ETAN at 20
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On December 10, ETAN
began celebrating our 20th anniversary. Inspired by news
of the Santa Cruz massacre, a small group in New York
began meeting. On the 10th we held a small picket at the
Indonesian Permanent Mission to the United Nations,
publicly launching what was to become ETAN, which soon
expanded into a nationwide organization.
Over the coming year, we
will publish here reminiscences, testimonials and other
reflections on the activities and role of ETAN and
international solidarity. These are only part of the
story, we would love to read yours. We urge you to
contribute your reflections on the role solidarity over
the past two decades and in the coming years.
If you can only send something brief now, that would be
great. We would love to get a longer reflection later.
Send your reflections and comments to etan@etan.org.
Please let us know if you have any questions. If you
have any photographs, audio or videos of ETAN
activities, we would love to have them. Please let us
know, so we can make arrangements.
The reflections linked from this page are the
author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of
ETAN.
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ETAN's Charles Scheiner reflects on
Santa Cruz massacre and solidarity (November 12, 2011)
John M. Miller - Reflecting on ETAN at
20 (December 10, 2011)
Press Release and Report from first demonstration at
Indonesia Mission to the UN (Dec 9-11, 1991)
Allan Nairn speaks
on ETAN, Santa Cruz Massacre, Occupy Wall Street and more
(January 2012, New York City)
In two talks,
Nairn spoke about the successful movement to support East
Timor's self-determination and restrict U.S. military assistance to
Indonesia and its significance for Occupy Wall Street and today's
global movements for justice.Watch
the video here
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Comments, Reflections and
Reminiscences |
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more to
come |
Short Takes
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Esther Anderson
(Australia)
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Carmel Budiardjo (Britain)
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Jude Conway
(Australia)
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Bob
Crane (Canada)
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Barbara
DiTomasso (USA)
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Maire Leadbeater
(Aotearoa/New Zealand)
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Mary
Anne Mercer (USA)
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Sr.Monica Nakamura
(Japan)
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Constancio Pinto (Timor-Leste)
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Carlos Semedo (France)
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Max White
(USA)
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I first encountered ETAN in 1993, soon
after my exile from Timor-Leste, and I am deeply familiar with
ETAN's 20-year record of solidarity activity. I have long been
impressed by ETAN's capacity to mobilize internationals and its
commitment to working in equal partnership with Timorese and
with Timorese organizations. ETAN is strictly non-partisan. It
has always taken seriously its commitment to Timor's
self-determination. ETAN has in-depth knowledge of Timor-Leste's
reality and history. ETAN observed the 1999 referendum that
brought Timor-Leste to independence and has been present at
every Timorese election since. -
Constancio
Pinto, Timor-Leste Ambassador to the United States
What did make the
difference was the emergence of ETAN/US in the solidarity
movement in December 1991. We all know, and it was immediately
obvious at the time, that the Santa Cruz massacre was a
watershed moment in the solidarity struggle. I think Indonesia,
which believed it had effectively won and succeeded in
suppressing the issue, was taken by surprise and started by
underestimating the importance of the media coverage of this
massacre. It did not realise that this coverage brought new
blood to the solidarity movement, people who were not "burned
out" by years of slowly losing the battle. -
Bruno Kahn, France
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Help ETAN
celebrate our 20th Anniversary. Donate today! |
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With your help, we can put ETAN on a firmer footing for the
future.
Please give generously in this anniversary year. In doing so,
you can help strengthen
ETAN to meet the challenges of the coming years.
Read Noam Chomsky on 20 years of ETAN
Credit card, U.S.-tax deductible and other donation
options here
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 I am very happy to join you in
celebrating your 20th anniversary. ETAN has been in the
forefront of global campaigning in support of the tireless
struggle of the people of East Timor. It has kept us all
informed of everything happening to the people of East Timor
and pointing us in the direction of what needs to be done.
Campaigning to end Indonesia's brutal
occupation of East Timor inspired many groups of activists
here in the UK where it was closely linked to the campaign
to end British arms sales to the Indonesian dictatorial
regime. For many years, East Timor was one of the foremost
issues among human rights activists and NGOs in the UK which
also had a major impact in reinforcing concerns about human
rights in general across the country.
We in TAPOL salute ETAN on its 20th
anniversary and hope that we together, acting in solidarity
with the people of Timor-Leste as they build a new country
and at the same time press for an end to impunity to ensure
that the many military personnel who perpetrated crimes
against humanity against the Timorese people during the
occupation are brought to account.
Carmel Budiardjo,
TAPOL
Britain
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See also
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