Nobel Peace Laureates Launch “Thank You Tibet” Campaign  Thursday, 29 October 2009, 9:00 a.m.

From right: Kalon Kesang Yangkyi Takla, Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations speaks during a press briefing by two Nobel peace laureates – Jody Williams of the United States and Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland – in Dharamsala, India, on 28 Oct. 2009/Photo by Sangey Kyap/TibetNet

Dharamshala: The Tibet Fund, Peace-Jam Foundation and Nobel Women’s Initiative would jointly launch the “Thank You Tibet” campaign to celebrate the Tibetan culture and honour the Tibetan community in exile for setting themselves as a model for the world of nonviolence, truth, democracy and resilience, Nobel Peace laureates Jody Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire told reporters in Dharamsala yesterday. The campaign also aims to engage the Chinese government to legally abide by its constitution to fulfill the aspiration of the Tibetans to return freely to their homeland.The campaign’s website “thankyoutibet.org“, which opens Monday, will provide people around the world to the opportunity to offer their words of support for the aspiration of the people of Tibet and for gratitude for the model the Tibetans set in exile and the grace with which they lived despite the loss of their homeland.People can upload videos, poetry and music on the website to show that the people of the world has not forgotten the Tibetan people and they standby them, said Williams, who won the 1997 Nobel in peace for her efforts to ban landmines.We hope the ‘Thank You Tibet’ campaign would receive millions of expressions of love, support and solidarity from people all over world for Tibet, said Dawn Engle, executive director of the Peace-Jam Foundation.Engle said people around the world could add their signatures on the Nobel Peace Laureates’ statement of support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the people of Tibet, which would be posted on the website.People could also express their support in the form of powerful and inspiring arts, essays, videos to show to the world how widespread and powerful support for the Tibetans, and call on our leaders to stand up for the rights of the people of Tibet, she said.The highlight of the campaign would be a ceremony on 4 March 2009 at the cathedral of Saint John the divine in New York, where a galaxy of Nobel Laureates and celebrities will share their expression of support.