[please send this far & wide…]
Dear Friends,

If you’ve been following the news, you know last week’s massive,
peaceful demonstrations protesting the Burma/Myanmar dictatorship have
been followed by severe repression and brutality. Reports of possibly
200 monks being killed in retaliation cannot be verified or confirmed,
because of the media blackout and military crackdown. They were heard
by a Burmese army major, Major Win, who defected because he did not
want to be part of killing civilians and monks. But certainly the
death count is higher than the official government count of 9 people.
Somewhere in the range of 1,400 protestors are in jail now.
Democratically-elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who decisively won the
1990 elections, has been under house arrest for years.

If you would like to do something to support the Burmese people, these
are some simple actions you can take:

1. Call for a 2008 Olympic Boycott

As best as I can tell, many political analysts say that China holds
the most weight over the Myanmar/Burma government because they are
Myanmar’s most influential trading partner. The Myanmar government
does not care about world opinion, or pressure from countries that
already do little trade with them, but would be negatively impacted if
China put economic sanctions in place.

To that end:
The Chinese government has no incentive to stop trade with Myanmar.
They have blocked various United Nations motions on Myanmar with their
veto on the UN Security Council. But they do care very much about the
2008 Olympics going well, and the positive press that will bring them.
I recommend sending a fax to the President of the International
Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge. Here is a short sample letter you
can copy and paste.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Sir,

I am deeply concerned by the reports of military brutality in Myanmar
against non-violent civilians, monks, and nuns. I am also concerned by
reports that hundreds of monks and other peaceful protesters have been
detained.

I ask you to, as tactfully as possible, ask the Chinese government to
respond to the situation in Myanmar with economic sanctions, in the
interests of having a successful 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

I could not, in good conscience, attend, watch on TV, or buy any
products associated with the 2008 Beijing Olympics otherwise. I am
very interested in China’s rich cultural heritage and would otherwise
look forward to seeing such a major world event in the exciting,
cosmopolitan city of Beijing. I feel strongly enough about the issue
to also encourage other people to boycott the 2008 Olympics if China
remains a complicit economic supporter of Myanmar’s current situation.
I believe many other potential Olympic attendees around the world feel
the same way.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards, ______________

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fax it to the attention of Jacque Rogge, President of the
International Olympic Committee, at: (41.21) 621 62 16

Or sent it via postal mail (but faxing is better because it is faster):
Jacques Rogge
President
International Olympic Committee
Château de Vidy
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland

2. Email the Olympic Ticket Sales with a Request for China’s Divestment in Myanmar.

Consider this a form of “electronic disobedience”. You can copy and paste the letter below. Send your email to:
ticketsupport@beijing2008.cn

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am deeply concerned by the reports of military brutality in Myanmar
against non-violent civilians, monks, and nuns. I am also concerned by
reports that hundreds of monks and other peaceful protesters have been
detained. It is my understanding that China’s government is a major
trading partner of Myanmar.

I cannot, in good conscience, attend, watch on TV, or buy any products
associated with the 2008 Beijing Olympics as long as the host country
is an economic supporter of the current state of affairs in Myanmar.

I am very interested in China’s rich cultural heritage and would
otherwise look forward to seeing such a major world event in the
exciting, cosmopolitan city of Beijing. I ask that China use it’s
influence towards non-violence in Myanmar.

Thank you for your time.

Best regards, ______________

3. Attend a World-Wide Protest on Saturday, Oct. 6, to Show Your Support for the Burmese People

There are protests happening all over the world this Saturday. Here is
a link to a listing (scroll to the bottom of the page) on Avaaz (an
international grassroots advocacy group)’s website.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/u.php

4. Sign a petition

You can sign Avaaz’s petition, at their link (once more):
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/u.php
The petition will be delivered to Chinese President Hu Jintao and the
UN Security Council. They have over 600,000 signers already and are
aiming for 1 million. Many useful Burmese links are at the bottom of
Avaaz’s page. (You won’t be able to sign without giving an email, so
give a junk email if you don’t want to be on their list. You don’t
have to give your phone number at all.)

You can also sign Amnesty International’s petition to the Myanmar government:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/mmr-270907-action-eng

Or the U.S. Campaign for Burma’s petition to the Chinese government:
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/usca…Y=730&t=HomePage.dwt

5. Financially Support Burmese Journalists

Supporting Burmese news organizations, who fight a constant uphill
battle to report the facts of what is happening in Burma to the larger
world, is no small thing to do.

Irawaddy is one organization. They have in fact had to deal with their
site being hacked in the past few days (I wonder why…..). But they
are up and running again.

http://www.irrawaddy.org
Donate at the bottom of their subscription link (or subcribe to
support their magazine): http://www.irrawaddymedia.com/shop/

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As a parting note, China is not the only country doing business with
Myanmar. India and Thailand, among others, do as well, though not to
the same extent. I know India’s Buddhist community is already
protesting India’s trade with Myanmar. Thailand is a devout Buddhist
country and very much in support of the Burmese monks, but I don’t
believe that has taken the shape of calling for economic sanctions.
Food for thought if any of you wish to do further research in this
direction.

Thanks for reading this. Pass it on.