KURDISH DONATIONS & SAMPLE APPEAL

[guest3 at gn.apc.org]

TITLE: KURDISH DONATIONS & SAMPLE APPEAL LETTER (PLEASE FORWARD!!)

(This message has now appeared widely on a variety of networks and
bulletin boards, including JANET, BIX, and others.  Please feel
free to forward it as appropriate.  The arrival of troops to help
the refugees happened after this message appeared, although indeed
the message anticipates their imminent arrival anyway.  More help
is still needed, and politicians can still be lobbied to help provide
unfaltering support for the "Safe Haven" concept).



WARNING: IF YOU THINK THIS VIOLATES THE CONVENTIONS OF NORMAL EMAIL 
USAGE, THEN CONSIDER THIS:  SOME PEOPLE ARGUE ANALOGOUSLY THAT 
HELPING THE KURDS (E.G. BY SETTING UP SAFE HAVENS IN IRAQ) MAY 
VIOLATE THE CONVENTIONS OF NORMAL INTERNATIONAL LAW.  WE ARGUE BELOW 
THAT 'NORMAL CONVENTIONS' DO NOT APPLY IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES 
SUCH AS THIS, AND APPEAL TO A HIGHER MORAL PRINCIPLE.  WHO IS THE 
JUDGE?  IN THIS CASE, IT IS YOU.  FAILING THAT, WE APPEAL TO A GUT-
LEVEL REACTION: TRY EXPLAINING THE NUANCES OF THIS DEBATE TO YOUR 
KURDISH PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUE WHO HAS JUST BURIED HIS KIDS IN AN UNMARKED 
GRAVE ON THE TURKISH BORDER.  EVERY MINUTE COUNTS, EVERY PENNY HELPS.

FORWARDING THIS MESSAGE WIDELY IS A RELATIVELY PAINLESS STEP, AND IT 
MAY DO SOME GOOD.  WE HAVE TRIED TO WORD THE MESSAGE IN A WAY WHICH 
APPEALS TO HUMANITARIAN GOOD SENSE (AS OPPOSED TO, SAY, GUERILLA 
ORGANIZATIONS), AND TRUST THAT YOU WILL FIND IT SUITABLE FOR 
FORWARDING TO ALL COLLEAGUES AND BBOARD SYSTEMS YOU CAN REACH.

THIS VERSION IS GEARED TOWARDS THE U.K.  IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE U.K.,
YOU MAY BE THE FIRST RECIPIENT.  IF SO, PLEASE CONSIDER USING THIS ENTIRE
MESSAGE AS A MODEL FOR ANALOGOUS ACTIVITY IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY. YOU MAY 
BE ABLE TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE.  EMERGENCY AID IS WELL UNDER WAY,
AND SUPPORT TROOPS FROM THE U.S. (AND POSSIBLY U.K.) ARE STARTING TO ASSIST
THE RELIEF OPERATION ALREADY.  EVEN SO, MORE ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED, AND MORE
LETTERS OF APPEAL CAN ONLY HELP.


===== URGENT APPEAL BROADCAST BY THE KURDISH CULTURAL CENTRE, LONDON =====

As I speak to you, up to two million women, children and old
people are trapped without food and shelter in the freezing
mountains of Kurdistan.

Some have not eaten for days.

At night the temperature drops to minus ten degrees.

Many kids are barefoot in the snow.

With each hour that passes, they're growing weaker.

Despite the great efforts now being made to drop food and warm
clothing, it's still not nearly enough.

Right now, these kids need a miracle.

Will you be that miracle?

Pleas make a credit card donation by ringing the Kurdish
Cultural Centre now on 071-820 9999.

Please, be their miracle.

== Joss Ackland ==

[The Kurdish Cultural Centre is a registered charity, No. 800883.]


You can also donate to the Kurdish Disaster Fund by e-mail, fax
or regular post/mail.  Details below, followed by a sample letter of 
appeal directed at the U.S. and U.K. governments, which we urge you 
to send.



THREE WAYS TO DONATE TO THE KURDISH DISASTER FUND APPEAL

           Please feel free to verify any of the details
           that follow by writing or phoning us.  Thank you
           for your generosity.

           Kurdish Cultural Centre
           14 Stannary Street, London SW11 4AA, UK
           Tel: 071-735 0918
           Fax: 071-582 8894


E-MAIL YOUR DONATION TO US

Simplicity itself.

Please supply the following information:

1) The amount you wish to donate.
2) Type of credit card you wish to use (Access/Visa etc)
3) Expiry Date
4) Your card number
5) Your name and address as held by the credit card company.

If you are on GreenNet, EcoNet, PeaceNet, Web, Pegasus or any
other nets they are linked to please e-mail the information to us
at gn:kurds. (GreenNet users simply send to KURDS.)

If you are on JANET (itself reachable from INTERNET, BITNET, EARN, UUCP)
you can direct your e-mail to either of the following addresses:

   kurds at gn.uucp
   UUCP-RELAY"kurds at gn"

GreenNet is itself accessible by PSS/NUA/DTE number: 234212301371
The GreenNet operators may be reached for advice/enquiries on: 071-923 2624  

FAX YOUR DONATION TO US

Just as easy as e-mailing to us.

On a sheet of paper, please enter the followin inforamtion:

1) The amount you wish to donate.
2) Type of credit card you wish to use (Access/Visa etc)
3) Expiry Date
4) Your card number
5) Your name and address as held by the credit card company.

Now fax your sheet to us on 071-582 8894.

[If dialling from outside the UK you need to dial your
international exchange number followed by 44 for the UK, followed
by our number, omitting the initial 0.]


POST/MAIL YOUR DONATION TO US

'Post' if you're English, 'mail' if you're American.  Other
nationalities, take your pick.

Just as easy as e-mailing or faxing us.

Please put the following information on a sheet of paper:

1) The amount you wish to donate.
2) Type of credit card you wish to use (Access/Visa etc)
3) Expiry Date
4) Your card number
5) Your name and address as held by the credit card company.

Simply post the completed sheet to us at:

Kurdish Cultural Centre
14 Stannary Street, London SW11 4AA, UK

KURDISH CONTACTS OUTSIDE THE U.K.


FRANCE

Kendal Nazan
Institute Kurde de Paris
106, rue La Fayette
75010 Paris

Tel: +33 1 48 246464
Fax: +33 1 47 709904


USA

Doctor Najmeddin Omer
Kurdish National Congress (KNC)
PO Box 15498
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
USA




PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN NAME AND ADDRESS TO A COPY OF THE LETTER WHICH FOLLOWS 
(OR YOUR OWN PERSONALIZED VARIATION OF IT) AND JOIN US IN INUNDATING PRESIDENT
BUSH, PRIME MINISTER MAJOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES WITH APPEALS TO
HELP THE KURDS.  


---------------------8-<-------CUT HERE-------->-8----------------------------

The President of The United States of America
The White House
Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC, USA

The Right Honourable John Major
10 Downing Street
London, UK

Dear Sirs,

I do not remember having to write a letter fuelled by as much anger, 
frustration and sadness as this one.

The United Nations, backed by many countries, under the leadership of the 
United States of America, took steps to crush the unlawful ambitions of a 
ruthless dictator.  At last we could smell the winds of change and we were 
promised 'a new world order'.

But for the Kurds, it seems that this 'new world order' is not only as bad as 
but even worse than the old world order.

Kurdish mothers and children are dying of cold and starvation, huddled 
together fearing constant attack by Iraqi forces.  Nightly, the evening news
shows us people who last month were farmers, doctors, lawyers, politicians like
yourselves-- who are now forced to compete for a damp blanket or a muddy loaf.

In the face of such a human tragedy, I simply cannot understand, nor condone,
the morality of a 'non-interventionist' policy.  In particular, why is an
'international border' more precious than an entire people?  I CAN 
understand the legal principle, but when we go to bed each night, it is not a
law book but our consciences that we must face.  The fact that there IS an
Iraq-Kuwait border but there IS NOT an Iraq-Kurdistan border reflects the
subtleties of history (and indeed of US and UK policy) going back more than 70
years.  Iraq's violation of the Iraq-Kuwait border entitled the allies to bomb
Baghdad relentlessly in pursuit of military goals, but the apparent violation
of the Kurdish people, because it doesn't involve a recognized international
border, condemns the Kurds to a horrendous fate.  

Surely there is a straightforward solution which a strong leader could pursue.
One is reminded of the ironies of the American Civil Rights movement in the 
1960's, when racially-motivated murderers were brought to justice NOT because 
they had killed (the Federal Government could not meddle with local State 
jurisdiction in homicide cases) but rather because they violated their 
victim's civil rights (enabling the Federal Government to intervene and 
invoke a higher moral authority)!  I appeal to your common sense to invoke 
just such a higher moral authority and help save these people.
  
The US government has forbidden the Iraqi government to conduct military 
operations in the areas where the Kurdish refugees are gathered, yet Iraq 
openly and contemptuously flouts that order.  UN Security Council Resoultion 
688 gives you the moral authority you need to implement an acceptable variant
of the "John Major safe haven plan" and thereby put an end to the Kurdish 
suffering.

I understand that you don't want your young soldiers tied down in an endless 
civil war.  But you can't wash your hands of international events in which you
have played such a leading role.  I join my voice to the hundreds of 
thousands, nay, millions, of others who wish the US and UK to act strongly and
decisively to alleviate the suffering of the Kurdish people by helping 
guarantee a safe haven for them in what after all is, and has been for 
thousands of years, their own native homeland.

Yours sincerely,