Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Burma

I know it should be called Myanmar, but I just can't get used to it. Anyway, the situation in Burma is dire, with not only the military junta controlling the streets, but the ominous disappearance of thousands of monks. What happened to the thousands of monks who were marching peacefully and unarmed through the streets and were supported by unarmed civilians? The military junta has once again put down a major movement towards democracy, as they did in 1988, when an estimated 3,000 people were killed. Only that time, the monks were not so involved and the uprising was more violent. This time it was really a case of unarmed monks and civilians going up against the security forces and the army, and many were killed and beaten.
The leader of the democratic opposition, Aung San Suu-Kyi, is in military custody, but the UN envoy sent by the Secty. General, was able to apparently persuade the Chief of the military junta to meet with her for discussions. So far that has not happened. The UN Security Council has met to discuss sanctions, but they have little effect, since Burma is already so isolated, and in any case China, which has the most dealings with Burma is blocking sanctions.
However, with the Olympics in Beijing (now that I got used to) in the offing, China is in a dilemma. If they appear to support the crackdown of the junta in Burma, that may have a negative reaction at the Olympics (fewer visitors and maybe some demonstrations). On the other hand, if they go along with the Western desire to punish Burma with sanctions, they may lose some of their economic clout there.
An unusual Jewish connection in Burma was revealed, namely that Gen. David Abel, second in command of the Burmese junta, has Jewish antecedents, and has a cousin living near Tel Aviv. In an interview he admitted that he has close connections with Israel, and is a supporter of the State. However, one should not take this kind of thing too seriously, since he is a strong Burmese nationalist and has served the Burmese military in many positions over the years, including Minister of Industry and Finance. One can note that Ronnie Kasrils, the S. African Minister of Intelligence Services, is Jewish, and is strongly pro-Palestinian.

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