Hell all-

A Happy New year to you. Just a quick note here to keep you abreast of
Think Sangha activities. We have just completed our second Think Sangha
Journal entitled The LACK of Progress : Buddhist Perspectives on Modernity
and the Pitfalls of "Saving the World". For what that all means, see the
editor's note below which outlines what we are talking about in 180 pages
of articles. The issue will be printed in the next week or so. If you'd
like a copy just send me an e-mail. We are basically offering it for free
although a dana contribution of $5 is greatly appreciated to help cover
printing and postage, especially if you would like multiple copies.

Finally, I became a dad 3 weeks ago on December 6th, a daughter. Her name
is Aruna, for  the rising sun. I'll also attach a photo here for those of
you who like to ogle at  babies.

metta and all the best for this year 2542!

Jon Watts

Editor's Note

In the following pages, our little group called Think Sangha grapples with
the issue of modernity. Before turning ahead, we would like to inform the
reader a little about Think Sangha and how we arrived at the theme for this
issue, modernity. Since the early 90s, we have slowly formed from a group
of socially engaged Buddhists intent on bringing religious and spiritual
viewpoints back into the discourse of contemporary social problems and
issues. Though we come out of the International Network of Engaged
Buddhists (INEB), we can't claim to represent the vast population of
Buddhists around the world. Certainly, we are international in that the
members contributing in this issue live in America, Europe, East Asia and
Southeast Asia. However, as some have been quick to point out, we tend to
over-represent the male, white skinned, English speaking part of the world,
and this is perhaps why we have focused on the issue of modernity. As
individuals mostly raised in the industrial north, our experiences,
including time well spent in the more rural southern hemisphere, have been
framed by what we see as the powerful myth of modernity - of scientific
rationalism, nation-state and corporate capitalism. We have become acutely
aware of how these three forces have bent and shaped culture and peoples
throughout the world, from the colonial period of emergent nation-states to
the present period of corporate globalization. As descendants of the first
European moderns and as Buddhist practitioners who have received so much
from the cultures of the East, we feel a responsibility to expose and
clarify what we see is a problematic and increasingly untenable world view.
Luckily, we have made many friends and colleagues along the way from the
opposite gender and from other parts of the world. Some of their voices are
also found in this volume.
	 The first section of this issue is framed around a Buddhist
analysis of modernity. David Loy's essay, "The Spiritual Roots of
Modernity", gives a good introduction to the concept of modernity through a
Buddhist analysis of the rise of scientific rationalism, nation-state and
corporate capitalism in the West. My own essay, "Reinhabiting the
Flatland", goes more deeply into the Buddhist aspect of these developments
through an analysis of the rise of the cultural ego-self (att·Š. Finally, Ph
ra Phaisan Visalo's piece, "Buddhism for the Next Century", gives us a view
of the effects of this "trinity" of modernity on the Buddhist world through
an analysis of Thai Buddhism in the modern era.
	 The second section of the issue revolves around a recent dialogue
we have been having in Think Sangha on the problematic nature of socially
engaged Buddhism (SEB). Much of this debate has focused around this issue
of modernity. Questions have been raised such as, "How authentic is engaged
Buddhism, if its edge of social activism is based in modernist concepts
like human rights?" The section begins with a piece by Ken Jones that gives
an outline of socially engaged Buddhism and explores some initial pitfalls
of this emerging tradition. The center pieces of the section are a dialogue
between two old friends, David Loy and Nelson Foster, the latter a founding
member of the American Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF). They raise very
important questions about present modes of Buddhist social engagement by
reflecting on the transmission of social engagement in their Japanese Zen
tradition. Finally, Santikaro Bhikkhu reflects on all three of the above
authors from his own different viewpoint as a celibate Therav·Åa monk
living
in Southeast Asia.
	 The last section of the journal contains two articles which
represent Think Sangha's past and future. The first piece, "World Faiths
Development Dialogue: Reflections One Year Later" by Alan Senauke, looks at
his involvement in this dialogue on poverty with the World Bank. This
dialogue was part of Think Sangha's focus on consumerism and economic
development over the past two years and remains an ongoing concern. The
second piece, "Feminism and Buddhism" by INEB Women's Project coordinator
Ouyporn Khuankaew, is a reflection on her ongoing activities to merge
Buddhist practice with feminist activism. As an original member of Think
Sangha, she is one of the bridges to this underdeveloped concern of Think
Sangha that we hope to make the focus of a future Think Sangha Journal.
	 For the coming year, Think Sangha has been making plans for holding
more regionally based meetings rather than one large international meeting.
The intention behind this is to expand the variety of perspectives within
the group, which as mentioned above is still somewhat limited. Our larger
hope, though, is not so much the expansion and growth of the group itself
but rather that people in various places speaking various languages will
pick up on this idea of social analysis rooted in spiritual and religious
viewpoints and go on to form their own think sanghas - to explore their own
social and cultural issues (which may or may not include modernity), to
share and commune with other such groups (like ours) in the spirit of
weaving wider webs of community based on common beliefs and commitments. We
hope this issue of Think Sangha Journal will contribute in some small way
to such developments.

Jonathan Watts - Think Sangha Coordinator
Kita-Kamakura, Japan
December 28, 1999

*******************************
Jonathan Watts
Togenji Terrace B
Yamanouchi 868
Kamakura 247-0062
Tel/Fax: 81-467-44-9875
E-mail: jonaomi@...
VISIT THINK SANGHA AT:
http://www.bpf.org/think.html
*******************************

Dear Collete,
Best wishes for the new year.

Ananda Welihena


>
Reply-to:      ineb@egroups.com
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----------------------------------------------------------
Ananda Welihena,
Lecturer in Political Science and International Relations,
Department of Political Science,
University of Peradeniya,
Peradeniya, SRI LANKA.

EMAIL: aweli@...

Tel. 94/08/388345; Fax: 94/08/388933.
-------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Visdayani,
Best wishes for the new year,

Yours sincerely,
Ananda Welihena



> Reply-to:      ineb@egroups.com
> To:            ineb@egroups.com
> Date:          Thu, 11 Nov 1999 16:31:04 -0600
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> >----------------------------------------------------------
> >Ananda Welihena,
> >Lecturer in Political Science and International Relations,
> >Department of Political Science,
> >University of Peradeniya,
> >Peradeniya, SRI LANKA.
> >
> >EMAIL: aweli@...
> >
> >Tel. 94/08/388345; Fax: 94/08/388933.
> >-------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >A shopper’s dream come true! Find practically anything on earth at
> >eBay!
> >Come and browse the more than 2 million items up for bid at any time.
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----------------------------------------------------------
Ananda Welihena,
Lecturer in Political Science and International Relations,
Department of Political Science,
University of Peradeniya,
Peradeniya, SRI LANKA.

EMAIL: aweli@...

Tel. 94/08/388345; Fax: 94/08/388933.
-------------------------------------------------------------

The International Movement for a Just World is an international non-profit citizens' organisation which
seeks to create public awareness about injustices within the existing global system. It also attempts to
develop a deeper understanding of the struggle for social justice and human rights at the global level
which believes should be guided by universal spiritual and moral values rooted in the oneness of God.
 

Pass our address to your friends.

Some sample articles:
 
 
  Come The Next Millennium: Do Not Forget The Injustices Of The Past
  IS THIS THE END OF CORPORATISATION?
  On Dollars and Sense: Time to Seriously Question the Dominance of the US Dollar in World Trade.
  Twenty First Century, Religion and Peace
  Muhammad Iqbal and the Islamic state.
  The Conflict in Chechnya: Stop the use of Military Force in Ethnic Conflict
  Kashmir: Respect the People's Wishes
  Spare A Thought For Those 'Kafirs'. Islamic Movements need to be sensitive to Non-Muslim concerns.
  No Religious Justification for Burning Churches and Mosques
  Don't blame the Internet!Problem lies with the users themselves
  Western Powers No Longer Have The Moral Right To Lead Global Reform
  Asking the Moral Question (Shirin Sinnar)
  Islam Is Too Important To Be Left To Muslims Alone: Islamic Discourse Is For Everyone
 
 
 

To whom it may concern,

Sorry and to my regret, but I will appreciate your cancelling my INEB e-mail news membership.

Lucien F. Cosijns
Pr. Poppestraat 44
B-2640 Mortsel, BELGIUM
Tel.: 32 3-455.6880
Fax : from 99.11.01.: -232.6825
E-mail: L.F.Cosijns@...
Homepage: http://user.online.be/interfaith_guidelines
(!!!please note underscore : ...interfaith_guidelines ...)

-----Original Message-----
From: Lucien F. Cosijns <l.f.cosijns@...>
To: ineb@egroups.com <ineb@egroups.com>
Date: 6 Á¡ÃÒ¤Á 2543 20:56
Subject: [ineb] My text "The Way to World Peace" (The Way to World Peace.rtf) [1/5]

Ladies/Gentlemen, or to whom it may concern.

Someone informed me that my attachments cannot be downloaded and he advised me to convert my doc. texts to  rtf texts, which I have done.

I send you again "The Way to World Peace" as rtf text " in attachment. Pls inform if downloading is OK. and also copy in this e-mail to make sure.

I was informed that the editor (owner ?)has decided that this text can not be published. I have requested to be informed the reason for this negative reaction, but received no answer yet.

THE WAY TO WORLD PEACE

Union in Collaboration

The last decennia of the 20th century have seen a remarkable growth in local, regional, national and international activities, which all try to promote world peace, by means of information, demonstrations, gatherings, prayermeetings, etc. The 0.2% of the national GNP, although far from the engaged 0.7%, which many industrialised countries dedicate now in average to governmental and non-governmental activities in international aid projects in the underdeveloped countries,  the human reliefwork of the Doctors without Frontiers and the actions of Amnesty International, all also mean important contributions to more peace and better shared welfare.

These activities, how praiseworthy they are in themselves, contribute however very little and surely not enough to the necessary structural changes in the economic and financial situations which, for a great part, lay at the basis of social humanly-degrading conditions of poverty, unjust sharing of the wealth-resources of our earth, arms circulation, conflicts, world-domination by the transnational enterprises and the consequential growing globalisation by which the rich become richer and the poor poorer. Peace achieving can only be realised by and will be proportional to the applications of efficient solutions to change the socio-economic structures at the origin of most of these world problems.

As long as the political leaders of nations as India, Brazil, Mexico and other countries in South-America and Africa, are not put under international pressure  to let the poor have a greater share in the national wealth, there is only a very meagre or even no chance their governments will carry out the necessary structural changes. Only pressure from the international global authorities, sustained by international global organisations, can originate a move to find and to apply efficient solutions to these ever escalating world problems.

By an unfair veto-system and other unilateral agreements between the big industrial nations, and by a lack of the necessary funds, the United Nations Organisation and all its agencies do not arrive at fulfilling a sufficiently leading and authoritative role. This results in keeping their role limited in many cases to resolutions without real follow-up. The improvement of these obstructing situations should be a priority challenge to all concerned nations and organisations.

In the past years, we have been able to observe a trend which means a revolution in world history, namely the growing recognition of spiritual values besides material values, a growing questioning of our consumption-based way of life, the growing recognition of the values of environment, of nature, of other cultures, and of other religions. Even the separation of Church and State, as it has been introduced in the Western world and in modern democracies, is being questioned and looked at from different new angles. We have been able to observe also, as a rather new phenomenon, efforts to come to a collaboration between the political and religious/humanistic leaders - between politics and religion - to work together for peace and in finding solutions to our world problems. It is now being accepted more and more that there is an absolute need of global dialogue and global collaboration on a world-wide scale.
Thanks to the exceptional growth in the past twenty years of encounters and of literature in relation with the dialogue between religions, traditions and other convictions, and also thanks to the growing recognition that the multi-cultural and multi-religious society on all continents will be the society of tomorrow in a more homogeneous world, the necessary breeding ground is now at last present to enable the achieving of a new world order.

More and more, people arrive at the awareness and the conviction that only by a growth in mutual recognition, a closer collaboration between the peace organisations, a closer collaboration between the world religions, traditions, and other convictions on one side, and the political, economical and financial world on the other side can lead to more peace and justice by the working out of efficient changes in the socio-economic structures at the basis of many or our world problems.
The transnationals, thanks to the growth in communication means and with their aim of profit-above-all, have already, by an avalanche of mergers, achieved an advanced global union in a strange mixture of competition and collaboration, with its many good and bad side effects.

Is it not high time that such a union in collaboration becomes a reality between the peace promoting organisations and between the world religions ? Recent texts of the papal guidance of the Catholic Church and texts and interreligious meetings as edited and organised on a high level by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue of the same Church are, without doubt and despite some apparent contradictions, showing the right direction. There is need of a greater awareness inside the Christian ecumenical movement of the importance and the necessity to get other non-Christian religions and traditions involved in this drive for union and in particular for collaboration. Thus only can a real union in collaboration be realised, by which could also be realised a global support of global ideas such as for example the project of the United Religions Initiative, launched in 1995 by the Episcopalian Bishop William Swing of San Francisco, with its aim of creating a United Religions Organisation as world-partner of and besides the existing United Nations Organisation.

Is it also not the time for the multitude of existing peace promoting organisations and also for the national and international interfaith organisations to follow the example of the economic world and to live up to and apply their basis doctrine of "care, love and compassion", to achieve this union in collaboration, even by necessary mergers of the existing organisations ? Only from such union in collaboration can there emerge a sufficiently strong authoritative one-voice-forum towards more peace-achieving measures, and in the religious world the creation of something like the United Religions Organisation, as an acceptable and worthy partner for the political authorities represented in the United Nations.

*      *      *      *      *

Lucien F. Cosijns, Mortsel, Belgium                                                         December 1999
Tel.: 32 (0)3-455.6880                              Fax: 32 (0)3-232.6825                          E-mail: L.F.Cosijns@...    

Internet homepage: http://user.online.be/interfaith_guidelines

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heading Symbols :
Buddhism, Baha'i, Aboriginal Traditions, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism,
Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, Sikhism

PS: the religions symbols in the heading seem not ot be downloadable yet.

Sincerely yours,

Lucien F. Cosijns
Pr. Poppestraat 44
B-2640 Mortsel, BELGIUM
Tel.: 32 3-455.6880
Fax : from 99.11.01.: -232.6825
E-mail: L.F.Cosijns@...
Homepage: http://user.online.be/interfaith_guidelines
(!!!please note underscore : ...interfaith_guidelines ...)

Media Statement


           The bloodshed and destruction in
           Chechnya continue unabated

           by Abdul Basir
           7 January 2000

           Russia's bloody military campaign in Chechnya has entered its
fourth month. The
           indiscriminate and disproportionate artillery and air
bombardment of cities and villages
           continue unabated. Thousands of civilians have lost their
lives, tens of thousands have fled
           their homes and tens of thousands more are trapped in war
zones with little food enduring
           the round-the-clock bombardment by Russian forces.

           The war has caused irreparable physical destruction in
Chechnya. Entire towns and villages
           have been levelled to the ground. Schools, hospitals, markets
and office buildings have
           been pillaged.

           Reports from Chechnya tell of civilian massacres by  Russian
troops in areas captured from
           Chechen fighters. A videotape smuggled out from Alkhan-Yurt a
village near Grozny shows
           distraught villagers with tales of summary execution,
truckloads of looted goods and burned
           and pillaged homes. 23 civilians were gunned down by Russian
troops in this village.

           There are tens of thousands of civilians still trapped inside
Grozny spending their day and
           night in cellar rooms without adequate food and water under
the heavy artillery and air
           bombardment. Those who have fled the fighting to neighbouring
Ingushetia have received
           meagre attention from international  relief agencies. In order
to cover up the atrocities in
           Chechnya, the Russians have not allowed the aid agencies to
enter the region.

           Ironically, all the repression and genocide in Chechnya have
not been enough to compel
           the international community to act. The United Nations, the
United States, the European
           Union and the Organisation of Islamic Conference have been
disgracefully silent. They have
           allowed the Russian voluntary army to perpetrate a genocide of
gigantic proportions.

           Undoubtedly, the shameful silence, over atrocities in
Chechnya, by the big powers smacks
           of double standards and favouritism in their defence of human
rights. They act only when
           their national interest is at stake. Hence, the ethnic
conflicts, wars and famines that fall
           outside their sphere of national and international interest go
unaddressed.

           In 1994 Russia launched the first wave of its military
offensive in Chechnya. The operation
           lasted three years resulting in the killings of tens of
thousands of  Chechens, mostly
           civilians. According to General Lebed, the head of the Russian
delegation who brokered the
           peace deal between Chechnya and Russia, between 70,000 to
90,000 people lost their
           lives and some 240,000 were wounded or maimed. James Collins,
a US State Department
           official, in his testimony given to the Helsinki Commission on
January 27, 1997, cited
           estimates of 455,000 persons displaced by the fighting, of
whom some 260,000 were in
           Chechnya proper, 130,000 in Ingushetia, 45,000 in Daghestan
and 20,000 elsewhere.

           The big powers kept silent throughout the war calling it an
internal Russian matter. And
           their disgraceful silence still continues.

           One should bear in mind that the protection of human rights is
not a matter of choice.
           Everyone's basic rights have to be defended and honoured at
all times and in all countries.
           Religious, ideological, ethnic and cultural differences must
not stop us from protecting the
           rights of innocent people. We are all a single humanity. As
there is no one among us who
           is less 'human', the protection of no one's rights should be
considered less important.


           The International Movement for a Just World urges the
international community to raise
           their voice and take decisive action in the defence of human
rights in Chechnya. The UN,
           the US and the European Union have the moral responsibility to
stop Russia from causing
           further death and destruction in Chechnya. Like any other
human beings, Chechens have
           the right to live.



           Abdul Basir is an Executive Officer in the International
Movement for a Just World

January 11/2000--

[...]

Buddhist Thailand resumed executions in 1996 after a 9-year break.

Last year, 17 inmates were tied blindfolded to a cross-shaped wooden
frame at Bangkok's Bang Khwang maximum security prison and shot to death
by machinegun. Another inmate was executed by the same method last week.

Amnesty International Thailand and 3 other rights bodies on Tuesday
urged Thailand to abolish the death penalty.

"Execution by any means -- machinegun, poison injection, hanging, or
electric chair -- is against human rights principles and does not aim to
solve problems at the root cause," they said in a joint statement.

(source:  Reuters)

Dear friends,

Please find forwarded a note from David Grant, Coordinator, Nonviolence
Education & Training Program
International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR).  If you have any
comments on the subject that he posed, please feel free to do so directly
to him.  Thank you.

In peace,

Panadda

International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
P.O.Box 19, Mahadthai Post Office
Bangkok 10206, THAILAND
Tel./Fax: [66-2] 433-7169
INEB Website: www.bpf.org/ineb.html
INEB e-mail list: http://www.egroups.com/group/ineb/


----------
From: d.grant@...
To:
Subject: Peacekeeping
Date: 12 Á¡ÃÒ¤Á 2543 16:05


In English / en Français / auf Deutsch / in Espangnol / antwoorden in
nederlands
mag ook
                 +++++++++++
Dear Colleagues,
     I have the opportunity to address the Bund für Sociale Verteidigung on
the
topic of "Large-Scale Unarmed Peacekeeping". I would like your opinion
about
this topic. We have seen the OSCE Verifiers Mission to Kosovo. How could
such an
effort really become a large-scale unarmed peacekeeping mission? Do you
have
hope that the current small-scale unarmed peace keeping missions (such as
the
Balkan Peace Teams, Christian Peacemaker Teams in Haiti and Palestine,
Forum für
Ziviler Friedensdienst, SIPAZ in Chiapas, Zones of Peace in Colombia, Peace
Brigades International and so on) can provide a model? Do you think they
can
grow into large-scale?
     Thank you for your time on this topic.

  Chers collègues,
      L'organisation Association pour la défense sociale (Bund für Sociale
Verteidigung) m'a invité à  présenter mes vues sur le thème des " Forces de
paix
non-armées, déployées à une grande échelle".  Je voudrais solliciter votre
avis
sur ce sujet.  Nous avons eu la mission des vérificateurs de l'OSCE au
Kosovo.
Comment un tel effort pourrait-il se transformer en véritable mission de
paix à
grande échelle?  Avez-vous l'espoir que les missions de paix non-armées
actuelles - encore de petite envergure - (telles que les Balkan Peace
Teams,
Christian Peacemaker Teams in Haiti and Palestine, SIPAZ à Chiapas, Zones
of
Peace à Colombia, Peace Brigades International, les sessions de formation
du
Forum für Ziviler Friedensdienst et ainsi de suite) peuvent nous fournir un
modèle?  Pensez-vous qu'elles pourront se développer à une grande échelle?

     Merci de bien vouloir partager vos réflexions sur ce sujet.

Liebe KollegInnen,
     Ich habe die Gelegenheit, beim Bund für Soziale Verteidigung zum Thema
"Großangelegte unbewaffnete Friedenserhaltung" zu sprechen. Ich möchte Sie
um
Ihre Meinung zu diesem Thema ersuchen. Wir kennen die OSCE Mission im
Kosovo.
Wie könnte ein derartiger Einsatz wirklich zu einer großangelegten Mission
zur
unbewaffneten Friedenserhaltung werden? Glauben Sie, daß gegenwärtige
punktuelle
Missionen für unbewaffnete Friedenserhaltung (wie die Balkan Peace Teams,
Christliche Friedensdienste, Forum für Zivilen Friedensdienst, SIPAZ in
Chiapas,
Zones of Peace in Colombia, Peace Brigades International  etc. ) als Modell
dienen könnten?
     Herzlichen Dank für Ihre Zeit, die Sie sich hierfür nehmen.

Estimados colegas,

     Tengo la oportunidad de dirigirme a la Asociación para la Defensa
Social
(Bund für Sociale Verteidigung) en el asunto de "Mantenimiento de Paz
No-Armado
a gran escala". Quisiera pedirles su opinión sobre este asunto. Conocemos
la
misión de los verificadores de OCSE en el Kosovo. ¿Cómo podría tal esfuerzo
realmente convertirse en una misión de mantenimiento de paz no-armado a
gran
escala? ¿Ustedes tienen la esperanza que las actuales misiones de paz
no-armadas
de escala reducida (tales como Balkan Peace Teams, SIPAZ, Brigadas
Internacionales de Paz, por ejemplo en Colombia, Christian Peacemaker
Teams,
etc.) puedan representar un modelo? ¿Piensan que puedan funcionar en gran
escala?
     Gracias por el tiempo que dedican a este asunto.

<:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:>
David Grant, Coordinator <d.grant@...>
Nonviolence Education & Training Program
International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR)
Spoorstraat 38 / 1815 BK Alkmaar / Netherlands
Fax: +31-72 515 1102 / Tel: +31-72 512 3014
Website: http://www.ifor.org
<:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:>

P.S. The new IFOR catalogue of resources is now available at
http://www.ifor.org/
P.s.  Le nouveau catalogue des ressources d'IFOR est maintenant disponible
à
http://www.ifor.org /
     Bangwe: Nonviolence Training in Africa is there (in English now, in
French
soon).
     Bangwe:  La formation de Nonviolence en Afrique est là (en anglais
maintenant, en français bientôt).

----------

Dear friends,

Please be informed that I will be away from the office for the INEB's
Executive Committtee (EC) from Jan. 24-28 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I will leave for Chiang Mai tomorrow evening (Fri. Jan. 21) so that I can
take care fo a few logistics beforehands.

The EC members who will be present at the meeting are:
1. Rev. Alan Senauke, BPF, USA
2. Jill Jameson, BPF, Sydney
3. Ouyporn Khuankaew, INEB Women and Gender Program Coordinator
4. Ven. Sumanalankar Mahathero, Parbatya Bouddha Mission, Bangladesh
5. Hkun Okker, Pa-O group, Thailand
6. A. Sulak Sivaraksa - joining on Jan. 28.

Main agenda will be realistic discussions on INEB vision, strategy,
programs, and organizational requirements.

Sorry for being brief for now.  However, we will report to you on the
results of the meeting and will ask for your inputs and comments
afterwards.

Thank you for understanding and future cooperation.

In peace,

Panadda

International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
P.O.Box 19, Mahadthai Post Office
Bangkok 10206, THAILAND
Tel./Fax: [66-2] 433-7169
INEB Website: www.bpf.org/ineb.html
INEB e-mail list: http://www.egroups.com/group/ineb/

Bettie Lou Beets has an execution date of Feb. 24, 2000. Her address is
below. Please write to her to give her words of encouragement.

Bettie Lou Beets #810
Mountain View Unit D.R.
2305 Ransom Rd.
Gatesville, TX 76528

How is Governor Bush going to handle questioning about the certain  execution of
a 62 year old
great-grandmother with white hair and a lovely smile who has been deaf since
childhood?

Bettie Beets was so hearing impaired at her trial that she had trouble following
it. She was
condemned to death by jurors who had no opportunity to hear about her  lifetime
struggles with
hearing and learning or recovering from rape and battery. The prosecution's
theory of their case
against her was that she murdered her husband for money.

Here is the front page of a booklet I put together for Bettie for
Domestic Violence Month. The booklet was her contribution to the
struggle to end violence against women. I will send the additional pages
in an attachment.

Mary Robinson in Austin

>From Darkness to Light

Time is running out.

While this story of part of my life is true and is mine, it can be told
in whole or part by the hundreds and thousands of women across our
country. So, there is not only my story but our story. We as battered
women have got to stand up and say, "It has to stop." The abuse of our
children and of us women, the domestic violence has to stop. At the same
time we must ask ourselves, "When and how? When will it end?" Mine will
end soon.

If there are those of you out there who don’t recognize my name, you
will soon for the state of Texas seeks my life. I’ve lived on women’s
death row for 14 years in the state of Texas. My time is running out and
the state of Texas will pick up where my husband left off. While the
Texas law enforcement out there did nothing to help me, it is now legal
for them to finish the job.

Records will reflect the many times I filed against him until I gave up
on them helping me. I wanted to believe they would help then; I want to
believe they won’t kill me now. My trust is in Jesus and I need your
prayers for myself, for the many abused children, the battered women who
don’t know what to do, for the many children who are paying the cost of
what we are going through.

I am sending you all a copy of a report I provided recently for the Akha
Heritage Foundation, based in Mai Sai, northern Thailand.  Although the
report refers to the situation of the Akha and other Hill Tribes in a
general sense, I provide it also as background to a critical situation
which has now developed with regard to the village of Huuh Mah Akha (Thai
pronounciation Huai Maak).

Huai Maak is located a few kms from Haen Taek, north of Doi Maesalong in
Ampour Mae Faluang District of Chaing Mai Province.  The village, which has
been located at the same site for over 70 years, is being forced to move by
the Thai Army and the Forestry Department on the basis of very dubious
allegations of tree clearing and watershed pollution.  The deadline for
this forced removal is January 30th 2000.

Many people are trying to prevent this removal as well as to change the
attitude of the Thai government towards the Hill Tribes.  Please help if
you can by sending letters to the Thai Ambassador in your country, the Thai
government and anyone else you can think of!

AKHA VISIT 1999

During July/August 1999 I was able to visit northern Thailand and meet
Matthew McDaniel of the Akha Foundation.  I was very impressed by the
various activities being undertaken by the Foundation, and also very
alarmed by the situation of the Akha in Thailand at the present time.

I initially contacted Matthew in early/mid 1999 after several months of
reading his Akha newsletter which is posted on various internet bulletin
boards.  I am presently undertaking a Ph.D. in the area of the recognition
of indigenous knowledge systems, (or the lack thereof), in promoting plant
biodiversity conservation within the very problematic context of
'development'.  Matthew's internet newsletter caught my eye as he seemed to
be grappling with many of the same problems that concern me and was
obviously trying to come up with some alternatives to conventional western
style development.

Matthew gave me a good introductory talk about the situation of the Akha.
Much of this information can be found on the Akha Foundation homepage,
though not in such detail.  Matthew then took me to several villages so
that I could see for myself what was happening.

I have occasionally seen responses to Matthew's newsletters and comments
questioning his view that the current situation is one of crisis.
Unfortunately, I have to confirm his belief that, basically,  the Hill
Tribe cultures are under siege and I can assure everyone that Matthew's
reports do not exaggerate in any way the urgency of the situation.

However, I want to make clear that the following is based on my own
interpretation of what I saw and learned, based on my own background as
someone who has very deep reservations about the whole concept of
'development' as defined and created by western culture.  I don't pretend
to have an easy answer or a new whizz-bang alternative.  However, I believe
that we need to question the whole concept of 'development', as indeed many
are already doing, and try to evolve some new ways of sharing wealth,
constructive technology, knowledge systems and so on.

Having said that, back to northern Thailand.  Under the guise of
'development' and 'modernisation' there appears to be a policy on the part
of the Thai government to systematically dismantle Hill Tribe cultures.  My
ongoing research suggests that there are a number of reasons for this.

Thailand operates a very old-fashioned, assimilationist policy aimed at
bringing the Hill Tribes into the 'mainstream' Thai culture.  As a white
Australian, the very idea of assimilationism makes my hair curl!  Maybe
some people mean well by wanting others to assimilate.  A lot of the time
however, assimilationism is just another way of saying 'your culture is
crap, ours is better so take it up or else, because we're not going to
allow any space for you to be different'.  In other words, it leads
inexorably to cultural genocide and the Australian Aboriginals have
educated us about the extreme injustice and arrogance of this!

The land that should belong to the Hill Tribes (but which doesn't legally
as they have no 'land rights' or citizenship status) could be 'better' used
by the Thai government and/or Thai farmers.  Without going into the various
rights and wrongs of this, or the situation of impoverished Thai farmers,
suffice to say that some very lucrative plantation deals, tourism ventures
etc are in the offing if only those Hill Tribes weren't cluttering up the
place!  The situation regarding tourism is interesting though: the Thai
government is faced with some very awkward dilemmas here, given the big
boom in Hill Tribe Treks-more later. The issue is also further complicated
by drug smuggling and associated army agendas and this too has been used as
a pretext to dismantle Hill Tribe cultures and depopulate the highlands.

The need to be active (or at least appear to be active) in the field of
biodiversity conservation and agricultural reform.  This has become a major
interest of various heavy duty aid and development agencies (World Bank,
IMF, Asian Development Bank etc).  Thailand is faced with some very
embarrassing past history in this area, e.g. systematic destruction of
their once widespread forest resources facilitated by official corruption
and lack of good governance to mention only one.

Unfortunately, it has now proved convenient to scapegoat the Hill Tribes
and to claim that deforestation, soil erosion, stream siltation and
numerous other environmental ills are caused by their agricultural
practices, one of which is shifting cultivation.  The possibility that
these people may have valuable indigenous knowledge about their surrounding
ecosystems and to have developed production systems suited to their
environment is never mentioned or acknowledged.

This scapegoating the hill tribes for the problem of deforestation is very
widespread.  I visited the Hill Tribe Museums in both Chaing Mai and Chaing
Rai.  Both feature display information panels that put the blame for
deforestation squarely on the shoulders of the Hill Tribes.  No mention is
made of government sponsored logging, illegal logging and the corrupt
practices of the past and present which persist even though logging was
banned in the early 90's, and which in any case simply shifted the rape of
the forests into Laos, Burma and Cambodia.

While it is undoubtedly true that shifting cultivation becomes less
sustainable as population increases, there have been no recent demographic
studies to clearly demonstrate that the hill tribe populations have
increased or by how much.  This is another claim of the government: that
the Hill Tribe populations are increasing at a rapid rate.  Whether or not
this is actually true needs to be properly researched.

In relation to the putative effects of land clearing, in the course of my
research I have found evidence that a major contributor to stream siltation
in northern Thailand is, in fact, roadbuilding.  While travelling to and
from the villages I saw many examples of road building practices that were
nothing short of environmental vandalism on a monumental scale: these
really have to be seen to be believed! No environmental impact studies had
been undertaken, no proper/best practice guidelines exist in any meaningful
context and road building proceeds with complete and absolute disregard of
the surrounding environment.  The government is undertaking a massive
roadbuilding programme to facilitate both trade and tourism, especially
tourist access into ever remoter areas as part of the 'Hill Tribe Trek'
phenomenon.

In this way, the government is faced with a dilemma: one the one hand, it
wants the land the Hill Tribes are living on to create lucrative
plantations. The plantations are usually pines and eucalypts and clearing
of indigenous forest to plant them is common.  This is usually justified by
the claim that the areas were already degraded (by, you guessed it, Hill
Tribes).  Indeed, the Forestry Dept's definition of
re-aforestation/revegetation seems to consist entirely of planting with
exotic plantation species.  Deals with Chinese interests for enormous joint
plantation projects were being announced in the Thai media while I was
there.

I am presently seeking information on development funding for
're-afforestation' and revegetation in Thailand.  Do the donors know, for
example, what is really happening?

On the other hand, tourism is a mainstay of the Thai economy, especially
during hard times such as the recent Asian economic crisis.  Hill Tribe
Treks are the most recent BIG thing and so there is a need to maintain some
villages.  However, many of the selling points of the treks are that the
villages visited are 'unspoiled, remote, intact indigenous cultures etc'
and so there is a need to keep pushing into ever more remote areas, to
build more and more roads (bigger to accommodate bigger coaches) and so on.
It isn't hard to see that this is completely unsustainable.

However, tourism aside, the overall policy is undoubtedly to move the Hill
Tribes off the mountains.  Once moved, the people are provided with little
or nothing in the way of services and facilities.  The situation concerning
water is particularly critical and underscores the apparent reluctance of
the Thai government to provide even the most basis infrastructure. This is
in contradiction to the stated policy of the government, which partly
justifies the moving of people in order to better provide for their basic
needs in the areas of education, utilities and health care.

The real situation however, is very different.  I saw several villages that
Akha had been moved to which were not even provided with a source of water.
Health care is an unobtainable dream and there are many well documented
cases of Hill Tribe people being mistreated or ignored by health workers
who view them as undeserving ignorant savages.

One of the things that the Akha Heritage Foundation does is to build wells.
I saw several excellent wells, constantly in use, that Matthew had helped
to build.  However, it seemed absurd to me (and very revealing) that
Matthew is undertaking such basic infrastructure works which by any
standards should be provided by the government.

Moving villages has numerous consequences for the people involved.  They
are always moved downwards, sometimes even to flat land which Akha are not
used to, and the change in altitude can affect the health of both the
people and their livestock.  Loss of livestock means less protein.

The forced removals seriously disrupt the traditional agricultural
production cycles which also leads to dietary problems and malnutrition.
Common ailments among Akha babies, eg congenital heart problems, are often
blamed on dietary deficiency on the part of the mothers.  This is usually
blamed on the eating of white rice but there can be no doubt that overall
protein deficiency is a major contributor.  This in turn has increased
pressure on the wildlife of the forests, notably barking deer and birds
(which are noticeably absent due to heavy hunting).  Added to this is the
aggressive marketing of MSG (monosodium glutamate) in Thailand,
particularly among the Hill Tribes.  All this adds up to very serious
dietary problems.

In short, and to be very blunt, it was hard to come to any other conclusion
except that the Thai government is undertaking a deliberate policy of
cultural genocide, dressed up in old-fashioned assimilationist language, or
under the guise of environmental protection or development.

The Thai Forestry Department bears no resemblance to what most other
forestry workers would recognise as comprising best practice forestry
management.  It would be more appropriate to call it the Department of
Logging and Plantations, and indeed you sometimes hear this said jokingly
when referring to the Forestry Dept.

The use of the environmental protection motive to attack Hill Tribes is
particularly invidious and hypocritical given the otherwise complete lack
of commitment on the part of the Thai government to undertake proper
natural resource management in the forests of the north.  There are no
inventories of natural resources and no programmes to manage the forests in
a sustainable manner and no scientific (western or otherwise) standards
applied.  The rich store of Akha and other Hill Tribe lore concerning the
forests is completely ignored in the face of logging and plantation
pressures.

In reaction to this very negative government approach, the Hill Tribes are
in the very embryonic phase of organising themselves to protect their
culture and knowledge.  This is made additionally difficult due to the
influence of the Christian missionaries, who always seem to initiate their
entry into a village by telling the people that their own culture and
religious beliefs are wrong (often described as 'devil worship') and must
be given up.  In Christian invaded villages it is unusual to see women
wearing headdresses (which are enormously significant components of women's
cultural lives) and in some villages there are only older women present, as
the missionaries encourage the younger women and girls to leave the village.

The reason given for this is to save them from 'devil worship', abuse by
the males of the village, and for purposes of education.  The fact that
many of these removed women and girls end up as prostitutes is an
interesting phenomenon that requires further investigation. This removal of
younger women has a devastating effect on the age structure of villages,
the production cycles, social interactions, marriage prospects and so on.

The Thai government maintains a hands-off approach to these Christian
activities but it isn't hard to see that this cultural disruption aids and
abets the government's covert aim of gradually dismantling Hill Tribe
culture and removing them altogether from the mountains of northern
Thailand.  Cultural demoralisation will simply make it that much easier.

In relation to this missionary activity, I will be honest and say that I
personally have never been able to understand the zeal that lies behind
thinking that you have the right to go to someone's else's culture and
carry out this kind of activity.  I can understand compassion and
generosity but not the colonial mentality that says that you should give up
your 'devil-worshipping' ways (as defined by me) and take up my system of
beliefs.  I found it very interesting that Matthew views this as a human
rights issue and my conclusion is that he is right.  I think that this will
become a big issue in the near future as increasing numbers of indigenous
peoples gain the confidence to challenge what is, after all, a direct
attack on their basic human right to adhere to their own system of beliefs.
In addition, I think that extreme fundamentalist evangelicism and
missionary zeal will be recognised as the mental illness it undoubtedly is.

In relation to the missionaries in northern Thailand, I tried hard to find
examples of good works but failed.  I wanted to give them the benefit of
the doubt, but found only a weird kind of ignorant fundamentalist empire
building whereby the missionaries are happy to build a big church on the
highest point of a village that doesn't even have a well!  The role of
these missionaries in the destruction of Hill Tribe culture should not be
underestimated.

In relation to tourism, I would urge everyone reading this to keep in mind
the following if you ever visit northern Thailand and consider going on a
'Hill Tribe Trek'.  These treks are the latest fad and often dressed up as
'ecotourism'.  Inquiries quickly reveal, however, that local tribespeople
gain little benefit from these treks and suffer considerable disruption to
their village life and privacy.  In addition, remember that the popularity
of treks has encouraged the government to increase road building and other
means of access into ever more previously remote villages.

Conclusion
So, sorry to be talking doom and gloom but this IS a crisis situation.
It's only by knowing the truth and challenging what is happening that we
can help the Hill Tribes who are starting to get organised to challenge
these attacks on their culture and to have the right to make decisions
about their future for themselves.

My experience helped me realise that Hill Tribe cultures (and other
cultures in general) are incalculable treasures.  We may not all agree on
everything and there's always room for dialogue, discussion and even
argument and disagreement.  After all, no-one's culture remains the same
forever (if it does you're in trouble).  The important thing is who gets to
decide, how much respect you're given and how much space is available for
difference to exist.  In Thailand at the present time, that space is
apparently almost non-existent.


Ali Ben Kahn
B.A.; M.Env.Stud.; Grad. Dip. Outdoor Ed. & Outdoor L'dship.
Dept Social Inquiry
University of Adelaide
South Australia
(ali.benkahn@...)

I am a plant ecologist and conservation biologist presently doing a PhD
Degree at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.  My research field
is the acknowledgment and application of indigenous knowledge in plant
conservation as part of the development process.  This reflects my
interests in several areas, mainly plant conservation and natural resource
management, cultural diversity and the alternative development movement
which is critical of the importation of western values, economics and
knowledge systems into other cultures.

I have worked for many years as an environmental activist and am presently
Vice President of the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia, the
state's pre-eminent science based community biodiversity and nature
conservation organisation.  I also sit on several state statutory bodies
dealing with issues pertaining to conservation and/or natural resource
management.  I am a practicing Mahayana Buddhist and a member of the
International Network of Engaged Buddhists.  I have traveled extensively,
especially in Africa, where I lived in Zimbabwe in the late 80's.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
(Ms) Ali Ben Kahn
Department of Social Inquiry
University of Adelaide, SA, 5005
Ph: (08) 8303 3351 (wk); (08) 8449 9379 (hm)

Dear friends,

Please find below a request for urgent appeal from Asian Center for the
Progress of Peoples based in Hong Kong

In peace,

Panadda

International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
P.O.Box 19, Mahadthai Post Office
Bangkok 10206, THAILAND
Tel./Fax: [66-2] 433-7169
INEB Website: www.bpf.org/ineb.html
INEB e-mail list: http://www.egroups.com/group/ineb/

----------

> From: acpp <acpp@...>
> To: Hotline Asia - ACPP <acpp@...>
> Subject: Urgent Appeal (2): India
> Date: 31 Á¡ÃÒ¤Á 2543 17:08
>
> HOTLINE ASIA
> URGENT APPEALS
> UA 000131(2)
>
> STOP KOODANKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT IN TAMIL NADU STATE
> INDIA
> January 31, 2000
>
> SUMMARY OF ISSUE
>
> The Indian Government decided to commission two Russian designed
> (VVER-1000/392) nuclear plants on the east coast of Southern India at
> Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu State.  Both local people and the
> international community expressed their deep concern on the safety of
> the nuclear plants as well as their effects on livelihood, health and
> environment.  Starting early this year, hundred of organisations and
> individuals have been collecting signatures for a petition letter on the
> Koodankulam nuclear power project and they will shortly send it to the
> Indian Government to seek their cancellation of the project.
>
> ACTION REQUESTED
>
> Write to express your support for the local and international
> communities' concern about the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project and the
> damages it might cause, asking the government to cancel the entire
> project.
>
> Address:
> The Honourable Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee,
> 150 South Block, New Delhi, 110-004, India
> Fax: 91-11-301-6857 / 91-11-301-9545 / 91-11-301-8906
>
> Please send copies to:
>
> 1. The Honourable Minister for Power and Non-Conventional Energy Sources
>
> 20 Shram Shakti Bhavan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110-001
> Fax: 91-11-371-7519
>
> 2. The Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Government Secretariat,
> St. George Fort, Madras 600-005   Fax 91-44-235-0570
>
> 3. Diplomatic representatives of India in your country
>
> Sample Letter:
>
> We write with deep concern about the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project
> that is going ahead despite public sentiment against it.  We write to
> express our support for local people and the international community who
> have called for an end to the project due to the damage it may cause to
> the entire Indian sub-continent. We humbly suggest that the government
> should accept the public opinion to cancel the entire project.
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> In November 1988, then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and then India
> Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signed the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project
> deal in Delhi.  It is important to note that this agreement came within
> just two years of the nightmarish Chernobyl accident that occurred on
> April 26, 1986 with disastrous consequences. Several opponents organised
> a massive rally against this project.  The Koodankulam project was
> shelved during 1989-1991 due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the
> death of Rajiv Gandhi.
>
> In March 1997, Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Russian
> President Boris Yeltsin signed an agreement, a supplement to the 1988
> agreement, to commission a detailed project report on Koodankulam
> project.  According to the deal, Russia would deliver two Russian
> designed standard high-pressure VVER-1000 water-cooled and
> water-moderated reactors that would produce 1,000 Megawatt of power per
> unit.
>
> Since November 1998, Russian and Indian nuclear engineers have started
> working on a $57 million Detailed Project Report.  The reactors are
> expected to be ready by 2006 and the cost would be roughly $3.1 billion.
>
> In November 1999, opponents of the Koodankulam project decided to revive
> the local struggle against it.   Since the beginning of January 2000,
> several hundred organisations and individuals around the world have been
> sending pettition to the Indian and Russian authorities to scrap the
> Koodankulam nuclear power project.  The followings are reasons for the
> petition:
>
> (1) Unresolved technical and safety questions:
> The Russian VVER-1000/392 design will be the first of its type anywhere
> in the world. Therefore, India and Koodankulam will be the testing
> ground for it.  The safety of the design is unproven.  Several technical
> problems are set out by the International Atomic Energy Agency in a
> publication named "Issues Book" such as a possibility that the steel
> reactor vessel may crack; the control rods (used to control the nuclear
> reactor) may fail to insert properly during an emergency; or small tubes
> in the plant's steam-generators may fail and lead to uncontrollable
> leakage or radioactivity.  These accidents had happened in many nuclear
> plants in Russia, Eastern Europe and France. Anti-nuclear activists
> believe that there is no reactor design and no reactor type that
> presents acceptable levels of risk for the society as a whole, and the
> consequences of any accident will last for hundreds of thousands of
> years.
>
> (2) Livelihood and health impact:
> The temperature rise of the sea at Koodankulam is bound to affect
> fishing and the discharge of radioactive pollutants into the sea will
> damage the health and the environment of the people there.  Experience
> shows that while the Madras Atomic Power Plant at Kalpakam near Madras
> runs and discharges to sea at its present capacity of 350 Megawatt, the
> sea water temperature rises from 85 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  As a
> result, the fishermen at Kalpakam are able to catch only dead fish.
> Moreover, it is claimed that radiation from the nuclear waste discharge
> has already damaged the health of the people and the environment at
> Kalpakam cost.  If 350 MW could inflict such a damage at Kalpakam, what
> would be the fate of the fishermen and their environment at Koodankulam
> when a 2000 Megawatt nuclear plant goes into operation?
>
> (3) Contaminated under-ground water:
> The additional fuel processing needed for feeding the Koodankulam
> nuclear plant would further pollute the already polluted under-ground
> water belt in Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. While
> processing the fuel for the other existing nuclear plant, the Nuclear
> Fuel Complex (NFC) is discharging daily 50,000 tons of nuclear waste
> water and this radioactive discharge has already polluted the
> under-ground water belt upto 10 kilometres radius around the NFC. The
> Department of Atomic Energy itself has warned the people who live near
> NFC to not drink well water. If the present fuel processing has already
> polluted the underground water belt at Hyderabad, what will be the
> situation at Hyderabad if additional fuel for Koodankulam is to be
> processed?
>
> (4)  Escalating cost and project delayed:
> VVER-1000 projects in Eastern Europe suffer from unreasonable escalating
> costs and hence have become the subject of great controversy and strong
> opposition. The Temelin nuclear plant in the Czech Republic is currently
> three years late in start-up, and the cost escalation is expected to be
> over US$1billion. According to recent Czech government reports, it will
> be delayed at least another 2 years and another US$1.2billion in cost
> overrun. It is quite possible that the Temelin VVER project will
> collapse.  If this happened, it will be an undesirable drain of India's
> hard-earn revenue.  The cost will be an avoidable burden on future
> generations.
>
> (5)  Does the Indian people need the Koodankulam nuclear power plant?
> India is blessed with rivers. The utilisation of hydro potential of
> India is not even 25 percent. By constructing small and medium size
> hydro-power plants, one could get not only electrical power but also,
> irrigation, drinking water, navigation, fisheries and damage to the
> environment will be negligible. On the other hand, nuclear power plants
> pollute the environment with dangerous radiation, the effect of which
> remains for thousands of years threatening all forms of life on earth.
> By avoiding the costly Koodankulam project, India could also find funds
> for developing alternate sources of energy such as solar, wind and tidal
> power. Therefore, a relevant question is whether any nuclear reactor
> development of this kind is in the interests of the Indian people?
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> Kata Lee
> Project Coordinator
> Hotline Asia
>
> Please remember to send copies of your letters to Hotline Asia for
> monitoring purpose.  Thank You for Your Continued Support!!
>
> Hotline is a service for Justice and Peace irrespective of class, race,
> religion, culture and political affiliation.  We issue "Urgent appeals"
> (UAs) on request from our network.  As you receive UAs free, we welcome
> contributions towards postage costs.
>
> `````````````````````````````````````````````````````
> Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples
> 52 Princess Margaret Road, 1/F, Kowloon, Hong Kong
> Tel: (852) 2712 3989 / 2714 5123
> Fax: (852) 2711 3545
> E-mail: acpp@...

Dear friends,

Please find forwarded a message from the International Tibet Independence
Movement.

In peace,

Panadda

International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
P.O.Box 19, Mahadthai Post Office
Bangkok 10206, THAILAND
Tel./Fax: [66-2] 433-7169
INEB Website: www.bpf.org/ineb.html
INEB e-mail list: http://www.egroups.com/group/ineb/


----------
From: Rangzen@...
To:
Cc: Rangzen@...
Subject: Tibet Walk2000
Date: 24 Á¡ÃÒ¤Á 2543 6:02

Dear Tibet Supporters,

Tashi Delek and a very Happy New Year and upcoming Losar! Before I share
with
you the reason for this message, I want to apologize to anyone who has
already received this posting.

On behalf of the Tibetan Association of Northern California, Tibetan
Association of Southern California, Los Angeles Friends of Tibet, San Diego

Friends of Tibet, Bay
Area Friends of Tibet, and the International Tibet Independence Movement
(coordinating organizations), I am very pleased to inform you of a major
event we are planning for this coming Spring. We will be coordinating two
“Walks for Tibet's Independence.” Beginning on April 25, the 11th Birthday
of
Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, The Panchen Lama, one group of individuals will
start
walking from San Francisco, California to Los Angeles, California. This
450+
mile walk will take approximately 60 days. At this point, this walk will be

led by L. Pema Lhundup (General Secretary, Tibetan Youth Congress & one of
the 1999 hunger strikers in Geneva, Switzerland), Ani Palchen Dolma (Former

political prisoner & author of The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun),
and Venerable Yeshe Togden (President, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet).

On June 1, a second group of individuals will start walking from San Diego,

California to Los Angeles. This 180+ mile walk will be led by a Tibetan Nun

and Tibetan Monk and the San Diego Friends of Tibet. Both walks will end at

the same time on June 24 in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles,
right before His Holiness The Dalai Lama offers a teaching in downtown Los
Angeles on June 25.

Why are we walking?
----Because Tibet Belongs to Tibetans
----For the Tibetans in Tibet
----To educate people about the situation in Tibet
----To dialogue with Chinese individuals about the history & current
situation in Tibet
----To advocate for the release of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima
----To advocate for the release of other Tibetan prisoners
----To ask China to negotiate with no preconditions with the Tibetan
Government In-Exile
----For Tibet, Eastern Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, and Taiwan’s
independence

We strongly believe that our previous four walks were highly successful, in

part, because of the involvement and support we received from organizations

like yours from around the world. We need your help once again (a detailed
list of how you can help follows). We warmly request that you promote the
walk in your newsletter, website, and/or mailings to your membership. We
also
need you to communicate with the international and local media. Next, we
need
help recruiting Tibetan walkers. If possible, we ask that your organization

sponsor a Tibetan to come walk with us, the entire time or part of the
time.
Further, it would be very helpful if your organization could sponsor
someone
like a Monk or Nun from India, Nepal, or North America who would be willing

to walk. Having Monks and Nuns on the walk greatly enhances our message to
the public. We strongly prefer that the majority of walkers are Tibetans.
If
your organization cannot take full responsibility for sponsoring a Monk or
Nun from India or Nepal, we respectfully request that you make a financial
contribution to help us support such individuals.

In addition to helping with the recruitment of walkers, we greatly need
your
financial assistance to cover our operating expenses. These expenses
include,
for instance, postage, telephone, copying, printing, fuel and other costs
for
our support vehicles, food, technical equipment, and most importantly,
airfare and travel expenses for the Tibetans coming from India. We estimate

that it will cost $2500 to host each of these individuals. Any amount of
money that your organization could afford would be very useful and much
appreciated.

Finally, we invite your organization to Co-Sponsor this project. In 1998
when
we walked from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia (50 day
walk),
over 125 organizations co-sponsored the walk. Our goal this year is to
secure
200 Co-Sponsors (see list of current Co-Sponsors below). To be included on
the Walk Brochure, we need to know your decision about Co-Sponsorship by
February 14. We could use your help in anyway you thought appropriate (some

examples can be found below). It is very important that we show strong
international support for Tibet during this walk. One simple way to
demonstrate this is by displaying the names of the Co-Sponsors on all our
materials.

We hope that 1000s of Tibet Supporters will stand with us at The PRC
Consulate in Los Angeles at the conclusion of the walk. We also hope that
on
April 25, Tibet Supporters around the world will advocate for the release
of
the world’s youngest political prisoner, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, The Panchen

Lama.

We are confident that this project will be a great success not only in
terms
of educating people and securing their support for Tibet, but also
obtaining
major media attention for the cause. We trust that your organization will
once again be inspired to support the “March for Tibet’s Independence.” It
is
absolutely essential that we all keep up the momentum for a Free Tibet in
the
year 2000. Thank you again for your previous support! I look forward to
hearing from you very soon and walking with you. Please contact me if you
have any questions about this project or our request.

Bhod Rangzen!, Larry Gerstein
President, International Tibet Independence Movement
rangzen@...; www.rangzen.com
317-579-9015 phone; 317-579-0914 fax

How to help?
1. Have your organization support the walk as a Co-Sponsor. Any way that
your
organization can contribute/support would be acceptable.
2. Assist with promotions and media coverage, including publishing an
announcement of this walk in appropriate newsletters and mailings.
3. Provide a link to our website.
4. Walk with us for any part of the route.
5. Sponsor a walker. Ideally, we want more Tibetans on the walk then
Westerners. The core group of walkers will be about 15 people. Thus, 8-10
Tibetans are needed for each walk. Any Tibetans that could be sponsored for

all the walk or parts of the walk would be appreciated. Obviously, we
welcome
all and any Tibetans who can participate. In 1998, groups of Tibetans
joined
us each weekend. This was very inspiring and we hope it will happen again.
We
also welcome sponsorship of Westerners who could walk for any part of the
route. We estimate that a walker will need $1,000 for living expenses
during
the entire walk.
6. Sponsor meals for the walkers each day ($10 per walker or $150 for all
the
walkers).
7. Walk with us on April 25 to celebrate Gendhun Choekyi Nyima’s Birthday
and
raise awareness of His detention for the past five years.
8. Assist with recruiting high profile individuals (e.g., Monks, Nuns,
entertainers, authors, scholars, religious leaders, government officials)
who
would be willing to walk part or all of the route (e.g., a day, weekend).
We
plan to bring Tibetan Monks and Nuns from India to take part in each walk.
This will be quite expensive ($2,500 per person to cover airfare and living

expenses) and we need assistance with this.
9. Arrange housing (floor space is definitely OK) along the route for about

15-25 people.
10. Arrange presentations at educational institutions and/or community
groups
along the route.
10. Contribute $1 for each day of the walk.
11. Coordinate your own March for Tibet’s Independence--even a one-day
event.
12. Contribute any amount you can afford.

Send Financial Contributions to:
International Tibet Independence Movement
PO Box 592
Fishers, Indiana 46038-0592
United States

Co-Sponsors (as of January 22, 2000)
Bay Area Friends of Tibet
Canada Tibet Committee
Citizens Against Communist Chinese Propaganda
Colorado Friends of Tibet
Committee of 100 for Tibet
Formosan Human Rights Association
International Campaign for Tibet
International Tibet Independence Movement
Jews Against Genocide
Los Angeles Friends of Tibet
Milarepa Fund
Orange County Friends of Tibet
Princeton Friends of Tibet
Quiet Mountain
San Diego Friends of Tibet
Students for a Free Tibet
The Centre For World Studies
Tibet Environmental Watch
Tibet Online
Tibetan Association of Northern California
Tibetan Association of Southern California
Tibetan Association of Washington
Tibetan Nuns Project
Tibetan Youth Congress
TIBETWestMichigan
U.S. Tibet Committee
World Artists for Tibet

History of ITIM Walks
1995 Bloomington to Indianapolis, Indiana (one week; 70 miles)
1996 Washington, D.C. to New York City (45 days; 300+ miles)
1997 Toronto, Canada to New York City (3 months; 650+ miles)
1998 Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia (48 days; 350 miles)
----------

1.      We request you to make a note of the change in our phone numbers from February 03,2000.

                                New Nos

                        35 36 198 ( office)

                        35 36 960 ( office)

                        35 37 700 ( Telefax  Director)

1.      Our Email & Web addresses are :

Email :                 isisj@...

                        or/and  

                office@...

Web:            www.isi-blr.org

With warm regards

Yours truly,

Saravanan

International Movement for a Just World
 

Commentary: AMMAN TO CAPETOWN: ON THE INTERFAITH TRAIL
 
 
---------------------
Statements and Articles:
 

Dear Pannada,

I just received your resent INEB attachements in good order, and could
open and print them without problems. Thank you very much for your
effort!

Best wishes,

Hans van Willenswaard