AVAAZ - "Stand with Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama"

Dear friends,

The global outcry over Tibet is rising fast - In just 5 days, 751,472 of us from 192 countries have come together to call for restraint and dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Even more amazing, we have told over 5 million of our friends about this important campaign - that's 1 million people per day!

A personal email from a friend is a powerful thing – it is helping to drive the global tide of concern. Let's push now to tell 5 million more friends, get over 1 million signatures this week, and deliver the largest global online petition in history to the Chinese government. Just forward the email below to a few more friends and family with a personal note from you…

------------------

Dear friends,

After decades of repression, the Tibetan people are crying out to the world for change. The spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games is now on China, and Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner the Dalai Lama is calling to end all riots and violence through restraint and dialogue--he urgently needs the support of the world's people.

China's hardliners are lashing out publicly at the Dalai Lama--but we're told that President Hu Jintao may believe dialogue is the best hope for stability in Tibet. China's leadership is right now considering a crucial choice between repression and dialogue that could determine Tibet's--and China's--future.

We can affect this historic choice – for President Hu, China's global reputation matters. 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. We're closing on our goal of 1 million signatures and the largest global online petition in history - click below to join the global outcry, and then forward this email to friends and family right away:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/51.php?cl=65998452

China's economy is dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and the government is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new and respected China. China is also a sprawling, diverse country with much brutality in its past, so it has good reasons to be concerned about stability -- some of Tibet's rioters killed innocent people. But President Hu must recognize that the greatest danger to Chinese stability and development today comes from hardliners who advocate escalating repression, not from those Tibetans seeking dialogue and reform.

We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese officials in New York, London and Beijing, but it we must reach our goal of 1 million signatures first. Please forward this email to your address book with a note explaining to your friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-friend tool to email your address book--it will come up after you sign.

The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for decades. It is finally their moment to speak--we must help them be heard.

With hope and respect,

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

Here are some links with more information on the Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:

Crackdown in Tibet, but protests spreading:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/19/tibet.china
and
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/crackdown-on-protests-widens/2008/03/17/1205602289349.html

Dalai Lama calling for dialogue and restraint, and an end to violence:
http://www.dalailama.com/news.216.htm
and
http://www.agi.it/world/news/200803191258-pol-ren0032-art.html

Leaders across Europe and Asia starting to back dialogue as the way forward:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7300157.stm

Chinese Prime Minister attacks "Dalai clique", leaves door open for talks:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/18/content_7813194.htm

Other Chinese signals:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/China_looks_at_India_to_talk_to_Dalai_Lama/articleshow/2875142.cms
-----------


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!

Students for a Free Tibet

Today, March 24th, China lit its 2008 Olympic Torch at Ancient Olympia in Greece, marking the first day of Beijing's "Journey of Harmony." Meanwhile, for Tibetans inside Tibet, the situation is far from harmonious as they continue to resist the Chinese government's brutal military crackdown. Chinese authorities are hoping that the torch relay kickoff will divert the world's attention from its repression in Tibet. But they're wrong. The chorus calling for an end to the repression is growing. And people everywhere are demanding immediate removal of Tibet from the Olympic torch relay. If the IOC allows the Olympic torch to be carried through Tibet, the Chinese government will inevitably continue - and likely escalate - its repression of Tibetans, using brutal force and mass arrests in order to ensure a successful propaganda exercise. But we can do something about it. Please contact your National Olympic Committee (NOC) today and ask them to urge the IOC to immediately remove Tibet from the Torch Relay Route. You'll find contact information for your country's NOC here: http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/noc/. Tell them that under current conditions, allowing the torch to go through Tibet would make the IOC complicit in China's assault on Tibetans. At the bottom of this message are more talking points and a sample letter/email. We're doing everything we can to make sure we're being heard. Almost exactly 11 months after lighting a Tibetan freedom torch on Mt. Everest to protest the torch coming to Tibet, SFT's Deputy Director Tenzin Dorjee is in Olympia today during the Olympic torch lighting to let them know we're keeping up the pressure. SFT held a jam-packed press conference last night and our mere presence in Olympia has authorities bristling. China's long flexed arm showed itself when Tendor was detained and searched as he entered Greece, and he and other Tibet activists continue to be harassed. It was bad enough that China had hoped to use the Olympic torch, a symbol of freedom, to attempt to legitimize its rule in Tibet. Now, with the people across Tibet rising up and demanding their freedom, the stakes are even higher as the Chinese government looks to seize any excuse to continue its military crackdown against Tibetans. Please, contact your National Olympic Committee today and urge them to voice their concerns to the IOC about this urgent issue. Your National Olympic Committee (NOC) not only represents your country's Olympic athletes, they represent your nation as well. Find the contact information for your country's NOC here. Call them. Email them. Send them a letter. It's simple. Just tell them "no torch through Tibet." More talking points and a sample letter/email is below. For up-to-date information on the situation inside Tibet please continue to monitor SFT's website and the SFT blog. Tibet Will be Free. The SFT HQ crew -- Use the following talking points as a guideline when calling your NOC or drafting your own letter: > Say you would like to leave a message with the President of the NOC. > If the Torch goes through Tibet it will likely cause further unrest, which would result in another heavy-handed crackdown and consequently more arrests, torture, and loss of life. > On humanitarian grounds alone, it is inconceivable that the Torch relay pass through Tibet at this time. > Please urge the IOC to immediately remove all Tibetan area from the Olympic torch relay route. Here is a sample email/letter: To the President of the NOC of [insert country], As a citizen concerned about fundamental respect for human rights and dignity, I am deeply concerned that the International Olympic Committee and the organizers of the Beijing games are continuing with plans to carry the Olympic torch through Tibet. Right now in Tibet, there is no freedom of speech or movement and the entire nation is under martial law. International sources report that over a hundred Tibetans have been killed and hundreds more arrested or detained. As reports spread of arbitrary arrests, house-to-house raids, killings, and even beatings of schoolchildren, it is unthinkable that the IOC would continue to move forward with 'business as usual.' Allowing the torch to be carried through Tibet will greatly escalate tensions, giving the Chinese government an excuse to continue its violent crackdown, which will undoubtedly lead to more detentions and deaths.Allowing the torch through Tibet would indelibly tarnish not only the 2008 Olympics but the Olympic movement. The Olympic torch relay should be a celebration that unites people, not a propaganda exercise in which one people seeks to assert its dominance over another. Tibetan people everywhere have made it clear that they do not want the Olympic torch to pass through their borders. The Chinese government's fervent desire to see the torch pass through Tibet is politically motivated, aimed at saving face despite the widespread protests, and asserting its sovereignty over Tibet. I urge you to place the needs of the Tibetan people and the values of the Olympic movement ahead of the Chinese authorities' desire to project an image of power and invincibility. Please immediately appeal to the the IOC to withdraw the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the Tibetan provinces of Amdo and Kham - now annexed into China's Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu - from the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay route. People, athletes and governments of conscience worldwide have responded with an outpouring of support for Tibetans inside Tibet. Please join us in saying "no torch through Tibet." Thank you. Sincerely,

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. Tell-a-friend!

If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Students for a Free Tibet's Online Action Center.

Día Internacional por la Libertad de Expresión en Internet

Iniciativa convocada por primera vez por la Unesco y Reporteros sin Fronteras

Durante 24 horas, desde este miércoles a las 11 horas, hasta el jueves 13 de marzo.

Principales censores: Birmania, China, Corea del Norte, Cuba, Egipto, Eritrea, Túnez, Turkmenistán y Vietnam.