Long Live Belarus - A struggle for democracy

California Students Hike to Raise funds for ZUBR Berkeley, California, USA -- A group of 30 students at the University of California, Berkeley, organized a Hike for Democracy to raise money for the Belarusian pro-democracy youth movement, ZUBR. On 30 April 2005, the students, in the organization "Berkeley Students for Global Democracy" (Berkeley SGD), hiked 17 kilometers around Tilden Park, a beautiful protected wild area in the hills above the town of Berkeley in California. The group raised more than US $1000, to be given to ZUBR to support their printing of independent pro-democracy leaflets and newspapers. Berkeley SGD coordinator Arthur Edelstein said, "Students at Berkeley have a history of fighting for free speech since the 1960s. It`s clear to us Belarus deserves to be free. We believe that Belarusian students, including those in ZUBR, are the ones who will bring much-needed democracy to Belarus. We are glad to be able to give support to ZUBR`s activities in their important struggle for freedom." The hikers displayed signs with several messages (in English and Belarusian) in support of ZUBR and Belarusian students struggling for freedom in their homeland. Their messages of solidarity included "Long Live Belarus", "Belarus to Europe", "California Students Support Democracy in Belarus", and "We are together with you." The hikers also wore blue t-shirts emblazoned with ZUBR`s name and logo (a European bison), and carried two white-red-white flags of Belarus. Berkeley is a chapter of an international coalition, Students for Global Democracy (www.sfgd.org) that is organizing the BELL Campaign (Belarus Endowment for Life & Liberty) to raise money for ZUBR`s activities.