;-) I heard about this on CBC radio this morning..... on "The Current"....
Yves On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 10:29 AM, Larry Lyons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14682421 > > 'Peace panties' from Canada to frighten Myanmar junta > Wednesday, 28 May , 2008, 08:51 > > Toronto: Canadian women have launched a Panties for Peace! campaign to send > their undergarments to the Myanmar military junta to frighten it into ending > suppression. > > At a press conference in Montreal, feminists and civil groups, working > under the Rights & Democracy Student Network and the Quebec Women's > Federation, urged Canadian women to inundate the Myanmar embassy in Ottawa > with panties to unsettle the military rulers in the southeast Asian nation. > > Images: Cyclone Nargis: The sad aftermath | The naming of a cyclone | Full > coverage: Myanmar cyclone > > "The Panties for Peace! campaign is basically aimed to play on the military > junta's superstitious fear that contact with a woman's undergarment will rob > them of their power," organiser Mika Levesque of the Rights & Democracy > Student Network told IANS. > > She said, "We appeal to every Canadian woman to clean up her drawer, choose > one piece of panties, glue a picture of the military rulers on it or > scribble some slogan or message for the junta and then register it with us > before sending it to the Myanmar embassy in Ottawa. Registering with us will > help us to keep track of how many panties have been sent to the embassy." > > Levesque added, "Like all other cultures, there was a superstitious fear of > female undergarments in Myanmar. Its military junta fears that any contact > with panties will spell disaster for them. So ours is a non-violent method > to force change in Myanmar." > > She said Canadian men "should also prevail upon their wives, mothers and > sisters to send panties to make this movement a huge success." > > Panties for Peace! was first launched last year by Lanna Action for Burma > (LAB), a women's organisation based on Burma's border with Thailand. > > Women in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brazil and across Europe > have joined it since then, sending their panties to Myanmar embassies in > their respective countries to express solidarity with the suffering women of > Myanmar and protest human rights violations by the military regime. > > Levesque, who is also the Asia regional officer of the Rights and Democracy > Student Network, said their Panties for Peace! campaign will continue till > August 8. > > "August 8 marks the twentieth anniversary of the popular 8888 (Aug 8, 1988) > uprising in Myanmar. We want to tell the women of Myanmar that their sisters > in the rest of the world think of them. Panties for Peace! will get a huge > response as we have support of 30 groups in Quebec province and 40 student > groups across Canada," she said. > > "Myanmar women have suffered the most at the hands of the military junta. > They bring women to barracks, rape and brutalise them and then dump them > back in their villages. The world should enforce sanctions on them and try > them for human rights violations," Levesque said. > > Panties for Peace! organizers also plan to raise funds for the victims of > the recent cyclone in Myanmar. > > Michele Asselin, president of the Quebec Women's Federation, said, "This is > a unique and important opportunity for women to help raise funds and > awareness about the military regime's systematic use of rape and other > brutalities against our sisters from Burma (Myanmar)." > > > "(c) 2004 sify.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not > be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed." > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;192386516;25150098;k Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:260834 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
