UNESCO-PARIS HEADQUARTERS CELEBRATES ZAMENHOF

This past Monday, December 15, was one of the largest ONE DAY meetings in favor of the work of Ludovik Lazurus Zamenhof. This was Zamenhof's birthday and is usually celebrated in all of the Esperanto Clubs of the world in December. I estimate this at a thousand clubs in over 100 countries.
FOUR HUNDRED PEOPLE filled a hall in UNESCO's headquarters in Paris. I was pleased that L.L.Zamenhof's grandson, active for decades in the Movement spoke there. Zaleski-Zamenhof has himself lived an impressive life.
Unesco also sponsored a conference (Languages Matter) in New York inside of the UN. During the two day conference on the preservation of diversity, in a room built for over 400 participants there was never more than 150 people in the room simultaneously. I was able to mention Esperanto during two question periods. I was pleased with the opportunity.
Free tickets were available to the public at the entrance of the UN but the majority of participants were probably diplomats or employees of the UN. A few ambassadors (Mali, Luxembourg, Portugal) were there. To explain the partially empty room an organizer said publicly "Other important meetings of the General Assembly'' were going on simultaneously. I think it is an indication that this is not a priority for UN staff.
While many of the participants still cannot understand how a multilingual society is supported by the instruction of Esperanto, I am totally convinced that Esperanto encouraged me to continue studies in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Hebrew.
All the speakers received an Update on Esperanto flyer and/or the Prague Manifesto booklet (printed in 5 languages).

Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you. by Zamenhof

These are the principals of Zamenhof that motivated many, if not most, early Esperanto speaker's to use Esperanto. He named an earlier version Hilelismo. Homaro means mankind and homaranismo is a form of Humanism. Excerpt from the declaration of Homaranismo

1. I am a human being, and I believe that there are only human ideals and ideals linked to the country of origin; every ideal which brings hatred among peoples and entails the power of one ethnicity over another I believe it to be human egoism, which sooner or later must disappear and to which disappearance I must contribute according to my possibilities.
2. I believe that every peoples are equally part of humankind, and I value every person only according to his personal values and actions, and not according to his/her origin. Every offense or persecutions of people because they belong to a different ethnicity, with a different language or religion, I regard it as a barbarity.
3. I believe that every country does not belong to a particular group of people, but equally to every people who live in it, regardless of their language or religion; the mixing of the country’s interests with those of one or another group of people, language or religion I regard it as reminiscence of barbarian times, when there was only the right of fist and sword.
4. I believe that in his/her own family life each person has the natural and indisputable right to speak whatever language or dialect he/she wants and to confess whatever religion he/she wants; nevertheless, when communicating with people from other origins he/she must, when it is possible, aim to use a neutral language and to live according to neutral religious principles. Every attempt of a person to impose his/her language or religion to other people when it is not absolutely necessary, I regard it as a barbarity.

Another excellent informantional video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8837438938991452670

Change.org My Comment

As an American who has lived 16 years of my life abroad in the recent and distant past, I find Esperanto the greatest tool for my self respect. I DO NOT ENJOY the so called advantages of speaking with non-native speakers of English in my mother tongue when I can be in an egalitarian relationship with individuals via Esperanto. When traveling in Eastern Europe as a teenager I found Esperanto speakers who treated me with royal respect. My government insisted we were destined to go to war with the same people I befriended. Esperanto has brought me hope time and time again. Sincerely, Neil Blonstein, volunteer representative for Esperanto at the United Nations, New York
Posted by Neil Blonstein on 12/19/2008 @ 09:14AM PST

Barack Obama/ Change.org for E-o

As of today, December 14, 2008, several hundred people, mostly Esperanto speakers, have discussed Esperanto on Barack Obama's website http://www.change.org/ This is an e-mail to me on that subject. Go to the bottom link to enter the discussion.
There has been a new response posted to the following discussion on Change.org:Idea for Change in America: Introduce Esperanto as a foreign language subject in schools If the good wind blows from America, we in Europe also have good results. Start your language education with Esperanto, and the doors will open for other and more languages. Click the link below to view this discussion.http://www.change.org/ideas/view/introduce_esperanto_as_a_foreign_language_subject_in_schools

5. Professor Mario Pei, from books to the web

In the 1960's and 1970's the easiest way to hear about Esperanto in English (in the USA) was through the works of Columbia University Professor Mario Pei. I was fortunate enough to meet him at his home in 1971. (Neil)
About Esperanto and International Language :"One language for the World and how to achieve it" http://miresperanto.narod.ru/biblioteko/pei.htm by Mario Pei (Univ. Columbia)
http://www.esperanto-chicago.org/jones/pei.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Pei
Posted by Henri Masson on 11/28/2008 @ 01:37AM PST

Excellent Videos Will Attract Youth

www.video.google.com/videoplay?docid=29841445498437542&hl=en

Miami Book Fair and Esperanto

I took the two hour trip by bus and three trains from Sunrise to Downtown Miami. (The last train isn't essential-The Metromover- I could have walked the half mile.) The Goal: to distribute 50 informational flyers on Esperanto at the 25th annual Miami Book Fair. This weekend is the Street Fair part of the week long series of lectures by well-known authors at Miami Dade College.
Upon arriving at 11:45 AM, students, perhaps highschoolers, perhaps college students, marched through the street-fair with bands.
The first booth that caught my eye was an author ofa part comedic book on the mixture of Spanish and English. Yes the book is called Spanglish by Bill something or other. I will look it up later.
I brought food and a dozen books and magazines to show, if possible, but I was hopeful that the Spiritists, mostly of Brazil, would let me store my stuff. They had a large booth. Roberto Cabraz (of Fortaleza) , spoke a sentence in Esperanto, told me he studied a few years ago and was out of touch. Three other Brazilians and a Peruvian were eager to talk in Portuguese. Fortunately for me they were not being overwhelmed by buyers so we got to know eachother. Eleuz, Almir, Aldrin (the Peruvian). Another female spiritist was also volunteering. One of my larger albums with pictures from a dozen Brazilian cities convinced them that I knew their native country like few natives. They were kind, attentive and liked me talking to them in Portuguese. The main question is will I understand them? So, so I think. (http://www.spiritist.com/) rcabraz@hotmail.com
Roberto was the last person I spoke to as well . He apparently works not far away and was there early and at the end. When I said obrigado his last word was dankon. thankyou in Esperanto.
He urged us to collaborate in the future, to get a lecture on Esperanto at his prayer house.
I had a dozen conversations varying in length from 5 minutes to half an hour.
I was a little surprised to get a great deal of attention from a Muslim group called Ahmediyyah. Nureddin Al Hadith of Washington, D.C. spoke about a Red Cross-like division of this Islamic group called Humanity First (http://www.humanityfirst.org/ ) . When I returned with the Koran in it's bilingual addition of Esperanto and Arabic I got into another lenghthy conversation with F. Zafar Suraleigh (zsuraleigh@gmail.com) .
The young lady at PEN International clarified that she has met Esperanto activists at PEN meetings in New York City. http://www.pen.org/
The english accented guy at the Nation Books exhibit said that another publisher (Bloomsbury he thought) with good relations to Nation informed them of a project to publish a history of Esperanto http://www.thenation.com/ . letters@thenation.com
Another booth that kept me busy for half and hour was the Florida Association of Writers. Although Gene Hull had never heard of Esperanto before, we shared our stories. He was a former horn player for Duke Ellington and tells about it in his book Hooked on the Horn. genehull@msn.com Paola, an author of Italian birth, showed her book about Balsamic Vinigrette. I was able to show both Italo Chiussi's translation of the Koran and Umberto Ecco's book In Seach of the Perfect Language, in its Esperanto version. A nearby author Virginia Nygard gave my her business card. nygardv@comcast.net
I learned of a movement called logosophy from a Brazilian women, named Magdalena. She emphasized that her library on the subject, at home, includes books in Esperanto. http://www.logosophy.info/ The website mentions books in Esperanto as well.
All of the above groups and individuals shared thoughts on what is important to them and listened attentively about Esperanto and accepted a 4 page informational flyer. Only a handful of people were less receptive to information on Esperanto. TO BE CONTINUED

Specialty Groups Promise to Learn Esperanto

In collaboration with Martin Schleiffer and others to find those simpathetic to Esperanto I will be looking for groups that already have some simpathy towards Esperanto. These might be Unitarians, Quakers, Bahais, Legion of Good Will, Rotary International and the International Radical Party. I may be seeking members of other organizations but this would be a good start. Some may say that I'm concentrating on groups with too many controversial viewpoints, however Esperanto for many is controversial.
Could we get 50,ooo people from these groups to make the declaration Zamenhof asked of a smaller number to declare their future readiness to learn the language if others do so as well. Sincerely, Neil

1.Getting friends to learn Esperanto

Recently, an Esperanto Friend, e-mailed that he wants Esperantists to get the UN to participate in a petition of sorts that would get people to learn Esperanto if, let's say, a certain number of people promised to learn the language. He may have said 50,000. It's not too important the number is negotiable. Whereas there may be a few million people who speak or read or do both in Esperanto the number, we only can have intelligent estimates, usually based on how many Teach Yourself Books or Dictionaries have been sold, distributed etc. Some estimate based on how many people join local groups or come to national conventions.
Martin Schlaefer is encouraging this petition idea. Wouldn't it be nice if 50,000 people would learn Esperanto simultaneously, probably on-line or some other method (courses, Teach Yourself Books etc) . Zamenhof had this idea early on.
I believe Esperanto is most effective when you study a few lessons, go somewhere where other people really want to talk in Esperanto, or better yet somewhere where nobody speaks English. Wishful Thinking! Neil