Join me tomorrow!

I'm going to join the gathering tomorrow, want to join me? Here is all the information you need, emailed to my by Barbra from Peace P.R.O. and Heart Space, as well as Bridgett Whyte:

On Tue morning, 6 December 2011
we are calling a CROWD gathering outside the High Court, and a PARADE to the Court (details in time line)

WHY: In support of the Dalai Lama entering South Africa and our Constitutional Rights! (Official statement below)

http://www.facebook.com/events/239050599491517/

Timeline:

• 8am Court Case begins
• 9:30am
  Paint & Dress up in Company Gardens begins
  (Please call Lauren 082 498 1069 if need be)
• 11am
  CROWD Gathering outside High Court begins
  Company Gardens - distribution of placards.
• 11:30am
  All leave Company Gardens for High Court(Crowd) & Green Market Square(Parade), gather in front of Church. (CNN & other media arrives from now - 2pm)
• 11:45am
  Call in Green market Square begins - Drums & all welcome
• 12pm PARADE leaves Green market Square (bring colour/flags/banners and musical instruments)
• 12:20-30
  Parade arrives outside Court
• 12:30am
  Sacred Sound, Dance and Storytelling on the streets, SPEECHES and FEEDBACK from Court, National & International Media interviews
• 1pm
  'Prayer for Peace' Link-up!

(We've been asked to have a presence which grows outside the High Court between 11:30am & 2pm. the Advocates take their lunch break during this time, so will all be coming out of Court, then Re-entering in this time.)

INVITED SPEAKERS:

• Rev John Olive (Interfaith) -
• Ian Mac Farlane
• Gary Eisenberg & John Smith (Advocates who will be in Court)
• Human Rights Commission
• Desmond Tutu Peace Centre
• representatives of the Hon M. Lekota, MP
• representatives of Prince Buthelezi
• and others still to be confirmed (see updates)

(media: call Barbra 083 367 3624)

"On the 6th December 2011 the High Court of South Africa will hear an application to order the Government to allow the Dalai Lama to enter S.A. and to stop barring him from us! The unlawful barring of the Dalai Lama is against our Constitutional Rights of Association, Religious & Political expression, and echoes the old practice of apartheid: barring those whom the regime did not like.."

We have been invited to Parade & Gather in our many colours!

Come Earth Dancers, Come Troubadoure, Come Rainbow Warriors, Come Occupy Groups, Come Artists All, Come Green Faire'ers, Come speakers & Storytellers!... Let us create a Heart Space outside the court and speak with the people of our country and the World! We parade in Full Rainbow Colour, bring your toys, your musical instruments, invite your friends... We have been Called! Is is a personal invitation.. Come stand for our amazing Constitutional Rights, for the Rights of the people of Earth & for The Rights of the Earth Planet

REMARKS TO THE DEMONSTRATORS for tuesday 6th

Thank you all for being here today. By being here each of you is supporting the statement that democracy belongs to everyone and we all share an equal measure of responsibility to protect it.

We live in a democracy shaped by the Constitution.  Under the Constitution, the courts are the final venue for democracy is protected, where wrongs are righted and where those who have been deprived of a voice can finally be heard and their grievances redressed.

We all know that by barring the entry of the Dalai Lama, our Government did wrong. We have come here, to this court, to put it right. Your presence here today signifies that the Government wronged much more than the Dalai Lama himself.  The Government wronged all South African citizens who cared about associating with the Dalai Lama and receiving his religious and inspirational message.  In so doing, our Government violated our constitutional freedoms of associations, religion and political activity.

There is something else that on this occasion we must redress through our collective actions.  In fact, our Government did more than breaching our constitutional rights. It acted in a manner which belittled the dignity of our Republic and its institutions.

When two years ago our Government barred the Dalai Lama, it took the position that it never refused the Dalai Lama a visa because, it said, the Dalai Lama had not applied. It turned out that the Dalai Lama had tried to apply four times and his attempts to submit his applications were wrongfully rejected.  We are here to express our contempt towards a Government which resorts to such untruths to justify its misdeeds.

This was two years ago.  On the most recent occasion our Government conducted itself with similar lack of decency. The Minister of Home Affairs has stated under oath that she did not refuse a visa to the Dalai Lama but that rather just had no time to process his visa application. Yet the Dalai Lama went to apply for a visa four months in advance and was told that it was too early and to come back after two months.  His application remained with the Minister of Home Affairs for two months and was withdrawn only after it became too late for the Dalai Lama to travel to South Africa in time to attend Archbishop Tutu’s 80th birthday and meet with Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi on the following day.

This ducking and diving, these juvenile excuses, these untruths are unbecoming of a democratic government of a respectable country.

All facts about the Dalai Lama are universally known and are well known to our Government because the Dalai Lama has applied for visas on several occasions.  He received several entry visas until three years ago. Therefore, the decision of whether to issue him a visa should not take more than a day. By delaying as much as she did, the Minister of Home Affairs denied the Dalai Lama a visa without the courage or the decency of openly admitting having done so.

We are here today to state this misconduct is not only unlawful and required to be corrected by the courts, but is also contrary to how we expect our government to behave.  If our government can deal in this manner in respect of a Nobel Peace Laureate who is universally recognized as a champion of goodwill, nonviolence and reconciliation, what constraints will our Government respect when dealing with us all?  We are here to demand respect for the Dalai Lama but also to protect ourselves and our freedom from this and any future Government.

Thank you for making this important statement.  Your statement today will be heard and not forgot.

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self- interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others – even our enemies – is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women

• to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion
• to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate
• to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures
• to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity
• to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings – even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in a polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and peaceful global community.