"YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD". Mahatma Ghandi I join Gambians the world over in condemning the barbarism that has been visited upon our FUTURE. I mourn the deaths of these courageous souls and I extend my condolences to all parents in the Gambia. I have not been able to stop the tears since hearing of the MASSACRE. How do I say to parents mourning the lose of a child that YOUR CHILD WAS/IS PART OF SOMETHING POSITIVE; THAT YOUR CHILD KNEW THAT TO CHALLENGE THE STATUS-QUO IS TO BE LIBERATED; THROUGH THEIR CONSCIOUSNESS THESE KIDS TOOK NECESSARY ACTION IN THE HOPES OF TRANSFORMING OUR SOCIETY; THESE KIDS KNOW THAT WHAT WE HAVE IN THE GAMBIA IS A PERVERSION REALITY; AFTERALL, WHAT IS OPPORTUNITY WITHOUT FREEDOM? HOW CAN THESE PARENTS SEE THROUGH THEIR PAIN THAT THEIR LOSE IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE IN VAIN? OR DO THEY KNOW THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE KIDS' ACTION? I WANT TO BELIEVE THAT THEY DO. The call for action has been heeded by these brave souls and nothing, not even the guns will stop the massive wave of change that these students have initiated. To the apologists for this sick, sick regime, FOR SHAME!!! Victimizing and brutalizing our people will be stamped out by all and any means necessary. Let's keep the mobilization effort going. Abdoulaye, re-send your call for the letter writing campaign so that those of us who were hesitant or were procrastinating will take action; If for no other reason but to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters back home, write and send those letters out. Do it! The inevitable consequence of our inactivity will be our mendicant existence for as long as we keep quiet. Let us cut the cancerous cells out. Mr. Sey, the hatred you are talking about is visited on the Gambian people by you and yours and I mean it personally. Think about it! The man you serve is nothing but an egocentric wannabe who has a neurotic need to self destruct and we are seeing it. Won't you jump out of the ship before it sinks with you? Is it worth the respect that people have for you, your dignity? What about your conscience? In pain, feeling numb, yet knowing I can't sit still ..... For the liberation struggle Soffie -----Original Message----- From: Yusupha Jow [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 10:54 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Massacre of Students in The Gambia Your "excellency" Bokarr Sey, it is absolutely shocking and sad that you have chosen this moment to further your government's cause. As an official representative of the Gambia govt, you should have joined all of us in condemning what happened today. Instead you chose to represent yourself and govt by using half truths and half baked statements. In your attempt to dissociate the regime from today's tragic incident you state: Quote I want to put it you personally that there is no one amongst us serving under Jammeh and Jammeh himself who would be so irresponsible to order the massacre of students Unquote In response to this statement, my question is whether the top military commanders in the GNA do not serve under Jammeh? Unless the military chain of command has completely crumbled, your statement, coming from the Gambian Ambassador to France, should be considered as a shameful attempt to cover the truth. In your continuing bumbled attempt to defend I don't know what, you state: Quote I want those of you whirling accusations to know that some of those students who lost their lives are closely related to people working under Jammeh.Some are related to Jammeh himself. Did you know that? Unquote This statement is not relevant in relation to what happened today. As far as most of us are concerned, all that counts is that innocent students were killed today. I even doubt the validity of the statement you made since there is no evidence to support your claims. Unfortunately, you have chosen this time to defend your regime. But history has been the best judge of tyrants and their coconspirators. Time will tell! Yus ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------