Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Try Myanmar for an “enjoyable vacation” in the midst of ongoing genocide? Not.
by Larry Geller
The headline of the two-page travel section story in Sunday’s Star-Advertiser read: MYANMAR: An enjoyable vacation is still possible despite the lingering presence of the military junta (Star-Advertiser p.H1, H3, 8/5/2012). Unless you have a copy of the paper, you’ll miss the magnificent promotion of Myanmar (Burma) as a suitable place for tourism once again.
The original New York Times story was headlined differently: Visiting Myanmar: It’s Complicated (NYtimes, 8/3/2012). And so it would be, if you were inclined to visit and spend your money in a country where hundreds of people are being killed right now.
Would you still find a vacation enjoyable if you knew that there is an ongoing program of genocide against Muslims in their own country, and that approximately 650 have been killed between June 10 and 28 alone, with 1,200 more people gone missing? In July, at least 10 more were killed and police fired on demonstrators, according to reports.
The genocide is being carried out against a segment of Burma’s own population that has been present in the country since at least the 7th century. A Burmese law declares that the Muslims are not citizens, and the UN has estimated that as many as 12,000 persons have been displaced in Rakhine state.
Protest demonstrations have been held, according to reports, in Pakistan last week and in Iran.
This is the “new Myanmar” as the New York Times/Star-Advertiser article described it. Perhaps the S-A editor could have an “enjoyable vacation” there, but I don’t think I could.
Disappeared News learned of the ongoing genocide from the Monday (8/6) news on Occupy Wall Street Radio on WBAI-FM via the web. The program is broadcast each evening Monday-Friday from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. New York time.
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