Dear friends,

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During the Beijing Olympics, Avaaz spread an Olympic message of peace and hope to Chinese diaspora communities in New York and San Francisco by running a series of mobile billboards. The ads were part of our Handshake campaign to spread a powerful, unambiguous message of peace, friendship and dialogue to the Olympics and countries around the world. The ads spent a few days in the Chinatowns of these cities and then drove around the city centres. Check out the photos, below:

In English (click image to download print-ready PDF):

In Chinese (click image to download print-ready PDF):

On August 8, the opening day of the Beijing Olympics, Avaaz had a team of people walking on foot through central London, with billboards calling for meaningful dialogue from the Chinese on Darfur, Burma, and Tibet. It was part of our Handshake campaign to spread a powerful, unambiguous message of peace, friendship and dialogue to the Olympics and countries around the world. The Look-Walkers walked through Chinatown and then headed up to Trafalgar Square where the launch of the 2008 Olympics was being shown on jumbo Tv screens. Check out the photos, below:

These ads served as part of our Olympics handshake campaign which was launched ahead of the Beijing Olympics as a moment to bring global citizens together in the spirit of Olympic solidarity to call for progress on Tibet, Darfur and Burma. Prior to the games, the Chinese government still hasn't opened meaningful dialogue on Tibet or made progress on Burma and Darfur -- and global activists' messages were being lost in a firestorm of accusations about being anti-Chinese.

The handshake attempted to take the Olympic moment back with a powerful, unambiguous message of peace, friendship and dialogue. It began with the Dalai Lama, passing through the streets of London, and then it went online where hundreds of thousands of people joined in. Finally, the message was spread further around the world through a massive Olympic media campaign before the closing ceremonies. The ads appeared on billboards and in newspapers from San Francisco to London, Athens to Singapore.

Love China, Love Tibet:




Love China, Love Darfur




Love China, Love Burma/Myanmar

As the media spotlight shifts away from Burma, a great new solidarity website has been launched. Check it out and upload your pictures!

Extraordinary - over $315,000 raised in a week for practical assistance to Burmese groups to break the blackout. The average donation was $28. Well done to everyone. The first shipment is on its way.

People power can win
The Guardian, October 2007

For now the images of monks and protesters massing on the streets of Rangoon and other cities, and of the military junta's brutal crackdown, may have vanished from our television screens. But the so-called "saffron revolution" is far from over. The world must not turn away.

In Burma, thousands of the monks and protesters who captured our hearts with their bravery are being brutally tortured in prison. At the same time we hear that the democracy movement is regrouping, its base broader than before. Around the world, the last three weeks have seen an unprecedented mobilisation in solidarity with the protesters.

We at Avaaz.org have organised a 780,000-strong global petition, which was delivered on Monday to British prime minister, Gordon Brown, with a group of Burmese monks and exiles, and in a full-page Financial Times advertisement, addressed to China. A coalition of groups, from Avaaz.org and Amnesty International to the International Trade Union Confederation and Facebook, organised big demonstrations in 200 cities worldwide on Saturday October 6 - and much more is planned.

As UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari gathers support from Burma's neighbours, a fresh wave of global pressure is targeting key governments, many of whom are slowly starting to turn the screws on the junta. The coming days and weeks are crucial.

The generals and their allies claim that things are back to "business as usual" in Burma. The media, shamefully, has followed their lead. Much has been said about the crackdown in 1988, in which over 3,000 protesters were massacred. But it is worth remembering the story of the Burmese people's courage then, because it can give the world an object lesson in staying power.

In March 1988, the death of a student provoked angry demonstrations and hundreds of students were killed. But in June and July 1988, the students came back with more mass protests. Again blood flowed in the streets. The government began to bend.

Two general strikes were called in August, bringing workers and the whole country into the struggle. Amidst more massacres, more than half a million people joined in daily demonstrations in Rangoon. The government lifted martial law and released some prisoners.

It took six months. By September, the democracy movement had control of at least 50 cities and towns, and air force troops joined the marchers on the streets. The ruling party finally called for multi-party elections.

It was at that moment that the current junta launched its brutal coup, shooting hundreds and arresting thousands more. Even then, the struggle was not over. The junta also promised elections. The National League for Democracy was formed, and Aung San Suu Kyi toured the country. She attracted crowds of tens of thousands, defying the ban on public assemblies. Instead of marching, now they were listening and asking questions. In 1990, two years after the first massacre, Suu Kyi's party won over 80% of the vote. But the junta refused to recognise the result and placed her and other leaders under house arrest - and the world let them do it.

Will the Burmese give up now, three weeks into their first revival in 19 years? Remembering the tragedy of 1988 and 1990, Burmese journalist May Ng wrote in Mizzima, "there is a powerful difference this time. The world's reaction to Burma is impressive ... The people of Burma will not be alone this time." Will we betray that trust?

The global response is sluggish, but gathering pace. China has agreed to the first UN security council presidential statement ever on Burma, and put its name to a call for the release of all political prisoners. The European Union just voted for the first package of sanctions and incentives which will genuinely squeeze the Burmese generals. The Asean regional bloc of which Burma is a member has responded with condemnation and "revulsion", and Singapore - where the generals get their Armani, hospital care and private banking - has refused to rule out sanctions.

It should be becoming clear by now to China and Burma's other sponsors that the only hope of stability lies in a genuine transition. Than Shwe's regime is politically bankrupt. The Burmese analyst Thant Myint-U is right: there is no Velvet Revolution possible in Burma, and the army's institutions must play a full part in the transition. But without a tripartite dialogue which acknowledges the legitimate demands of the democratic opposition and the ethnic groups, and which leads to a new and more democratic order, Burma faces an abyss.

It is time for all parties to do their utmost to bring about that transition - ideally, under the wing of Ban Ki-Moon and the core group of nations being constituted to support UN-led diplomacy. But people are being tortured right now, and diplomacy can go in sterile and hypocritical circles unless pressed into action.

We know what we need to do. Avaaz.org's campaign continues to grow - most recently, we have sent tens of thousands of messages to EU and South-East Asian leaders from their electorates, and are raising sorely-needed funds for the Burmese movement. The images and stories will flow again. The people will hold the streets. On October 24, the 12th anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi's incarceration, global activists will converge to make our demands heard again. People power - on the streets of Burma, and around the world - can win.

In the past few weeks Avaaz members in every country in the world have answered the call to action and built an unprecedented global solidarity movement with the people of Burma. We've accomplished a great deal together, here's a short summary of what we've done so far:

• Yesterday, our 775,000-signature petition was hand-delivered by Avaaz and Buddhist monks to UK Prime Minister and powerful Security Council member Gordon Brown (See here)
• Over the weekend, tens of thousands of European Avaaz members sent emails to their Foreign Ministers, urging the EU to squeeze the Burmese junta. Yesterday, the EU agreed to tougher measures to pressure the generals.
• In Singapore--where Burma's generals shop, bank, and vacation and where democratic activism is very rare--thousands of Avaaz members have contacted their Foreign Minister, George Yeo, urging him to lead efforts for progress in Burma. Yeo has sharply criticized the Burmese regime.
• The Avaaz petition was run as a global ad campaign targeting China - including a full page ad in the Financial Times worldwide. Last week, China reluctantly supported a UN Security Council condemnation of the Burmese crackdown.
• Avaaz members joined with other groups to mobilize worldwide protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies on a day of action on October 6th, covered in the international media.
• Check out some of the press we've gotten for this campaign: The Guardian, Mizzima, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Thanks to all of you who've made this possible. 20 years ago, when the democracy movement last took to the streets in Burma, the military massacred thousands of activists. This time, everything could be different, because this time the world isn't looking away. Let's keep the momentum going. Please keep checking our website for the latest developments and ways to get involved. In the meantime, if you haven't yet, it would be great if you could make a donation to help Burmese activists out.

Yesterday's news that the Burmese government has completely shut down all communications flowing out of Burma shows how important it is for us to maintain our global efforts to support the monks.

Together, we've nearly hit over 750,000 for our Burma campaign. We've also delivered a message to the Chinese government via an Ad in the Financial times. It's now time for a hard push towards the 1 million mark. If you haven't already, please sign the petition and then tell your friends to do the same: http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma

Finally, major thanks to Avaaz member Alex, for coming up with the following graphic:

Dear Avaaz community,

We have been really overwhelmed by the positive responses to our Burma campaign in support of the Burmese monks and people! Once again it is incredible to realize how many people out there care about the world and are ready to take action.

A number of members around the world volunteered to translate our alert in different languages, including our friend Jittrawadee in Thailand. (Thai translation is below).

Thank you so much all of you who are really dedicating yourselves to help our message get to every corner of the world!

Graziela

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เรื่อง พม่า: พลังประชาชนชาวพม่าลุกฮือ
ถึงเพื่อนๆที่รัก

พลังประชาชนชาวพม่าลุกฮืออีกครั้งหลังจากอยู่ในอำนาจนิยมแห่งเผด็จการมาเป็นเวลาหลายสิบปี และพวกเขาต้องการความช่วยเหลือจากเราแน่นอน

ผู้ประท้วงอย่างสงบจาก จำนวน 20,000 คน ในวันเสาร์ 30,000 คน ในวันอาทิตย์ และวันพุธที่ผ่านมามีผู้ประท้วงครบ 100,000 คน ในสัปดาห์นี้พวกเขามีสิทธิ์ที่จะนำชีวิตใหม่มาสู่ประเทศที่รักของเขา ในอดีต รัฐบาลทหารได้สังหารหมู่ผู้ประท้วงและได้ย่ำยีประชาธิปไตย ครั้งนี้น่าจะจะแตกต่างจากที่ผ่านมา....เพียงแต่ให้สังคมโลก ยืนหยัดเคียงคู่กับชาวพม่า พวกเรากำลังร่วมกันเข้าชื่อเป็นกรณีเร่งด่วนเพื่อร้องเรียน ต่อสภาความมั่นคงแห่งสหประชาชาติ (และแนวร่วมพันธมิตรจีนของพม่า) เพื่อกดดันให้นายทหารของพม่าเปิดการต่อรองเจรจากับประชาชนผู้ประท้วง โดยไม่มีการทำร้ายบดขยี้ประชาชน กดลิงค์ด้านล่าง เพื่อร่วมเข้าชื่อร้องเรียน เราจะยืนหยัดเพื่อดำเนินการในเรื่องนี้ตราบเท่าที่ยังมีวิกฤติ
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/d.php?cl=20001775

ความหวังยังริบหรีอย่างยิ่งสำหรับพม่า โปรดร่วมกันดำเนินการทันทีโดยบอกต่อกับคนที่ท่านรู้จักและแสดงให้รัฐบาลของพม่ารู้ว่าอำนาจของประชาชนกำลังลุดฮือขึ้นเรียกร้อง บนถนนทุกสายและทั่วโลก

ด้วยความหวังจาก พอล, ริกคั่น เบน กรซีล่า พาสคาล และทีมงานอาวาสทั้งหมด

หมายเหตุ : สืบค้นข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมได้ที่ http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iy-MfhLN9Q7MwtQ1VlrvexLjr2dA and http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/.