If you are
from the United States and are planning to go for the anniversary
please let ETAN know.
Send
us a note.
Timor-Leste ten years after the
referendum
Come celebrate our solidarity and strategize
how to achieve justice and genuine self-determination
Dili, May 2009
Dear Solidarity Friends,
Warm Greetings from Dili, Timor-Leste!
As you know, this year will mark the 10th anniversary (30 August 2009)
of the independence referendum of Timor-Leste. It is indeed a good
moment for all of us who were involved in the Timorese cause for many
years, to commemorate it with a great joy along with our fellow Timorese
in Timor-Leste and elsewhere.
To celebrate the anniversary, we are organizing a number of activities,
mainly in Dili, during August and early September 2009. We hope to
recreate and strengthen the strong sense of solidarity among activists
from around the world, including Timorese and people from other
countries. Some of us live in Timor-Leste or visit regularly; others may
not have been here for a decade, or perhaps never.
We will reflect on and strengthen the victories and friendships during
the long struggle against Indonesian occupation that gave people here
and around the world so much hope a decade ago. Learning from the past
and building on our experiences, we also will explore how we can work
with Timor-Leste's people to address the challenges facing this
ten-year-old nation, trying to overcome a legacy of trauma, repression,
colonialism, poverty, impunity and underdevelopment in an increasingly
interdependent world.
We invite you to join these events not as a guest or visitor, but, in
the spirit of solidarity, as hosts and organizers, sharing ideas,
responsibilities and collective work not only in August but in the years
to come.
We hope that you will share your joy with us in Timor-Leste this August.
Although we are not able to provide financial support for travel to
Timor-Leste, we will try to make your stay here as comfortable,
interesting and Timorese as possible.
Please send your feedback, ideas and suggestions to timorsolidarity@gmail.com.
We look forward to hearing that you are coming, and will keep you
informed as developments progress. Check our website
www.laohamutuk.org/solidarity/index.htm for the latest information.
A luta continua!
Charles Scheiner
Abe Barreto Soares
Sisto dos Santos
on behalf of the organizing Committee, which includes dozens of
activists from Timor-Leste and around the world.
================
see
www.laohamutuk.org/solidarity/index.htm for the
proposed schedule and updates.