Gandhi's reflections on Zionism

"I do believe that the Jews have been cruelly wronged by the world"... "But in my opinion, they [the Jews] have erred grievously in seeking to impose themselves on Palestine with the aid of America and Britain and now with the aid of naked terrorism... Why should they depend on American money or British arms for forcing themselves on an unwelcome land? Why should they resort to terrorism to make good their forcible landing in Palestine?" [Link]

In solidarity

Commemorating Hok Tulaa Massacre

On this anniversary of Thailand's student uprising on 6 October 1976 and the subsequent violent crackdown, I am paying homage to student movements whose idealism and passion for change and social justice have continuously been subjected to suppression (often violent) by the government, in the name of fighting communism, terrorism or whatever the reason of the day to legitimise force against youth.

The right wing government and elites at the time supported the violence conducted towards the students, which not only included beatings and shootings but also public lynching of "communists" and setting fire to their bodies.

The student groups are absent in this current political crisis which pins one right-wing group against another right-wing group. Individual students are now joining the existing factions, either choosing to side with the pro-Crown PAD or the pro-Thaksin PPP instead of being that cohesive, organised and crucial 3rd voice, the voice of resistance calling for reform.

Here are some clips of former PM Samak and his complete lunacy, both in general and when discussing the massacre specifically. Samak recently had to give up his PM post as his cooking show on national television was in breach of the constitution. Nevertheless, the frightening statements which he makes exemplify that there is still a fight to be fought.

Peace, etc

On September 1st, the day Emergency was declared by PM Samak, a group of 50 student and youth activists defied the ban on gatherings of 5 or more people by holding a peace vigil in the trendy Siam area of town. The message was one of restraint, they walked in silence through the trendy shopping district with candles and signs that urged people not to pick sides.


The night before, government supporters and the PAD had clashed. Foreign media reported at least one dead while locally there were reports of 3 or 4. It was said that this kind of violence has not occurred in Thailand since 1992. But people keep forgetting southern Thailand. And Thaksin's war on drugs. But that's different, right? That's government killing civilians in the name of protection and anti-terrorism and the purging of evil. That's allowed to continue in an atmosphere of impunity. This was brother-on-brother. This, apparently, is more tragic.

More on Chotisak

While I am in South Korea I am catching up on all the various anti-monarchist clips that are all over YouTube. This proves I am a big fat nerd, instead of going out and blowing Korean won on cheesy Korean funtimes, I am checking out the political dissent that my country of residence has decided to block.

The Thai government won a battle with YouTube last year giving them the right to block access to all clips defaming the King from within the country. I won't post the clips here on this blog because they actually make me uncomfortable, even though they're all just really silly, I suppose even I have suffered some level of indoctrination. I just want to post this one clip someone made about Chotisak, a political activist I had blogged about before, because his story deserves to reach as far and wide as possible.



Things are starting to get terrible for him. According to the speech delivered by a journalist friend of mine from The Nation at the peace forum held at the May 18th Foundation in Gwangju just today, Thai radio stations have been inciting Loyalists to take violent actions against Chotisak and his family, going as far as to recommend what kind of violence to commit against him while avoiding getting punished. They further go on to question his Thainess, claiming he must not be Thai because a Thai person would never offend the King like this. They even say that he is so ungrateful that he should go live in Cambodia or Burma. Chotisak is being publicly lynched for expressing his views and practising a fundamental right. Even if his case is thrown out of court, I am worried about what will happen to him outside of court. He has gone underground, choosing not to live at home in order to avoid putting his family through the grief. He was supposed to speak at a symposium at Thammasart University a few days ago but had to cancel at the last minute as a mob of Loyalists waited for him in order to beat him. The media in Thailand chooses to self-censor or paint him as a villain, though the blogosphere has been pretty supportive. Google his name and you'll find lots of foreign media have covered his story.

It's a witchhunt. It's like accusing someone of being a communist under the McCarthy regime. Check out the Prachatai website these days. Prachatai is an alternative news site that posts commentary in Thai and English and maybe goes against the grain by raising the controversial viewpoints. It has posted numerous controversial articles, during the coup and otherwise, yet the thing that did it, the thing that had them blocked, was running commentary about Chotisak.

I just don't want Chotisak to be hanging from a noose around his neck in a public place, you know? How much have things changed since the 1970s? Burberry and Jimmy Choo have stores here, but you can't even speak freely. I am bitter about Burberry. First of all, everything in the store looks like it was designed by the LTTE. Futhermore, a wallet there costs as much as my entire programme budget for the year. I'm bitter. I am also drunk on some super cheap Korean soju I got from the convenience store next door.

Gwangju protest art

I'm in Gwangju, South Korea, to celebrate their May 18th anniversary of the student uprising which overthrew a military government some 20 years ago. The May 18th Memorial Foundation has an art gallery and below is the work of one artist whose name I do not know but I shall find out!

Gwangju is famous for 2 things: the student uprising and a valley of monasteries that have like a thousand Buddha monuments, as illustrated in the painting below.



The May 18th uprising is possibly the only Asian student movement that has successfully instated a democratic government, a particularly progressive democratic government that really institutionalised the human rights agenda. People from across Asia gather in the city of Gwangju every year to pay their respect to what are known as the "martyrs" for the democracy movement in this country. The idea is to keep the spirit of the uprising alive and to spread the spirit throughout the region.


In more recent years, many activists use the occasion to protest a variety of issues, particularly the neoliberal agenda and globalisation at large. The May 18th Memorial Foundation is funded by the government of Korea and so activists will use the opportunity to place their demands to the authorities, because in an indirect way the Foundation is really a government institution. There are further grievances associated with victim compensation for families of those involved in the student uprising, as well as a view that the Foundation spends too much money and effort doing regional solidarity work, which is viewed as unnecessary by some.


And finally, this piece looks at other democracy movements and seeks to look at the commonalities. In Asia particularly, the question "is this your freedom?" is an important rhetoric we need to adopt as a mantra really. We're advancing economically, but regressing shamefully in terms of build strong democratic institutions and entrenching long lasting democratic culture. Is our democracy movement strong enough? Does it even exist? I'm here in Gwangju to be inspired and rejuvenated.

Free Chotisak

An activist colleague named Chotisak Oonsoong, who I have demonstrated with over human rights issues in Burma and Tibet during the past year, made front page news in the Bangkok Post today. Chotisak was a strong student activist some years ago, he then played an important role in the September 19 Network Against The Coup in 2005. He is currently being tried under the Lese Majeste law because he refused to stand up during the Royal Anthem at the cinema.

The law itself is designed to protect the security of the royal family, "national security" in a sense. Chotisak will be fighting the case based on the grounds that not standing during the anthem is a matter of the freedom of expression and does not in any way undermine the security of the royal family.

Chotisak is incredibly intellegent and a politically engaged young activist. Chotisak is setting a precedence with this case, other young people like him who dare to challenge authority are important figures for the future of democracy in this country. Support Chotisak by signing this petition (scroll down for English) and following his case.

On Tibet and protests

The demonstration at the torch relay this past Saturday the 19th has been much blogged about, see the official Free Tibet Network blog, Agame's blog and this Thai blog which has great photos. I am shamefully late with my account of the events. I apologise that this post is long, boring and poorly structured.

For the first time, I fully understood what it means when they talk about the plurality of civil society. It was difficult to, along with the coalition of 12 Thai and international NGOs, come up with a statement of demands. I am proud of my Free Tibet Network team for working hard to make the entire thing bigger and better than we could have imagined, especially in the face of threats from Bangkok Metropolitan Police about arrests, threatening phone calls from Chinese embassy officials and of course the antagonism from pro-Beijing supporters on the day of the rally itself.


10 Tibetan people living in exile in Taiwan flew to Bangkok for the torch relay specifically to attend the protest. On the day of the demonstration, we had to split them up into groups between myself and 3 of my friends. The taxi ride on the way over to the UNESCAP building (outside of which the demo was to take place) was an anxious ride as roads had been blocked and police were everywhere. We had to stop 3 blocks away and walk to the UN as individuals on opposite sides of the street, hoping no one would search our bags and find our Tibetan flags, posters, press statements, passports of questionable nationality and pepper spray. Once we got to the UN, it was smooth sailing. Around 250-300 people showed up, a good number for a city like Bangkok. There were Thai activists there from every generation, showing that human rights is fundamental and universal, no matter what one's "cause" is. There were tourists there too, and many many people who had spent time in Dharamsala and had met with the Dalai Lama and were angered by the Chinese spin on the term "Dalai Clique".

Eventually, the pro-Beijing supporters showed up with their uniforms and their state-sponsored placards so obviously supplied by the Chinese embassy. There was a confrontation, 250 pro-Tibet activists and 150 pro-Beijing sheep shouting at each other. The other organisers and I had to make a "human chain" dividing the two sides so that no one would throw any punches. However, the human chain itself was pushed and tussled with and eventually the police decided to do their job and led the pro-Beijingers to the other side of the street. The barricades went up, steel fences and a road divided us and our ideology.



Soon after, an additional 150 pro-Beijing demonstrators showed up, by the end of the day I would estimate that their group was larger than ours. I would like to state here as an eyewitness to all of it that I was surprised and upset with the arrogance and aggression of the pro-Being group. They were all young: students rounded up by the embassy and told to demonstrate and make their country proud. I believe that civil society organises itself, and I view state-sponsored demonstrations as illegitimate.

About 5 minutes before the torch was due to arrive, a group of Chinese activists broke their barricade and ran up and down the street shouting racial slurs against Tibetans. It is important to note that pro-Tibet demonstrators had maintained simple human rights-centered slogans and had to work extra hard with the media to refute that we are anti-Chinese. At no point were Chinese people attacked either in words or physically. So the anti-Tibetan racial slurs upset us all, but mostly they upset our friend Tashi who was standing next to me. He tried to climb the barricade and it took 4 people to restrain him. He was shouting and crying at the same time and on his face was an expression of the deepest pain and hurt I have ever seen in my life. I knew that if he managed to jump that barricade then all his Tibetan friends would follow. And if they followed, then the Thai activists would follow. And in that moment of intensity and looking at Tashi face, I was dying to claw out the eyeballs of the guy that upset him, I was ready to jump in there if he jumped in there. Unfortunately, he was successfully restrained.



The torch passed and there was much frenzy, the energy level escalated to something I have never before witnessed at any other demonstration I have been to. The pro-Beijing supporters got too rowdy, the riot police closed in on us though I wasn't sure if it was to protect us or to contain us until I heard the lieutenant over the loudspeaker saying that the other side only had Chinese people while the pro-Tibet side had Thais, so the police must protect the Thais. The pro-Beijingers were told to disperse and leave, but of course many of them came over on to our side and tried to instigate more fights.



At the end of the rally, I noticed all the Tibetans were sitting on the sidewalk with Tashi, quiet and subdued which was a stark contrast from how they had been earlier. I saw that they were all crying. Worried about what might have happened, I went over to see if everything was all right. "We've been waiting for this moment for years" they said. "I can taste the blood at the back of my throat, my blood is boiling." I realised at that moment, that in the battle between Western and Chinese media, it has been the victims that lose out. There remains no justice, no remedy or reparation. At the end of the day, we protest because we oppose the treatment of people living within China and Chinese Occupied Tibet at the hands of the government of China.

Anti-coup protest

Apologies for the crap picture quality, something happens to my shutter speed when I turn off the flash. It is not a fun thing to be cursing loudly as you try and learn your camera settings while a pro-democracy rally walks past you.