Word: protest
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...Myanmar) in recent weeks--a rare display of civil disobedience by a people who have been ruled for 45 years by one of the world's most reclusive military regimes. The last time there were mass countrywide demonstrations, in 1988, the military cracked down hard, killing thousands of protesters and dashing hopes of democratic reform. Now daily life in this nation of 53 million has become so desperate that an impoverished populace may feel that it has little choice but to take to the streets again. Although many prominent activists either have been arrested or are on the run, demonstrations...
...over in a matter of minutes, but the significance of the occasion vastly exceeded its brevity. On Aug. 28, 20 demonstrators gathered at a market in Burma's commercial capital, Rangoon, to protest against the junta's decision to dramatically raise prices of essential goods. Led by labor activist Su Su Nway, the crowd had just begun to chant slogans when thugs employed by the ruling generals swooped in and started dragging the protesters into waiting vehicles. The frail Su Su Nway, who had only emerged from prison last year after serving seven months for reporting cases of forced labor...
...rallies in Rangoon, which drew hundreds of supporters. Even with most activists now locked up or on the run, demonstrations have continued to break out like spores across the nation. Buddhist monks have marched by the hundreds in several cities, adding a stamp of spiritual authority to the protest movement. University students have gathered, too, along with sidelined politicians and even some farmers. Human-rights groups estimate that more than 100 people have been arrested so far, including three bystanders in the western city of Sittwe whose alleged crime was to offer drinking water to a procession of protesting monks...
...question is whether these scattered demonstrations will lead to a replay of Burma's version of Tiananmen, when a nation confronted its brutal military rulers only to be crushed by an iron fist. Certainly, there are similarities between today's protest movement and that of 1988. Although the previous strikes are now glossed with a patina of democratic yearning, their initial motivation was also economic. Back then, the military regime demonetized the local currency, rendering millions of people's savings worthless. Small groups began marching over a six-month period, a stop-start effort that culminated in August 1988 with...
...could also raise an international outcry that Israel was imposing a collective punishment on Gazans for having backed Hamas in last January's free elections. It is almost certain that President Abbas, despite his loathing of Hamas, would walk away from U.S. sponsored peace talks with the Israelis in protest. Hamas might also pull out longer-range missiles from its arsenal, able to strike as far as the Israeli port of Ashkelon...