Chomsky signs Australian letter of support for Assange

[Turborama]

Source: AFP

By Amy Coopes (AFP) – 2 hours ago

SYDNEY — Renowned American scholar and activist Noam Chomsky signed an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday urging her to make a "strong statement" in support of Julian Assange.

Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a prominent critic of US foreign policy, joined scores of high-profile Australian lawyers, authors and journalists in signing the letter.

Noting the "increasingly violent rhetoric" directed towards Australian-born Assange, the besieged founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, the signatories said there were "grave concerns" for his safety.

"We therefore call upon you to condemn, on behalf of the Australian Government, calls for physical harm to be inflicted upon Mr Assange, and to state publicly that you will ensure Mr Assange receives the rights and protections to which he is entitled, irrespective of whether the unlawful threats against him come from individuals or states," says the letter, published on the ABC website.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iGqenG8-Ggin8X3dEUGTQrKlzUbw?docId=CNG.ff6b0ef1de475368ff6b8fbd3707651b.4e1

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The letter: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9709224">Open Letter To Australian PM Julia Gillard Asking Her To Condemn Unlawful Threats Against Assange

[Swagman]

1. currently reading 'Hopes and Prospects' by Chomsky. I love this man.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. I've been reading Fateful Triange again...

I've read a lot of his books, and that one's by far the best of them all.

btw, good to see someone at DU from my hometown :hi:

[No Elephants]

2. Noam Chomsky: Still Democratic after all these years. Gotta love him.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. One of my heros and also rated as one the smartest men in the world

'According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, between 1980 and 1992 Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar, and the eighth most cited scholar overall.’ ’Chomsky was voted the leading living public intellectual in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll conducted by the British magazine Prospect. He reacted, saying "I don’t pay a lot of attention to polls". In a list compiled by the magazine New Statesman in 2006, he was voted seventh in the list of "Heroes of our time".’

[Diclotican]

5. Ichingcarpenter

Ichingcarpenter

And still the right-wings of the world, are telling everyone who want to listen to them, how stupid mr Chomsky is, becouse he not exactly talking what the powers want to hear...

Diclotican

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. Some think I'm an idiot on DU

if that tells you anything.

But sometimes I have my days.......LOL

[Diclotican]

13. Ichingcarpenter

Ichingcarpenter

know the feeling;).. Some days is better han others..

Diclotican

[Dinger]

4. K & R

A hero of mine.

[midnight]

6. K&R...

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.

[snot]

8. LOVE Chomsky --

he shdda received Obama's peace prize.

[Kaleko]

9. K & R

[RoccoR5955]

11. Happy Birthday Noam Chomsky!

[avaistheone1]

12. Kudos to this great luminary sticking by his principles.

[sabrina 1]

14. Excellent to see people like Chomsky standing up for

Wikileaks. For those who did not know it, Wikileaks has received numerous awards for its outstanding work on human rights issues in its short existence. It has been praised as the New Media of the future where facts are published regardless of who is embarrassed by them. It's interesting that not until they published some uncomfortable facts about the U.S. were they attacked so viciously.

I never thought I'd see the day, especially under a Democratic administration, when a News Organization's web site would be hacked by the U.S. Government. And we dare to point fingers at China.

Too late to rec, but :kick: for a great man, actually two great men.

The U.S. Government has disgraced itself, once again.

[harun]

16. Chomsky's a treasure.

[Blue_Tires]

17. ttt