Burma Crisis

Hello again,

One of the reasons i haven't been blogging as much recently is that most of the really good information i come across seems to make it into a bunch of other blogs, so there's no point reposting it here. But i got an e-mail yesterday with some things i hadn't heard before - things that also couldn't be reposted too often.

I don't know how much you've heard about the crisis in Burma right now, but all I had heard until yesterday was neutral news reports of monks protesting and the government fighting back. But then I got an e-mail from an organization I trust called World Hope with some more information. I discovered that the Burmese government is truly oppressive, Christians suffer greatly there, and the protesters need to be supported by the global community. I'm frustrated that the news networks describe the conflict in vague terms and leave people with no sense of what the conflict is over or whether it warrants international action.

The e-mail I got from world hope (which you can read here) contained links to three ways to get involved - one petition and 2 e-mail addresses to write. I did all three, and I'm copying them here for you to use if this makes sense to you. The petition link also contains more information about the conflict. Also, if you have a blog, please consider re-posting this for your readers. Wouldn't it be great to know that you were a part of the global outcry that helped liberate an oppressed people?

• Avaaz: People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries to intervene, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers to deliver its message. Avaaz needs 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. Visit www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php to sign the petition.
  
  
• You can email the EU President Luís Amado to strengthen the EU position on Burma at http://burmacampaign.org.uk/eu_action.html.
  
  
• You can also send an email to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at inquiries@un.org, urging him to coordinate a strong response to Burmese repression at the UN Security Council and reminding him that waiting, as the UN did in Darfur and Rwanda, could cause untold suffering.
  

Thanks.