The City Council considers Tibet
Matt Browner-Hamlin of Students for a Free Tibet emails over an action item.
New York – U.S. Tibet Committee ("USTC") is calling upon all Tibetans, Tibet supporters and Tibet organizations that reside or are based in New York City to immediately call or write to New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and demand that she allow a vote on Council Resolution 1299 ("The Tibet Resolution").
The Tibet Resolution was introduced by City Council Member Tony Avella in March 2008. It recognizes Tibet as an occupied country and condemns China for its human rights violations in Tibet. The Tibet Resolution calls upon China to end its human rights violations in Tibet and calls upon all corporations based in New York to withdraw sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics until China respects the human rights of Tibetans.
Council Member Avella has requested a hearing on this resolution, but that request requires approval from Speaker Quinn who has so far ignored the request.
USTC urges all Tibet supporters in the New York City area to immediately call, write, or fax Speaker Quinn and demand she allow the Tibet Resolution 1299 to move forward. You can contact Speaker Quinn at:Christine Quinn
City Council Speaker
224 West 30th Street, Ste. 1206
New York, NY 10001
(212) 564-7757
(212) 564-7347 (fax)Tell Christine Quinn that you are a New York City resident, or that your group is based in New York, and you demand she allow the Tibet Resolution go forward for a hearing and a vote before the start of the Beijing Olympics on August 8, 2008.
Also, if you are a New York City resident and voter, contact your own council member and tell them to support Resolution 1299. You can find your council member here.
Such a resolution would obviously have no more than symbolic value, but in the war of symbols that is the upcoming totalitarian spectacle of the Beijing Games, it's worth doing.
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Foreign Policy | Olympic Games | Christine Quinn
Timing is everything
Skipping all the "whereas" clauses, the resolution states:
(The text of the resolution is available here.)
Clearly, it's a bit late to pull the Olympic games from Beijing, and as for withdrawal of sponsorships it may be similarly too late. But if the resolution were reworded to keep the rest of it (and maybe call on the City Comptroller to divest all NYC funds from Chinese companies and companies doing business with China), it might be something that could be supported by enough Council members.
Current cosponsors are: Brewer, James and Nelson.