mytest
Hi Blog. Thanks to the FP issue, we get a huge turnover of posts. This one deserves a reminder:
Online Petition against NJ Fingerprinting. If anyone else is blogging in Japan or anywhere in the world, because the petition is for anyone with an interest in Japan, please do the same. Right now we don’t have enough names to make a difference. Please sign and get your voice heard!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fingerprints-japan/
Go sign if you haven’t. Tell your friends to sign if they haven’t. I have. Debito in Hirosaki
4 comments on “Reminder: Online Petition against NJ Fingerprinting”
FROM A POTENTIAL SIGNER. DEBITO
And as for the petition, I think it might be useful to make it clear who is organizing it, what the wording is to be, and when it will be sent in. At present, it’s vague on such details. I wanted to sign, but make it a policy of never putting my name to petitions that are unclear on such items.
Hello Debito. Sound advice from the “potential signer” above. Personally, I might be interested in signing, but legally and politically, I get very uncomfortable when asked to sign my name to something with few (or no) details attached. You really do need to have concrete wording, a submission date, the address of the petitioned, and clearly identified organizers for such a petition. I’m sure that most people would never sign their names to other business or legal documents without first reading and understanding the fine print. It’s the same principle for a political petition.
Craig Bishop
Some clarifications about the petition’s background are indeed in demand. Here is the story.
The petition was launched by Thomas Bertrand, a French resident of Kyoto, quickly backed up by other individuals in Japan who are not affiliated individually or together with any particular groups. One other individual is Lionel Dersot, a French resident of Tokyo. On the right top corner of the Petition text page, there is a list of links to people’s or groups web sites that have supported the petition from the start. They are not constituted into any kind of organization. The idea of launching a petition was spontaneous and implemented almost on the spot and has gained support in viral fashion with various contributors who mostly do not know each other.
Under the broad objective of asking for the dismissal of the new regulation for entry and re-entry to Japan, various perspectives are taken into account as there is not a unique point of view regarding the issue. The single point of view probably shared by most if not all supporters is that this state systematization of ostracism is loathsome and degrading, and the issue is not a mere practical matter of slowing down the speed of getting through the gates into Japan. Therefore, there are no political, religious or any specific organization behind this movement and no hidden agenda. A blog named Re-Entry Japan was started later on as a contributive platform to inform and think about the issue, again without any ambition to organize or distill political discourses of any kind. As for the time and exact destination of the petition to the concerned minister, your opinions, knowlegde and experience are very welcome as these matters are not yet settled.
Here are the major links to know:
The petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fingerprints-japan/index.html
The blog Re-Entry Japan: http://reentryjapan.blogspot.com/
Regards.
Lionel Dersot
Show your displeasure with current xenophobic policies like the fingerprinting of ALL foreigners by wearing the “Yokoso Japan 11/20 Commemorative tee”: Protest t-shirt.
Available at http://samuraicanuck.tripod.com
or email: yokoso_tee@joka.powweb.com