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