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The Italian Tamil youth organisation, Giovani Tamil and the Italian Council of Eelam Tamils held a conference entitled "Tamil, the identity denied", with human rights organisation, academics and politicians in attendance, at the historic town hall of Palermo.
A resolution, calling for a “plebiscite among the people of North and East descent in the island of Sri Lanka, in the diaspora and among the refugees in India and elsewhere, to decide on the creation of an independent and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam”, was passed by the organisations.
Several academics form the University of Palermo spoke at the event.
Prof. Giuseppe Burgio spoke about the armed struggle, the de-facto state built by the LTTE and the support they had among the Tamil people.
Prof. Fulvio Vasallo discussed the ban on the LTTE and the effect this has had on the disapora, arguing that the ban on the LTTE became a ban on the demand for Tamil Eelam.
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This was followed by an analysis of the genocide on the Tamil nation by Professor Clelila Bartoli and a discussion by anthropologist Fabio Pettiriono on the types of campaigning activities that can be used by organisations.
Stephano Edward, Giovani Tamil Coordinator for Sicily detailed what activities Tamil organisations in Italy have been engaging in.
The event concluded with a discussion by Sergio Cipolla of the CISS, a development NGO and Prof Provenza of Amnesty International, on how the UN failed in their responsibility in preventing the genocide.
