New Delhi (Mizzima) – Israeli and Burmese activists demonstrated outside the Burmese Embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to show that they did not accept the new parliamentary government of Burma.
The protest was organised by Burma Action-Israel (BAI). A spokesperson for more than 30 protestors said that they could not accept a government that was put into place by a rigged election.‘We demanded the immediate release of political prisoners’, said a BAI member, Thura, who uses one name.
‘We intend to raise public awareness in Israel by showing we do not accept the Burmese junta’s Parliament, which is just a puppet government’.
The protestors said that the Burmese junta and the Israel government have good relations, which calls into question Israel’s active support of democracy in Burma.
An Israeli activist told Mizzima: ‘Most of the Israeli people don’t know about the current political situation in Burma. Some of them don’t even know what Burma is. Only some elderly Israeli people know about the past relationship between Burma and Israel’.
The demonstration lasted about two hours. More than 80 Burmese live in Tel Aviv and most of them work as domestic help or in restaurants.
The activists in Israel wanted to stage the demonstration on March 13, but had to wait until they received permission from Israeli police.
March 13 was designated as Burma's Human Rights Day by Burmese activists, marking the date in 1988 when a Rangoon Institute of Technology student, Phone Maw, was shot dead by Burmese riot police. His death sparked a nationwide uprising that toppled three consecutive presidents. More than 3,000 people were killed by the Burmese army during the uprising.
BAI was formed with 15 members in the aftermath of the Saffron Revolution in September 2007. The objectives of the group are to oust the Burmese junta, to work for democracy and to support Burmese pro-democracy groups.
