Raised to date: $8,067
(As of 6:00pm Thursday 7/3/08)

Along with a coalition of Tibet supporters worldwide, SFT has launched the Athlete Wanted campaign, appealing to Olympic athletes to stand in solidarity with Tibetans during the Beijing Olympics. As part of the campaign, we are raising funds to place a full-page ad (left) in the New York Times and other publications around the world. The New York Times ad alone will cost $51,000.

DONATE NOW to help get this ad published in the NY Times.
Please send this link to all your friends and family and ask them to help Tibet at this critical time.

Op-Ed Contributor
By APRIL RABKIN
The New York Times

Published: July 2, 2008
Beijing - LAST week, amid continuing calls from activists in Europe and the United States to boycott the Olympics to protest China’s record on human rights, came a rare rebuke from the International Olympic Committee. The committee expressed disappointment with a speech in which Tibet’s Communist Party leader used the occasion of an Olympic torch ceremony to denounce the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. Read the rest of this entry »

Good job to Congresspeople Frank R. Wolf of Virginia and Christopher H. Smith from New Jersey. Keep the pressure on…

July 2, 2008
By JIM YARDLEY
The New York Times
BEIJING — Two United States congressmen who were in Beijing to lobby for the release of more than 700 political prisoners had hoped to have dinner on Sunday with a group of Chinese human rights lawyers. But security agents had a different idea: they detained some of the lawyers and warned the others to stay away. Read the rest of this entry »

The forty two Tibetan marchers who left Kathmandu six days ago were apprehended by the Nepalese police . On June 27th, another group of nine Tibetans also left Kathmandu to reach their ancestral home, Tibet. No one can stop our determination to be free again! The police can try and stop us but there will be another batch ready to non-violently protest against China’s occupation of Tibet and continue on the march home!

Information provided by Phayul

Marchers arrested near Tibet-Nepal border
http://phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=21810&article=Marchers+arrested+near+Tibet-Nepal+border

Phayul[Tuesday, July 01, 2008 15:55]
By Tenzin Sangmo

New Delhi, July 1 - The forty two Tibetan marchers who left Kathmandu in the wee hours of the morning six days ago have been apprehended by Nepalese police officials some seven kilometers from Dram.

June 29, 2008
by Robert D’Andrea | News Reporter
The Oregon Daily Herald

The Beijing 2008 Olympics will be a grand stage on which the world’s best athletes look to fulfill lifelong dreams. Tibetans around the world hope the games will also bring a global media spotlight to the brutal crackdowns that have taken place since protest broke out in March and their calls for greater autonomy from China. Read the rest of this entry »

For Immediate Release
June 29, 2008

Contact:
Tsewang Rigzin: +91 9805247259
Dr. B Tsering: +91 9418792810
Ngawang Woebar: +91 9418102483
Chime Youngdung: +91 9418069179
Tenzin Choeying: +91 9816368335

MARCH TO TIBET CONCLUDES AS JAILED MARCHERS RELEASED
Tibetans prepare for actions during the Beijing Olympics in August

Dharamsala - After 110 days, the March to Tibet was officially brought to an end on Friday morning with a closing ceremony held at the Tibetan refugee camp in Paonta Sahib. The presidents of the five participating NGOs told the marchers to return to their settlements to enlist and energize their friends and family members to prepare for larger initiatives in August, during the Beijing Olympic Games. (more…)

Confusion over the meaning of words strikes the Chinese Communist Party:

“When Tibet is returning to normal, the timely announcement of reopening Tibet is a very important progress. If you all wish to go to Tibet, it is open again. I believe foreign journalists will be able to apply for their trip to Tibet as in the past,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said. Tibet had been kept out of bounds for foreign journalists after the March 14 Lhasa riots.

Liu, however, warned journalists that there could be “some uncertainties in the local situation” and urged them to cooperate with local authorities during their travel.

The word “open” does not mean what you think it means. When journalists have to apply for permission to visit Tibet, it’s not open.

During the European Championship Semifinals, a Team Tibet supporter surprised the football fans with a message: “Tibet is not China.” Moments after he was tackled by the security guards and taken away but our Team Tibet fan had already won our hearts.  Go Team Tibet!

For Rangzen,

Yingsel

Pro-Tibet protester runs onto field during Euro 2008 semifinal match

AP[Thursday, June 26, 2008 09:55]

(AP Photo/Murad Sezer) BASEL, Switzerland - A pro-Tibet protester ran onto the field late in Germany’s 3-2 win over Turkey on Wednesday in the European Championship semifinals. The man was wearing a T-shirt with the words “Tibet is not China,” and he ran on the field at St. Jakob Park moments after Turkey had scored an 86th-minute equalizer. He made it across most of the field before a security guard tackled him inside the opposite area. Several guards then surrounded him and carried him off the field. China’s communist leadership has faced a public relations disaster since protests of its rule of the Himalayan region turned violent March 14 in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, sparking waves of unrest in surrounding provinces. That was followed by protests at the Olympic torch-lightning ceremony and on several of the relay routes around the world.

Photos from June 19.

(more…)