Wanna help the Burmese and the Saffron Revolution?
You can help put pressure on the governments that can actually do something about it.
I’m reproducing an urgent appeal for support and signatures by Avaaz.org to put pressure on the “non-interfering” actors of the ASEAN stage, amongst others, to get a life and do something useful (for once) for the thousands that have died in Burma in the on-going Saffron Revolution.
Read the email below, set aside your cynicism for 5 minutes and click to sign the petition.
Dear friends,
Over the past 10 days, a massive global outcry over the brutalization of peaceful monks and protesters in Burma has been felt far and wide, from New York to Beijing to Rangoon.
The pressure is working. The UN Security Council, including China, has declared the crackdown ‘unacceptable and unsustainable,’ Burmese military officers and diplomats are escaping the country in protest, and most importantly, dictator Than Shwe is being pressed to negotiate with a woman he detests–Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the hero of Burma’s democracy movement. Global outrage has generated intense pressure on the UN, UK, France, the US, India, Malaysia and China to take action. In the next 48 hours, we are focusing attention on key regional trading partners of the Burmese regime–India, Singapore, and Thailand–running ads with our petition and supporting protests in these countries.
The key now is to show that the world is still paying attention–and demanding action. Please help us reach our target of 1 million signatures this week! Sign the petition at the link below, then forward this email to all your friends.
The global outpouring of support for the Burmese people has been amazing. Our petition has grown to almost 750,000 signatures from every nation on earth, we’ve helped organize hundreds of protests on Saturday covered by all the world’s media, and our ad campaign is running in major newspapers worldwide. In the last few days, offers of help have flooded into our campaign–from Burmese democracy groups to Singaporean politicians, even British royalty! Now we’re getting reports that the monks and protesters are regrouping, holding candle-lit vigils and organizing workers. They need us now more than ever.
There’s no question that the road to justice and democracy in Burma will be long and hard. The military junta is willing to go to extremes to protect its power; in 1988, after months of protests, the Burmese military murdered 3000 protesters and crushed the movement for 20 years. But this time, there’s a difference: the world isn’t looking the other way. The international community is coming together with the people of Burma, and dictator Than Shwe is facing a united front.
Let’s show him what we’re capable of.
With hope and determination,
Paul, Ricken, Graziela, Sarah, Pascal, Galit, Iain, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz team.
PS: These sites have excellent updates on the situation in Burma:
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
http://www.mizzima.com/
Comment (1)
I have signed the petition but doubt it will have much impact on the on going crisis in Burma.
Darfur is a prime example where the international community had failed, especially America, couldn’t care less and shut their eyes to the genocide.The situation had grown worse now, where killing of innocent civilians are carried out by government sponsored militia.
The situation in Burma is nothing compared to what happenning in Darfur.