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World should boycott the Blood Olympics
Hit junta in Burma where it hurts — through China.

by Ish Theilheimer, Straight Goods Online
October 9, 2007

It is easy to say there is nothing we can do about atrocities in Burma. Look at how little impact US sanctions have had, argue those who say Canada should continue with namby-pamby public statements and almost nothing by way of concrete action to confront the junta.

Canada's indifference today to Burma is on a par with its refusal to accept Jewish refugees from Hitler in the 1930s. Canadian companies are still doing business there, trade continues, and Canada still hosts an embassy of the "Union Of Myanmar," as the junta renamed Burma after taking over in 1989.

"Support the Monks' protest in Burma" Facebook group suggests ways to oppose the military regime.

But, as the skeptics point out, much stronger action than Canada's from our much more influential American neighbours has not appeared to have much impact on the thugs in charge. How could Canada affect these killers? Without concerted similar actions from many other countries, the answer is probably not very much. Even with such actions, it might not help much.

The greatest sources of support for the brutal regime in Burma are its huge neighbours and trading partners, China and India, who stick to the doctrine of non-intervention when Burma's plight is discussed at the UN security council. "Nonintervention is a favourite mantra of China, Burma's number one trading partner," writes BC journalist Daniel Gawthrop in Straight.com. "It's an especially convenient cop-out: if China pushes Burma to stop the repression, fingers would then be pointed at China's less-than-stellar human-rights record."

Condemning repression in Burma would bring to mind the obvious example of the massacre of thousands of demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

At a Parliament Hill news conference last week, former independent MP David Kilgour pointed out that monks in Burma are being shot with Chinese bullets, as reported in HarperIndex.ca.

Of course business and political leaders do not want to press China because everyone wants to do business there. Ordinary people all over the world, disgusted by the images and reports that journalists and Burmese citizens risked their lives to get send out, will not feel so callous.

There are many things citizens can do to oppose the regime in Burma. Below is a list from the Facebook group "Support the Monks' protest in Burma," which now includes nearly 400,000 people.

The strongest, most understandable, and most direct message to the junta, though, could come through a boycott of the 2008 China Olympics. China is terribly sensitive about its international image. The Olympics mean everything to China. If the global public fully understood the connection between China and the blood bath in Burma, they would demand action — and they would get it.

Threatening the Olympics — or even presenting a credible threat to do so — may be the only thing that could get action from China. The world needs to understand China's critical role in supporting repression in Burma — not to mention its own domestic human rights abuses.

The difference between now and 1988, when the junta in Burma slaughtered thousands, or 1989, when thousands died at Tiananmen Square is the Internet. It is impossible for tyrants to suppress news for long. The young people who started the Facebook group deserve a lot of credit. Please join their and spread word of it. It will take a lot of public education, but if it can keep growing at the exponential rate it has seen, the world may notice.

In the name of the Olympic spirit, China must be stopped from using the Olympics as a public relations measure to make the world forget human rights — or environmental — abuses. Free Burma!

WHAT CAN YOU DO? 10 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE PROTESTERS
  1. PROTEST — Look below in "Recent news" for details of worldwide protests.
  2. SPREAD THE WORD — Invite your friends to this group, email all your family and friends, write to local newspapers.
  3. CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL — They will respond if enough people contact them.
  4. EMAIL COMPANIES STILL IN BURMA — Their email addresses are listed here.
  5. SIGN A PETITION — This one is the biggest so far there are also lots listed here.
  6. KEEP UP TO DATE — READ SOME BLOGS/WEBSITES — To get free updates on actions for Burma send a blank email to burmacampaign — subscribe@lists.burmacampaign.org.uk — you can also get a free monthly newsletter, visit: BurmaCampaign.org. We've compiled some great resources.
  7. EMAIL YOUR NATION'S EMBASSY IN BURMA — ask them to open up their WiFi networks for our contacts to utilize. We've had reports that the internet is down to keep reports and pictures IN Burma, we need to do everything we can to make sure they get OUT. Your embassy's contact info will be on your country's ministry/department of foreign affairs webpage.
  8. CONTACT EXTERNAL MEDIA — If you have any updates pass them to the press via details listed here.
  9. BOYCOTT CHINA/2008 OLYMPICS — Think about boycotting Chinese goods. Follow the links below.
  10. BROWSE THIS SITE — At the bottom of the site is the constantly updating wall with up to the minute news on protests and what is happening in Burma. Support the Monks's protest in Burma Facebook page.

Ish Theilheimer has been Publisher of the leading, and oldest, independent Canadian online newsmagazine, StraightGoods.ca, since founding it in September 1999. He lives in Golden Lake, ON, in the Ottawa Valley.


Related addresses:

URL 1: leedsac.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3223
URL 2: ubc.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6524045893
URL 3: ubc.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=24957770200&topic=3351


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