Dear Sir/Madam,
In May a small group of your countrymen once again took up the "tradition" of whaling and have set to hunt down and kill Minke whales. By this action, this minority has earned your country the contempt and the scorn of the rest of the world. As a nation of great statue we believe this should be of great concern.
The whalers say that they are doing this because it is a long established Norwegian tradition. You know and we know that this is nonsense. The cloak of "tradition" is being used to disguise the fact that - with whale meat selling at huge prices in Japan - this whole bloody exercise is being done with the hope of a huge profit. As evidenced by the amount of whale blubber stored in Norwegian warehouses any hopes of legally exporting whale products to Japan will not be fulfilled in the near future.
So, who is really profiting from this massacre? Probably not the people of Norway. Only a few whalers are able to make a lot of money and a few Norwegians are able to grotesquely impress their dinner guests.
But the losers are you and your country. Just as, years ago, the right-thinking world condemned slavery, so too your beautiful land will be stained and despised on account of the handful of traditionalists who are going to tarnish Norway's name through this action.
No one will deny that, the overwhelming majority of Norwegians - especially young Norwegians - are kind and forward-thinking. They are concerned about ecology and open to new, better ideas like whale watching.
Most Norwegians don't eat whale meat anyway and, as Greenpeace has alerted, this whole sad and sick exercise is being conducted not to uphold tradition but for greed.
In 2005 the slaughter increased to a horrifying 745 whales. Why? when during previous years, your whalers killed no more than 647 and 634 from smaller quotas of Minke whales. Even more astounding is the fact that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has consistently called on Norway to 'halt immediately all whaling activities'.
That's not just men in suits passing a resolution. That IWC ruling is the world calling. The whole of the rest of the planet - with the exception of the few hypocrites who whale for "scientific purposes" that don't fool or impress anybody - is imploring Norway to stop or be shamed.
I do not believe that the people of Norway want or deserve that shame. I believe that you have it within your power to stop this killing. Ban Norwegian whaling now. You will earn the praise and respect of the world.
Yours Sincerely, |