Thread by @JudithBeyer

THREAD 22 of writing against the 🪖-coup. It might be on emotional shock and feeling numb. It might be on the suffering of others. It might be on a new advocacy group - or on all of the above. #March4Coup #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar Artist: Kuekool

1. This post by #Rohingya #activist @Ali_Jinnah_222 captures two things I want to write about today: being at a loss of words in regard to one’s own feelings - and being in #solidarity with the suffering of others.

https://twitter.com/ali_jinnah_222/status/1367322446349541384?s=21

#March4Coup #CivilDisobedienceMovement

2. All of my research in #Myanmar has been with/about ethnic #minorities. My interlocutors are #Muslims and #Hindus locally referred to as “Burmese #Indians”. All of my research assistants happen to be #Kachin #Christians. I have #Chin friends, too
#March4Coup #CivilDisobedience

3. Literally NONE of my interlocutors/friends said “now they know how the military has been treating us all those decades” NONE! They easily could have done so: they suffered under the dictatorships, under the #NLD and from Bamar ethno-chauvinism. They now suffer as everyone else

4. That’s the thing with suffering: you don’t get to feel better if others begin to suffer, too. Suffering (ဒုက္ခ dukkha) is a key concept in Theravada #Buddhism and well-known in Myanmar. It is usually thought of as one of the 3 marks of individual existence - all beings suffer.

5. What is see among my interlocutors is more suffering: now that EVERYONE is in the situation they have grown so accustomed to: no sense of security, no trust in state authority, a heightened attentiveness and feeling powerless, but not giving up ... #CivilDisobedienceMovement

6. There I see the real possibility for change and hope: not in the fact that there is now a common enemy - the #military -but that there is common suffering on a national scale. Enemies change. Needing enemies does not create togetherness. Feeling alongside one another does.

7. I will leave this thought here and now tweet from the live-webinar by @YangheeLeeSKKU who has formed an #advocacy council wittingly called #SACM #SpecialAdvisoryCouncilForMyanmar. She is currently summarizing the last days and why she and two other members founded this council

8. She was responsible on reporting on #humanrights situation in Thein Sein Presidency and reported on #Rohingya atrocities to the #UN SecCouncil and HRCouncil "I was the first to raise the alarm what the military was about to do in August 2017" #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar

9. @YangheeLeeSKKU "There can't be no recognition of this military junta. It would be a betrayal to the millions of people taking to the streets protesting." "We are definitely seeing crimes against humanity" #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar #whatshappeninginMyanmar #March4Coup

10. Now speaking: Marzuki Darusman, former Chair of the #UN Independent Int. Fact-Finding Mission #Myanmar "There needs to be an effort to inform the int. public what is happening on the ground. Torture, murder, civilians disappering: these are #crimesagainsthumanity #March4Coup

11. Strong words from M. Darusman: "The #tatmadaw is nothing but an ethnic-armed organization of the #Bamar ethnic group, passing as the country's army" #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #March4Coup #rejectthemilitarycoup

12. Now speaking: Int. #humanrights lawyer Chris Sidoti, former member of #UN Int. Fact-Finding Mission in #Myanmar "We can support and encourage the people of Myanmar to the extent that we can" "We can place as much pressure as possible on the military...cut of its money supply"

13. Member of #CivilDisobedienceMovement speaks anonymously: "Military kills peaceful protestors, they attack rescue members, incl. ambulances. I witnessed some atrocities myself. Children and pregnant women were arrested and beaten" #March4Coup

14. #CDM member: "We need definite actions so that the military defends the country only and the police help people. Both must come under civilian control. Please use ANY means to protect #Myanmar people"

15. Now live from Myanmar: protestors of the #CivilDisobedienceMovement singing and saying "Please int. community free us! We don't feel like human beings any more. How many dead bodies have to be there?" #march4coup #whatshappeninginmyanmar

16. @YangheeLeeSKKU on request for #R2P "We have to look at more concrete interventions" Chris Sidoti cautions against #military interventions: "that only works with agreement of #Myanmar state - the #tatmadaw would never agree, we would have #Afghanistan or #Iraq situation

17. She now criticizes the way the #UN Security Council is set up: "How can two of the most powerful countries have a permanent membership?" She refers to #Russia and #China - tomorrow's council meeting will be important: whom will they acknowledge as ambassador of #Myanmar?

18. "This is a test for #China" says Chris Sidoti on tomorrow's #UN Security Council meeting. "If they want to play a role in the region..." I did not really understand in what way this is a test, though, but I guess we need to watch the Council meeting tomorrow.

19. End of press conference. You can follow the #SACM here: twitter.com/SpecialCouncil… and on FB: facebook.com/SpecialCouncil and here's their website: specialadvisorycouncil.org #March4Coup #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar

20. Jetzt: Aktuelle Stunde im @Bundestag #Deutschland zu #Myanmar auf Antrag der Koalition [Session in the German Parliament on #Myanmar]: "eine Zusammenarbeit mit dem Militär wird es nicht geben" [there will be no cooperation with the military] #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar

21. FDP [Free Democratic Party] wants economic sanctions, wants to push a #UN arms embargo, wants to only recognize the democratically elected government of #ASSK, wants to put an end to ethnic civil war; honours the victims "People of #Myanmar, we will stand by you" (in English)

22. Die Linke [Socialist Party]"Wir verurteilen die Machtergreifung des Militärs, wir fordern Ausweisung des Militärattachés, wir fordern Exportstop von deutschen Waffen in Drittländern durch Tochterfirmen. es sind WIEDER AUCH deutsche Komponenten bei Waffen zu finden" transl ⬇️

23. transl of Socialist Party "We condemn the seizure of power by the military,we demand the expulsion of the military attaché,we demand a ban on the export of German weapons into third countries through subsidiaries. AGAIN German weapon parts can be found in #Myanmar #March4Coup

24. All German political parties which I have heard so far mention the #Rohingya issue: "All people of #Myanmar have the right to life in safety and freedom." #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar #March4Coup

25. Now the German right-wing #noAfD party speaks on #Myanmar Condemns the murder of civilians then mentions "the history of the British Empire" as having created long-lasting inter-ethnic conflict that led to "disciplined democracy". Argues against a European "moral colonialism"

26. Next speaker from #CDU (Christian Democrats) condemns the previous speakers' "lecturing" on what type of #democracy might be suitable for #Asia and #Myanmar then demands an immediate end of violence against civilians, points to the danger of nation-wide civil war #March4Coup

27. very clear words from another parliamentarian of the @spdbt (Social Democrats). He emphasizes that the #Myanmar military is nothing other than a terrorist group of small-minded men. #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar #March4Coup #RejectMyanmarMilitaryCoup

28: "Ihr werdet nicht durchkommen, beendet das Morden und gebt dem Volk seine Freiheit! " says speaker in German #Bundestag [You will not get away with this, stop the killing and give the people their freedom] #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar #March4Coup #whatshappeninginMyanmar

29. Can I just add (while listening to this debate in the German parliament) that it feels very strange to listen to so many politicians suddenly talking in detail about #Myanmar when there has been so little interest in this country and its problems all those years before?

30. Another parliamentarian of the Social Democrats has just read out the ten names of the #military who are to be made responsible for the murder of civilians since Feb 1 2021. "These are the same names that are also known at the @CIJ_ICJ on the #Rohingya issue" #March4Coup

31. The final speaker, M. Patzelt, draws an interesting parallel between the multicultural and interethnic complexity of #Myanmar and the problems #Germany is facing rgd. #ethnicity, #racism "Maybe we can learn from Myanmar" he said. #democracy #CivilDisobedienceMovementMyanmar

32. His final comment was about the German politics of #asylum. Applying for asylum is very bureaucratic and too slow when people are really in need of safety. "We need to offer asylum to people in #Myanmar who are persecuted". Mentions "help for parliamentarians" in particular

33. Final tweet for this day: the ပစ်တိုင်းထောင် (pyittainghtaung) on the first picture of this thread are traditional dolls that have a round lower part. You can push them and throw them down, but they always come back up! Never give up, #Myanmar ✊🏼 #CivilDisobedienceMovement