Buona domenica a tutti!

Manifestazione italiana in favore del Tibet Libero su Second Life

MANIFESTIAMO PER IL TIBET LIBERO

Manifestazione pro Tibet libero a Nuova Sicilia
il 02 APRILE 2008
h 23.30 (3.30 pm PDT)

http://sergejzarf.blogspot.com

Dalai Lama troppo pacifista? Lo sostiene il 'tibetologo' di Panorama

l tibetologo: “Il Dalai Lama sbaglia, e adesso temo un’ondata di violenze”

Giornalista, autore dell’unica biografia autorizzata sul Dalai Lama pubblicata in Italia, esperto di culture indo-tibetane, l’ex presidente dell’Associazione Italia Tibet Piero Verni, di fronte alla repressione cinese, non ha dubbi: la massima autorità spirituale del Tibet ha perso la presa su una parte del suo popolo. Si è inventato un “dialogo che non esiste” e ha avallato, per legittimarsi agli occhi degli “occupanti”, prima l’ingresso di Pechino nel Wto e infine il no al boicottaggio delle Olimpiadi.
Non sono ingenerose le sue critiche?
Senta: intellettuali del calibro di Bernard Henry Levi, lo stesso Sarkozy, il presidente del parlamento europeo Hans Gert-Pottering hanno apertamente dichiarato di prendere in considerazione l’ipotesi del boicottaggio. E, di fronte a tutto questo, che cosa fa il Dalai Lama? Si trasforma nel più tetragono assertore delle Olimpiadi. Frena le rivolte. Un drammatico paradosso. Dal punto di vista giornalistico la notizia è proprio questa: Tenzin Gyatso, più che organizzarla, ha “subito” la rivolta tibetana.
Anche Sergio Romano, su Panorama, sostiene che il Dalai Lama è lontano dalle aspirazioni indipendentiste del suo popolo.
La verità è che la Marcia per il ritorno in Tibet partita il 10 marzo da Dharamsala (in India ndr) e considerata il detonatore della protesta si è subito posta su un terreno sideralmente distante da quello del governo in esilio. Non a caso lo stesso Dalai Lama non l’ha nemmeno citata nel suo annuale discorso del 10 marzo. In pratica, ha dato l’imbarazzante impressione di voler discolparsi agli occhi dei cinesi, anziché denunciare la repressione di questa Tienanmen sorda e muta che si sta consumando
Come è nata l’insurrezione di Lhasa?
Attraverso il tam tam, il passaparola, l’entusiasmo suscitato dalla Marcia organizzata dalle cinque organizzazioni della diaspora in India. E in modo del tutto spontaneo. Si capisce: il maglio repressivo cinese ha distrutto qualsiasi embrione di organizzazione tibetana in patria, come è accaduto qualche anno fa alle Tigri del Tibet.
Lo Youth Congress, la più radicata e radicale organizzazione non governativa dei tibetani della diaspora, prende in considerazione l’ipotesi della lotta armata?
Fino ad ora assolutamente no, come dimostra il programma tutto gandhiano della Marcia verso il Tibet. Certo, se non si apriranno spiragli di cambiamento significativo, temo che tutto potrà diventare possibile, anche le scelte più estreme. In linea di massima non è in discussione la scelta nonviolenta quanto la richiesta di Tenzin Gyatso di semplice autonomia politica. Perché ora, dopo vent’anni di inutile ricerca di un dialogo, i tibetani si sono stufati e pongono subito un problema di indipendenza nazionale.

Eppure la Cina accusa la “cricca del Dalai Lama”. Perché tagliare i ponti con l’unico interlocutore possibile?
Lo devono demonizzare, per giustificare il loro no a qualsiasi trattativa. La verità è che i governanti cinesi non vogliono dialogare con nessuno, né con i miti praticanti della Falun gong, né con le minoranze etniche come gli uiguri. Chiudono la porta a qualsiasi confronto perché considerano la dissoluzione dell’impero sovietico come il risultato della politica di dialogo con i dissidenti di Gorbaciov. Il loro obiettivo, del resto, è chiaro: fare della Cina una Singapore di un miliardo e trecentomila persone.

Ovvero?
Singapore è una realtà avanzatissima e dinamica dal punto di vista di vista economico ma con il massimo del controllo sociale. Pechino pensa, nonostante la sua retorica sulla “società armoniosa” e sul “socialismo di mercato”, che il massimo di libertà economica debba corrispondere al massimo dell’autoritarismo.

Che cosa rappresenta il Tibet per la Cina?
C’è lo sfruttamento intensivo di alcune risorse tra cui il legname. Ma non va nemmeno dimenticato che questa zona potrebbe diventare una straordinaria giostra turistica interna. Il turismo estero, del resto, è lì ormai un fenomeno minoritario. Il Tibet per i cinesi, insomma, è un po’ quello che era il Kashmir per i turisti indiani. E anche sul problema della colonizzazione etnica del Tibet voglio dire una cosa…
Dica….
I sei milioni di cinesi che obtorto collo vivono in Tibet non sono nulla, dal punto di vista demografico, per la Cina. In Tibet i coloni hanno un turn over, stanno lì in maggioranza per sette anni, poi tornano a vivere nella madre patria. Vanno lì per arricchirsi, possono vivere come cittadini di prima classe, con una serie di privilegi che i tibetani si sognano.
C’è qualche similitudine tra le rivolte in Birmania e quelle in Tibet?
Sono due situazioni non paragonabili. I generali birmani, di cui penso tutto il male possibile, hanno un livello di sofisticazione repressiva infinitamente inferiore a quello dei cinesi. Una Aung San Suu Kyi tibetana non sarebbe certo agli arresti domiciliari. Sarebbe morta o starebbe marcendo nel circuito penitenziario fuori Lhasa
Previsioni?
Nessuna. Non ricordo un cosiddetto china watcher che abbia previsto Tienanmen. Ho l’impressione che il livello di esasperazione tra i tibetani sia tale che uno stato d’agitazione sotterraneo continuerà, accanto alla repressione, fino alle Olimpiadi. Veda, non ho simpatia per le burocrazie occidentali ma, dato che bene o male devono tener conto dell’opinione pubblica, qualcosa si sta muovendo. E l’Eliseo, fino a ieri silente, di fronte alle manifestazioni di solidarietà in Francia, è arrivato a non escludere persino il boicottaggio delle Olimpiadi. Ripeto: non ho fiducia nei politici, ma nella capacità della stampa e delle opinioni pubbliche, quello sì.

Sposato con una tibetana, Piero Verni, su olistica.tv cura un blog dedicato alla situazione politica tibetana. Sulle società e sulle tradizioni dell’Himalaya, dell’India e del Tibet ha anche scritto diversi libri, tra i quali Vivere in India (Milano 1977); Guida all’India (Milano 1973, 5 edizioni); Dalai Lama. Biografia autorizzata (Milano 1990, nuova edizione aggiornata e ampliata Milano 1998); Tibet: le danze rituali dei lama (Firenze 1990), Mustang, ultimo Tibet (Milano 1994). È autore di numerosi documentari, tra i quali: Ladak: Feste di inverno nel piccolo Tibet; Mustang, ultimo Tibet; Tibet, cuore dell’Asia; Il mio Tibet.

http://blog.panorama.it

Le Théâtre du Soleil: Appel pour le Tibet

La Chine était fiévreusement demandeuse de ces Jeux Olympiques 2008. Elle n'avait rien promis, mais avait laissé espérer. On a fait semblant d'espérer. La Chine a obtenu les Jeux Olympiques 2008.
Maintenant elle exige furieusement notre aveuglement, notre surdité, notre mutisme, notre silence, bref notre complicité. Cette complicité nous ne devons pas la lui accorder. Car, pour une fois, nous sommes en position de négocier et de faire entendre nos exigences à propos des droits de l'Homme en Chine et au Tibet occupé. En effet, les dirigea nts chinois sont visiblement prêts à tout pour que la Fête soit sans nuages, sans ombres. Ils sont prêts à tuer pour cela. Au Tibet ils le font déjà avec une violence jamais atteinte depuis 1959. En Chine aussi ils font le ménage parmi les opposants. Un ménage impitoyable, un ménage sanglant. Ils comptent sur notre pusillanimité, et surtout sur notre vénalité. Nous n'avons jamais bougé ou si peu, pourquoi bougerions-nous cette fois-ci ? Et bien justement ça bouge, nous bougeons, nous voulons négocier :

« Sommes prêts à échanger de beaux Jeux Olympiques paisibles contre le respect des droits de l'Homme en Chine et au Tibet. »

- Halte aux expulsions des citoyens chinois de leur logement ou de leur terre.
- Suspension des exécutions en Chine en vue d'aboutir à l'abolition de la peine de mort. (Il y a en Chine entre 8 et 10 000 exécutions par an. Un record absolu. Pas vraiment olympique.)
- Halte aux tueries au Tibet.
- Halte à la torture systématique partout en Chine et au Tibet.
- Dialogue avec le Dalaï Lama et le gouvernement tibétain en exil, sur une large autonomie de ce pays, vaste comme cinq fois la France.
- Halte au contrôle de l'information, y compris sur internet
- Halte à la détention administrative
Etc…

Pour cela il faut qu’il y ait au moins une menace crédible de boycott au moins de la cérémonie d'ouverture. Et ce n'est pas aux athlètes seuls que nous devons laisser ce redoutable honneur. Il nous revient à tous. Il faut que tous les citoyens français, les citoyens européens, exigent, disons, encouragent fermement leurs dirigeants politiques, leurs grands fonctionnaires, leurs grands industriels, leurs grands financiers à un peu de dignité, un peu de courage, un peu de solidarité humaine, un peu de respect des principes universels.
Pas un dirigeant européen ne doit être présent à la cérémonie d'ouverture des Jeux, si, d'ici là, la Chine ne fait pas le pas tant attendu vers les droits de l'Homme. Sinon comment oserons-nous affronter les regards de tous ceux qui, en Chine, au péril de leur vie ou de leur liberté osent, eux, affronter la tyrannie du régime ?
Que les dirigeants chinois sachent qu’ils sont démasqués et que cette fête, à laquelle ils tiennent tant, risque d'être gâchée… Bien sûr elle a beaucoup de clients parmi nous, la Chine, et surtout beaucoup de fournisseurs très intéressés, mais un individu, une nation, un peuple ne peut pas vivre seulement de clients et de fournisseurs, il lui faut aussi des amis. Les dirigeants de la Chine n’ont pas le droit de priver cet immense peuple de bientôt un milliard trois cent soixante millions de citoyens de tous les autres milliards d’amis qu’ils devraient avoir sur la terre. Et d'ailleurs ce serait sans joie que nous priverions ce peuple de la Fête Olympique.
Donc, nous appelons tous les citoyens français à faire savoir au monde qu'ils ont les yeux ouverts, les oreilles aussi. Nous appelons tous les citoyens, sportifs ou non, à dire que leur amour du sport ne souffre pas le reniement des droits de l'Homme.
Avec les associations qui composent le Collectif Chine JO 2008, avec le Théâtre du Soleil qui s'est joint à elles, nous proposons à tous de coller sur nos vêtements de sports, de loisirs, de promenade, de travail, une de ces phrases :

Les coureurs, les joggers mettront :
Je cours mais sans piétiner les droits de l’Homme.

Les judokas, les lutteurs, tous les pratiquants d'arts martiaux :
Je lutte mais sans écraser les droits de l'Homme.
Je combats mais sans terrasser les droits de l'Homme.

Les boxeurs :
Je boxe mais sans frapper les droits de l'Homme.

Les tireurs à la carabine, à l'arc :
Je tire mais sans blesser les droits de l'Homme.

Les joueurs de tennis, rugby, de basket, de football, etc… :
Je joue mais sans tricher avec les droits de l'Homme.

Les promeneurs et ceux qui ne pratiquent aucun sport peuvent mettre :
Je veux aimer la Chine mais sans renier les droits de l’Homme.
Je veux bien aimer la Chine mais sans trahir le Tibet.

Que les citoyens, jeunes et vieux, inventent d'autres phrases qui les définissent mieux. Mais que personne ne puisse dire un jour : « Le 8 août 2008, les Français sont restés bras croisés, indifférents. Ils n'ont rien dit, ils n'ont rien fait. Pire, ils se sont bouché les oreilles et le nez, et ont participé ».
Donc, comme première manifestation de la naissance de ce mouvement de citoyens, nous demandons aux 35 000 coureurs du Marathon de Paris le dimanche 6 avril de porter sur eux, sur leur bras ou leur cuisse, la phrase étendard :

J'aime courir mais sans piétiner les droits de l'Homme.

Nous serons tous sur leur passage pour les encourager et les admirer.
Nous allons leur distribuer ces autocollants d'une façon ou d'une autre dans la semaine précédant le Marathon. Certaines mairies ont déjà promis de nous aider à le faire.
Nous avons quatre mois devant nous. Que les associations, les élus, les athlètes, les simples sportifs, que tous les citoyens qui veulent se joindre à nous et, à leur manière, amplifier le mouvement, le fassent. D'ici quelques jours, ils trouveront tous les renseignements sur les points de distribution des phrases étendards sur le site du Théâtre du Soleil (www.theatre-du-soleil.fr) et sur celui du Collectif Chine JO 2008 (www.Pekin2008.rsfblog.org). S'ils veulent nous écrire, voici notre adresse mail : soleil@theatre-du-soleil.fr, et postale : Théâtre du Soleil. Cartoucherie. 75012 Paris

Le Théâtre du Soleil
Le Collectif Chine JO 2008
Action des chrétiens pour l'abolition de la torture (ACAT-France)
Agir pour les droits de l'Homme (ADH)
Amnesty International (AI-France)
Comité de soutien au peuple tibétain (CSPT)
Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)
Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH)
Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH)
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)
Solidarité Chine

Quelques dates, quelques chiffres

7 octobre 1950 / Invasion du Tibet par la Chine
1959 / fuite et exil du Dalaï Lama
8 août 2008 / Ouverture des Jeux Olympiques de Pékin

Nombre d’habitants en Chine : estimé à 1, 360 milliard en 2010

Nombre de victimes au Tibet : Selon le gouvernement tibétain en exil, plus d'un million deux cent mille Tibétains seraient morts directement ou indirectement en conséquence de l'occupation du Tibet par la République populaire de Chine entre 1949 et 1979.

Le Théâtre du Soleil

Boycott the Olympics in China and Free Tibet ?

Boycott the Olympics in China and Free Tibet

28 Marzo 2008

Tibet libero

Fonte: Asianews
Se gli Stati Uniti avessero invaso il Messico. Se la Francia avesse occupato l'Algeria. Se l'Australia avesse dichiarato guerra alla Papua Nuova Guinea. Se il Giappone avesse annesso la Manciuria. Se l'Italia tornasse di nuovo in Libia con le cannoniere.Se tutto questo fosse successo nell'anno delle Olimpiadi negli Stati Uniti, in Francia, in Australia, in Giappone, in Italia. Le Olimpiadi si sarebbero tenute lo stesso in questi Paesi? In nome di cosa? Del WTO? Della globalizzazione? Del consumismo? Il Governo italiano ha calato i pantaloni alla marinara di D'Alema (nessuno pensava che avrebbe fatto diversamente)...

http://www.beppegrillo.it/2008/03

In just 7 days over 1 million of us have signed the petition supporting human rights and dialogue in Tibet

Tibetan monks shouting pro independence slogans caught Chinese officials by surprise

By DAVID BARBOZA Published: March 28, 2008

SHANGHAI — Tibetan monks shouting pro-independence slogans caught Chinese officials by surprise Thursday during a highly scripted tour for Western journalists in Lhasa’s central Buddhist temple, disrupting China’s effort to portray the recent Tibetan rioting as the work of violent criminal thugs and separatists.

“Tibet is not free! Tibet is not free!” yelled one young Buddhist monk, who then started crying, according to an Associated Press correspondent in the tour.

	A Tibetan Buddhist monk, center, cries while he saw foreign journalists visit to the Jokhang Temple, one of Tibet’s holiest shrines in Lhasa, capital of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region Thursday, March 27, 2008. (AP)

(http://www.chinapost.com.tw , Footage of the monks, BBC.news)

Government handlers shouted for the journalists to leave and tried to pull them away during the 15-minute protest by about 30 monks at the Jokhang Monastery in central Lhasa. It was unclear whether the protesting monks were arrested…

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28

• China and Tibet: The Spin Campaign (Time)
  
• Olimpiadi: boicottaggio, l’Europa si divide (Corriere della Sera)
• Tibet, manifestazione dei monaci davanti ai giornalisti stranieri (la Repubblica)
  

La censura cinese ha interrotto una trasmissione della rete televisiva Bbc, mentre venivano mostrate alcune immagini di Lhasa girate nella capitale tibetana da un cameraman dell’agenzia Aptn. L’unico giornalista europeo che è stato invitato a partecipare è uno dei corrispondenti da Pechino del quotidiano britannico Financial Times.

I monaci, una trentina, hanno manifestato per una un quarto d’ora circa nelle immediate vicinanze del tempio Jokhang, uno dei più importanti del buddismo tibetano. “Vogliamo che il Dalai Lama ritorni in Tibet, vogliamo essere liberi”, ha detto uno dei manifestanti, avvicinato da un reporter. “Il Tibet non è libero”, ha urlato un altro, che è poi scoppiato a piangere. Accusando il regime di Pechino di mentire, i monaci insistevano nel dire che non si può addossare al Dalai Lama la responsabilità delle proteste.

I religiosi hanno raccontato ai giornalisti di essere prigionieri nel tempio dal 10 marzo, inizio delle nuove manifestazioni da parte dei tibetani.

Dear friends,

In just 7 days over 1 million of us have signed the petition supporting human rights and dialogue in Tibet - the fastest growing internet petition in history! After decades of injustice, the Tibetan people are crying out to the world for change, and the world is answering.

As China’s leaders decide whether to respond to Tibetan grievances with increased repression or dialogue with the Dalai Lama, an International Day of Action has been declared for Monday, March 31st. In 4 days, thousands of people in cities across the world will march to Chinese embassies and consulates, and stack hundreds of boxes containing our petition outside them. 1 million signatures makes a mountain of boxes - it’s a powerful way to deliver our message.

We have just 4 days left until the petition delivery, so we’re redoubling our efforts to build the petition even larger - to 2 million signatures - in that time. Please sign below, and then forward this email to all your friends and family:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence

China’s hardliners are lashing out publicly at the Dalai Lama–but many Chinese leaders believe dialogue is the best hope for stability in Tibet. Governments around the world have begun calling for dialogue, and there are many hopeful signs that, if we can keep the pressure up, China will agree. Already, we have had constructive discussions with Chinese officials about the message of our campaign.

Chinese President Hu Jintao values his country’s international reputation, and he needs to hear from us that the ‘Made in China’ brand and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing will succeed only if he chooses dialogue over the hardliners’ repression. An avalanche of global people power is moving to get his attention. Our petition recognizes the concerns of Chinese leaders that riots and separatism could lead to dangerous instability. But we support the position of the Dalai Lama, that the best path to stability and development for China lies through dialogue and respect, not repression.

This is the most promising moment in decades to address the injustices of Tibet - but already the media is moving on to other stories. We need to seize this moment with a massive statement of global support this Monday — for the next four days, let’s pull out all the stops for Tibet.

With hope,

Ricken, Graziela, Ben, Iain, Pascal, Milena, Galit, Paul, Esra’a and the whole Avaaz team

PS - Here are some links for more information:

Reuters reports unrest continues:
http://www.reuters.com

China allows first journalists back into Lhasa, monks speak out:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/

Europe and the US step up calls for dialogue:
http://www.iht.com/

Prominent Chinese Intellectuals call for fair approach to Tibet:
http://www.iht.com/

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means “voice” in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace pages!

Olympic Flame Protest in Greece on Monday 24 March, 2008

Olympic Flame Protest



The authorities cut the transmission as a protester breaks through during the live transmission of the Olympic Flame ceremony in Olympia Greece. A Chinese official was speaking at the timehttp://youtube.com/watch?v=UzT0rw47-j4

Highlights of the Olympic flame lighting ceremony which took place in Greece on Monday 24 March, 2008.



The torch will reach its final destination in China in August, and mark the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.
Source: CTV9
Please visit the UNOFFICIAL forum at http://www.beijingolympicsforum.comhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=7YoYRf3cdHg

Tibet to stay on Olympic torch route despite riots (Reuters)

In Tibetan Areas, Parallel Worlds Now Collide

By HOWARD W. FRENCH

Published: March 20, 2008

GABU VILLAGE, China — For Caidan, a 40-year-old farmer whose life in this traditionally Tibetan area revolves around its Buddhist temple, the aluminum smelter that belches gray smoke in the distance is not a symbol of material progress, but rather a daily reminder of Chinese disregard.

“Look at the walls of our temple, they have all gone grimy with the smoke that pollutes our air,” said Caidan, who, like many Tibetans, goes by a single name.

Asked if Tibetans in this part of Qinghai Province in China’s rugged west had benefited from jobs at the factory, a man sitting nearby shook his head and launched into a litany about preferential treatment that he said was systematically given to members of the country’s Han Chinese majority.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20

Tibetan Students Rise Up In Tibet & China

Dozens of Tibetan students in Beijing held a candle light vigil at the Central University for Nationalities. Around 500 Tibetan students in Lanzhou, eastern Tibet, undertook a 24-hour hunger strike to protest China’s violent crackdown on Tibetans. Click here to read more. Everyone at Students for a Free Tibet feels a great sense of solidarity and pride with young Tibetans inside Tibet and China. We are with you.

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/

The Dalai Lama’s Dilemma

By MADHUR SINGH/DHARAMSALA

Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2008 By MADHUR SINGH/DHARAMSALA

Before the intervention of the Dalai Lama, India-based Tibetan activists believed they had the momentum. “The scale of the uprising, its spread, is wider than 1959,” Tenzin Tsundue, a charismatic Tibetan writer-activist, told TIME from Indian police detention in Jwalamukhi. “We’ve achieved in three days what we were hoping to achieve in three months.” Tsundue had been among the first batch of 101 marchers held on Thursday by Indian authorities. Organizers were also hoping the protests within Tibet and China would gather steam. “Much as we are sad for our brothers and sisters in Tibet, we want the protests to continue,” said B. Tsering, president of the Tibetan Women’s Association. But since the passing of the Chinese deadline for the protestors to surrender at midnight Monday, the organizers of the protests in India have been treading a thin line between hope and despair — protests seem to have calmed down in Tibet and China, but every news of new protests and arrests brings a tiny blip of hope. They’re far from ready to give up the protest altogether. Asked if they’d stop the march if asked to do so by the Dalai Lama, Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, answered with an emphatic: “No.” The schism within Tibetan ranks is set to widen.

http://www.time.com/

Tibet to stay on Olympic torch route despite riots

Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:46am EDT

By Nick Mulvenney and Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - China vowed on Wednesday to take the Olympic torch to Tibet despite deadly riots there and said it was in a “life or death struggle” over the Himalayan region with “the Dalai Lama clique”…

Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, told a news conference the relay would proceed as scheduled because the situation in Tibet has stabilized. …

The torch relay, which starts when it is lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, next Monday, is scheduled to visit Tibet twice…

When the flame arrives in Beijing on March 31 before embarking on its journey around the world, a second torch will be lit and taken to Tibet, where Chinese climbers will attempt to take it to the top of Mount Everest. The attempt will take place in early May whenever the weather conditions on the world’s tallest mountain are most suitable.

Tibet is also on the domestic leg of the relay in June.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing, John Ruwitch in Sichuan province and by Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Alex Richardson)

http://www.reuters.com/