Hammersmith Goldhawk Road protest

From Indymedia

Seven protesters demonstrated at the Raven Total station at 372 Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith against the French oil company on Thursday 28th February. Total's pipeline in Burma was built with forced labour and the company has for years been the largest western sponsor of the brutal regime, funding the military junta with hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Even before the protest had started, the driver of a car at a nearby road junction, spotted a poster being put up and vowed not to use Total petrol stations in future. Several other drivers shared this view later and turned around or just drove through the station promising not to buy petrol from Total.

As the evening rush hour traffic built up, long queues at the traffic lights formed and many cars beeped at the two "Beep 4 Burma. Boycott Total" banners we held up. Many drivers wound down their windows to request leaflets as the queue became stationary/very slow moving.

There were more pedestrians than we were expecting and a very high percentage were interested in the leaflets we were handing out.

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French Film Festival

We've noticed that Total is sponsoring the French Film Festival which is taking place in London and also Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, Birmingham, Didsbury, Warwick (see http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk/2008timesENGLAND.html). So we'll be at the first film being shown on 4th March in London though our protest is against Total sponsorship as the largest western sponsors of the brutal Burma military junta, not against the festival or the French films being shown.

Protests in London next week:

Tuesday 4th March

Protest at Total sponsoring French Film Festival
(the protest is against Total, not the film festival or films being shown)
6.00pm - 7:30pm
LONDON CINE LUMIERE
www.institut-francais.org.uk
Institut Francais
17 Queensberry Place London SW7 2DT
Tube: South Kensington | Map
(First Film being shown PRICELESS (15) 7.00pm + Q & A Pierre Salvadori
http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk/2008timesENGLAND.html)

Wednesday 5th March

Meet at Burma Embassy for normal daily Burmese protest
12:00-1pm
Myanmar/Burma Embassy 19A, Charles St, London W1J 5DX.
Tube: Green Park | Map:

Total London HQ, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW
1.30pm-3:00pm
Tube: Oxford Circus | Map:

Marylebone Road protest against Total Oppression in Burma

From Indymedia:

Ten protesters held a demonstration at Dorset House Total petrol station at 170-172 Marylebone Rd on Thursday calling on the French oil company to stop fuelling oppression in Burma with hundreds of millions of pounds a year to the brutal regime. Total has for many years been the largest western supporter of the military regime. Villagers forced as slave labour to build Total's gas pipeline nicknamed the soldiers oppressing them as the "Total Battalions".

A large "BEEP 4 BURMA. BOYCOTT TOTAL" banner was displayed for the heavy traffic along the Marylebone Road. Many vehicles beeped in support showing that they had not forgotten the suffering in Burma.

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Protests in London next week:

Wednesday 27th February

Meet at Burma Embassy for normal daily Burmese protest
12:00-1pm
Myanmar/Burma Embassy 19A, Charles St, London W1J 5DX.
Tube: Green Park | Map:

Total London HQ, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW
1.30pm-3:00pm
Tube: Oxford Circus | Map:

Thursday 28th February

5.00pm - 7.00pm
Protest at Raven Total station, 372 Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith W6 0XF
Tube: Stamford Brook. Map:

Eiffel Tower protest climb

Mike Robertson's Eiffel Tower climb to protest against Total's actions in Burma in November 2007. A film by Nicoletta Fagiolo.

Total's Gain Burma's Pain

From Indymedia:

Whilst Total announced that its fourth-quarter profits had risen 62 per cent to 5.23 billion US dollars exploiting high oil prices, eighteen protesters at Total's London HQ on February 13th, announced the real results of Total's exploitation of the oppressed Burmese in Totalitarian Burma.

The eighteen protesters, many of them Burmese held banners detailing the consequences of Total's £225 million per annum funding of the military regime, as the largest western supporter of the brutal junta.

In 2007 the military junta were able to crush the democracy protests, raid 52 monasteries, killing and imprisoning many monks. The number of Karen villages destroyed in the junta's ethnic cleansing reached 3,200 with over 1 million people displaced from all parts of Burma. The number of political prisoners jumped by hundreds to 1,864. Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 12th year under arrest, as the junta continued to ignore the international community's call for her to be released. Burma already notorious for massive forced labour and having the most child soldiers in the world, was ranked as the most corrupt country in the world in 2007. The torture of prisoners, unfair trials, rape as a weapon of war against women and children in ethnic communities continued.

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Protests in London next week:

WEDNESDAY 20TH FEBRUARY

Prayer Service for Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, the General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) who was assassinated on February 14th. There will be no Burma Embassy protest this Wednesday. See bdmauk.org for further details.
Colindale Monastery, 83 Booth Road, Colindale, London NW9 5JU
10:00 to 13:00
Tube: Colindale | Map

Total London HQ, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW
1.30pm-3:00pm
Tube: Oxford Circus | Map

THURSDAY 21ST FEBRUARY

5.00pm - 7.00pm
Protest at Total petrol station, Dorset House, 170-172 Marylebone Rd, London NW1 5AR.
Nearest tube: Baker Street | Map

Don't leave Burma to Rambo

Photos by toastyoneuk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toastyoneuk/

From Indymedia:

Rambo is just a fantasy hero, but the violence and villains depicted in the latest Rambo movie are a reality in Burma. At the UK premiere of Rambo, the pro-democracy Burmese community thanked Sylvester Stallone for helping to raise awareness of the genocide and atrocities of the Burmese military junta.

The US Burma Campaign has a Questions and Answers article putting parts of the film into their real context.

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Brighton video

From Indymedia:

A video clip from the Brighton Total Out of Burma crew.

Bristol update

From Indymedia

"Over the last 2 months, activists tired of the lies and corporate whitewash have taken direct action to hit Total where it hurts them most - in the pocket.

"All 4 garages in the bristol area have been targetted. Horfield, Congresbury, Lawrence Weston, Yate. North, South, East, West. Windows were smashed, equipment disabled, and propaganda sprayed or posted so customers knew why the damage was done."

Article continues here

Please note, the inclusion of this entry does not imply an endorsement of the tactics used, but merely to inform of actions being taken in protest at Total's activities in Burma.

This week's London events

TUESDAY 12 FEBRUARY
Rambo Film Red-carpet Premiere

From 5.30pm (Premier guest arrivals expected at 6:30pm)
Vue West End, 3 Cranbourne Street, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7AL
Tube: Leicester Square | Map

(Film set in Burma, Burmese and supporters will be calling for a Free Burma rather than specific campaigns. In Burma people are risking jail just to see this film. Sylvester Stallone writes, directs, produces and stars as RAMBO, filmed on location in and around Chiang Mai, Thailand, with the backdrop of the world's longest-running civil war, the Burmese-Karen conflict.)

WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY
Total 4th Quarter Results (note change from normal Total weekly protest times)

Meet at Burma Embassy for normal daily Burmese protest
12:00-1pm
Myanmar/Burma Embassy 19A, Charles St, London W1J 5DX.
Tube: Green Park | Map

1.30pm-3:30pm
Total London HQ, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW
Tube: Oxford Circus | Map

Back in Kilburn

From Indymedia:

One non-car owning passer-by even vowed not to buy their daily Mars bar from the Total station. As well as not shopping at Total stations pedestrians can also avoid well known brand names owned by Total eg. Blu-tack, Bostik, Evo-Stik, Araldite glue, Spontex gloves, Sovereign paints.

Total's 4th Quarter results will be out next week on 13th February. We expect Total to again make huge profits at the expense of oppressed Burmese and other oppressed regions Total likes to exploit, not just the motorists!

Full story

This way for your Total War Cash

Photo by toastyoneuk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toastyoneuk/

Kilburn targeted again

From Indymedia:

Nine protesters demonstrated at Kilburn Total petrol station on 31st January at 409 Kilburn High Rd, calling on the French oil company to stop being an accomplice to the theft of Burma's resources by the corrupt military junta. The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won 82 percent of the seats in Burma’s 1990 election but the corrupt regime refused to hand over power. Full story

Next London demos:

WEDNESDAY 6 FEBRUARY
Total London HQ, 33 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0PW
8.30am-10.30am
Tube: Oxford Circus /Bond St | Map: http://tinyurl.com/2tylug

THURSDAY 7 FEBRUARY
Kilburn Total station, 409 Kilburn High Rd, Kilburn NW6 7QG
5pm-7pm
Tube: Kilburn (jubilee line) | Map: http://tinyurl.com/2pvh4k