The Karen National Union (KNU) is the political arm of the Karen resistance formed at Burma’s independence from the British in 1948. They proudly fought on the side of the allies against Japan in WWII and were promised by the British that they would receive their independence as an autonomous state when the British left. As any student of history can tell you a powerful nation, or any nation for that matter, choose their foreign policy on self interest and not from a moral sense of right and wrong. So, the Karen were denied their independence that they fought for, so as the new Burmese government took over they resisted, still wanting their independence. Fast forward 60 years and a new terrible occupying force has taken over Burma, this time it’s not colonial Britain or the Empire of Japan, but an ultra oppressive and violent military government sadly run by Burmese. ( I would like to state here that there are over 130 different ethnic groups in Burma, each with its own customs and language, and so when I say that the government is run by the Burmese it means the large Burman ethnic group found in the south of the country. If you ask anyone from Burma where they come from they will respond as to what ethnic minority they are usually, so there is some confusion). And so, after 60 years the Karen ethnic minority is the last group still fighting for freedom.
The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) is the military arm of the Karen people and their resistance. 
We visited the headquarters of the 7th combat brigade during the 60th anniversary of the revolution, it is also used as the base for the KNU. In recent times the KNLA have suffered major defeats due to the divide and conquer technique so cunningly employed by the junta. They successfully drove a wedge between the Karen Buddhists and the Karen Christians, getting the Buddhists to fight against the Christians and in effect helping the junta. (We were obviously visiting the Christians). Atrocities and human rights violations have been claimed by both sides, and while the KNLA has admitted to conscripting child soldiers into their forces they have since renounced this practice. The junta on the other hand uses every dirty trick in the book. If this seems interesting to you I urge you to research the conflict and the history of each side: all it takes is a quick google search. Or even easier just copy and paste these addresses and watch a documentary:http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=012_1191912150 or http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8ef_1192696304 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh0MHY--GuU or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUaL0jznP1U, (these documentaries are not on the Karen, but on the whole situation in Burma, but worth the watch)
Getting to the Headquarters
Now that I have talked about all the serious stuff I’ll tell you how we ended up making an illegal
crossing into a dangerous country to attend a celebration at a rebel guerilla camp, We had heard that the 60th anniversary of the Karen revolution was coming up, but we only thought that the Karen population of Mae Sot would be celebrating here in Thailand. Then one day as I was talking to one of the teachers, Aung Khaine, he let me know that he and a lot of the students were actually going into Burma to the KNU headquarters for a massive celebration, and obviously I asked if foreigners were welcome. He said that not only were foreigners welcome but if I wanted I could go with him and the students, “You bet your ass I want to sneak into Burma and party at a rebel camp!!!!!!!!!!” Is what I thought, but I calmly said, “ yes, thank you, that would be nice.”
At the beginning of the week I(steff) had been so excited to go be a part of the Karen freedom-fighter revolution. As the week progressed, I had been talking with some of the local Karen teachers, social workers, and counselors around the area. I was finding a lot of mixed feelings about the Karen revolution. I had thought it was much more black and white. Karen resisting a military junta good, Burmese army bad- nice and simple. A Karen social worker, who is normally quiet and peaceful, became visibly upset when talking about the revolution. She, as others, viewed it as living in the past. She wanted peace, so the 60 years of death and destruction could stop. This splintered group also had become tired of bearing the brunt of providing the aid to the children in need. Some people may view gaining democracy as more important than providing care currently for the 
children. They say, “Wait until we get our freedom.” Others ask how long will we wait? So many sides: fight to the end for a principle, sign a cease fire agreement and work with a government who has lied repeatedly and will continue to do so, or give in completely and possibly even start working for the SPDC to increase their ability to provide financially and safety for their children. The dynamics are so complicated and there are some many mixed feelings. I was thinking about not going. I really admire the Karen and their unfailing fight for what is right, while I of course can appreciate the desire to spare the children from this and to find a peaceful resolution- to move forward. I was not sure if in my going, I would be indirectly supporting: young soldiers, fighting, an unfailing stubbornness, and an inability to move forward to face reality? Or would I be supporting freedom, resilience, perseverance, dedication, strength, and democracy? I decided to go and experience it for myself.
On the 30th, 100 plus school children, 4 teachers, and a couple Westerners crammed into 4 trucks with benches in the back bed. Kids were piled onop of each other and lying on the bottom at our feet, we had the back door to the truck bed wide open and no seat belts, there were about 25 of us to a truck bed. Some of the kids had to hold on to the outside of the truck for 3 hours resting only on a small ledge jutting from the back of the truck. We went through 3 Thai police check points. We got stopped at each one the way there. We all got through without any problems, no bribes, or arrests J Going up into northern Thailand the scenery was beautiful. There were high cliffs and lush green vegetation. We passed Mae La Refugee camp along the way. Ben states, “It is a beautiful location for a bad situation.” Three hours later, we reached a huge home in Thailand. The family was wonderful and offered to house all the kids for the night. We did decide to cross the river instead and sleep in the jungle, but not before they treated us to a wonderful (and spicy!) dinner. It was delicious.
Aung Khaine
Aund Khaine , the teacher, and a former political prisoner began to tell us more about his life. He’d gotten polio at the age of 3 months. He was not able to walk until age 9. At age 16 he had become active in a high school democracy movement. In 1984 he was arrested (at age 16!!!!) and placed in jail. He was a political prison at age 16 (I was painting my fingernails and worrying about school dances at that age). He spent 9 months in jail that time (torture is commonly used: electrocution, humiliation, forced to wear leg shackles (remember he has severe physical affects from the polio), emotional torture, no medical treatment, forced labor with leg shackles on, etc). After being released, he went to college. He wanted to study economics. Even after his first experience as a political prisoner Aung Khaine wanted to continue to fight for democracy and against the repressive and deadly military
dictatorship. He joined a college student organization while in school. Around 1988, (during the huge student uprising and massive crack down response from the military) he was imprisoned again. They don’t hold fair trails and if you speak out against the government they consider you like a terrorist. This time he spent 10 years in prison. He spent most of his childhood in bed unable to walk, then spent his teen and young adult life in prison being tortured. When he was released he was unable to finish college. Former political prisoners were no longer allowed an education. He moved across the border to Thailand. Once there he found a teaching position for economics and science at the CDC high school. His favorite pastime is to read. He is able to use internet freely and gather news as he wishes (although news about Burma is difficult to find since the junta does not allow journalist into the country unless under tight supervision, and the Burmese citizens are not allowed to see or hear anything that is not censored by the dictatorship). Cell phones do not work in Burma. They are a people who are subject to the whims of the military. Aung Khaine is not Karen but he talked about sometimes wanting to pick up a gun and joining in the fight to end the repression.
As we neared the border, Aung Khaine could not stop smiling.
He reported, “I am so happy to be almost home.” (Although his true home is far from where we will be- he is from the Rangoon Division of Burma, but this is the only part of Burma left that is not under the repressive control of the military). As we walked down to the waters edge it was a breathtaking sight, absolutely beautiful. Almostmystical with the energy from the people, the mist over the high mountainside, the bright green water, the long Thai style boats waiting to help us cross (yeah no swimming), and the beautiful tan sands leading into high lush mountain tops. Aung Khaine had never 
appeared this joyful. He walked to the waters edge and bent down to touch the water. He had a moment to himself and then stated,” I am home. I feel safe.” It was such a stark contrast to how I was feeling when crossing to the headquarters. I was slightly apprehensive, slightly nervous, slightly worried about possible attacks from the Burmese military. He visibly appeared at peace and so many people were saying “this is Burma. Here we do not have to worry about Thai police or the SPDC), and this appeared to be correct. The headquarters, located in a beautiful beautiful wilderness, was surrounded by mountains. Very unlikely for it to be penetrated (unless they launch rockets- as Aung Khaine had joked, funny, but true, so I guess not that funny).
Going into Burma to celebrate a revolution
We got there a day ahead of the official celebration for the pre-celebration. As soon as we stepped off the boat onto Burmese soil there were a couple of rebel soldiers there to greet us with Vietnam vintage M-16’s and AK-47’s and I (ben) noticed one soldier sitting off to the side with a RPG. OK, this was a little unsettling but expected, and these guys were here for our security. The camp itself sits right on the other side of the Moei River separating Thailand from Burma, so it wasn’t like we were trekking through mine infested jungle to get there, although I was willing to do that, and I’m sure Steff was too (Sorry mom). The scenery was amazing, at the other
side of the camp was a sheer mountain side protecting the people. When we walked into the camp we were surprised to find that it seemed more like a music 
festival setting and not like the base for the world’s longest running war. There were lights and food stands and a parade field set up with three stages, that night on one stage they had the traditional Karen dancers, some of whom were 
students from my school, and on the other stage they were playing rock and roll, some of it really heavy metal but with Karen lyrics, pretty strange. I sampled some of the local foods, including betel nut which is a type of nut that you chew on and it gives you a kind of a mouth buzz, it also makes your teeth turn purple and red, you can always tell the Karen, or anyone from Burma who do betel nut because if they have any teeth left they are stained red. We slept on the ground in a banana grove with the rest of the students, although no one really slept the entire night because it was just too loud and later just too cold. Early the next morning we got up and went to the parade ground where KNU leaders and generals were giving many long speeches as the soldiers stood at attention before them, although many other soldiers still wandered through the crowd.
We met up with some other volunteer friends of ours from the clinic who just got in that morning and watched all the speeches and dancing. Also, Dr. Cynthia Maung, who is the founder and director of the Mae Tao clinic recived an award by the KNU. Then after the speeches it was photo op time and Steff and I walked right up to the KNLA general and got our picture taken with him (we were the only foreigners to do this, there were only about 15 or so other foreigners and most of them were journalist or making a documentary). As we sat at a table eating a mountain of food paid for and prepared by the KNU a Karen man sat down next to me with his soldier buddies and pulled out a bottle of brandy, he offered me a drink, and of course I didn’t want to be rude so I shot it down in true North Carolina fashion. He and his soldier buddies seemed impressed by this and offered me another shot which I graciously accepted, after the third shot he was slapping my back and calling me “Saw Benjamin!!!” which is Mr. Benjamin and picking me up showing me off to his friends at the other tables. I knew if I stayed there any longer I would have to drink his entire bottle so I thanked him and made my escape. As we were leaving there were a couple hundred people gathered on the river bank waiting to get into one of the long river boats to ferry them to the other shore. These boats are designed to hold about 20 people but 50+ were jumping on and nearly tipping over. One person did fall off halfway across and caused a big stir with the crowd watching. I had to help Aung Khaine onto the boat because he suffers from Polio, as I was helping him on everybody tried to jump over us and get onto the boat and it began to tip over, so there I am with Aung Khaine in one hand, holding onto this boat with the other waist deep in the Moei River with about 40 crazy Burmese jumping all around me, I almost didn’t make it, but somehow we all made it on and made it back to Mae Sot safe and sound. It was a hell of a good time.
Hi thanks for report about our karen history
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