Losar Pledge: Because I am Tibetan

This Losar, Tibetans are making a pledge to do something once a week – or once a day – to strengthen Tibetan identity and to weaken China’s control over Tibet.

Fill out the pledge form or add as a comment below and your pledge will be added.

“I pledge to translate inspiring quotes from other freedom movements to share with Tibetans once a week on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.”
- Tenzin (Tendor) Dorjee

“Because I am Tibetan, this Losar I pledge to study/practice Tibetan 1 hr per day.”
- Lhadon Tethong

“This Losar 2137, I pledge to honor my Tibetan heritage and wear chuba once every week. It will be my Tibetan Wednesday, my day of remembrance of my culture, my people, and our struggle.”
- Tenzin Dolkar

I pledge to support any effort for a FREE TIBET till the last breath of my life.
- Nawang Lhautara

I will speak in Tibetan at home and with my friends!
- Tenzin Dechen (Berkely, CA)

This Losar, I pledge to make more of an effort to learn and speak my language, Tibetan, so that when we return to Tibet, I’ll be able to communicate with my fellow brothers and sisters.
- Tenzin Lobsang (Toronto, Canada)

This Losar I pledge to write at least one persuasive letter to a government official, informing them on the macabre situation taking place in Tibet, and encouraging them to take action to support Tibet.
- Tenzin Lhanze (United States)

Because I am a Tibetan, I pledge to do my “shandon” (Reciting tibetan prayer books) everyday.
- Jigme Namgyal (United Kingdom)

This losar, I pledge to pray every morning for my country TIBET to get our rangzen back soon and will read more books about Tibet.
BOD GYAL LO!
- Tenzin Dolma

I am sorry to say that as Tibetan, I don’t even know Tibetan. This Losar, I pledge to learn the language.
- Namgyal

I plan to try to speak in Tibetan to all my Tibetan friends.
Also, I will/am having a soup and discussion on Tibet at my college.
I am going to a class to talk about Tibet.
Bhod Gyalo!
- Ngawang Gonsar (Duluth, MN)

PLEASE IF YOU ARE TIBETAN, PLEASE DON’T CELEBERATE THIS NEW YEAR AGAIN,PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY NOT TO CELEBERATE THIS IS A TIME TO STAND TOGETHER & MAKE OUR COUNTRY FREE, DON’T GIVE UP, EVERY THING IS POSSIBLE, YES WE CAN MAKE OUR COUNTRY FREE ONEDAY, LOVE YOU ALL….LONG LIVE H H THE DALAI LAMA….
- Norbu Samdup (New York, USA)

This Losar, as a family, we pledge to practise the rich traditions of Tibet every day.  We pledge to always be mindful of being  Tibetan and to become ambassadors of Tibet.  We pledge never to bring harm to the Tibetan name.
We will celebrate Losar because we are Tibetans.
- Nyima Gyaltsen (Canada)

I pledge to make sure my daughter learns to read and speak Tibetan, and I will continue to Tibet work for always.
- Jordhen (Canada)

Being a tibetan,pledge to learn the language more effectively and all prayers to those BRAVO who have laid their lives for all the tibetans.
- Tenzin Donsal (Bylakuppe)

I pledge to speak only in Tibetan to those who understand Tibetan.
- Tenzin Jigme

This Losar I pledge to spread and inform the sufferings of Tibetan inside Tibet  from cruel chinese regime.
- Tenzin C Woesung

BECAUSE I AM TIBETAN…This Losar 2137, I pledge to speak Tibetan as much as possible with my Tibetan fellow brothers and sisters and continue to learn about the rich history of my beautiful home,Tibet.
- Nawa Dolker (Madison, WI, USA)

This Losar I pledge to celebrate by honoring my father who always tried to make me read his books, listen to his songs, and play various Tibetan instruments; for the first time in my life I see why he did so.
- Tsetan Dolqar (Madison)

this losar i pledge to honor great tibetan culture and pray daily specially for tibetans inside tibet who are mistreated by red chinese every single day.                                                                                                                                                    – Tsering (Delhi)

I will say ” bod gyalo” every morning when I wake up and pray for the eternal peace of the Tibetans living under Chinese pressure without any freedom when I go to sleep.
- Ugen

This Tibetan Losar, being a Tibetan, I pledge to study and practice Tibetan atleast Twice a week.
- Lobsang Topgyal (Bangalore India)

My Losar Pledge is to keep our national struggle to continue and to remember myself those Tibetan lost their lives under Chinese rule. I am not going to Celebrate this Losar because to known so many our people got killed under Chinese rule and many of them staying under suffering day and night in Chinese prison. We know people in Tibet given their lives for freedom, we tibetan living in free country not celebrating Losar for two years nothing. I feel this is one way to show our solidarity.

I really appreciated all your good works for our struggle.
- Lobsang Rabsel (India)

i will keep my identity of being a tibetan and lets fire at the Chinese authority to know that i am a tibetan….
- younten phuntsok (bangalore)

Because I am Tibetan, I will learn to have more tolerance and compassion for others every day. Peace to the world!
- Chodak Hunter (England)

this year losar, i pledge to study Japanese two hours per day and will present how much our brothers and sisters are struggling under Chinese rule.
- Nima Bhuti

I pledge to study very hard for the cause of Tibet.
- Dega (Class V Dharamsala, India)

To remind students under my guidance and care the tragedy that is TIBET and motivate them that Pen is truly mightier than sword 24*12.
- Tenzin Tsultrim

Display the Tibetan flag where ever i can, house, car, work and on my bag. Study and learn my prayer to vanquish all suffering and ignorance.
- Rapten Chhoyang (Toronto, Canada)

I have pledged with my family members, five of us ( two boys and a girl all over 20yrs, self and my wife) that we will speak in Tibetan within the family and to other Tibetans hence forth.
- Ngodup Tsering (Albany, CA)

My family is participating in a clothing drive instead of buying new clothes for Losar
- Theresa Dhondup

Because I am Tibetan I pledge to embrace my culture to the fullest once a week.
-Tenzin Tsangyang

Because i am a Tibetan I wil let my children watch Tibet related movies/ documentaries on every Fridays instead of going out for a Hollywood movie.
- Norbu (Olympia, WA)

This Losar I pledge to do more for the people inside Tibet!
- Leda Nornang (New York)

i pledge to honor my Tibetan heritage and wear chuba, eat tsampa, never lie like chinese ccp leader. you know like who? hu jintao. correctttttttt…free tibet. tibet will never die..down with ccp.
- sonam tsering (astoria new york)

I Pledge to spread the Tibetan culture and heritage to my International friends more often.
- kunzang (Monterey, CA)

This Losar, I pledge to work towards representing my country in all aspects. Firstly, As a member of the Tibetan Volunteers for Animals (New York) i will make every effort to strengthen our cause and uphold the name of Tibet. Secondly, i will continue to learn more about what the tibetan buddhism has to offer. Lastly, i will make an effort to speak in tibetan with all my fellow tibetans.
- tenzin kunsang (new york)

This year, I pledge to share stories of Tibetans through my writing. I pledge to study, trace and experience the exile’s trek my grandparents and parents made. I pledge to continue learning my language and never give up on Rangzen.
- Tsering Lama (New York)

I’ve always thought of reading and writing more in Tibetan, but always the thought slipped away. This Losar, I pledge that I will make this happen. Bhod Gyalo!
Tenzin Choedon (India)

I pledge to keep the Tibetan Freedom Movement alive by doing it on the daily basis not every March 10th and eat momos at the Tibetan restaurants.
- Tenzin Jampa Samdo (Cambridge, MA)

My resolution for the coming Losar is to restart reading old school prayer book once in month as i am afraid if i ever forget those.
- Kyipa (Milano, Italy)

Because I am Tibetan, this losar I pledge to learn Tibetan an hour a day.
- Dolma Lhamo

Losar – Because I am Tibetan, I pledge to study and deepen my knowledge about Tibet’s Political History, which is very much needed for Tibetans, struggling for their independence. …. Bodh Gyalo
- kunchok Sangpo (Delhi-SFT)

Losar – Because I am Tibetan, I pledge to study and deepen my knowledge about TIbet’s Political History, which is very much needed for Tibetans struggling for their independence. Bodh Gyalo.
-kunchok sangpo (Delhi-SFT)

i pledge to do what ever i can in the smallest sense for my country TIBET.
- karma (cheannai, india)

I pledge to prostrate 13 times every day.
3 for Lord Buddha and 10 for our struggle.
- Tseten Anak

i pledge i shall talk in pure tibetan,no hindi,english,
urdu,marathi,nepali,french in between when i talk in
tibetan.
but for those word there is no translation in tibetan.
i am not going to create new of my own.
with our permission i am going to use as it is.
- tenzin chokdup (india)

i pledge to read more books written in Tibetan languages,so that i can preserve my precious mother language.And gonna pray for free Tibet whenever i visit Boudhanath  stupa.
- tenzin tenpa (kathmandu)

Always always Speak Tibetan at home. Obsewrve Tibetans festvals and any kind of tibetan ceremonies. Wear Chupa during the gathers or when we go to stupas.                                                                                                                                                           – lhakpa Dolma (USA)

Whenever and where ever i get the opportunity to introduce myself, I am going to mention clearly that i am a Tibetan because there are still many people who have not even heard of Tibet. And it hurts.
- Sonam Diki

I pledge I shall talk in pure Tibetan, no Hindi, English, Urdu, Marathi, Nepali or French in between when I talk in Tibetan. For those words that there is no translation in Tibetan, I am not going to create my own, with our permission I am going to use as it is.
- Tenzin Chokdup (India)

I pledge to read more books written in Tibetan languages, so that i can preserve my precious mother language. And gonna pray for free Tibet whenever i visit Boudhanath stupa.
- Tenzin Tenpa (Kathmandu)

Always always speak Tibetan at home. Observe Tibetan’s festivals and any kind of Tibetan ceremonies. Wear Chupa during the gathers or when we go to stupas.
- Ihakpa Dolma (USA)

I will try to spread the word.
- Hala

Whenever and where ever i get the opportunity to introduce myself, I am going to mention clearly that i am a Tibetan because there are still many people who have not even heard of Tibet. And it hurts.
- Sonam Diki

I love Tibet. I love my land. I am Tibetan because I love my Tibetan sisters and brothers. I never forget Tibet.
- Maria Dobrucka

I pledge not to mix English with my spoken Tibetan.
-Tenzin Dhongyal

I will seat and meditate one hour per day, follow practice.
- Rafael

བོད་རྒྱལ་ལོ།2137   ལོ་གསར་པའི་དམ་བཅའ།
My Pledge for Losar 2137:-
ལོ་འདི་ནས་བཟུང། ངས་རང་ཉིད་དང་རང་གི་ཁྱིམ་ཚང་གི་དོན་དུ་ཇི་ཙམ་བསམ་པ་དེ་ཙམ་དུ་ངས་རང་གི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་”བོད་”འདིའི་དོན་དུ་སེམས་འཁུར་བྱ་རྒྱུའི་དམ་བཅའ་བཞག་ཡོད།
I pledge to think about our Country “TIBET” as much as I think and thought for my Family and Myself.
འདི་ལོ་ནས་བཟུང། ངས་རང་ཉིད་ཀྱི་ཉིན་རེའི་ཕྱག་ཚོད་24 ལས་ཉུང་མཐར་ཕྱག་ཚོད་1  ནས་2   བར་རང་གི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་”བོད་”དང༌བོད་ཀྱི་རིག་གཞུང་། རང་གི་ཤ་ཁྲག་གཅིག་པའི་བོད་མི་རིགས་ཀྱི་ཆེད་དུ་གཏོང་རྒྱུའི་དམ་བཅའ་བཞག་ཡོད།
I pledge to spend atlest 1-2 hrs of 24 hrs of day working for TIBE & TIBETAN.
རང་ཉིད་རང་དབང་དང་རང་བཙན་མེད་པའི་མི་རིགས་གཅིག་ཡིན་ནའང་། ད་བར་བདེ་སྐྱིད་ངང་འགྲོ་བ་མིའི་ཐོབ་ཐང་དང༌། རང་ངོ་རང་ཤེས། རང་འགན་རང་འཁུར་བཅས་གྱི་བསམ་ཤེས་ཐུབ་པ་ཙམ་མ་ཟད། དངོས་སུ་ལོངས་སུ་སྤྱོད་རྒྱུའི་གོ་སྐབས་བཟང་པོ་རག་པ་འདི། གོང་ས་ཐམས་ཅད་མཁྱེན་པ་སྐྱབས་མགོན་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་དང༌བོད་གཞུང་གི་བཀའ་དྲིན་དང༌། བོད་ཀྱི་རིག་གཞུང་བཟང་པོ་དང་ལྷག་བསམ་ལྡན་པའི་བོད་མི་རིགས་ཀྱིས་སྨོན་ལམ་ཉག་ཅིག་ལས་བྱུང་བ་ཡིན་པས། ངས། ལོ་ནས་བཟུང་རང་ཉིད་ཀྱི་མ་འོངས་པའི་མི་ཚེ་གང་པོ་དེ་རང་གི་རྒྱབ་”བོད་”དང་བོད་ཀྱི་རིག་གཞུང༌། མི་རིགས་བཅས་ཀྱི་མདུན་ལམ་བཟང་པོའི་ཆེད་དུ་ཞབས་ཞུ་བྱ་རྒྱུའི་དམ་བཅའ་བཞག་ཡོད།

I pledge to serve/dedicate my future-life for TIBET & TIBETS CULTURE & TIBETAN community, because I am borne as TIBEATN and I believe, what I am now is by the grace of His Holiness the Dalai and Tibetan Exile in Government. རེས་གཟའ་ཉི་མ།  ཕྱི་ལོ།2010   ཟླ།02  ཚེས།14    ལོ་གསར་ཚེས་1    ཉིན།   Date: Sunday, 14th Feb 2010 (Losar 1st Day)
- Dr. Dranyi Dawa Tsering

I pledge to read and learn on Tibetan history once in week.
- Kunchok (USA)

Click here for more suggested actions to take in the lead up to and on Losar. Tibet supporters are also pledging to take action for Tibet this coming year, view pledges here.

Losar Pledge: Because I support Tibet

This Losar, Tibetans are making a pledge to do something once a week – or once a day – to strengthen Tibetan identity and to weaken China’s control over Tibet. View pledges here.

If you are a Tibet supporter, please  also consider pledging to take a specific action for Tibet in the coming year.
Fill out the pledge form or add as a comment below and your pledge will be added.

Click here for more suggested actions to take in observance of Losar.

For the next year, I pledge to call my elected representatives once a month about Tibet.
- Kate Woznow

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
- Schuyler Swenson

This year I pledge to increase my monthly Rangzen Circle donation to help support Tibetan freedom.
- Melanie Raoul

This year, I pledge to compile grassroots training & workshop manuals to empower and train as many young Tibet activists as possible.
- Chand Didi

I will urge my friends to buy less Chinese made goods. This will hurt China where it counts: It’s pocket book!
- L’oS

I pledge to do what I can in the way of fundraising and raising awareness.
- Danielle (Brazil)

I’m Tibetan in spirit because I stand with the oppressed and in my heart I know that China will stop. I pledge to spread awareness and love.
- Ron M (Altedena, USA)

I pledge to learn something new about Tibet every week and to hold an outreach event in my community once a month to spread awareness about the Tibetan cause.
- Hillary Levin (Baltimore, USA)

I pledge to continue to clearly and outrightly show my support of Tibet and Tibetans on a a weekly and often daily basis as  Ido now. I plan to spend more time with my Tibetan friends and support them any time they ask for it in any way! Happy Losar!
- Greg. (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)

Because I support Tibet…I pray for the good health and long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
- Jennifer Zahgkuni

I pledge to promote the cause of a truly autonomous Tibet on facebook and elsewhere on the internet as well as among people unfamiliar with the situation in Tibet.
- nick pearson

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends about the importance of an independent Tibet by utilizing social networking sites like Facebook to share information about what is happening in Tibet.
I also pledge to gently and compassionately remind my state representatives as well as the President of their obligation to take action against human rights violations in Tibet.
Just like South Africa (my homeland) I believe that Tibet will be free!
- Lesley-Reid Harrison (Santa Cruz, CA, USA)

This year I will make sure to attend the March 10 vigil outside the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, as well as continue lobbying my representatives on behalf of Tibet.
- Ayn Lowry (Berkeley, California, USA)

I’m gonna Free Tibet!
- Dan Haig

Pour la prochaine année, je partagerai aux gens autour de moi ma grande affection pour le Tibet, mes amis tibétains en exil et la cause de l’indépendance tibétaine, afin que l’on n’oublie pas.
- Elise Landriault-Dupont (Montréal, Québec)

I pledge to send the Tibetans my prayers and energy to free them from the chinese aggressors.
- Josef Pepa Nos (Czech Republic)

This year I’ll keep on giving voice to Tibetan cause here in Portugal! Peace for Tibet, China, and all the World!
- Mário Correia

Jai Shri Dali Lama Ki Jai. Jai Shri Panchen Lama Ki Jai
- Rene Varma (Calgary, Canada)

I plan to take action for Tibet and Tibetans in 2010.
- Christina Fong

Tibet should be independent.
- Lil Judd (Los Angeles, CA. USA)

Furthering my support of the Tibetan cause, and human rights in general.
- Jared Toogood

i pledge to support Tibet
- heidi wollum (gothenburg, sweden)

I pledge to go on with my work to support the Tibetan people and especially the children. Right now we are supporting 37 children and families in India.
See our website : www.tibetanchildrensfund.org
I wish you all a happy Losar and hope the strength of a tiger will benefit the Tibetan people with their struggle against the Chinese government.
- MS.Hermien Jalink (Helmond, Netherlads)

I pledge to be a positive aspect to Tibet. I can not be comfortable when so many suffer…
- Di Agee (Portland, OR USA)

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet. Since I don`t have money to donate, I will work extra hard at spreading the word about Tibet & it`s fight for Freedom.
Thank you, John W. Blalock
- John W. Blalock (Williston,FL. USA)

I support all Tibetan students to be strong and belive all is coming to change soon, a free Tibet!
We see and know whats going on the world know and alot of people care.
Greed always have to die soner or later, as the world is today Mother Earth react strongly when she is abused…..structures have to fall and be rebuilt with respect and love
Blessings m
- maria (stockholm)

I love the Tibetan people….
- Suzanne Livingston (Los Angeles, CA)

Long life to the tibetan people and cultural heritage will be replaced in their country without any further violence…
- Enzo Terzano (Italy)

I pledge to continue my efforts on Facebook, recruiting friends to the SFT cause.
- Glenn Freeman (USA)

I will continue to speak-out and donate money and time to work against the Communist Chinese oppression of Tibet, its people, culture and religion.
- Ganesh Shivananda Durgadas (Albany, the United Staes)

This year I will continue to study classical Tibetan and help keep this beautiful and meaningful language alive.
- Stirling Davenport (New York)

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
- Greg Welch (Encinitas, CA, USA)

I pledge to write letters to gain human rights to all Tibetans
- Don and Roberta Thurstin Timmerman (Park Falls WI USA)

Este año me comprometo a involucrarme en las acciones que desarrolle PET de mi comunidad, y a informar a quienes me rodean sobre lo que acontece en Tibet.
- Elba Rodríguez (Morelia, Michoacán, México)

Éste año me comprometo a reclutar y entrenar nuevos simpatizantes y activistas de la causa Tibetana tanto en mi ciudad como en América Latina (This year I pledge to recruit, and train new supporters and activistis that will work for the Tibetan cause in my country and in Latin America.)
- Exa Méndez (Mexico)

As a non-Tibetan supporter I pledge to educate, empower and mobilize my non-Tibetan friends and colleagues to take action for the Tibetan people’s struggle for freedom and independence.
- Kalaya’an Mendoza (San Francisco, CA)

This year I pledge to continue with donations and to spread the word about Tibet as often as possible, mainly with musical performances, and to finish writing a book based on the suffering in Tibet.
- Lee Billingham (Northampton)

I pledge to sign onto actions to help support Tibetians during this year.
- miriam kurland (mansfield center, ct. U.S.)

I pledge to boycott Chinese goods and encourage others to do the same. I also pledge to spread awareness of the atrocities done to the people of Tibet.
- Christian Noakes

This year I pledge to learn more of the Tibetan language and make it to all of my chapter meetings.
- Gabriel Feinstein

To keep informed and aware of the struggle for Tibetan freedom.
- Jessica Puzak

I pledge to continue being the president of Students for a Free Tibet at my university and to try my best to help bring awareness and raise funds for our cause so that we may help the people of Tibet!
- Yuliya Kuznetsova (Michigan, United States)

I Support Tibet.
- Victoria

I pledge to give more time on wednesdays to devote and learn the culture and make people aware of the situation happiing int ibet…soon we can return..free tibet now
- Hazel Loomis (Delaware ohio USA)

My deepest hope and bigest wish is Tibetans will understand the law of attraction ! To turn the situation in Tibet in the direction tibetans are wishing, they, and we, their supporters, we need to change our focus ! Because we are attracting what we are thingking, talking about, what we are feeling and doing. We need to focus on the life Tibetans wish to live! For that we need pictures and detailed describtions of the best life for Tibetans, so we can help to visualize !
The law of attraction is always working: we create what we are thinking, feeling and acting – we MUST change otherwise it will get worser and worser. Let’s focus on what thei WANT ! (and NOT what they do not want-what we are attracting now)
To understand the law of attraction, you can read many books or go to seminars or look ad websites – like: www.abraham-hicks.com. Tashi Delek, Sybil, France
- Sybil (France)

This year I pledge to continue my monthly Rangzen Circle donation to help support Tibetan freedom and to contact members of the Senate and Congress as well as the president requesting that they take a stand for a Free Tibet resident once a month or more.
- David Lynch (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

I pledge to inform all of my congression representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
- George Stadnik (New York City, USA)

I pledge to speak out against the Chinese occupation in Tibet and to educate those around me about said issue.
- Merideth Cameron (Sudbury, Canada)

This year I will keep sending articles about the nasty actions of PRC and the analisis done by the ITSN to our newspapers to teach them about Tibet cause.
- Lupita Gonzalez (Costa Rica)

Because I support the liberation of Tibet, I will continue to bring up the struggle at my weekly campus meetings and to gather support to end China’s unethical control of Tibet.
- Crystal Steltenpohl (Evansville. IN)

May all people in Tibet be free to choose their leaders and nobody destroys their millenial costumes
- arturo miguel (jiutepec, mor Mexico)

i pledge to lobby with my elected representatives to do more for tibetan independence..
- siddharth sreenivas (Bangalore, India)

This year I pledge to know more about tibet and their situation, pass it onto friends and relatives and encourage prayers for reaching a peaceful and satisfactory agreement between Tibetans and Chinese.
- Maria Jesus Casado

I promise to find new people to do action to support tibetan people
- didier diasparra

For the next year, I pledge to call my elected representatives once a month about Tibet.
- Michael Neil

I pledge to support Tibet and call on all elected officials by signing petitions, writing letters, sending emails, and telling my family and friends to support a free Tibet.
- Aneliese Krulicki (Winnipeg, Manitoba)

I predge to informe about the importance of an independent Tibet through my blog…
- Michiko

This year, i pledge to inform all my close friends,family and hopefully Singapore parliament to call upon an independent Tibet!
- Clarence (Singapore)

I pledge to contribute or collect a contribution of $1000 in 2010 and participate in every petition against the Chinese oppression in Tibet and all petitions trying to save our brave tibetans.
- Meghna (Toronto)

I pledge to raise more money for SFT this year than I did last year, and to encourage my friends and family to do the same.
- Kurt Langer (New York City)

Porque apoyo la libertad de Tibet, este nuevo año reuniré a mis amigos en acción y oración para que en todo el mundo se escuche: TIBET SERÁ LIBRE!
- Julia Bustos (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

I pledge to inform many people about the importance, necessarity to save Tibetans’s rights, culture, and to insist on its independence.
- Hidemune Azuma

I pledge to continue boycotting Chinese goods, encourage my friends to do the same, and to light a candle on the 14th. May we all wish peace for both the Chinese and Tibetan people. -Jampa Sherab-
- Stephens Sanders (Carmel, CA)

After 35 years I pledge to continue the education of others so they come to understand the history of the Tibetian people, their struggles, their treatment by the Chinese Government and their common goal to return to their homeland and live in peace. Every human being has the same desire and deserved to be left alone.
- Yvonne Scarlett

I will go to Tibet and help an active Tibetan organization and continue to bring awareness to people I meet in Korea and USA.
- Isabel (Columbia)

I pledge more activism and more spreading the word about Tibetan freedom issues.
- Amy Harlib (United States)

I will carry a picture of His Holiness at weekly peace vigil and educate people about the Tibetan independence movement.
- Rachel Baker (San Jose, Ca USA)

I pledge to spread awareness about Tibet among those I teach.
- Veronica Gonzalez (Santiago, Chile)

Este año me propongo practicar las enseñanzas de Buda y ser mejor persona para los demás, de esta manera trasmitiré la importancia de apoyar a Tibet.
- Iraís Poot (Morelia, México)

I Pledge to show my support of Tibet by writing President Obama and proudly displaying “I (heart) Tibet”.
- Jessica

This year I pledge to donate a percentage of profits from my business to Students for a Free Tibet in support of their activities to promote Tibetan freedom.
- Marta Macbeth (USA)

I pledge to put a new tibetan flag at my window so that every one who see it in the street think about Tibet and that freedom is coming …
- Hélène Bureau (France)

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
- Ron Avila (USA)

Este año me comprometo a involucrarme en las acciones que desarrolle PET de mi comunidad, y a informar a quienes me rodean sobre lo que acontece en Tibet.
- Elba Rodríguez (Morelia, Michoacán, México)

This year I pledge to write my university thesis on the human rights in Tibet, or the LACK OF them. And to make an analysis on the lack of help for TIBET.
- Monica Monterrey (Mexico)

I pledge to spread more widely the stories and informations about the Tibetan question, to make people aware of this great injustice
- Claudia (Italy)

This year I pledge to take all possible actions to inform my family, friends and students and lecturers from my university about the importance of an undependent Tibet.
- Natalia Fiszka (Gdansk, Poland)

This year I pledge support Tibet people as much as is possible.
Anna (Poland)

este año me comprometo a difundir entre mis amigos y familia la necesidad de un Tibet libre.
María Alburquerque (Madrid, España)

Puissent les dirigeants chinois comprendre que le fait de pratiquer sa religion et de parler sa propre langue permet de vivre son humanité, c’est-à-dire une vie sociale beaucoup plus vraie.
- HUGUES (FRANCE)

To continue to support Tibet in its stuggle, and to spread the word amongst friends and family
- Rachel Martin (UK)

Remain to be peacefull – and patient. Open world´s eyes. And talk again and again about Tibet.
- Inge Lein Rosenthal (Sandnes, Norway)

This year, I pledge to take part in the actions commemorating Tibetan National Uprising on March 10 and to do everything else I can do to raise Tibet awareness in Poland and to strengthen Tibetan Programme of our foundation.
- Piotr Dynowski (Warsaw, Poland)

I’m envolved with our brothers in Tibet and the new year I pledge for Freedom, Justice and Independence to this beuatiful Culture that help us to undestand Love and Peace.
- Anna Gurgel (Rio de Janeiro/Brasil)

This year I pledge, I’ll continue to inform my friends about situation in Tibet and participate in SFT actions as much as I can.
- Klemen Licen (Slovenia)

I pledge to spread out the tibetan cause as much as I can. I pledge to join the tibetan comunity in Barcelona the 14th to pray for a better year for Tibet and all sentient beings.
- Ada (Barcelona, Spain)

This year, I pledge to spread the word about the Tibetan cause on my campus; in March I will be presenting a paper at a regional conference for my History honor society that deals with British imperialism in the Himalayan region as well as the issue of China’s illegal occupation of your beautiful country.
- Jeffrey Robinson

I pledge to post things about Tibet on my Facebook at least once a week. I also pledge to make more monetary donations to help Tibet’s cause. Because I am a Tibetan Buddhist, I pledge to post quotes from His Holiness once a week on my facebook status, to enlighten my friends what Tibetan Buddhism is really about.
- Sandi Fobian (Missouri, USA)

I will continue to contact and pressure my elected officials regarding positive action for Tibet issues.
- Wendi Levy (St. Petersburg, Fl, USA)

This year I pledge to write my university thesis on the human rights in Tibet, or the LACK OF them. And to make an analysis on the lack of help for TIBET.
- Monica (Monterrey, Mexico)

Practice Dharma for the benefit of all beings and dedicate the merit for all tibetans, following closer the situation in Tibet.
- Patricio Madrigal Cauduro (Mexico)

I pledge for peace and freedom , like practically all mountain people all over the world , tibetans are madly persecuted , this has to STOP.
- Sebastien Ducimetiere (France , Haute Savoie)

To continue to sponsor children in India and to inform all of my family, friends and colleagues of the plight of the Tibetan people.
- Alan Wyke (United Kingdom)

I pledge to inform all my family, friends and state representatives about the importance of an indipendent Tibet.
- Patrizia Molinari (Italy)

This year I pledge to tell everyone I know about the happenings in and around Tibet. I also pledge to help any Tibetan groups that I can this year.
- Emily R (CO USA)

This year, I pledge to inform myself about Tibet struggle.I won´t buy chinese products and I will donate books to increase Tibetans culture. Of course I´ll send all my energy to Tibet
- Victoria (Madrid, Spain)

I pledge to keep signing all the petitions, and sign as many letters as I can, while bringing awareness to more people about the tragedy in Tibet. Tibet must be free!
- Liz Duane

I pledge to help increase awareness about Tibet in my school and community.
- Shirisha Thoa (Farmington, USA)

This year I pledge to do all I can to spread the news that Tibet and the Tibetan culture is still under duress. I will lobby in Washington again this year, I will do what ever it takes to get the word out and support Tibetans and SFT. I will continue to stand with Tibetans where ever and when ever they need me.
Tibet will be free!
- Diane Gatterdam (New York City)

This year I pledge to do whatever I can to promote the support for Tibet!
- Kelly Mulvoy (Oswego, IL USA)

This year, I pledge to make a difference in whatever way I can, for the sake of Tibet.
- Johan Hagerborg (Sweden)

I wish peace for Tibet, I love Tibet, I will help as I can.
Best Regards
- Denisa (CZECH REP.)

Este año compartiré con mis amigos, familiares y las personas que lleguen a mi vida, las acciones que pueden hacer para apoyar la libertad en Tibet. Y me comprometó a encaudar mas ´de mi energía y acciones a favor de conseguir su libertad.
- Deyra (México)

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends about the importance of an independent Tibet.
- Erin

This year I pledge to learn more about the plight and culture of the Tibetan people, and attend events in support freedom for Tibet.
- Elaine

I pledge to become more educated about Tibet this year, and use my knowledge to educate my peers about Tibet.
-Dustin Olson (St. Cloud, MN, USA)

I pledge to increase awareness about the plight of Tibetans and contact my representatives and ask them to support Tibetan freedom.
- Mitch Bowman (Cincinnati)

I pledge to raise the Tibetan Flag in my homeland of America and continually blog, twitter, FB, write to the White House & Oprah about the cause of Tibet & NonViolence.  Freeing Tibet – Frees us All.  Uniting with Tibet unites us All.  Uniting with Tibet is our chance to Claim LOVE as our Human Power.  Prostrating to His Holiness the Dalai Lama with the President Bush, Obama, & Hu Jintau from the White House is my Olympic Dream of World Peace for We the People of ALL Lands from Sea to shining Sea!  om mani padme hum.  May Peace Prevail on Earth.  Love, julie christine aka libertyusa
- Julie Christine (Maui, USA)

This year I pledge to give strenght to Tibet trough meditation, offers and prayers, visualising a free TIBET in a peaceful world. OM MANI PADME HUM. Thanks to all supporters of a wisdom future.
- Sergio Adreani

VIVE LE TIBET LIBRE !
- Delphine BEUGNOT (Paris, France)

Tibet must be free
- Urosh Sredojevich (Bijeljina,Bosna and Herzegovina)

i wish all the tibetans hope  and power on this heavy difficult way to the truth. with love. gilles
- hirt (berne, swissw)

Because I support Tibet
- Mary Khuvunh (Delhi)

…because tibet is not china!
- Gunter Wessalowski

FREEDOM
- ELIASSE Elodie (Nancy, France)

please, peace in Tibet and leave this country to Tibetans
- alain rodes (France)

Because I Support Tibet
- Patrizia Rossi (Milano)

Honte à la Chine et à son gouvernement.
- renaux (st martin de lerm)

Because I Support Tibet
- Patrizia Rossi (Milano)

I am not Tibetan or a student, but for some reason I feel a deep concern for the plight of Tibet. So far I have done the following:
*written to all my Senators and Congressional reps about Tibet
*written to President Obama
*sent a letter to the Chinese consulate in my city
*written to an organization that sometimes leads trips to Tibet asking them to stop until China improves its policies
*boycott Chinese products–and tell the stores why

I have already pledged to myself, and now to you, to continue such actions this year, and contact other companies and organizations that have business or travel with China, requesting that they rethink those relationships. (I can’t do one a week, though…my goal is to take one such action each month). And I will fly the Tibetan flag from my balcony on Losar. (Sorry, this is too long compared with the others, but I wanted to let you know that you have some non-Tibetan support).
- Loretta Dipboye (USA)

Free Tibet and preserve its traditions!
- Lilyan de la Vega (Mexico)

I pledge to inform the world more about the importance of an independent Tibet.
- suryo lho (Indonesia)

I pledge to continue to pray every day for the Tibet or the Tibetan poeple.
- Kouroch Bellis (Paris, France)

I promise this year to continually support Tibet and all it’s people, especially the 2 Tibetan refugee nuns I sponsor in McLeod Ganj.
- Karen

I support Tibet and Tibetans against their oppressors.
- Kirk A. Ramble (York , York)

I pledge to remain aware of the plight and the oppression the Tibetan people feel. I will strive to make others aware of the situation in Tibet and become Tibetan in spirit. I will also refuse to buy items from China, or support any of their customs.
- Laura Andino (USA)

I pledge to wear my black & white Tibetan bracelet on my wrist (instead of my ankle), continue to write to my elected officials, sign petitions, & educate those around me about the importance of a free Tibet.
- Denise Lytle Fords (NJ, USA)

I Pledge to spread the word to Family members, Friends and government officials about China’s Human Rights abuses against Tibet ! I Pledge to support Tibetans anyway possible, as well as human rights in general.
In Peace
- kevin smith (Boston, MA)

do whatever I can to promote recognition of Tibet as a FREE nation
- david kay (Edmonton, Canada)

I pledge to learn more about what others are doing to help free Tibet and find a suitable way to involve myself.
- Hanna Nielsen (Arcata, CA.)

My pledge is to continue to sponsor a Tibetan student in India via Tibet Aid in NY, to increase my support to ICT, SFT and ITSN, and others including The Tibet Fund, Tibetan Aid Foundation, Tibet Justice Center, TibetanNuns Project, TASC, Tibet Oral History Project, US Tibetan Society for Schools and Culture, Rowell Fund for Tibet; I also pledge to organize an event for Tibet in 2010 (the Tibetan Freedom Torch SF to LA in 2008 was the last one I did).
- Kevin Young (Santa Barbara, CA)

I pledge that I will spread awareness by writing one article on Tibet and the movement every week for my blog and facebook.. TIBET WILL BE FREE
- Diwaskar (Delhi, India)

This Losar, I plan to learn more about my Tibetan family and culture, as well as begin classes to learn the Tibetan language. I owe it to the world and myself to honor all facets of myself, which includes my Tibetan heritage.
This year I hold great hope that we, the Tibetan people, will stand together for the cause of Tibetan Freedom and speak out against the injustices that are faced every day in Tibet and China.
Together, as a humankind, we must stand up to the growing giant that is China and say “No!”  We will no longer stand by as you treat humanity with disdain, as an unworthy blemish, we are coming together and standing up to you. You are powerless.
- Marie Hargitt (Konjok Namgyal) (SF, USA)

I will celebrate Losar with Geshe YongDong Losar at his Bon Centre in Courtenay
- Al Cowan

Que el Tibet encuentre la paz caminando por el sendero de la libertad.
- Fernando Fernandez de Castro (Malaga España)

Freedom for Tibet!
- Natalie Brzezinsky (Warsaw, Poland)

Even I’m not Tibetan,,I pledge to practice the Tibetan Buddhism and pray to your Tibetan every morning!!!
- Airy, BKK

Againts cina’s rules
- Daniele (Italy)

Because I am Tibetan
- Batsceba Hardy (Berlin)

I’ll send a wishes for free Tibet and Tibetans every time after the meditation. It works!
- Magdalena (Poland)

Every day, for a many years I practice, first 1/2 hour, now 1 hour, next 2 hours. Every time when practising I pray for freedom, fulfilment and hapiness of all Tibetans I’will keep practising and prayind for Tibet and His Holliness Dalaj Lama.
- Dominik W. Rettinger (Warsaw, Poland)

I pledge to inform as many people, as I can about situation in Tibet, pledge to support every cause for freedom of Tibet. Free Tibet! Tashi delek Losar and hapiness for everyone alive..
- Vaidas Gasickas (Denmark)

I pledge to take part of pacific manifestations for the cause of tibete
- Ana (Portugal)

I pledge to talk to anyone who will listen about the atrocities inflicted on Tibetans by the barbaric Chinese Government and the importance of a Free Tibet.
- John Greening (Melbourne, Australia)

through the believe in love and freedom for everyone I pledge for the freedom of speach for the freedom of religion and the freedom of mouvement for tibeten people all around the world.
- Zuzana Studena

This year I commit to tour  more India colleges,raising awareness about Tibet,raise a non-violent force of Indian supporters for Tibet.
- Shibayan Raha (India)

I believe Tibet will be free!
- Javed naqi (New Delhi)

I will wear my Free Tibet shirt and engage everyone I meet in discussions about Tibetan autonomy.  I will also keep a candle in the window.
- jos human (Key West)

I pledge to grow in understanding about China’s occupation of Tibet and how my daily decisions affect this situation. As I learn, I will change my lifestyle to help create a more tolerant and just world.
- Christine Weiss

This year i pledge i will maintain my faith in the Tibetan cause through not buying any thing made in china, as far as i can.
- kyoko (mexico)

This year of the Iron Tiger I pledge to raise my suppport of Tibetfund.org, – refrain from buying imports from China and encouraging others to do so as well. To keep voting and petitioning in support of Tibetan and other human rights issues, and doing my best to keep on keepin’ on as best I can to help sentient beings and myself find happiness.
- Bill Bradentonl, FL

This year, I pledge to read more about Tibet and its history so my views are better-informed and supported by facts.
- Kriti Kapoor India

i pledge to act as long and as well as i can until all Tibetans are home , safe and well in their motherland
- sati bo (new york)

I pledge that I will do my best to use propaganda in an objective way to show people the situation in Tibet
- Rajeshwari K. alias Divya K (Mumbai, India)

I will display a candle in my window on the 14th. If an appropriate opportunity presents it’s self to me to support Tibet then I will my pledge
- Leigh Perkins (Australia)

This year, I pledge to inform as many people here in my country who are not aware what is the situtation in Tibet. I pledge also to find out more information so I can contribute more.
- Ana Filko (Croatia)

I pledge to continue my Tibetan language studies and regularly engage my elected representatives in discussions about the necessity of an independent Tibet.
- Mary-Kate Oreovicz

This year I continue to be firm in my commitment to boycot all things from China. And to let all the retailers I visit to know why.
- Bonnie Girvan

Aunque es un deseo muy profundo, tal vez pase mucho tiempo para que se den las condiciones y circunstancias para que el pueblo tibetano recobre su libertad e independencia, no lo sé de cierto, pero mientras eso sucede, hago votos por que todos y cada uno de nosotros seamos mejores personas, que nos comprometamos con esa causa, y con nuestra causa personal, que tanta falta nos hace a nosotros mismos y a los demás, que reconozcamos nuestra interdependencia, que el cultivo de esas cualidades espirituales a nivel mundial lleve en algún momento a tocar el corazón del gobierno chino, estoy seguro que solo creando las causas desde lo más profundo de nuestros corazones, podremos luchar de manera inteligente, y evitar en el futuro que cosas como estas sigan sucediendo en cualquier lugar del mundo, también reflexionemos que es lo que los ha hecho pensar que pueden llevar a cabo todas esas acciones tan negativas a toda una nación, a un país como el Tibet, que difícil, que karma, que también se vuelva una lección de los modelos mentales que debemos evitar, agradezcamos la oportunidad que eso nos brinda. Sé que no es fácil, como toda tarea que vale la pena, pero no es imposible, nuestra mente y nuestro corazón son capaces de realizar cosas insospechadas y sorprendentes, hagámoslo. Por mi parte trataré de comprometerme con mi práctica y hacer la tarea que me corresponde.
-Eduardo (Mexico)

I will create presentations to inform as many people as I can about Tibet and what people can do to support freedom and human rights for Tibetans.
-Melissa Taveras (USA)

This year, I pledge to raise awareness within my friends and family about the importance of a free Tibet.
- Greg Dodd (Canada)

For the next year, I pledge to call my elected representatives at least once a month about Tibet.
-Martha Agostini (Germany)

This year I pledge to inform all my friends and family members about Tibet, and to donate a part of my first salary to the Tibetan freedom struggle.
-Nikita (Bombay)

This year, I pledge to personalize all of the letters and postcards that I send through SFT.
-Marga Hutcheson

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
-Jenna Amaral

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
-Mairi Munn (Canada)

I pledge never to give up all the actions I am taking now and every year, and if ever I get a new opportunity I pledge not to miss it. Tibet will be free, it’s just a question of time.
- Tuula Arti (France)

This year I pledge I will continue taking whatever action I can and spreading the word about my will to see Tibet win its independance.
-Joelle Coudriou

I pledge to become more informed on Tibet & in turn make my family & friends more aware of the situation there.
-Michelle (USA)

I pledge to inform all of my family, friends, and state representatives about the importance of an independent Tibet.
-Bladovino (France)

I pledge to change the world starting with myself , and sanding good word to starting something special in all human thinking about what is importing in our beeing. I will support actions for Tibetan freedom and human righs. I will try as good as i can
-Marta (Poland)

To support Tibetans as much as I can.
-Harry Bronneberg

Being grown up in the Tibetan environment, i do wish to have a pure Tibetan Identity as well but m helpless. Well, on this Losar(2137), I pledge to stay in touch with Tibetan activities and walk step to step with my friends in its struggle for independence until Tibet is victorous. HAPPY LOSAR.
-Rixin Spalgon (India)

I pledge to contact my elected officials regarding any Tibet issues.
-Christina Fong

For the remainder of 2010, I pledge to write or call my state representative and urge him to lobby for a free Tibet.
-Tozan Paco Verin

Learn a Tibetan word each week!
-Yvonne

This year i pledge to learn more about Tibet’s fight for freedom and spread their message and plight for a free Tibetan nation to as many friends as i can.
-Elyssa Baksh

Tibet will be free. Happy New Year!
I wish You a lot of joy and happiness! I hope Losar 2137 would be peaceful and nice to You!
-Mari Wickerode (Poland)

Happy New Year! I wish Your dreams come true. Tibet will be free!
-Katarzyna Krokowska (Poland)

This year I promise to to open the minds and hearts of others to help aid in the freedom of Tibet. Further down the road I hope to one day visit Tibet and help restore Buddhist art.
-Steff (USA)

I pledge to keep myself more informed about Tibet.
-Molly Fishburn-Matthew

This year I pledge to inform my family, friends, co-workers, representatives, church members and the community at large how important it is to make Tibet free once again.
-Ted Pappagallo (USA)

This year, I pledge to take part in Students for a Free Tibet organization at my College.
-Sehr Siddiqui

Don’t let China steal Losar

By Tenzin Dorjee

Losar belongs to Tibet. Losar belongs to the Tibetan people. No one can steal it from us.

I live in a foreign land where Tibetan festivals hold no immediate meaning. Struggling onto crowded subways each morning and each night, avoiding the empty gaze of strangers, the ground I walk upon is many seas and skies away from my mountainous home. So why should I celebrate Losar? The real New Year is already past, any way. Well, the answer is simple: No matter where I live, I am Tibetan, and if I don’t celebrate my own tradition, who will?

It has become clear that Chinese authorities have been encouraging Tibetans in certain parts of Tibet to celebrate Losar, even handing out cash for fireworks in some cases. Understandably, this pathetic attempt by China to hijack Losar has angered Tibetans, some of whom may have decided to skip Losar in a knee-jerk reaction.

To celebrate Losar just because China tells us to do so – that’s a mistake. Likewise, to skip Losar just because China tells us to celebrate it – that’s also a mistake. Our tradition should not be relegated to a mere reaction – equal or opposite – to China’s demands. China should have no say in how we practice our tradition. We Tibetans must proactively decide whether, when, where and how to observe Losar.

Chinese authorities will tell us to celebrate Losar next year too, and the year after that. Are we going to skip every Losar just to make a point? If we really want to hit the Chinese government where it hurts most, we should observe Losar in all the ways that distinguish us from them. We should use the occasion to assert our identity – eat Tibetan food, wear Tibetan dress, speak in Tibetan, write Losar cards and door signs in Tibetan, light butter lamps and perform kora. Let khatas hang on the door and prayer flags fly in the wind, let the smell of tsampa and incense fill the air.

Messages from Tibet, via articles and poems, have called on Tibetans to celebrate Losar as an occasion to assert our identity, empower our community, and to distinguish ourselves from the Chinese. Many are using the power of visuals, displaying heart-shaped images with the word “Tibet” inscribed on them on various websites, to play on the fact that Losar falls on Valentine’s Day. I heard that in Lhasa, for example, people have done most of the shopping and are planning to observe Losar at home. After living under virtual martial law for nearly two years, sharing a hot bowl of guthuk and a sweet dish of dresil with friends and family will nourish the soul.

Though mourning is important as a symbolic gesture, it is politically useless beyond a certain point. Excessive mourning, instead of bringing the dead back to life, pulls the living closer to death. In fact, the best way to honor the our martyrs is to advance the Tibetan struggle for freedom – which is what they died for – and the best way to advance the struggle is to engage the grassroots through activism. People will participate in a movement that is vibrant, inclusive, engaging and dynamic. No one is drawn to a movement that is drowning in a pool of tears and self-pity and endless mourning.

Let’s distinguish ourselves from our oppressors, not by our sorrow but by our spirit, not by our mourning but by our activism. If we want to advance our movement, and if we truly want to pay tribute to our martyrs, we must observe Losar by being Tibetan, by taking action, by taking a pledge.

This Losar, take a pledge to do something every week – if possible, every day – that will strengthen Tibetan people and weaken the Chinese empire.

Tendor is the Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Losar 2010: Because I am Tibetan

Dear friends and supporters of Tibet,

Tibetans will mark Losar – the Tibetan New Year – on February 14th, 2010. In the Tibetan lunar calendar, this day marks the beginning of the Iron Tiger Year 2137, a time for change, hope, and renewal. On this day, we celebrate our history, our culture, our religion, and our future – because our history is great, our culture beautiful, our religion profound, and – in spite of our present suffering – our future is bright.

Since 2008, following the Tibetan uprising in all three historical provinces of Tibet, we witnessed an escalation in the imprisonment, torture and death of our fellow countrymen and women under Chinese rule. Because of this, last year, Tibetans united around the world and did not celebrate Losar.

This year, many Tibetans are planning to observe Losar for one reason only: because we are Tibetan. We will speak Tibetan language, wear Tibetan dress, and observe Tibetan customs, thus strengthening our identity and our spirit. Through this observance we will find new courage and opportunities to advance our struggle. In observing Losar with family and friends, Tibetans will reach for happiness, which, as much as suffering, is an integral part of a freedom movement.

Through all these years of occupation one thing is clear: the oppressor envies the spirit of the Tibetan people, which cannot be crushed by violence. This year Tibetans worldwide will nourish this spirit with the observance of Losar.

While observing this important cultural tradition, we ask Tibetans and supporters to light butter lamps and candles on their altars and in their windows on February 14th to honor the courage of the Tibetan people in Tibet who continue to resist the Chinese government’s illegal occupation of their homeland.

Tibet will be free.

With hope,

Tenzin Dorjee,                              Lhadon Tethong,
Executive Director,  SFT            Director, Tibet Action Institute

Please watch this inspiring video from Amdo, Eastern Tibet, where Tibetans, young and old, declare the myriad ways they are Tibetan.

Included in the video are these statements:
I am Tibetan because I love Tibet.
I am Tibetan because I learn Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I love my culture.
I am Tibetan because I wear only Tibetan dress.
I am Tibetan because Tibetan blood flows in me.
I am Tibetan because my mother is Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I sing Tibetan.
I am Tibetan because I am a Tibetan nomad.
I am Tibetan because I love my land.
I am Tibetan because I am a herder on the plateau.
I am Tibetan because I never forget Tibet.
I am Tibetan because I love my Tibetan brothers and sisters.

SFT’s Statement on Google’s new approach to China

STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET

January 14th 2010

Contact: Tenzin Dorjee, +1 646-724-0748
Kate Woznow, +1 917-601-0069

Tibetans, Supporters Welcome Google’s U-Turn on China Censorship

New York – Tibetans and their supporters worldwide applauded Google’s decision on Tuesday to stop censoring Internet searches in China. This decision was made in light of recent cyber attacks from China targeting the Gmail accounts of human rights advocates in the USA, China, and Europe. As of Tuesday evening, it was reported that websites previously blocked on Google.cn were accessible, including those displaying images of the Dalai Lama and information about the March 2008 Uprising in Tibet.

When Google announced in late January 2006 that it was launching Google.cn, a version of its popular search engine custom-built to meet the Chinese government’s cyber restrictions, Students for a Free Tibet was at the forefront of the campaign to oppose this decision. We encouraged anyone who was outraged and felt betrayed by Google’s actions to  join an online boycott of the company’s services, and on Valentine’s Day more than 12,000 people “broke-up” with Google. 45,000 people sent emails to Google’s executives voicing their concern and protests were held outside Google offices worldwide.

“Access to information is a critical tool to Tibetans struggling for human rights and freedom. We hope that Google will uphold its decision not to censor search results on Google.cn,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “Let this be a wake-up call to other western corporations operating in China. Colluding with Beijing’s repressive policies does not bring about positive change or greater freedoms for anyone.”

Tenzin Seldon, a regional coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet, was one of a dozen people whose Gmail accounts were attacked by Chinese hackers. “My email account was likely hacked because I am a Tibetan activist. In recent years, the Tibet movement has successfully publicized the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and unmasked its repressive and colonialist policies in Tibet. This has made us a target of email viruses and other cyber-attacks from China,” said 20-year old Seldon, whose experience was referenced in an article published by the New York Times.  “But this has only demonstrated the effectiveness of our work for human rights and freedom in Tibet.”

“While deeply disturbing, it is not surprising that Google users who advocate human rights in China were targeted by these cyber attacks,” said Nathan Dorjee, Students for a Free Tibet’s technology advisor. “Tibet activists have become all too familiar with these attacks in recent years. During the March 2008 Uprising in Tibet, we experienced a marked increase in the volume and sophistication of email and other cyber-based attacks designed to collect information and to impede our work.”

-30-

2009 in Tibet: The Uprising that China Feared

As the New Year begins and we reflect on the events in Tibet last year, we are reminded that 2009 was indeed a year of resistance. From the No Losar movement, to the farming boycott in Kham, to solo protests in Kandze, Tibetans made 2009 another year of uprising.

Since January 2009, Tibetan protests for freedom, human rights, and independence have taken place in more than 30 known areas of Tibet. In addition to protests and actions we have also seen a sharp increase in creative resistance through technology in Tibet. In 2009 Tibetan bloggers and “netizens” flooded the internet with writing expressing their discontent under Chinese rule.

Civil protests by Tibetans who were scammed by Chinese companies and discriminated in the Chinese educational system have also been on the rise.

In 2009 China learned that despite increased repression and a crackdown on all political activities, Tibetans are determined to fight for their fundamental rights.

Below is a list of places in Tibet and China where known acts of resistance by Tibetans took place:

• Rabgya (Amdo)

Large protests by Tibetans in western China -Los Angeles Times

Monk kills self in Ragya, residents protest -Phayul

• Derge (Kham)

Situation in Derge “Critical” after Residents Distribute Tibet Independence Pamphlets -Tibet.net

• Drango (Kham)

Tibetan Monk Beaten to Death -RFA

• Kandze (Kham)

Tibetans Stage Farm Boycott -RFA

Protester arrested in Kardze -Tibetinfonet.net

Woman arrested in Kardze -Tibetinfonet.net

China arrests two nuns of Dragkar Nunnery in Kardze -TCHRD

Details of Kardze Protests Emerge -Tibetinfonet.net

Tibetans Refuse State Dance Troupes -RFA

Two monks, three teenagers held for protesting -Voice of Tibet

A solo nun stages protest march in Kardze -RFA

• Lutsang (Amdo)

Tibetan Monks in Protest March -RFA

Tibetan monks stage new year protest in China, report says -Monsters and Critics

Tibetans forgo New Years celebrations in protest -CTV

• Nyagrong (Kham)

Tibetans Protest in Sichuan -RFA

• Tsolho (Amdo)

• Ngaba (Amdo)

More Protests in Tibet -Beijing Wide Open

New protest today in Ngaba after officials ban prayer ceremony -ICT

Tibetan monk killed by Chinese police after setting himself on fire -Asia News.it

China arrests Tibetan writer in Ngaba -TCHRD

• Nagchu (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetan Bloggers and Citizen Journalists -High Peaks Pure Earth

• Xining (Amdo)

Tibetan monks stage sit-in protest in front of Chinese court -TCHRD

• Machu (Amdo)

Tibetans clash with Chinese soldiers, several injured -Phayul

• Labrang (Amdo)

School students demonstration in Labrang County -TCHRD

A video appeal from a Tibetan inside Tibet to the International Community -TCHRD

• Markham (Kham)

Face off between Tibetans and Chinese security forces over gold mine -Phayul

Standoff at Tibet Gold Mine -RFA

• Nangchen (Kham)

Tibetan national flag was raised in Nangchen county, eastern Tibet - Tibet Post International

Protesting children beaten in Yushu -Tibetinfonet.net

• Lithang ( Kham)

Clash Over Tibet Has County in Lockdown -Washington Post

Tibetans Protest in Sichuan -RFA

Fifteen Tibetans arrested in Lithang after a peaceful protest -TCHRD

• Kaykundo (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetan man flies flag on tree, police launch hunt -Phayul

• Chamdo (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetan schoolboy arrested for anti China protest -Phayul

Act of defiance -Enriching thoughts

Seven monks arrested, abbot missing in Chamdo -Tibetinfonet.net

Schoolboy held in Chamdo after holding lone protest -Tibetinfonet.net

• Dzogang, Chamdo (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetans in Chamdo Protest China’s Patriotic Education, 6 Detained -Tibet.net

• Chentsa County (Amdo)

Protesters Call for United Stand Against China’s Wrong Policy in Tibet Tibet.net

• Baygen County (Amdo)

China expels disciplinary head of Amdo Jaqung Monastery -TCHRD

• Jodha County (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetans in Jodha county, eastern Tibet continue to refuse to plant crops -Tibet Post International

Tibetan woman stages sit-in protest to demand her husband’s release in Tibet’s Jomda County -Tibet.net

• Tawu (Kham)

6 Tibetan women injured in Tawu police firing -Phayul

• Lhasa (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetans ignore New Year -Tibetinfonet.net

• Meldro Gongkar (Ü-Tsang)

Tibetans in Meldro Gongkar clash with miners, 3 injured -Phayul

• Diru County, Tsashul Township (Ü-Tsang)

Two sentenced for bringing down Chinese flag, Ngaba Tibetans forced into renovation -Phayul

• Sog County (Ü-Tsang)

3 Tibetans arrested for posting Dalai Lama contents on chat website -Phayul

• Sershul (Kham)
  

20 Tibetans arrested in Sershul for “dissent” -Phayul

• Matoe, Golog (Amdo)

China arrests eleven Tibetans in Golog over subversive VCD - TCHRD

• Nagchukha (Kham)

Tibetans protest over jailed monk in southwest China -CTV

Tibetans continue with fasting and protest, situation extremely volatile in Nyachuka -TCHRD

Tibetan Protest Over Monk -RFA

• Chengdu (China)

Tibetans continue with fasting and protest, situation extremely volatile in Nyachuka -TCHRD

*The above list is not meant to be a event by event summary but rather a list of protest locations. If there are any corrections or additions please comment.

Midnight in Copenhagen – some of us have arrived!

Hi everyone, it’s David again. It’s now around midnight in Copenhagen. I just arrived a few hours ago and already met some great people, climate activists as well as longtime and hardcore Tibetan activists and Tibet supporters. We hope to introduce some of them tomorrow.

Tomorrow of course is Global Day of Action. In a massive show of force people from all across the world will gather in the Danish capital demanding Climate Justice. We’ll be in the streets advocating Climate Justice for Tibetans and helping to ensure that the Tibetan people have a voice in the global discussion on climate change.

UPDATE: Pema Dolma and other SFT UK members are still stuck somewhere at the border. It seems Danish police is already flexing its muscles…but hopefully they will arrive soon!

I’m going to sign off now. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting and challenging day. Stay with us und tune in for more background information on the developments in Copenhagen. Check out the Tibet Third Pole Twitter page for more information! Twitter.com/TibetThirdPole

SFTers en route to COP15 to highlight Tibet, the Earth’s Third Pole!

Pema Dolma (SFT UK’s Campaigns Coordintor) and David Demes (SFT Germany’s National Coordinator) are en route to Copenhagen today to join the Tibet Third Pole Team at the UN Climate Change Summit and to protest China’s policies of displacing Tibetan nomads under the guise of environmental protection. Stay tuned for more from Pema and David!

The story of Dhondup Wangchen, filmmaker jailed in China

A very moving article by Dechen Pemba, one of the last people to see Dhondup Wangchen (Tibetan filmmaker and citizen journalist) before he was detained on March 26, 2008 for making the film Leaving Fear Behind. Her article was profiled by the Committee to Protect journalists for International Human Rights Day.

Also, check out Dechen’s blog www.HighPeaksPureEarth.com where she translates writings by Tibetans living in Tibet and China.

The story of Dhondup Wangchen, filmmaker jailed in China

By Dechen Pemba In Dharmsala, India, exiled Tibetans hold a vigil for the jailed filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen. (AP/Ashwini Bhatia)On the same day that historic protests started by monks in Lhasa began and were to sweep all over Tibet in the subsequent months, Dhondup Wangchen was nearly 3,000 kilometers away in Xian, in China’s Shaanxi province. It was the last day of filming for his documentary film project that sought to give voice to Tibetans in the run-up to the Olympic Games. As was the case throughout China, Xian was caught up in an Olympic fervor. Big red banners were hung all over the city, the Olympic mascots peered from shop windows in unspeakably bright colors. None of this however, seemed to have the slightest connection to Tibet or the discontent of the Tibetan people.

For many around the world, the protests that began March 10, 2008, were a surprise. International media were suddenly giving unprecedented coverage to a struggle that had been going on for more than 50 years. Journalists, NGOs, governments and even exiled Tibetans were given a stark reminder that a conflict was unresolved and that, in the run-up to the Olympics, Tibetans were still risking everything to be heard. It hadn’t take months of protests and a military crackdown in Tibet, however, for Dhondup Wangchen to be aware of the suffering of his people. It was something he had lived, and it was this that he was seeking to convey through film and simple testimony.

I had travelled 1,200 kilometers from Beijing to Xian to meet Dhondup Wangchen and learn about his film project. It was to be the first and only time that I would meet him. On arrival at the train station, I bought a local Chinese paper; I wanted to remember this day. Later on in the day, we even filmed Dhondup Wangchen with this newspaper as a record. Within minutes of our meeting, I was struck by his determination and drive to accomplish something that he felt was important—to depict the injustice of life as a Tibetan under Chinese rule. As one of his interviewees so eloquently said, “We Tibetans living in the PRC are like stars on a sunny day, we can’t be seen.” Just hearing the sheer scale of Dhondup Wangchen’s project was impressive, traveling through remote areas of eastern Tibet in the Tibetan winter of 2007-08 and recording under the harshest imaginable conditions the views of more than 100 ordinary Tibetan men and women, amassing more than 40 hours of video footage. All this with just a cheap video camera, no professional training in journalism or film-making, and constantly in fear of being detained for his citizen journalism activities.

Despite painful toothache that day in Xian, Dhondup Wangchen told me that he, together with his friend Jigme Gyatso, a monk, had come up with the idea to make a documentary as early as 2006. The year and a half before beginning filming, Dhondup Wangchen planned how he would make the film, even taking his parents, wife, and four children to India to safety so they would not be at risk when he returned to Tibet to make the film. Having a cousin in Switzerland meant that once the footage was safely out of the country, the documentary could be edited and prepared for an international release in time for the Olympic Games.

On August 6 2008, his documentary film, now edited into 25 minutes and titled “Leaving Fear Behind”, was screened to a select group of foreign journalists in Beijing. But Dhondup Wangchen, along with Jigme Gyatso, had already been in secret detention since the end of March. On completion of filming, they had gone back to their respective hometowns only to find the places in turmoil with almost daily Tibetan protests occurring and a huge military deployment under way. On Jigme Gyatso’s release in October 2008, it was learned that they had both undergone severe interrogations and torture in detention that included electrocution. It wasn’t until a well-known Beijing human rights lawyer took up his case early this year that Dhondup Wangchen’s sister in Xining even learned of her brother’s incarceration, another outright violation of China’s own detention laws.

Dhondup Wangchen’s trial reportedly started behind closed doors in September this year. According to Amnesty International he is being charged for “subversion and incitement to separatism” and has contracted Hepatitis B in prison for which he has received no treatment. After his Beijing lawyer was forced by the Chinese government to stop representing Dhondup Wangchen, local lawyers were appointed, leaving little hope of a fair trial.

I spent less than a day meeting Dhondup Wangchen. When we parted back at the train station, he told me to take care of myself and gave me a little bag containing some drinks and snacks for my journey. A few months ago on YouTube, I saw a video clip of pictures of Dhondup Wangchen in his teens, a casual-looking young man eager to leave behind the constrictions of his village on a quest for adventure greater than he could have known. The Dhondup Wangchen that I had met was older and thoughtful. The many months of constant traveling had clearly been physically exhausting. I had always thought of him as a kind of Tibetan hero, a citizen journalist and human rights activist but last month I was walking down the street in Dharamsala, northern India, with a friend who stopped to talk to the woman who sells bread there early every morning. The bread-seller was Dhondup Wangchen’s wife, Lhamo Tso. After spending time talking with her I suddenly thought about their separated family and of Dhondup Wangchen as a husband, a father, and also a son—and their own personal sacrifices.

Since August 2008, “Leaving Fear Behind” has been screened in more than 30 countries worldwide and translated into five languages, including Chinese. The worldwide campaign for his release continues. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that Dhondup Wangchen, with just a small camera, a motorbike, his blue backpack and the help of trusted friends, found a way of expressing himself truthfully.

The simple truth is that just spending 25 minutes watching “Leaving Fear Behind” gives all the background necessary to see that some kind of uprising was surely inevitable in Tibet. But truthfulness in a state like China is always an act of defiance and can‘t survive without a struggle.

Dechen Pemba has been the spokesperson for “Leaving Fear Behind” since she left Beijing in July 2008. She is based in London.

New York Times Profiles Dhondup Wangchen Ahead of Obama’s China Visit

Just weeks before U.S. President Obama makes his first presidential visit to China, Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times profiled detained Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen who is facing a secret trail for documenting the views of Tibetans in Tibet on the Beijing Olympics, the Dalai Lama and Chinese rule in Tibet.

Read the full article below:

China Is Trying a Tibetan Filmmaker for Subversion
By ANDREW JACOBS

CHONGQING, China — A self-taught filmmaker who spent five months interviewing Tibetans about their hopes and frustrations living under Chinese rule is facing charges of state subversion after the footage was smuggled abroad and distributed on the Internet and at film festivals around the world.

The filmmaker, Dhondup Wangchen, who has been detained since March 2008, just weeks after deadly rioting broke out in Tibet, managed to sneak a letter out of jail last month saying that his trial had begun.

“There is no good news I can share with you,” he wrote in the letter, which was provided by a cousin in Switzerland. “It is unclear what the sentence will be.”

As President Obama prepares for his first trip to China next month, rights advocates are clamoring for his attention in hopes that he will raise the plight of individuals like Mr. Wangchen or broach such thorny topics as free speech, democracy and greater religious freedom.

With hundreds of lawyers, dissidents and journalists serving time in Chinese prisons, human rights organizations are busy lobbying the White House, members of Congress and the news media. In some ways, the pressure has only intensified since Mr. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, raising expectations for him to carry the torch of human rights.

Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, said Mr. Obama had an obligation to press Mr. Wangchen’s case and the cause of Tibetan autonomy in general, given his decision not to meet the Dalai Lama in Washington this month.

That move, which some viewed as a concession to China, angered critics already displeased with what they say was Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failure to press human rights during a visit to China in February.

“Beijing is emboldened by such moves,” Ms. Tethong said. “They see a weakness in the U.S. government, and they’re going to exploit it. This idea that you’ll gain more through some backroom secret strategy does not work.”

Until now, the case of Mr. Wangchen, 35, has received little attention abroad. Uneducated and plainspoken, he was an itinerant businessman until October 2007, when he bought a small video camera and began traveling the Tibetan plateau interviewing monks, yak herders and students about their lives.

Tsetring Gyaljong, a cousin who helped him make the documentary, said that Mr. Wangchen’s political awareness was sharpened nearly a decade ago, when he witnessed a demonstration in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, that was quickly broken up by public security officers.

“He saw how it was dissolved in two or three minutes and how everyone was taken away,” said Mr. Gyaljong, speaking from Switzerland, where he has lived in exile since escaping from Tibet. “There were no pictures, no testimonies, and he felt like the world should know that Tibetans, despite the Chinese portrayals, are not a happy people.”

Out of 40 hours of footage and 108 interviews came “Leaving Fear Behind,” a 25-minute documentary that is an unadorned indictment of the Chinese government. Although given the choice to conceal their identities, most of his subjects spoke uncloaked and freely expressed their disdain for the Han Chinese migrants who are flooding the region and their love for the Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since 1959.

In his own comments at the start of the film, Mr. Wangchen said the approach of the 2008 Olympics had compelled him to record the feelings of Tibetans, many of whom were less than enthusiastic about the decision to hold the Games in Beijing.

“We have no independence or freedom, so Tibetans have no reason to celebrate,” said one young woman standing by a road. “The Chinese have independence and freedom, so this is something they can celebrate.”

On March 10, 2008, Mr. Wangchen traveled to Xi’an in central China to hand over the tapes to Dechen Pemba, a British citizen who ferried them out of the country. That same day, a protest in Lhasa turned into a rampage that left at least 18 people dead, most of them Han Chinese.

On March 26, Mr. Wangchen and Golog Jigme, a Buddhist monk who helped him make the film, were arrested. Mr. Jigme was subsequently released.

“It really is a remarkable coincidence,” Ms. Pemba said.

Mr. Wangchen’s family hired a lawyer, but the authorities barred him from court last July, leaving Mr. Wangchen with a public defender.

Before he was forced to drop the case, the lawyer, Li Dunyong, said Mr. Wangchen had told him that he was tortured and that he had contracted hepatitis B while in custody. Since then, he has been held incommunicado. Officials at the Xining Intermediate Court in Qinghai Province, where Mr. Wangchen is being held, would not comment on his case.

Mr. Wangchen seemed acutely aware that his project could get him in trouble. Just before he began filming, he sent his wife and their four children to India, where they live along with his elderly parents.

In an interview from Dharamsala, where she works as a baker, Mr. Wangchen’s wife, Lhamo Tso, said she feared she might not see him again for many, many years.

“As a wife, I’m very sad to be without the person I love so much,” she said. “But if I can separate out that sadness, I feel proud because he made a courageous decision to give a voice to people who don’t have one.”