Bad Publicity?

That notorious Broadway producer, David Merrick, was famous for many of his pithy sayings—a sort of Broadway Yogi Berra. My favorite is, “Darling, there’s no such thing as bad publicity except no publicity.” It may surprise you, but it was actually an interchange between the government of South Africa and the Dalai Lama that made me think of the long-dead David Merrick. Like many of you, I’m sure, I follow the daily news headlines on my iGoogle page. This morning, a headline from the venerable New York Times caught my eye. South Africa Bars Dalai Lama From a Peace Conference rnWhat?! Barring the Dalai Lama from a peace conference is like barring Bambi from the forest! Impossible! Better, quoting Wally Shawn, inconceivable! Mais non, it was right there in the All-the-News-that’s-Fit-to-Print New York Times. “JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has barred the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, from attending a peace conference here this week that was supposed to promote the 2010 World Cup and the potential of sport to unite people across races and nations.” rnI am dubious about sport uniting people across races and nations, but I do know that barring the Dalai Lama from anywhere is bad public relations. He is the face of the exiled Tibetan people. He has stood for fifty years for peaceful reconciliation between China and the people of Tibet. “This year also marks the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that led to the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile in India. China has accused him of pursuing independence for Tibet, while he maintains that he is seeking only autonomy, not separation.” rnThree South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Bishop Desmond Tutu, F. W. de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela descried the choice of their own government. rnThe Times went on: “If South Africa’s intention in barring the Dalai Lama was to keep the attention of the world focused on the World Cup instead of Tibet, it certainly seemed to backfire.” rnEnter the illustrious David Merrick. rnWell, of course it backfired on those doing the rejecting. It had to. The equation is simple. Take a worldwide symbol for the cause of peaceful reconciliation in the world and tell the whole world you’re not willing to play. The Dalai Lama has been willing to play with China from the beginning. He has counseled patience, and calm negotiation since Tibet invaded China fifty years ago. There’s no such thing as bad publicity except no publicity. rnThe Times: “Kjetil Siem, chief executive officer of the Premier Soccer League in South Africa, which organized the peace conference, seemed taken aback on Monday by the storm of protest that had engulfed the conference. It was supposed to be a celebration of South Africa as the rainbow nation of all races united by soccer. “Asked what he thought of the government’s decision, he said, ‘I don’t feel I’m entitled to say anything about it.’ Asked if he worried that the uproar would damage the World Cup and South Africa’s image, he replied: ‘Another dangerous question to answer. I need to be careful. There’s a lot of water going into the ocean before this is over.’” The Dalai Lama is a wise man. His silence is electric in this situation because the actions of China in Tibet speak for themselves. Let’s bless South Africa in its fear of China’s power, bless the Dalai Lama for enduring yet one more outrage, and thank God for the publicity it’s engendering for the plight of Tibet.