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This message is devoted to the situation of His Holiness
the Dalai Lama being excluded from the UN World Peace Summit.
It is an important matter, which calls for action. Please take a
moment and
respond, via this email petition.
Keep
this petition going:
1) Copy and paste this whole message into a new outgoing message
- (do not simply "forward" the message, as that is messy).
2) At the very end of the petition, add your name, address, professional
title if appropriate, and your email address.
3) Send this message to your friends and networks.
4) Every 50th person to sign (# 50), please also forward a copy
to BrahmaDas@AOL.COM and start a fresh message and send it on to
your friends and networks.
5) If you decide not to sign (for whatever reason) please send on
the petition anyway, or (so no names are lost) at least send a copy
to BrahmaDas@AOL.COM
SHUTTING
ITS DOORS ON THE DALAI LAMA: THE UN's MILLENNIUM PEACE SUMMIT OF
SPIRITUAL LEADERS
Spiritual
leaders have been invited to attend a four day conference at the
United Nations in NYC from August 28-31st: the Millennium Peace
Summit. For many religious leaders and human rights activists, the
problem with this seemingly auspicious gathering is that His Holiness,
the Dalai Lama, is glaringly missing from the list of invitees.
What makes the omission of the Dalai Lama so remarkable is that
he is one of the most respected spiritual leaders on the planet,
as well as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, perhaps the greatest honor
one can receive today. The Conference was organized by Bawa Jain,
under the authority of UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, nominal
director of the Summit. According to Trustees of the Parliament
of World Religions (for which Bawa Jain is the International Ambassador),
Jain had said that the Chinese government exerted great pressure
on conference organizers against any invitation being sent to His
Holiness. In an effort to explain away His Holiness not being invited,
Jain had said UN protocol permitted any security council member
to have veto power over any invitations being extended. The problem
with that excuse is that according to the Protocol Office of the
UN, no member nation has such power, and that responsibility lies
instead with conference organizers.
For many activists for religious freedom and human rights, and also
for supporters of the Tibet cause, the perceived mistreatment of
His Holiness by the UN reflects the UN's long-standing practice
of ignoring human rights abuses in Tibet by the Chinese government,
one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. (Since
the invasion of Tibet in 1949 by the Chinese army, over one fifth
of the Tibetan population have died under the Chinese occupation
and more than 6000 monasteries have been destroyed.) Activists feel
that it also reflects the Chinese government's concerted campaign
to oppose any invitation to His Holiness by any government or conference,
anywhere around the world.
The
Parliament of World Religions, one of the major international interfaith
organizations in the world, is issuing a statement this week, strongly
critical of this snub to His Holiness and to the Tibetan people
by organizers of the Millennium Summit.
This
is the first statement on any issue in the history of the Parliament,
even more remarkable since the Parliament is itself a partner in
the Millennium Summit. As news has been leaking out about His Holiness
not being invited to this Summit, protest letters are pouring in
from around the world to Kofi Annan. Many of these letters have
been posted on the internet and are accessible.
At
this Millennium Summit, the spiritual leaders who attend are expected
to issue a Declaration for World Peace, and they are also supposed
to form a permanent International Advisory Council of Spiritual
and Religious Leaders. According to Brahma Das, Director of the
Interfaith Call for Universal Religious Freedom, "Any Advisory Spiritual
Council formed at this Summit will be severely devalued -- due to
the absence of His Holiness, and also from the lack of moral courage
of Summit organizers in bowing to pressure and blandishments from
the Chinese government."
According
to Brother Wayne Teasdale, a Trustee of the Parliament of World
Religions and the strongest critic within the Catholic Church of
the Church's silence on Tibet, "By working to exclude the Dalai
Lama from this conference, the Chinese will accomplish exactly the
opposite of what they hoped. They wanted no attention to the Chinese
issue. Instead the whole world will be watching and thinking about
His Holiness. And now for the religious and spiritual leaders of
the world, Tibet is a test of whether they can exercise and demonstrate
their moral authority and leadership."
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PETITION
SUPPORTING THE INCLUSION OF HIS HOLINESS, THE DALAI LAMA AT THE
MILLENNIUM PEACE SUMMIT OF WORLD SPIRITUAL LEADERS AT THE UNITED
NATIONS
We,
the Undersigned, strongly protest the exclusion of His Holiness,
the Dalai Lama, from the Millennium Peace Summit of Spiritual leaders
-- being held at the UN from August 28th-31st. The ones primarily
responsible for this Summit -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and
Bawa Jain should find the moral courage to stand up against Chinese
pressure and inducements; they should reverse their earlier decision
and invite His Holiness -- one of the most revered spiritual leaders
alive on the planet today, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
-- to this gathering for peace, of spiritual and religious leaders.
May
All Beings Be Happy
May All Beings Be Free
Peace, Peace,
Peace
1)
Namgyal Nangsetsang, Registered Nurse, Toronto (namgyaln@hotmail.com)
2) Linda Mancini, Coordinator of the Boston Tibet Network (BTN)
Director of the LamRim Buddhist Center (Manciniart@aol.com)
3) Tsering Yangdon, M.Sc.P.H.; Instructor at the Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School, School of Public Health in Piscataway, NJ; Past
President: Tibetan Women's Association (yangdots@UMDNJ.EDU)
4) Arda Bishar, Co founder of the Tibetan Buddhist meditation Center
in Princeton, NJ (edvienna@aol.com) (609) 921-8852
5) Jeffrey A. Berman, Los Angeles, CA (jaberman@mediaone.net)
6) Metta McGarvey, Doctoral Student, Harvard University (mettam@gis.net)
7) Matjaz Trontelj, Slovenia, Information technology manager for
Kalachakra for World Peace 2002 to be held in Graz Austria (mt@kalachakra-graz.at)
8) Gregor Erjavec, President, Tibet Support Group of Slovenia (gregor.erjavec@NUK.Uni-Lj.Si)
9) Judith A. Higgins, Long Branch, NJ (Mala514@aol.com) 10) J.C.
Callender, Campaign Coordinator, The Milarepa Fund (jc_superstar00@hotmail.com)
11) Brahma Das, Director of the Interfaith Call for Universal Religious
Freedom and Freedom of Worship in Tibet (brahmadas@aol.com)
12) Brother Wayne Teasdale, Catholic Sanyassin, Trustee of the Parliament
of World Religions (wteasdal@condor.depaul.edu)
13) Michael Pate RN, FNP, MPH (mwpate@flash.net)
14) Thubten Samdup, Manager, Field Services, SNC-Lavalin Energy
Control Systems Inc. St. Laurent, Quebec (samdup@cae.ca)
15) Wangchuk D. Shakabpa II, government trial attorney, Washington,
D.C. (wdshakabpa@hotmail.com)
16) Phurbu Dondup Mentuh, Senior Importer, Ingram Micro Inc. Ontario,
Canada (Dondup.Mentuh@ingrammicro.ca)
17) Jordhen Chazotsang, graphic artist, Ontario, Canada (jordhen@primus.ca)
18) Lobsang Sangay, Tibetan Scholar at Harvard Law School (sangay@LAW.HARVARD.EDU)
19) Marla Apt, Yoga Teacher, Los Angeles, CA (marlaapt@hotmail.com)
20) Paul Cabanis, Yoga Teacher, Los Angeles, CA
21) Babs Aydelott, Travel Agent, Manhattan Beach, CA (BabsCAUSA@aol.com
22) Tseten Phanucharas, Director, Dept of Pathology Saint John's
Health Center, Santa Monica, CA (Tseten.Phanucharas@stjohns.org
23) John Walt, Senior Manager, Global Health Economic Strategy &
Research; Allergan (a global pharmaceutical company), Irvine, CA
(Walt_John@Allergan.com
24) Dory Beatrice, Coordinator of San Diego Friends of Tibet, representing
over 700 people, "all of whom want to be considered as having signed
this petition" (dorykb@san.rr.com)
25) Anthony OBrien, MA, Artist/author/potter; Co-founder T.S.G.Ireland;
Co-founder ECOTibet International (antodob@oceanfree.net)
26) Glenn Freeman, TIBETWestMichigan, administrator http://tibetwestmichigan.home-page.org
(glennf@grfn.org)
27) Ford Roosevelt, Grandson of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt,
saying his grandparents were very involved in the planning and formation
of the UN, and adding "It would not have been their wish I am certain
to exclude any leaders from such a conference, and certainly not
one so esteemed in the world as His Holiness. (fordr@earthlink.net)
28) Richard Nishimura, Project Coordinator, International Campaign
for Tibet, Washington, D.C. (richardnishimura@hotmail.com)
29) Tenzin Dargyal, Montreal, Quebec, Internet entrepreneur (dargyal@hotmail.com)
30) Catherine Moore (cmoore@alcor.concordia.ca)
31) Alex Lobsang, business major at Santa Monica College, CA (alex_lobsang@hotmail.com)
32) Thinlay Choden, biology major at Santa Monica College, CA
33) Larry Gerstein, Ph.D.; Professor, Ball State University Fellow,
American Psychological Association, President, Internatioanal Tibet
Independence Movement (Rangzen@aol.com)
34) Jean-Marie Brodu, Editor "Tibet Info" France, (csptf@francenet.fr)
35) Thuten Kesang, National Chairperson, New Zealand Friends of
Tibet, (kesang@ak.planet.gen.nz)
36) Douglas Yeager, Chair, Social Action Committee, Christ Congregation
Church, Princeton, New Jersey; Member, Princeton Coalition for Peace
Action (Yeahigcrew@aol.com)
37) Michael H. Bachmann, M.D., D.Sc.; Research Fellow, Dept. of
Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine; Stanford, CA,
Board member, Committee of 100 for Tibet (bachmann@cmgm.stanford.edu)
38) Nick Robson, Grand Cayman, British West Indies (nickr@candw.ky)
39) Dan Haig, Executive Director, Tibet Online, http://www.tibet.org/
(gizard@xanatoo.cyborganic.com)
40) Ritva Nybacka, Author and Teacher, Director of Netfriends of
Tibet: http://home.swipnet.se/tibet Stockholm, Sweden (ritva.nybacka@swipnet.se)
41) Henrietta Bisgood, Managing Director of an Interior Decorating
Company in Ireland (hbisgood@indigo.ie)
42) Bradford Carr, President, New Hampshire Friends of Tibet, New
Boston, NH, USA (CBCGassho@aol.com)
43) Kai Mortensen, Secretary, Norwegian Tibet Committee (tibetkomite@os.telia.no)
44) Rebecca Novick, Director, Los Angeles Friends of Tibet, BEXIE@aol.com
45 & 46) Khandro Déchen and Ngak'chang Rinpoche - Lineage Holders
of the Arog Tér lineage of Nyingma Vajrayana Buddhism and spiritual
directors of the of the Confederate Sanghas of Aro - comprising
of the registered charities: Sang-ngak-chö-dzong UK, Aro Gar USA,
Aro Gaselschaft Austria, and Aro Gemeinschaft Germany.
47) Ngala Rig'dzin Dorje - London
48) Ngakma Nor'dzin Pamo, Cardiff
49)Lisa Bound: Web producer, photographer, traveller and writer;
(info@babylontravel.net)
50)Andre ismael: Photographer & web designer; (info@babylontravel.net)
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