Sri Lanka War Crimes Against Tamils

Oregon Journalist Will Give Key Note Address at FeTNA in Baltimore

by Salem-News, Salem, Oregon, June 29, 2012

For immediate release

Contact: Tim King 503 302-2861 

Salem-News.com tim@salem-news.com

Sri Lanka War Crimes Against Tamils: Oregon Journalist Will Give Key Note Address at FeTNA in Baltimore

2,000–3,000 Tamil Americans and Canadians are expected to attend the 25th year celebration.

(BALTIMORE) - A key note address will be delivered at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) conference in Baltimore, Md. on July 6th and 7th. (www.fetna.org), by Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor, Tim King.

On behalf of USTPAC (US Tamil Political Action Council), Tim was invited to speak about his coverage of war crimes in Sri Lanka, by Elias Jeyarajah, PhD, President of USTPAC, which holds a parallel session during FeTNA. (www.ustpac.org) Tim has written nearly 50 articles that explore and reveal the events that culminated in the ethnic cleansing of Tamils in north Sri Lanka in May 2009. He says part of what drives him is the large number of missing and murdered journalists who are believed to have been eliminated for writing about the war crimes against Tamils.

Elias Jeyarajah with USTAPC explains there are over 2 dozen Tamil Sangams (Associations of Tamil Americans) in North America. 

"Once a year they hold an annual get together coordinated by an organization called FeTNA, or Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America. This year's convention happens to be FeTNA's 25th yr (Silver Jubilee) celebration, to be held in Baltimore."

He explains that the Sri Lanka problem is specifically being addressed at this special event:

"While FeTNA is mainly a cultural organization, the 3-yr old USTPAC is the major political organization of Tamil Americans and friends of Tamils in the USA. In addition, we (USTPAC) also put together a one-hour prime time program at FeTNA for the entire attendees on the issues affecting Tamils in Sri Lanka."

Bonnie King, Salem-News.com's Publisher, has also been involved in supporting the news group's mission to expose Sri Lanka's war crimes. She will attend the event in Baltimore, and both of these U.S. journos will be exposed to, as Elias says, "plenty of Tamil food, music, classical dance and more".

When inviting Mr. King to the event, USTPAC's President said their group is grateful to the efforts of the Kings' Oregon based Salem-News.com:

"Tim, Tamil Americans are eternally grateful for the phenomenal support of Salem-News in highlighting the Tamil genocide, and we will be honored if you can accept our invitation and address us. There will be about 2,500 Tamil Americans and a few Tamil Canadians at the event."

Tim King says being invited to FeTNA as a distinguished guest to deliver a key note address is an extreme honor and he believes hope for the Tamil Diaspora is on the horizon.

"We have followed the Tamil tragedy since December, 2010. I had no idea what I was getting into at first, yet I quickly saw that I was on a one-way road -- and that a large number of human beings were suffering for justice and overwhelmed with death, to a point that I just could not believe it; yet I had to, because the evidence was overpowering from the offset. Since then I've invested a great deal of time researching the real facts of the case and bringing them forward."

More on FeTNA

FeTNA, Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, is an umbrella organization of Tamil Sangams (organizations) that represents the half a million strong Tamil community scattered throughout America. FeTNA is a registered, non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization in the USA. It is an organization that fosters Tamil language and culture, and functions to educate the Americans of Tamil origin to the greatness of Tamil language, literature and the virtues of 2000 year-old ethical poetry of Thiru-Valluvar. It also serves to raise its voice whenever and wherever any harm is done to Tamils anywhere in the world.

FeTNA commemorates its Silver Jubilee from July 5- 8, 2012 at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD, USA. This historic event of 25th year jubilee convention brings the Tamil community, originally from India and Sri Lanka, together in Washington D.C. Several artists, poets and academics have been invited from Tamil Nadu, India for the event. Invitations have also been extended to several government officials in the US including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Assistant Secretary Robert Blake, congresspersons, senators and Governor for Maryland.

About 2,000 – 3,000 Tamil Americans and a number of Tamil Canadians are expected to attend the 25th year celebrations. Past programs of FeTNA can be viewed at the organization’s website: www.fetna.org.

"FeTNA is grateful that Mr. Tim King will attend along with Mrs. Bonnie King, and address the gathering on July 6th at 4:30 p.m.," said Elias Jeyarajah.

Tim King of Salem-News.com humbly accepts the invitation, and we look forward to sharing the special event with our worldwide readership.
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Salem-News.com Online Global News ServiceEmail: newsroom@salem-news.com