[Nettime-bold] UNESCO petition - Afghanistan's cultural heritage

[Helen Michaelsen <helenm@loxinfo.co.th>]

The following petition is being circulated by UNESCO's
Bureau of Public Information. For background information,
see http://www.unesco.org/opi2/afghan-crisis/

UNESCO International Petition to Safeguard Afghanistan
Cultural Heritage
We, the undersigned, plead for an immediate end to the
Taliban edict to demolish Afghanistan's cultural heritage.
We further urge the Taliban spiritual leader Mullah
Mohammed Omar to enter into dialogue with the international
community -including the Arab and Islamic governments that
overwhelmingly have condemned these actions - in order to
explore proposals to safeguard this irreplaceable cultural
heritage from further, senseless destruction.
The edict of the 26th of February 2001 to destroy pre-
Islamic and Buddhist objects-including the world's largest
standing Buddha statues at Bamiyan-runs counter to all the
basic principles of respect, tolerance and the wisdom upon
which Islam is based, and is a breach of the Taliban pledge
made in 1999. We plead with Taliban authorities to stop
this irreversible assault on two millennia of Afghanistan's
artistic and cultural achievements, treasured not only as
the spiritual birthright of Buddhists everywhere but also
as a universal cultural heritage for people of all faiths
and nationalities.
-Please sign and also forward this e-mail to friends,
family, news groups, mailing lists etc.
-To avoid adding ">>>" onto the chain, please preferably
cut & paste the entire petition and list of names into a
new message prior to re-sending.
-The 100th, 200th, 300th etc. name to sign is requested to
also forward the updated list of signatures back to the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization at e-mail: "unesco.press@unesco.org".

1) Dr. Bernt Glatzer, Afghanistan Research Group, and German Foundation
for
International Development
2) Lhakpa Doma Sherpa, Hennef, Germany
3) Dr. Karl-Heinz Kraemer, Hennef, Germany
4) Prof. Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann, Erlangen, Germany
5) Dr. Christoph Bendick, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
6) Dr. Helen Michaelsen, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage (SPACH)
House 196-A, Street 10, E-7
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel. 00-92-51-2824719
Fax. 00-92-51-2822636

-----------------------------------------------------
Deutsche Stiftung fuer internationale Entwicklung
German Foundation for International Development
Zentralstelle fuer Auslandskunde (ZA)
Lohfelder Str. 128
D-53604 Bad Honnef /Germany
Phone (+49)2224 926 225
e-mail: bglatzer@web.de



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