International

Havana Diary

The fourth and final day of the conference on Marxism in the 21st Century held at the modern and spacious Palacio de Conventiones. Trees and fountains intrude into the interior while outside flora and fauna surround the grand architecture which houses many of the embassies, though not from the USA. Their former embassy has a forest of black flags flying.

The centre of gravity here is South America and most of the business is conducted in Spanish. simultaneous translations take place unless the speakers speed up with anguished reactions from the harassed translators. Much is familiar as Marx, Engels and Lenin's work is repeated. However there has been discussion on how Che Guevara introduced a much different economic system moving away from market socialism which he thought would inevitably bring about a return to capitalism. Evidently Mao was impressed by Che's ideas.

As for China now an American speaker (there are some, although they risk fines and/or imprisonment for coming to Cuba) saw it as a capitalist economy stressing this to be a common view. A Chinese contributor thought that we weren't using the right terminology to discuss China's attempts to assert herself in the midst of an onslaught of criticism on human rights and other matters. It wasn't made clear how the struggle for socialism was being conducted compared to many examples from Cuba and descriptions of events in other South American countries, notably Venezuela, where there are many examples of the wish to counter US domination and bring in humane values.

It is this aspect when it breaks through the ,ore technical theorising, which appeal. It is refreshing to see conscious and sustained attempts to bring about a different world order other than the dominant one bent on self-destruction which puts markets and profits at the centre using human beings as pawns in its game plan.

This weekend we will be going to other parts of the island and have the opportunity of meeting Cuban people who have lived through all or part of the Cuban revolution now about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. There is certainly a lot of history here. There is a large hotel representing the art deco of the twenties where so many celebrities came. Furniture and artifacts are all in keeping with the style. The colonial architecture which abounds is truly remarkable. I'm looking forward to the rest of our stay with immense pleasure.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:01 PM May 6, 2008 | Comments (0)

Immediate and urgent action is required for Palestine

Message from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Please see the press release below and write/telephone your MP and contact the media about the meetings of donors and the Quartet this Friday. Please make the following points:

* Financial support alone is completely insufficient. A political solution must be found that delivers justice for Palestinians. The Israeli government is violating international law with impunity and must end its illegal occupation.
* Israel is continuing to build settlements after Annapolis and its policies, including checkpoints, Israel-only roads and the Apartheid Wall, are creating bantustans in the West Bank and strangling the Palestinian economy. Its illegal blockade on Gaza has created an horrific humanitarian crisis.
* Donors have previously funded vital infrastructure including schools and medical facilities that have subsequently been destroyed by the Israeli government. Surely the solution is not to appeal for more funding but for the international community to ensure that the Israeli government is brought to task for this destruction.
* Donors must show political will and bring pressure to bear on the Israeli government.

Many thanks

PSC

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:08 PM May 2, 2008 | Comments (1)

Ballymurphy Massacre Families to Meet TDs and Senators

From Troops Out Movement:
Ballymurphy Massacre Families to Meet TDs and Senators
TOM News 29/04/08

Families affected by the actions of the British army's Parachute Regiment in Belfast in August 1971 will be meeting with representatives of all of the twenty-six county political parties in Dáil Éireann tomorrow. In the Ballymurphy area of West Belfast the Parachute Regiment killed eleven people over a three day period, 9-11 August 1971.

Official accounts labelled all the victims gunmen and gunwomen, including a mother of eight and the parish priest. None of those killed had any connection to any armed group. They were innocent civilians. The barbarity of the killings was lost in the wider reporting of internment and became a forgotten massacre.

The British soldiers responsible for the killings went on to Derry the following January and were directly responsible for Bloody Sunday with fourteen more civilians being murdered. Now as adults, the children and the surviving siblings of those killed have been working to have the names of their loved ones cleared.

Following the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, and with separate investigative findings, the relatives are confident that they can link members of the Parachute Regiment responsible for Bloody Sunday to the killings of their loved ones in Ballymurphy in 1971.

As a direct consequence of the killings in Ballymurphy forty-six children were left without a parent. Many of those children were evacuated to the twenty-six counties - mostly to Irish army camps as refugees. Some of the children watched the funerals of their parents on news footage broadcast by RTÉ. Others were too young to comprehend the enormity of what occurred. Their lives were irrevocably changed.

Theirs is a story of great importance and significance in terms of healing, recovery, truth and justice; a story which must be heard and addressed as part of the outworkings and benefits of the wider peace process. Essentially, the legacy issues of this terrible atrocity must be addressed in the context of personal and societal healing and reconciliation as part of transitional justice.

The families are seeking political support for a number of key aims, which include an independent investigative process that will secure a statement of innocence regarding all of those killed and an apology from both the British Parachute Regiment and the British government. Importantly, this is a process that has an emphasis on truth seeking, acknowledgement and recognition.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:35 PM April 30, 2008 | Comments (0)

Food shortages - another crisis for the exploited

Announced to day are massive profits for the oil companies BP and Shell. The reason? Global oil prices. Also announced by Avaaz is another crisis on our doorsteps, the availability and price of food. More.
A visit to a local Chinese take-way last night showed that rising prices are having a dramatic effect. The owner told me that he was just breaking even as the price of rice was rocketing and increased prices were driving away custom.

It has long been clear in the development of the European Union that markets are the driving force, the tacit assumption being put around that it's good for people. The outcomes we are seeing more and more graphically is that people come of second best, unless they are a member of an elite with the resources to absorb steep rises in prices of fuel and food. New Labour has not been about protecting working people from the effects of the globalisation of markets, said to be a good thing by many who ought to know better. Rather it has developed a new alternative elite. All major parties in UK are tied into capitalism and its logical outcomes which are creating crisis and chaos.

As war in Iraq and elsewhere brings massive financial reward to the ruling elite in the US, backed by Britain so fuel prices and shortages bring benefits to those in control. Those striking at Grangemouth about their loss of pension were quick to point out that the boss was fifteenth on the "rich list" published by the Sunday Times. The workers are told that they must "modernise". Sound familiar to those in New Labour from exhortations of Blair et al. "Modernisation" is a euphemism for throwing away your hard won rights of all of us for the benefits of the few. The religious Mr Blair has benefited rather well from his disastrous spell in office.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:11 AM April 29, 2008 | Comments (0)

Bus for Gaza

A bus for Gaza is drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians leading to a demonstration in London on 10th May. Now there are reports that the sewage system is breaking down (see below),

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:00 AM April 28, 2008 | Comments (0)

Sadism in Hebron. The Israeli army out of control (?)

I have no hesitation in including this article from Jewish Voice for Peace about what is going on in Hebron and possibly, likely, other areas of occupied Palestine. The Israeli army is out of control.

This article reports on a situation out of control in the West Bank town of Hebron, where young IDF conscripts are encouraged or allowed to act as sadistically as they like and to inflict what the article describes as a “reign of terror” on the Palestinian residents. The article is painful to read, but gives you a real sense of the brutal manner in which the occupation is being administered, in Hebron at least. The piece is framed in terms of the moral degradation of the conscripts themselves, the fact that they are becoming (as one young soldier puts it) “animals”.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:53 AM April 23, 2008 | Comments (0)

Torture Israeli and U.S. style

"The Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI) has revealed that the Israeli security service (Shin Bet) harms or threatens to harm the relatives of prisoners in order to extract confessions from the prisoners themselves. In some cases, the relatives are physically tortured. The accusations of torture are bad enough, but harming or threatening to harm uninvolved noncombatants for the political end of extracting a confession appears to fall under standard definitions of terrorism."

The information comes from Jewish Voice for Peace. It's just another example of information where you just can't possibly believe it can be as bad as it's described here. Not from anyone with the least pretension to regarding themselves as civilised. We appear to be witnessing regression in society! Here there appear to be no holds barred when people are actually prepared to go out and commit barbaric acts on civilians. In the name of Zionism? Hasn't that got something to do with "God"? What does this mean? We are told there is "one God" in this context embracing Judaism, Islam and Christian alike. This "one God" looks more and more like the opposite: "Mammon". As Jesus of Nazareth observed you can't serve both, but then look what happened to him.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:19 PM April 20, 2008 | Comments (0)

International Conference on Penal Abolition

A high profile conference will take place in London in July at which Pauline Campbell has agreed to speak;

International Conference on Penal Abolition

New Speaker added to the agenda

We are pleased to announce the addition of campaigner and penal abolitionist, Pauline Campbell, to the ICOPA line up. Pauline became involved in the campaign for penal abolition following the death of her daughter Sarah, whilst 'in the care' of Styal Prison in 2003. She was just 18.

Pauline is one of the leading figues in England and Wales calling for the closure of women's prisons. She has, to date, organised 28 demonstrations, been arrested 15 times and been charged 5 times. She is currently awaiting criminal trial following a demonstration outside Styal Prison in February this year.

She said, "Where there is injustice, there will be protest. And long may the spirit of protest remain alive and well in our democratic society."

She joins BBC Journalist and ex-prisoner Raphael Rowe, and leading human rights lawyer, Imran Khan, to discuss 'Penal Abolition, the media and the public'.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:53 AM April 17, 2008 | Comments (0)

Black farmers in the US. The end of the struggle?

Al Jazeera highlights the work of a researcher, John Ficaras, who is looking at the lives and histories of black farmers in the USA. It is another chapter in the story of discrimination, which far from falling away is a continuing issue as banks and government withhold support. Promises dating back to Lincoln and abolition have never materialised.

"The history of black owned farms in the United States dates back to the years immediately following the US Civil War in the mid-1800s.

At the end of the war the then US president, Abraham Lincoln, liberated all of the slaves and the reforms that followed promised that each family would receive forty acres and a mule, a promise that was never fulfilled.

Black owned farms peaked in the early 1920s with an estimated total of 15 million acres and over 900,000 farmers.

Today there are only 2.2 million acres owned by black farmers. These farmers are losing their land three times faster than white family farmers and a recent study by the university of Michigan predicts that within the next ten years there will be virtually no black owned farms.

This is a vanishing part of American history and Ficara uses the power of their stories and these images to keep the history of their slice of the American dream alive while their way of life falls under the plough forever."

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:25 AM April 16, 2008 | Comments (0)

Carter keeps trying

Former US President Jimmy Carter seems a lone voice in his efforts to secure peace for Israel based on talks which include Hamas. Carter phoned Condoleeza Rice but, since she was on tour, a member of her staff took the call. No one tried to dissuade Carter from his mission or suggest he did things differently. The world looks a different place in front page media hype and what is happening in the background and largely unreported. Alternative sources such as Al Jazeera, and here Haaretz provide some alternative views.

The article points out that none of the presidential hopefuls can afford to get embroiled. Why is demonstrated by the wild attempts, notably by a journalist at the LA Times, who has tried repeatedly to wrong foot Barack Obama. Obama attended a lecture by the late Edward Said, co-founder of the East-West Divan Orchestra with Daniel Baremboim. The "American Conservative" is subjecting Obama to the "Israel test". The article goes back to illustrate what happened to JFK when the pro-Israel lobby intervened.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:51 AM April 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Tibet. Some questions

The following questions and answers about Tibet came to me from the Socialist Labour Party. When I received a petition from a source I often support in the name of human rights I held back from a knee-jerk reaction because I felt a need to understand. In Snowmail a point was made that little attempt had been made to put a Chinese view across. This is not to say that colonialism is right, but those making noises live in glass houses and there are key questions to ask about what is going on: what is the agenda behind it? I was reminded that there had been a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Why? Because of the Soviet Union's presence in Afghanistan!!!

The Dalai Lama has recently been in the presence of George Bush, which is enough to start me asking questions. Nancy Pelosi is not exactly a Bush supporter, but her recent intervention in Tibetan matters has also to be questioned. The article is translated from the French being an account by a woman who has made a study of Tibetan Buddhism.

TIBET: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

China contains 1/6th of the world’s population and events affecting that part of the world should be a concern for all.

With the China/Tibet issue being much in the news recently, it is useful to discover the social, political and economic background to current developments.

Elisabeth Martens is the author of Histoire du bouddhisme tibetain:compasio (Publisher: Harmattan (Nov 1 2007) Language: French)

Elisabeth Martens was interviewed by Bénito Perez for “Le Courrier” of Geneva on 27 March 2008. Here is the entire interview in which she directly answers all questions on the history, recent events, repression, the Dalai Lama, and the social problems of Tibet.

TIBET Q&A

Tibet: Answers on the history, religion, the monk class, social problems, repression, and the role of the US.

by Elizabeth Martens

Benito Perez: Can you briefly introduce yourself? How did you become interested in Tibet and China?

Elizabeth Martens: I spent three years in China, after studying biology in Belgium, in order to specialize in traditional Chinese medicine. Of course, I took advantage of my stay there to travel throughout China—from north to south, and east to west. One of my trips in 1990 took me for the first time to a Tibetan region (i.e., inhabited by Tibetans), XiaHe in Gansu, to the great Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Labulang. I was surprised by the ease with which one could make contact with the Lamas who walked the streets and shopped at the corner grocery store; it was far from the image of our own monks who were cloistered behind their walls.

I was also surprised by the difference between the Chinese Buddhas, round as teapots mildly brewing on the stove, smiling, jolly, and the Tibetan Buddhas, much more imposing. And still more surprised to find in the Tibetan temples an incredible quantity of representations of the gods, of monsters, of Bodhisattvas, and such, one more ferocious and frightening than the next. I found that, in a certain way, this was a lot like what you find in the chamber of horrors in our churches, men impaled, crucified, or thrown into pots of boiling oil, and so on. Nothing like what is in Chinese art: in Chinese thought, and thus in the arts of China, suffering and the means by which it is brought about are not central preoccupations. From what must one free oneself at the moment when one realizes that suffering is only the flip side of well-being? I found in the Tibetan regions, where I returned several times after that (the last time in the summer of 2007), a very different culture from the Chinese. This difference seemed interesting to me: how could a country as huge as China (larger than all of Europe) reconcile 55 nationalities, each speaking its own language, especially with the disproportionate presence of the Han (about 90% of the population of China) as compared to the other nationalities?

BP: What happened, according to your information (and what are your sources?), recently in those regions of China populated by Tibetans?

EM: The violence which went down in Lhassa on 14 March 2008 was perpetrated by groups of Tibetan demonstrators. The testimony of foreigners present at the time was in agreement on this point: the aggression targeted the Chinese (the Han) and the Hui, a majority of whom are Muslims. Some people were burned alive, others were beaten, stabbed or stoned to death. The weapons used were Molotov cocktails, stones, iron bars, shanks and butcher knives. There were 22 dead and more than 300 wounded, nearly all were Hui and Han. These were criminal acts of a racist character. Serge Lachapelle, a tourist from Montreal, said: “The Muslim quarter was completely destroyed, not a single store was left standing.”

By the 18th of March, the Dalai Lama declared at a press conference that “the events in Tibet got out of control and that he is prepared to resign if the violence continues.” He added that “these acts of violence are suicidal.” It did not stop, just a few days later, through a strange bit of scheduling, US Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, from showing up in Dharamsala for an official visit to the 14th Dalai Lama. She spoke of the events in Tibet as “a challenge to the conscience of the world” and demanded that China send and independent international commission to Tibet to verify the Chinese accusation that “the clique of the Dalai Lama was behind the violence”, and to check on “the manner in which the Chinese are treating their Tibetan prisoners.” This is one of the strategies used by the US: to force China to accept the teams of inspectors who carry the cachet of “Human Rights”, or to be able to say that China refused to accept them. There is no one better suited to pull off such a plan than the Dalai Lama: in his speech of 10 March, he had already demanded that China demonstrate “a greater transparency.”

Aren’t these terms curiously resonant of ‘glasnost’, which led to the break-up of the USSR? Germany, the avant-garde of Europe, lined up behind the demands for transparency made by the US: the German Minister of Foreign Affairs declared “the German Federal government demands greater transparency on the part of the Chinese government.” But the Chinese authorities speak of a premeditated and well-organized revolt. The occasion chosen to give the green light to the rioters was the anniversary of the 1959 revolt in Lhasa, a date the Tibetans in exile have declared a “National Holiday”: 10 March. On this day, a march from India to Tibet was effectively begun. It was supposed to go on for six months: until the opening of the Olympic Games in Peking. This march was organized by the “Movement for the Uprising of the Tibetan People”, an organization in which were represented the principal factions of the Tibetan government in exile: the NDP (New Democratic Party), the Tibetan Youth Congress, and the Women’s Movement.

10 March was clearly the signal to kick-off the riots: they were encouraged from abroad by multiple demonstrations in front of Chinese Embassies (e.g., in Brussels). Even in China, fliers calling for independence for Tibet were distributed in Tibetan regions. The same day, 300 Lamas from the monastery in Drepung demonstrated in the center of Lhasa in a non-violent but “provocative” manner; the police dispersed the demonstrators without clashes. This was not the case a few days later on the 14th of March: several Tibetan groups, all armed in the same way and operating in the same manner, were dispersed in city of Lhasa, bringing on hostilities and creating panic. What followed was the drama that we saw, with the anticipated repression by the Chinese. It should be remembered that international law stipulates, “Every country has the right to use force against independence movements aimed at dividing that country.” Imagine the havoc that would ensue in France if Corsican separatists set fire to French civilians in the middle of Ajacio!

BP: The general analysis of the riots has been that they were “a reaction to the colonization of Tibet by the Chinese”? There has even been talk of genocide? What’s up with this?

EM: When we speak of the “colonization” of one country by another, there should be, at least, two countries. In this particular case, we should remember that Tibet has never been recognized as an “independent country”. In the 13th century, the Mongols annexed Tibet to China, and in the 18th century the Manchus divided the Chinese empire into 18 provinces, Tibet being one of them. At the end of the 19th century, the British Empire invaded Tibet and installed their trading posts.

This happened under the reign of the 13th DL, who saw in the British occupation of Tibet an opportunity to claim independence. The basis for this was what was called “Greater Tibet”, a territory five times the size of France, about a third of China, and which corresponds more or less (because there were no maps at this time) to the territory of Tibet at the end of the Tubo dynasty of the 9th century. But China at the beginning of the 20th century had just come out of a territorial auction in which it had ceded a number of “concessions” to Western countries. To give up a third of its territory was to sign it own death warrant. So this demand for independence was inconceivable. That is to say that neither the UN nor any of its member states ever recognized Tibet as an independent country. This is an initial answer to your question.

A second answer is that when we use the term “colonization”, it implies that the invading country profits from the assets of the invaded country. But, if we consider the last fifty years in Tibet, we notice the opposite phenomenon. The Tibetan population has tripled thanks to the health care system and the rapid improvement of living standards. Which was, in fact, not difficult to achieve given the disastrous conditions under which 90% of the Tibetans lived under the theocratic regime of the Dalai Lamas. In any case, this improvement was not as fast as in the larger Chinese cities, which, with their gleaming spires, have made the whole world believe that China has turned capitalist. It’s crazy what you can make people believe with a few sequins, some lights and some big store windows. To answer your second question, about genocide, we must once more go back into history. In 1949, with the advent of the Peoples Republic of China, the Chinese government chose to set the odometer back to zero: all foreigners and foreign influences were shown the door, and all the borders were reasserted, even those in distant provinces like Tibet. In 1956, an armed rebellion was organized in several Tibetan monasteries (e.g., Litang and Drepung): the Peoples Republic of China targeted the Tibetan dignitaries, those of the clergy in particular. And so it was this part of the population that began to flee into India and which would make up the Tibetan community in exile (just as the exodus for Taiwan was made up mainly of the larger Chinese families).

This armed rebellion was from its beginnings financially and logistically supported by the CIA. For what reason? All you have to do to understand this is read a report by the US State Dept from April 1949: “Tibet has become strategically and ideologically important. Since the independence of Tibet could serve the struggle against communism, it is in our interests to recognize Tibet as independent. (. . ) However, it is not Tibet that interests us, it is the attitude we must adopt toward China.” It doesn’t get much clearer than that! The armed rebellion, which began in the monastery in Litang, spread in waves to Lhasa, where the most important action took place, and was put down by the Red Army in 1959. After this event, it was of great importance to the US to conduct public opinion to believe that there was a genocide, and that’s why the figure of 1.2 million dead was put out by the Tibetan Buddhist authorities in exile.

Several demographic studies later showed that this figure was made up out of whole cloth. Patrick French, former director of “Free Tibet”, verified this on the spot in Dharamsala. After a lengthy review of the “official” documents putting out this figure, he became completely disgusted with the magnitude of the falsifications coming from those he had admired. He recounts this episode in his book. What is important to remember in this falsification is that if we speak of 1.2 million dead from a population of barely 2 million inhabitants, we could well be talking about a “genocide”. But if it’s actually a matter of a few thousand dead on both sides, then it’s no longer a genocide, but more like a civil war. This figure of 1.2 million dead was allowed to manipulate public opinion toward a distrusting, unto xenophobia, of the Chinese. It has been the same story for 50 years. So, if we analyze the historical facts, we can no longer speak of either an invasion, or of colonization, or of genocide. The riots which took place in March 2008 must be analyzed, first of all, in an economic context, without forgetting that Tibet has been for a long time now one of the fields of battle between the US and China.

BP: The violence of the demonstrations does not jibe with the pacifism advocated by the DL. Why?

EM: The DL and his entourage carry the banner of pacifism and have cultivated the image of tolerance and compassion that has come to be associated with Tibetan Buddhism, or so it is believed in the West, right? Yet the DL still takes time to stir up public opinion over the peaceful demonstration of 300 monks from Drepung in the streets of Lhasa on the 10th of March and immediately charges the Chinese police with repression (and it should be noted here in passing that—and anyone who has been to Tibet can confirm this—the forces of order are essentially made up of Tibetans and depend very little on the Chinese). When these violent acts had reached a level of unspeakable barbarity, he quickly distanced himself from the events. What role did he play in the events? To determine this, you have to look at who profited from these riots: neither the Chinese, nor the six million Tibetans living in China. The riots essentially served to stir up public opinion over China’s Human Rights violations, the lack of freedom of expression, and the various repressions that we charge the Chinese government with. So, this uprising served to give China a terrible image, and this just before the Olympics were to gather the world press in Peking.

I think that, in part, they reflect the enormous fear that we have of the economic power represented by today’s China. It’s true that in some ways China is still part of the Third World, but in others ways, it threatens to catch up with us very quickly and even to surpass us. Few people here (in the West—ed) are aware of China’s huge intellectual potential and that this mass of Chinese intellectuals have begun to see themselves being under the constant repression and denigration of the West. They will not remain silent much longer. To recap, I think that these riots served to further darken the image of China: provoked by these racialist riots in the Tibetan regions, China was obliged to bring out its big guns, and so we can speak honorably of a “savage repression” exerted by the Chinese government at the time of these “ethnic incidents”.

It’s the same old song: we’ve heard it constantly since 1989 (with conflicts in Africa, the Balkans, Iraq, and those that went to breaking up the USSR). It should be noted also that at the heart of the Tibetan exile community, there is a scission becoming more and more apparent: on the one hand, there are the moderates, including the DL, who do not advocate violence (not openly, at least), and who do not even demand independence, but speak of “growing autonomy”, as we know. On the other hand, and at the moment it is a majority faction within the government in exile, there are the radicals who demand total independence and are ready to take up arms to achieve it. You can imagine that such discourse would be impossible to maintain without the support of their allies of 50 years: the US, which also continues to finance and arm the Tibetan community in exile. In reality, today the US has two war horses it can use simultaneously: the DL and his followers (in Europe, especially) from whom comes the pacifist line that serves to rally Western intellectuals around the themes of “democracy”, “Human Rights”, “Freedom of the Press”, etc., that must be imposed on China (what a bizarre idea: “a democracy” that has to be imposed! . . . but it gets across 200% of the time), and then the “hardcore” faction of the Tibetan government in exile, which is acquiring more and more adherents because of the tough talk of the struggle for independence at all cost. Apparently, these are the ones who have ignited and carried out the recent violence.

BP: Isn’t this an expression of real discontent?

EM: Yes, of course. What I’ve been describing so far is the “outside” instigators of the riots. But it’s obvious that if there weren’t a “suitable situation” on the ground, the instigators couldn’t instigate anything. As I said, the internal reasons are essentially economic, and therefore social. First, we must remember that mass education in Tibet didn’t begin until the 60s, which explains why Tibet is behind the rest of the country. What this means is that the first university students or advanced technicians in Tibet did not start working until the 80s, about 10 years later than the Han Chinese (and 10 years in China is like 100 years for us!). This is a disadvantage that they still have not made up. This disadvantage at the level of training, as well as in the type of work offered to each group, explains why all the “important” positions are held by the Chinese.

Besides this first problem, which is real, difficult to resolve, and the source of “ethnic” conflict, there is also the disadvantage, well recognized in China, of the country folk compared to the inhabitants of the large urban centers. If many Tibetans have benefited from the economic advances China has made, many others have been left behind in economic stagnation. This fact does not just impact Tibet, but effects the whole of China: the inequalities are becoming more and more glaring between the more fortunate (or even those of average fortune) and the more unfortunate. What is without doubt is that very few Chinese living in Tibet are unemployed—if they come to Tibet, it’s because they know there is a job waiting for them, if not they would go elsewhere—, while there are many young Tibetans would are without jobs. In general, they come from the countryside and have only had elementary school educations. They lack qualifications, while the Chinese who come to work in Tibet are qualified technicians, university trained, or experienced administrators, and, of course, merchants. Even if education is facilitated for Tibetans (as it is with other ethnic minorities elsewhere in China), the requirements for gaining an education are lower and the entrance exams less rigorous for the Hans, the Tibetans don’t always see their interests in pursuing a higher education. But bringing the Tibetans to educate themselves would be an interesting way of reducing social inequality, while China “stands by its commitment” to inject billions of Yuan just for the development of the Tibetan economy. What’s more, in Tibetan towns, the free market favors the Han and Muslim Hui who have more experience in trade than the Tibetans. So, here again, the Tibetans feel they have been dealt out of the game by the Han and the Hui.

Just to note that the racial hatred toward the Muslims has for a long time been rooted in and propagated by Tibetan Buddhism (e.g., by the Kalashakra): it is because of the Muslim invasions of northern India in the 10th and 11th centuries that the Tantric masters sought refuge in Tibet. Indian Tantrism came to Tibet and became Tibetan Buddhism, and held on to an age-old rancor for Islam because of their persecution by Muslims.

BP: Didn’t China annex Tibet? Can we deny the existence of a national claim for Tibet, for a “Tibetan nation” distinct from China?

EM: As I said earlier, Tibet was annexed to China by the Mongols, that is, during the period when the Mongols extended their empire into China (13th century). When China regained control of its empire, with the Mings, from the 14th to the 16th centuries, it pretty much lost all interest in that distant Tibetan region and Tibet remained “passively” annexed to China. Then the Manchus took over China and made Tibet a Chinese province. This tactic was repeated by the British and then by the US.

So what is meant by the term “nation”? If you want to talk about a nation historically distinct from China, you have to go back to the Tubo dynasty that ruled Tibet from the 7th to the 9th centuries. It would be like our now claiming to be the empire of Charlemagne! If you want to talk about a specific culture, it seems obvious that Tibet does not have the same culture as China, not just because of the differences in their spoken and written languages, but also because of the differences in their traditions, their religions, their inhabitants, and so on. This had not stopped the many instances of cross-culturing, to the point that I asked myself what would jump off in the way of family dramas and breakups if one day Tibet really became independent and shoved all the Han Chinese out the door, along with all the Muslims (these are the two ethnicities targeted by the government in exile): they would have a helluva problem telling just who was who and who belonged to what ethnicity. In fact, the ethnic analysis is only a way of explaining to the general public why the wars fought among the great powers happened: this was also seen in the Balkans, in Iraq, in the USSR, and it is happening again in Tibet. What flabbergasted me was that public opinion has still not caught on. And what worries me is that the stakes in this conflict have by far surpassed those of the other conflicts: on the one hand, China can not just let itself do whatever, and on the other, the world economy is at risk of serious shock.

BP: Today, can the Tibetans live according to their culture/religion?

EM: Tibetans are for the most part very devout, that can be seen in their daily life: the stone mills turn lightly, we see them kneeling in front of the temples from morning till night, on the highways we regularly encounter pilgrims en route to Lhasa, prayer flags around their necks, the monasteries are packed with monks, even very young children (which is forbidden by Chinese law), bank notes piled up at the feet of the Buddhas, in the distance we can hear the sounds of trumpets and mantras.

Religious practice is far from being repressed. It can only be an expression of bad faith to claim otherwise! Or of never having been to Tibet. In education, bilingualism is required and practiced in every school that we visited (primary, secondary and higher education); institutes of Tibetology were open for those young Tibetans (and others) who wished to deepen their study of Tibetan culture: here we found they gave courses in language, medicine, theology, music and dance, and so on. So I think that it is pure nonsense to say that the culture and the religion are being oppressed or destroyed. Again, it is the information we are fed at home: after shedding some light on the deception as to the ethnic genocide, we were quickly diverted to “cultural genocide”. It is obvious, that if I, as one small individual, were to contradict this notion, no one would believe me, but it is enough to go and see the place for yourself to be convinced.

So what are they talking about when they point a finger at “Chinese repression”? What is banned and severely punished is any attempt at “separatism”, or the division of China. What may seem trivial activities in our countries, like carrying a Tibetan flag in the streets (the flag that was created in 1959, at the time of the exodus, and which is thus of a political color), or distributing leaflets in the street, or passing out photos of the DL (who is a political effigy), or organizing demonstrations, and such. For this sort of activity there are very quick (doubtlessly too quick?) arrests, and sometimes imprisonment. China is quite severe on this matter because they know that the support for the Tibetan independence movement is huge, that this support comes from the West and is aimed at dividing China. As I said, the bone of contention here is not so much the six million Chinese Tibetans up against the Chinese state, but the pitting of China against the West, and it is expressed in the economic problems that exist in today’s Tibet.

PB: What is the nature of Tibetan Buddhism and its structure/clergy?

EM: Ok, so, you’re asking me to rewrite my book! To recap: Tibetan Buddhism came out of Tantrism, one of three great schools or “vehicles” of Buddhism. According to scholars of Buddhism, this vehicle is the farthest removed from the Dharma (or the original teachings of Buddha in the 6th century BC). First of all, because this vehicle is the most recent (6th century AD), so Buddhism had time to go through several changes, and did so largely because of the intellectual difficulties in its teaching. And then, because Tibetan Buddhism had the particularity of exerting a spiritual as well as a temporal power, which is not the case with the two other vehicles of Buddhism.

In fact, Tantrism fled to Tibet in the 10th and 11th centuries because of the historical circumstances I have just told you about (Muslim invasions). At this time, Tibet was totally disorganized on the political and social levels. But the Tantric communities who came north from India were very structured and hierarchical. This is why, when they had moved into Tibet, which badly needed a reorganization, they took control of the region “spontaneously”, by applying their own standards. Tantrism became Tibetan Buddhism from the moment it adapted itself to the local morals, customs and religion (Bön). You could say that at this time, the Buddhist religion was beneficial because it guided Tibet toward a structured feudalism. The problem was that this feudalism, over a millennium, became rigidly set in an extremely repressive and conservative religious power. Tibet was halted in its evolution because of this omniscient and omnipotent religious power. We must not forget that the monasteries owned more than 70% of the land in Tibet, the rest belonging to the families of the nobility. There has never been a theocratic rule as powerful or as rich as the one in Tibet. There was no comparison with what happened in Europe during the Middle Ages where the monasteries were tucked away in a dark corner of the castle grounds. With the arrival of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, it was much more difficult for the Tibetan clergy to give up this power.

BP: You said that Tibetan Buddhism allowed the imposition of a feudal system. But that was the case with most all religions. Isn’t this all in the past now?

EM: Certainly, that was the case with most religions, as religion has always had one foot in politics, as we say. Tibetan Buddhism permitted a tribal society, as it was before the 9th century, to evolve into a better structured, feudal society. Feudalism is no longer very popular anywhere, and the former Tibetan elite, now in exile, has no intention of returning to the old system. They, too, have modernized and are strong partisans of the “free market” model with a reinstallation of the private ownership of land, thus especially outside the Chinese system, and based on the Western model.

PB: How do you explain the very pro-Tibetan feelings in the West, especially in the media?

EM: Public opinion follows the media, and the media obey the economic interests. Don’t we live in an economic dictatorship here at home? Censorship is as real here as it is anywhere, but just better hidden. In the West, you are not locked up in prison for your opinions, but rather in your head, then in the illnesses that ensue. I wonder sometimes which is worse. So your actual question becomes: “How do you explain the pro-Tibetan feelings conveyed by our economic system?” Neither the US nor Europe fully appreciates the dazzling advances made by China on the world stage. All the plans are in place to bring it down: “We have to raise hell during the Peking Olympics!” squeals Danny Cohn-Bendit in his speech before a plenary session of the EU parliament on how Europe must act toward China. And this, not even a week after the events that lit up downtown Lhasa! It is so monstrous, yet that shows in a very simple way that the “big world of diplomacy and high finance” doesn’t have a solution for the Tibetan problem, and what is really important for them is to “raise hell in China.”

How do you get the Western public to swallow this pill, especially without losing the approval of intellectuals? For that you have to call on His Holiness, who with a smile of the “eternal snows” could make a cat back down in front of a mouse. Hasn’t Tibetan Buddhism gussied itself up in its best bib and tucker to charm a West “devoid of spiritual values”? Surfing into our lives on the 70s wave of “getting back to the source”, it was not difficult to pass it off as the Dharma, presented to us as a sort of “spiritual atheism”, a philosophy of life, a way of being, an internal therapy, etc., in short, everything BUT a religion.

Continue reading "Tibet. Some questions"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:25 PM April 12, 2008 | Comments (0)

A wounded buffalo

As the argument about who won the election in Zimbabwe goes on the situation deteriorates by the minute. I received the following letter from Bulawayo along with an accompanying article.

Dear all

This is an interesting analogy and describes exactly the situation here at
present. It has just come over the tv that the courts have no jurisdiction
over the electoral commission and cannot force them to make the results
known. Is there NO ONE out there who can help us? The situation is
becoming more desperate by the day. I queued this morning for a bag of
very second grade rolls, limited to 6 per customer! One does not ask the
price these days we are just grateful if we can get. I made some soda
bread yesterday with bread flour I had but used the last of the bi-carb and,
of course, there is none in the shops. The shelves remain pathetically
empty and managers are reluctant to put anything on the shelves as there is
still the threat that they may be required to halve the pces and they
certainly cannot survive a further episode like that. If the situation is
like it is in Bulawayo what can it be like throughout the country? We
experienced people passing by when we were having a picnic indicating that
they too were hungry but we just were not in a position to help as we had
barely enough for us. If we had not had a chance to go out of the country
several times recently we certainly would not be able to cope now. One
chap waiting in the bread queue went down on his knees. I do not know if
he was praying or just too weak to stand for as long as was required.

Life is indeed pathetic here at the moment and deteriorating by the day.
My brother and his wife leave next week and I leave the week after until
February and January respectively. Charles will come back for part of that
time. Everyone one speaks to is getting ready to move on but there are so
many who do not have the luxury of that option. I have resigned as
Chairman of the senior citizen centre but it does not mean I will forget
about them. I certainly will do what I can from afar. It seems one of
the senior citizens misunderstood the situation and was frantic that the
soup kitchen was closing! We were able to assure him that this would not
be the case. I hear today that a small piece of beef now costs Z$2
billion! How many people are going to be afford such a luxury.

We just appeal to any of you who can to help if you can. We are very
nearly flat on our backs, let alone being on our knees! The situation is
GRAVELY SERIOUS!!!!!!!

Eddie Cross who wrote the piece which follows is a very optimistic man but
does not always get things right! That crystal ball does have a habit of
dimming over.

Best wishes to all, Juliet

Continue reading "A wounded buffalo"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:28 PM April 7, 2008 | Comments (0)

Palestinian land remains up for grabs from "settlers"

The following comes in an e-mail from Jewish Voice for Peace.
The article below, on the re-establishment of an illegal settlement in the West Bank, does a good job of explaining the facts of the incident described, but a little more explanation is necessary to explain its significance.

The outpost of Shvut Ami was to be evacuated for the 10th time. This outpost, it is not disputed, is on private Palestinian land. A unique tactic was agreed upon for this last attempt to return the land to its rightful owners by the Israeli lawyer, human rights organizations, the local Palestinians and the Army. The Army would evacuate the settlers as usual, but knowing that they would immediately be free to return, Israeli activists from Yesh Din and Anarchists Against the Wall were officially "invited" by the property owner to be on site along with Palestinians from Qudum. Coordinating with the Army, it was agreed that only those "invited"—and cleared by the Army—would be allowed on the property after the evacuation of the settlers. Activists were preparing to spend about a month, in daytime and nighttime shifts, in this way to guard the property from settlers.

Thus it was all the more devastating when about 100 settlers attacked and beat the first six activists on the site just a few hours after the evacuation. The Army and Police failed to protect them adequately, and they were forced to withdraw in fear of their lives. The rule of law and justice for the Palestinian owner were once again overturned by brute force, with the collusion of the army and police forces. The activists and villagers, who had put their trust in the Army, were betrayed, and the settlers once again found success by disdaining the law.

The one ray of hope in this story is that it actually drew a rare official apology from the Army, and the evacuation will be undertaken yet again sometime in the next couple of weeks. The coalition of Palestinians, Israeli activists and lawyers remain determined to try again. --Rebecca Vilkomerson

---------------------------

Continue reading "Palestinian land remains up for grabs from "settlers""

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:52 AM April 7, 2008 | Comments (0)

Sikh man from UK cheated by Surat priest

Express News Service reported from Surat on March 18, 2008:
"A Sikh man of Birmingham in the United Kingdom came to Surat and handed over an application to Surat police Commissioner about a priest from Suratwho allegedly had conned him in the United Kingdom.

Karnail Singh, a shopkeeper in Birmingham, came to India to attend some function at his native Jalandhar in Punjab a couple of months ago. After completing the function, he came to Surat and met Surat Police Commisiioner and handed him an application about a priest. who had come to the United Kingdom in 2004and had cheated him to the tune of £15,000.

Singh later also contacted Umra police inspector and explained the details of his case.

According to Singh, he came in contact with Kandarp Kumar Joshi, a resident of Harihar Park at Althan Road at his friend Naresh Kumar's house in Birmingham on December 11, 2004. Joshi, reportedly a priest, then visited Singh's house and told him that something is wrong in his house and his daughter will not get married unless and until some holy work is done. Joshi, posing himself as a preacher, charged him £8,000 for getting his house free from black magic.

Joshi later told him that fro continuation of the work he has to go back to India with the money. Singh kept faith in him and also gave him air fare.

Later when inquired about the work, Joshi asked Singh to remain tension freeas the work was under progress.

Singh said 'After waiting for a long period and seeing no progress in the work we understood that we have been cheated. After that he did not pick our calls. My relatives in Punjab found out his residential number and called him to ask him to return the money or they will take the matter to the police. We asked him to deposit £15,000in our account. But he only deposited £2,294 in my account on 25th March, 2005 and asked for some months' time to make the rest of the payment. After waiting for a year, we learnt that he had shifted to a new place. We located his new residential address and tried to contact him but he never took our call.'

Surat Police Commissioner R.M.S. Brar said 'I have told him to explain the entire incident to Umra police inspector Ramesh Patel and that we will decide our course of action later.' "

Continue reading "Sikh man from UK cheated by Surat priest"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 1:45 PM April 5, 2008 | Comments (0)

Hyderabad opens new airport

Q. Why is Terminal 5 like a mortuary? A. You can't take your baggage with you. At much the same time as Terminal 5 was opening at Heathrow an airport of comparable size was opening in the fast growing hub of technology and scientific achievement in Hyderabad, India: the Rajiv Gandhi Airport.
They reported no problems with baggage handling and everything appears to have gone smoothly.
A meeting in Birmingham called by the Asian Rationalist Society (Britain) described something else going on in India. Barely 150 km from Hyderbad is a village outside of which there is a Dalit (formerly known as untouchable) community. One of India's notorious godmen had announced that before the children in the community could receive an education they would need to make a sacrifice. Not a sheep or goat, but one of their children. It would have to be a human sacrifice he insisted. Fear spread through the community and children were kept from going to school. Here the Rationalists stepped in. They spend time in communities demonstrating the cheap conjuring tricks and sleight of hand which the holy men use to trick people into believing they have supernatural powers. They managed to persuade some of the young people and some elders in going with them to the temple to confront this godman. Having got wind that he was to have visitors he ran off and so there was great disappointment. However the community now feel enlightened and empowered to act against these villains.

Continue reading "Hyderabad opens new airport"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 6:30 PM March 30, 2008 | Comments (0)

Rachel Corrie's parents praise Bil'in residents for their non-violent protest

This week's news from Bil'in tells of Israeli troops firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets:
"Israeli military attacks weekly Bil'in protest, 17 injured including 7 journalists."
Rachel Corrie's parents were among those supporting the rights of villagers who undaunted by the armed-to-the-teeth bullies of the US backed Israeli government. What precisely is a terrorist, and who are the terrorists?

Friday March 28, 2008 16:51
Scores of residents of Bil’in, a village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with their international and Israeli supporters, took to the streets on Friday to conduct their weekly nonviolent protest against the Israeli Wall and illegal confiscation of the village's land.
Israeli troops manning the wall and its gate that cuts off the villagers from their land showered the protesters with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets immediately after the protesters reached the gate.

17 were injured including seven journalists. Medical sources identified some of the injured journalists as Fadi Al Arouri, a photojournalist, Najud al Qassem, a cameraman, Moheb Al Bargouthi, a reporter, and George Haltah, a cameraman.

Also among those injured was Eyad Burnat, of Bil'in popular committee, who told IMEMC "I was trying to protect one of the village youth who was attacked by the soldiers when soldiers attacked and beat me up."

The parents of Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist who was killed by the Israeli army in Gaza five years ago, took part of the Bil'in protest. Her father, Mr Craig Corrie, praised the nonviolent resistance in Bil'in and called for more support for the Palestinians in their struggle for freedom.

Rachel Corrie was killed in 2003 in Rafah city, in the southern part of the Gaza strip when an army bulldozer ran over her while she was protecting a local family home from being demolished by the Israeli army.
http://www.imemc.org/article/53799
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI51PKXPUHA

Continue reading "Rachel Corrie's parents praise Bil'in residents for their non-violent protest"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:08 AM March 29, 2008 | Comments (0)

Good tidings at Easter

Some good news from the Independent. It's Easter Day and the other Good News appears to have been banished from British television at least. No religion in the schedules apart from the Mozart Requiem and a programme on the history of choral music. The other headline on Good Friday was that I could go and place my bet at the bookies, and then on Saturday the storm about embryology where Gordon Brown plans to put a three line whip on the party to vote for merging human and animal cells. Catholic MPs are put on the spot as their leaders speak out in horror. Just in time I found two of J.S. Bach's Cantatas for the second day of Easter, BWV6 and 66. The opening chorus, including a dialogue between fear (counter tenor) and hope (tenor), was particularly uplifting.

However the news I speak of is of a turbine emerging from the former shipyards of Belfast. It has a number of things to commend it. It speaks of power from tidal energy. Evidently, unknown to us - like the Nubia of ancient times never mentioned in the shadow of Egypt, a scientist has been experimenting with a turbine in the Nile in the Sudan. From the experiment in the river attempts were made to transfer the idea to harness tidal power.

Continue reading "Good tidings at Easter"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:27 PM March 23, 2008 | Comments (0)

A death unites the community in Bethlehem

The death of a Palestinian leader, shot in an ambush by Israeli forces, brought together Muslim and Christian communities.

Many met together in the Church of the Nativity, held to be on the site of the birthplace of Jesus, to mourn the loss of a leader who carried both a Koranic text and a picture of Mary. mother of Jesus.

"Mohammed Shehadeh was one of four Palestinians shot in an Israeli undercover ambush here last week, killings that have fuelled support for Hizbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, among Christians and Muslims alike.

School principals, teachers and students from the Bethlehem School, the Catholic School and the Greek Orthodox School paraded to the mourning tent outside the church chanting and waving placards praising the Palestinian 'martyr'.

'People admired Shehadeh's ability to stand up to the Israelis,' said Sami Awad, Christian executive director of the Holy Land Trust, dedicated to promoting non-violent action against Israel's occupation. 'There's a lot of admiration for the charisma that Nasrallah has and the way he speaks and presents his views in public.' "

Continue reading "A death unites the community in Bethlehem"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:56 AM March 16, 2008 | Comments (0)

Media coverage of Israel and Palestine

Jewish Voice for Peace sent the following concerning the way that the media and political leaders have treated news about Palestine and Palestinians in a completely different way to Israel and Israelis.

David Cromwell works with a British organization called Media Lens.
What is Media Lens? - Here is part of their self description. http://www.medialens.org
"Media Lens is a response based on our conviction that mainstream newspapers and broadcasters provide a profoundly distorted picture of our world. We are convinced that the increasingly centralised, corporate nature of the media means that it acts as a de facto propaganda system for corporate and other establishment interests. The costs incurred as a result of this propaganda, in terms of human suffering and environmental degradation, are incalculable."

Media Lens "recommend(s) Herman and Chomsky's "propaganda model of media control" as a basis for understanding the manner in which truth is filtered from, rather than consciously obstructed by, the modern media system.

They quote historian Howard Zinn, who has written::
"Society has varying and conflicting interests; what is called objectivity is the disguise of one of these interests - that of neutrality. But neutrality is a fiction in an unneutral world. There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... and the 'objectivity' of the bystander calls for inaction while other heads fall."

In the essay below, Cromwell contrasts English media attitude towards Palestinian victims of Israeli violence, with its attitude towards Israeli victims of Palestinian violence. Just like in the US, Israelis fair much better, both in newspapers coverage, and in BBC broadcasts.

Racheli Gai

David Cromwell: Israeli Deaths Matter More
March 12, 2008

The horrific shooting of eight young people at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem last Thursday was followed by saturation media coverage. International statesmen lined up with condemnations of the attack and condolences for the victims and their families.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced: "This is clearly an attempt to strike a blow at the very heart of the peace process." (Jon Smith, Press Association, 'Brown: massacre "strikes at heart of peace"', March 7, 2008)

Foreign Secretary David Miliband described the slaughter as "an arrow aimed at the heart of the peace process so recently revived." (Donald Macintyre and Eric Silver, 'Massacre in the heart of Jerusalem', The Independent, March 7, 2008)

The Guardian's front page declared: "the descent into violence in the Middle East accelerated last night" in a "dramatic escalation". (Rory McCarthy, 'Eight dead as gunman hits Jerusalem religious school', The Guardian, March 7, 2008). A Daily Mirror headline read: 'Kids Murdered In The Library' (Allison Martin, March 7, 2008). The Telegraph asserted that the attack "is likely to be remembered as the moment the Middle East peace process died." (Tim Butcher, 'Hopes of peace in the Middle East are blown away in a hail of bullets', Daily Telegraph, March 7, 2008)

The contrast to reactions to the killing of over 120 Palestinians, including many women and children, in occupied Gaza the previous week could hardly be more striking. On one day alone, 60 people died in a hail of Israeli firepower using F-16 planes, Apache helicopter gunships, tanks, armoured bulldozers and ground troops.

No Western leader was heard condemning the Israeli assault on Gaza as "an attempt to strike a blow at the very heart of the peace process." To our knowledge, no reporter suggested that "the peace process" had now "died". No headlines screamed of Palestinian babies "murdered" in their beds. In short, news reports from the Gazan bloodbath typically lacked the anguished details and tone that suffused the reporting from Jerusalem less than a week later.

Nor was there the same heightened pitch and intensity of news coverage following Israel's deadly 'incursion' into Gaza in mid-January. 17 Palestinians were killed in one day, and around 50 injured, while President Bush was visiting the region. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said:
"Al-Jazeera, 'Abbas: Israeli raid "a massacre" ', January 15, 2008; "Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres. These massacres cannot bring peace."

But for the Western media the massacres that really matter, the ones which "strike a blow at the very heart of the peace process", are those inflicted on Israelis.

Continue reading "Media coverage of Israel and Palestine"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:42 PM March 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Tony Blair, our Saviour!

Not content with the long list of jobs and wide range of expertise already on offer, our Hero dons his Superman outfit to save the planet - and don't we need it! He's in charge of a brigade which is going to cut carbon emissions.

His government said it was going to do this, but if I remember rightly it didn't quite turn out as it should have. Same with his appointment as peace envoy for the Middle East it was difficult to see how his CV fitted the job description when he had willfully overseen conflict resulting in untold death and misery. Indeed how did this fit in with his religious pretentions and resulting job as lecturer? Whatever it is you can sure it's going to be lucrative for him. Volunteering's not his game!

Continue reading "Tony Blair, our Saviour!"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:24 AM March 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Women from the West Bank in Birmingham

Three women representing Palestine spoke at the Council House in Birmingham (11/3/2008) of the situation they continue to face daily at the hands of an occupying force. No one had come from Gaza because of the impossible restrictions placed on its people. There the Israelis say its is because of rockets being fired that such force is necessary, but as one speaker pointed out no rockets come from places like Nablus but it makes no difference to continuing attacks on them by the Israeli army.

I was concerned to learn that there was now no British Consulate in the Palestinian territories. Since the office had closed in Ramallah it was necessary for people to travel to Jerusalem to get visas, a near impossible task. This was true of the United States, but some European states maintain a presence. This seems to me to mark the British approach which is all the time to support the criminal Israeli administration. Many Jewish people are ashamed of what is being done to Palestinian people in their name.

Continue reading "Women from the West Bank in Birmingham"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 4:14 PM March 13, 2008 | Comments (0)

New Labour's Humanitarian Approach

Iraq is safe for return. New Labour has said so. UNCHR doesn't agree, but 1400 failed asylum seekers are being told that they will be forced into destitution in UK. They will also have to sign a waiver clause disclaiming the responsibility of the British Government if anything happens to them and their families. Proud to be British and swear an oath of allegiance to this fatuous crowd?

Having gone into Iraq in the first place against the wishes of a majority in the UK once again responsibilities are shelved. The same can be said of the treatment of those who came from former colonies when Britain set out to exploit vast areas of the world in competiton with other European powers. If you come from the Indian Subcontinent you have to be 21 to come as a couple, but only 18 if you come from Eastern Europe. Nothing to do with continuing racism?

Continue reading "New Labour's Humanitarian Approach"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:46 AM March 13, 2008 | Comments (0)

Smelly and Scratcher miss out

Ending up in a prison In Equatorial Guinea is not an ideal to be aimed for. It's precisely where Simon Mann has ended up while others associated with the attempted coup to gain influence over the country's oil reserves have done a bit of dodging, including Smelly and Scratcher. Who they? Characters from a Dickensian novel? Don't know about Smelly but Scratcher's escapades and dodgy deals are well documented.

Of course Simon is very very sorry and he's been saying so for four years while in a Zimbabwean jail. Don't think he would have been sorry if the coup had come off and the sorry gang had ended up with the promised millions. Other names came out of a hat. Peter Mandelson, surely not!? Jeffrey Archer, well he's been inside but Mr Mann doesn't think so. JACK STRAW? Well he's not been involved, but he's had to do a bit of a turn around about the government having no idea what was going on.

Continue reading "Smelly and Scratcher miss out"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:08 AM March 13, 2008 | Comments (0)

Letter from Gaza

The following is from a doctor living in the Jabalia Camp inside Gaza:

Sent: Sunday, 9 March, 2008 8:07:29 AM
Subject: Re: Palestinians in the Midlands (UK) mourn the victims of Israeli atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank

Dear brother Kamel,

Thank you for your email and would like to send you how was my life during the brutal Israeli attacks.

"I am surrounded by firing on all sides of my house. We have no water or electricity and no phones and my children are thirsty. I am scared to death to take a cup of coffee for fear that my children won't have any water to prevent dehydration. Sunday afternoon we decided to fast the second day.

Homelessness waits me around the corner or maybe in another five minutes, and that I was once homeless before," Even when going to bed where the fire ceases, I start to imagine from where the bullet will come, from this window, this door or that wall. Or a bomb will destroy the wall and where the bullet will go to my head, chest arms or any part of my body. Even I started to think of my children who will be killed and what will happen if I was killed.

I am crying over Jabalya, because the Israelis have once again tried to silence the barrage of Hamas rockets that kill and maim and traumatize Israeli citizens. The greatest fallout is being heaped on the innocents civilians.

Jabalya is the largest of the Palestinian refugee camps (180,000), where I was born, raised and still living in. It was the birth place of the first Intifiada and people are looking for their rights to live in peace equally.

"How can the deaths of one or two innocent Israelis mean that we have to suffer the deaths of more than 130 innocent Palestinians in Gaza? Is that fair; can that be accepted by rational people of us. It will bring more animosity, hat redness and bloodshed. I am against sending rockets and I say this loudly, but in the meantime it needs from the Israelis also to condemn the Israeli attacks and Palestinian killings neither sending r?" (you know that I am against killing of human being and any civilian from both sides and no difference between Israeli and Palestinian blood, in the mean time I mentioned killing more than a hundred Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are children and women will not bring peace to any I want to ask the Israeli leadership if they are serious about peace or not?

After Anapolis: Ehud Olmert announced to expand the Israeli settlements and started attacking Nablus and Ramallah. Are there any rockets from Nablus or Ramallah?

There is a need to work together and seriously to achieve the peace for all, not the peace that serves the interest of one group.

Immediate actions must be taken to prevent the situation from being irreversible and contain this violence.

In both communities there are enemies for peace. These actions start by building the trust through removing the check points and the closure on the Gaza Strip and have an independent state. At the same time Palestinians and Israelis had to work together and side by side to secure the lives of all.
All the best

I. A. MD, MPH

Jabalia Camp

Continue reading "Letter from Gaza"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:42 PM March 9, 2008 | Comments (0)

Jewish Voice for Peace Condemns Escalation of Violence in Middle East

I don't really know how to express the revulsion that the majority of us as humans have on hearing of the killing and maiming of our fellows. Jewish Voice for Peace has put across their reaction referring to their response from Oakland, U.S.A. on 6th March.

"Jewish Voice for Peace believes the loss of just one person is one life too many. There is no difference in the immeasurable heartache felt by the parents of dozens of children killed in Gaza last week, or the parents of the 8 students killed yesterday in Jerusalem. All killings must stop."

However they point out the role of the organisation which was attacked in the systematic attack on Palestinians: "The Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva is the birthplace of Gush Emunim, one of Israel's rightwing settler movements. Human rights groups have documented how the group systematically assaults Palestinians, destroys their crops, and attacks children on their way to school. "

The weekly reports of non-violent protest in the village of B'ilin puts another story across. Palestinians have indeed noted the expressions of sympathy sent to Israel on what happened at the school in contrast to what happened to them in Gaza not to mention the daily occurrences across the rest of Palestine exemplified by the following latest e-mail form B'ilin.

Several wounded in Bil’in’s weekly anti-wall protest
Friday March 07, 2008 18:47
"Dozens of the residents of Bil’in near Ramallah took to the streets on Friday in their weekly march protesting the confiscation of the village’s land and the illegal construction of the wall in the village.
The residents were joined by a number of international and Israeli peace activists, in addition to a number of the supporters of Palestinian Democratic Federation Party (Fida), who are celebrating the eighteenth anniversary of the party.
Protestors carried signs condemning the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and others demanding the dismantling of the wall that is causing serious hardships to the farmers in the village.
The protestors were stopped by the Israeli soldiers at the iron gate of the wall and were prevented to reach their confiscated land. Troops used tear gas and sound bombs to force the protestors to leave.
Palestinian youth who were in the march responded by throwing rocks at the soldiers, who, in turn, fired rubber-coated steel bullets. As a result, a number of Palestinians and Internationals were treated for gas inhalation.
Meanwhile an Israeli peace activist identified as Marina and a Palestinian protestor identified as Naji Shouha were wounded by the rubber-coated steel bullets; their wounds were described as moderate."


For more information:
The Bilin Friends of freedom and Justice -society
Email: majdarmajdar@yahoo.com
Tel: 972 547 847 942
e-mail

Continue reading "Jewish Voice for Peace Condemns Escalation of Violence in Middle East"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:55 AM March 8, 2008 | Comments (0)

Jerusalem killings provoke revenge

If the killings in Jerusalem are revenge attacks then expect more either way. The policies being followed ensure that they will get bigger and bloodier. Already there are reports of more deaths in Gaza and at the moment an ongoing invasion of Bethlehem.

The above gives reports of the attack on a school on Jerusalem killing 8 students in the Jerusalem Post and the Palestinian News Network.

Continue reading "Jerusalem killings provoke revenge"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:39 AM March 7, 2008 | Comments (0)

Dealing with flooding in Southern Africa

A scheme to "harvest" flood water in Malawi is reported in Al Jazeera (6/3/2007). Global warming has meant above average rainfall across Africa with resultant threat to life and livelihood. Deforestation hasn't helped.

The floods have been compared by organisations such as UNICEF to other major disasters, however as with floods a year ago have not received the coverage that might be expected. The report above comes from Al Jazeera which often reports on significant matters ignored by the world's press elsewhere.

Continue reading "Dealing with flooding in Southern Africa"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:25 AM March 6, 2008 | Comments (0)

Vanity Fair and Gaza

They might carry on alarmingly about democracy, but if and when it happens with the wrong result all hell can break out from the US and allies. Well that's the way it looks when Bush watched Hamas win in Palestinian elections, judged by most observers as a model of democracy.

Jewish Voice for Peace comments:
This is a rather explosive report, based on an article by David Rose:
"The Gaza Bombshell," Vanity Fair, April 2008,

Vanity Fair reported that it has "obtained confidential documents, since
corroborated by sources in the US and Palestine, which lay bare a covert
initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams to
provoke a Palestinian civil war." The magazine adds that the plan "was for
forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America's
behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the
democratically-elected Hamas-led government from power."

For me, the major lesson is that once again the US is being shown as an
extremely destructive force, whose aims have nothing to do with the well
being of Palestinians or Israelis.

Judith Norman adds:

One irony of this situation is that Israel originally (covertly) helped Hamas when it was first founded in the late 80's, on the grounds that a religious extremist movement such as this would help undermine the PLO. As Uri Avnery points out (in a piece recently posted on JPN: ) "it is ironic that the Israeli leadership [and, we can add, the US leadership as well] is now supporting the PLO in the hope of undermining Hamas."

Both policies - Israel's initial support for Hamas and this latest US effort to undermine it - have been disastrous as far as Israeli security is concerned. The article in Vanity Fair concludes: "It is impossible to say for sure whether the outcome in Gaza would have been any better-for the Palestinian people, for the Israelis, and for America's allies in Fatah-if the Bush administration had pursued a different policy. One thing, however, seems certain: it could not be any worse."

Racheli Gai

Continue reading "Vanity Fair and Gaza"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:20 PM March 5, 2008 | Comments (0)

The case for banning nuclear weapons. An Iranian view

I hadn't intentionally looked at the Jerusalem Post (5/3/2008) so I was taken by surprise by this leading article headed up by "the Iranian Threat".

The story gives prominence to an Iranian politician asking the UN to investigate how a Zionist state was allowed to become a nuclear superpower. It then asks the question why nuclear wapons shouldn;t receive the same treatment as biological or chemical ones. Quite so!

Continue reading "The case for banning nuclear weapons. An Iranian view"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:15 AM March 5, 2008 | Comments (0)

END ISRAEL'S WAR CRIMES

How can a nation that suffered a holocaust, and continue to remember it as a catastrophic part of their history, perpetrate such an act against other human beings? How can they do it and get merely apologetic noises from the likes of the UK government? These are the real terrorists and need to be seen and treated as such. Civilians, women and young children are killed with impunity daily. The following is from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign:

EMERGENCY ACTION: End Israel's killing of Palestinians now! Lift the siege on Gaza!

Wednesday 5 March 1-2pm Parliament Square - Emergency protest.

Saturday 8 March 4-6pm opposite Downing Street

Write, email and phone your MP

Over the last week, Israel has killed 115 Palestinians in Gaza, including 63 on Saturday alone, and 350 wounded. A third of those killed were babies and children. Palestinians in the West Bank are also being shot and killed by the Israeli army, including a 19 year old student protesting near Ramallah against Israel's assault on Gaza. The Israeli government is committing war crimes - and the British government must act now.

Rory McCarthy wrote in the Guardian on 3 March about one of the victims of Israeli fire: 'Abu Saif hurried upstairs and found, lying on the floor in the front room, Safa, aged 12 [his daughter]. There was a hole in her chest where the bullet had entered and a hole in her back where it had exited. It took her three hours to die'. He continued: 'At one point yesterday a crowd of several hundred mourners carried through the streets the body of a young infant girl, Salsabeel Abu Jalhoum, who died aged 21 months. There were many others, like Mohammed Maboheh, a boy aged 16, who was shot dead on Saturday morning while standing on his balcony in the Abed Rabbo district of Jamalia, and whose father was in intensive care last night with a bullet wound to the chest... and there were Eyad and Jacqueline Abu Shabak, brother and sister aged 16 and 17, shot dead around midnight on Friday in the front room of their home'.

Gideon Levy wrote in Haaretz: 'The IDF penetrates the heart of a crowded refugee camp, kills in a terrifyingly wholesale manner, with horrible bloodshed, and Israel continues to disseminate the lie of restraint'. And Dr Mustafa Barghouti has pointed out that "Israel is killing babies, children and entire families while the world remains silent. This very silence is enabling the Israeli crimes. It must stop."

We need to send a clear message to Gordon Brown during Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons that the British government must take action to bring Israel to account. Contact your MP, write to the local and national press, and join us on Wednesday and Saturday.

Other recent press:

Haaretz: 'Restraint' is deceitful, and 'forbearance' is vain by Gideon Levy.

Even yesterday evening, after the IDF already had killed about 50 Palestinians, at least half of them unarmed, and including quite a number of women and children, Jerusalem continued to claim, "At present there will be no major ground operation." It's incredible: The IDF penetrates the heart of a crowded refugee camp, kills in a terrifyingly wholesale manner, with horrible bloodshed, and Israel continues to disseminate the lie of restraint. Two days earlier Israel killed more Palestinians than have been killed by all the Qassams over the past seven years. Among the dead were four children and an infant. The next day Israel killed another five boys. And who is the victim? Israel. And who is cruel? The Palestinians.

Continue reading "END ISRAEL'S WAR CRIMES"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:24 PM March 3, 2008 | Comments (0)

Middle Eastern tours

Condoleeza Rice is desperate. A few weeks back she flew into London to press Gordon on the need to step up troops in Afghanistan. Don't know if that's why they sent Harry, who knows!? It's the Washington Post's view (3/3/2008) that interested me today indicating that the scene is shifting in Middle Eastern affairs, with the U.S. seemingly being moved out in the cold.

Egypt get U.S. aid, but as the Post points out it wasn't Washington that called Cairo, it was Tehran. And there hasn't been contact down that route for decades. No one has ever believed the Bush has any real interest in dealing with the key to peace in the region and everything that has happened since Annapolis, a PR job, points to moves backwards.

Continue reading "Middle Eastern tours"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:57 AM March 3, 2008 | Comments (0)

Israel threatens a holocaust (shoah)

Israel became a state because of a holocaust. "The Holocaust" some say, (supported by Oxford Dictionary entries,) there is only one Holocaust. What happened to a large number of colonised Africans and others, for example, they won't put in the same league. Now an Israeli minister is threatening "shoah" (which refers to disaster or holocaust in Hebrew against Palestinian people.) To prove a point some 50 people, including civilians, women and children, died from attacks from the Israeli forces. We are able to watch a genocide unfold in front of us with our leaders struck dumb. Bush is allocating millions to Israel for "defense"

Yesterday in Birmingham we met at Birmingham's Council House to discuss the 5 years which has elapsed since the unprecedented march which happened in London and simultaneously in other cities around the world. We considered well publicised wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and "hidden wars" in Somalia and Pakistan. Every one of these has the hallmark of the US "war on terror" which although taking 9/11 as its justification predates this. Two of the speakers from the Lebanon and Somali had been branded "terrorists". One protested that he "had never even killed a chicken" in his life. Ibraham Mousawi, who the Daily Mail attacked and opposition politicians called to prevent his entry into the UK, spoke of the double standards. He spoke as a Muslim who above all was a human being and called us all to promote human values. What a monstrous thing to do, to tell the truth about what is happening to Palestinians who resist the aggression of Israel and the US, aided and abetted - yes the shame of it!!! by New Labour.

It was considered that the demonstrations had led to the early departure of leaders such as Blair in the UK and Howard in Australia. If it brought a different order in Oz announcements such as the one to map Muslims in Britain, another highly provocative act defying belief, shows no lessons have been learned. At first Brown appeared to be moderating his language when he refused to repeat the slogan "war on terror". Now, far from signaling a change to the totally insensitive approach which brands all British Muslims as potential, if not actual terrorists it repeats the glaring damage done under Blair. When such a proposal was made in the US there was uproar and the proposal was ditched. Evidently those in the UK now feel so threatened that they keep quiet. Is this what happened in Germany in the thirties when then no one even imagined what was about to take place.

Continue reading "Israel threatens a holocaust (shoah)"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:20 AM March 2, 2008 | Comments (0)

Secrecy in every corner, and we still preach "democracy

After the findings that drugs commonly prescribed for depression are not only useless for many people with mild to moderate illness but actually harmful, we find that the pharmaceutical industry cloaked in secrecy. Once again the profit deity holds sway. This comes at a time when the government is told to make cabinet papers available regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq.

The need for secrecy it seems is not there in the interests of people. Each time it is there to protect powerful interests who have come to dominate. Globalisation is put forward as a desirable goal under this pattern of thinking, and it is the logic which has underpinned the European Common Market.

Continue reading "Secrecy in every corner, and we still preach "democracy"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:18 AM February 27, 2008 | Comments (0)

15 injured in Bil'in non-violent protest this week

This week's news from Bil'in tells us that as soon as the peaceful protesters left the village, because of the illegal seizure of their land and the erection of an obscene wall, the Israeli army put up barricades, fired tear gas and sound bombs. As a result 15 were injured, many needing treatment at hospital in Ramallah.

This doesn't merit a word in the world's news. Why? I don't have an answer, except to say that it is controlled.

Continue reading "15 injured in Bil'in non-violent protest this week"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:15 AM February 24, 2008 | Comments (0)

Kosovo. A new U.S. colony

The following article was sent by the SLP. Seems UK is as much tied to US foreign policy as ever however disgraceful the act. Having revealed that an earlier attempt to attack Serbs was from the Third Reich, what is now happening in protests indicates how provocative the unseemly acceptance of Kosovan independence was. And the Kosovan flag contains symbols of the European Union! "Beautiful" was the remark by one European commentator. Some European countries are not convinced so the Europe is divided.

The Socialist Labour Party wrote in its introduction to the article:
"The demonstration of over 500,000 people in Belgrade and the attack on the U.S. Embassy show the depth of outrage and anger over the seizure of the Serbian province of Kosovo. In the past three days two Kosovo border posts were destroyed, one by fire the other in an explosion, along with ten McDonald's outlets and several Western banks and other hated targets.

Millions of people see this week’s recognition of Kosovo “independence” as an effort to legitimize a direct U.S. colony and to permanently secure a giant U.S. military base in the region."

Continue reading "Kosovo. A new U.S. colony"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 1:59 PM February 23, 2008 | Comments (0)

Re. Kosovo's Independence from Serbia

A note from Bharat Bhushan with an article by George Monbiot written in 2001. Wondered why the Foreign Secretary was looking so smug today when he welcomed Kosovan independence, as did surprise surprise George W. Russia and China are about to reject it (along with Spain) so watch out!

Re: Kosovo's independence from Serbia

just a brief article written in 2001 by George Monbiot exposing the link between Trans Balkan pipeline from Caspian Sea via central asian countries to Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas and then passing through Bulgaria and Macedonia to Albanian port of Vlore and the Albanian interest in the separation of ethnic Albanian dominated Kosovo from Serbia.
very timely.
Bhushan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published on Thursday, February 15, 2001 in the Guardian of London

A Discreet Deal in the Pipeline

Nato Mocked Those Who Claimed There was a Plan for Caspian Oil
by George Monbiot

Gordon Brown knows precisely what he should do about BP. The company's £10bn profits are crying out for a windfall tax. Royalties and petroleum revenue tax, both lifted when the oil price was low, are in urgent need of reinstatement. These measures would be popular and fair. But, as all political leaders are aware, you don't mess with Big Oil.
During the 1999 Balkans war, some of the critics of Nato's intervention alleged that the western powers were seeking to secure a passage for oil from the Caspian sea. This claim was widely mocked. The foreign secretary Robin Cook observed that "there is no oil in Kosovo". This was, of course, true but irrelevant. An eminent commentator for this paper clinched his argument by recording that the Caspian sea is "half a continent away, lodged between Iran and Turkmenistan".
For the past few weeks, a freelance researcher called Keith Fisher has been doggedly documenting a project which has, as far as I can discover, has been little-reported in any British, European or American newspaper. It is called the Trans-Balkan pipeline, and it's due for approval at the end of next month. Its purpose is to secure a passage for oil from the Caspian sea.
The line will run from the Black sea port of Burgas to the Adriatic at Vlore, passing through Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. It is likely to become the main route to the west for the oil and gas now being extracted in central Asia. It will carry 750,000 barrels a day: a throughput, at current prices, of some $600m a month.
The project is necessary, according to a paper published by the US Trade and Development Agency last May, because the oil coming from the Caspian sea "will quickly surpass the safe capacity of the Bosphorus as a shipping lane". The scheme, the agency notes, will "provide a consistent source of crude oil to American refineries", "provide American companies with a key role in developing the vital east-west corridor", "advance the privatisation aspirations of the US government in the region" and "facilitate rapid integration" of the Balkans "with western Europe".
In November 1998, Bill Richardson, then US energy secretary, spelt out his policy on the extraction and transport of Caspian oil. "This is about America's energy security," he explained. "It's also about preventing strategic inroads by those who don't share our values. We're trying to move these newly independent countries toward the west.
"We would like to see them reliant on western commercial and political interests rather than going another way. We've made a substantial political investment in the Caspian, and it's very important to us that both the pipeline map and the politics come out right."
The project has been discussed for years. The US trade agency notes that the Trans-Balkan pipeline "will become a part of the region's critical east-west Corridor 8 infrastructure ... This transportation corridor was approved by the transport ministers of the European Union in April 1994". The pipeline itself, the agency says, has also been formally supported "since 1994". The first feasibility study, backed by the US, was conducted in 1996.
The pipeline does not pass through the former Yugoslavia, but there's no question that it featured prominently in Balkan war politics. On December 9 1998, the Albanian president attended a meeting about the scheme in Sofia, and linked it inextricably to Kosovo. "It is my personal opinion," he noted, "that no solution confined within Serbian borders will bring lasting peace." The message could scarcely have been blunter: if you want Albanian consent for the Trans-Balkan pipeline, you had better wrest Kosovo out of the hands of the Serbs.
In July 1993, a few months before the corridor project was first formally approved, the US sent peacekeeping troops to the Balkans. They were stationed not in the conflict zones in which civilians were being rounded up and killed, but on the northern borders of Macedonia. There were several good reasons for seeking to contain Serb expansionism, but we would be foolish to imagine that a putative $600m-a-month commercial operation did not number among them. The pipeline would have been impossible to finance while the Balkans were in turmoil.
I can't tell you that the war in the former Yugoslavia was fought solely in order to secure access to oil from new and biddable states in central Asia. But in the light of these findings, can anyone now claim that it was not?
© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continue reading "Re. Kosovo's Independence from Serbia"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:05 PM February 18, 2008 | Comments (0)

One Palestinian journalist injured by army fire in Bil'in weekly protest

This is a weekly report from the Palestinian village of Bil'in. Every week villagers accompanied by international supporters, including Israelis, march to protests against the illegal wall cutting into their land. Each week they are met with tear gas and rubber bullets. Each week someone is injured. This week casualties are relatively light.

Friday February 15, 2008- ffj
The villagers of Bil'in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with international and Israeli supporters, conducted their weekly protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land. Israeli troops attacked the protest and injured one journalist.
As the case each week for over two years now, the protest started after Friday prayers, with participants marching from the village center towards the construction site of the Wall, which, according to both the International Court of Justice and the Israeli supreme court, is being built illegally on village land.

This week the protesters managed to reach the gate of the wall separating the villagers from their lands. Troops closed the gate and fired tear gas and sound bombs at the peaceful demonstrators. Soldiers then fired rubber-coated steel bullets which injured a journalist, Imad Burnate and broke his Camera.

While the protest was happening a group of Israeli soldiers were using Palestinian homes located at the gate as shoot out posts, local and international peace activists intervened and managed to make soldiers leave the homes.

Continue reading "One Palestinian journalist injured by army fire in Bil'in weekly protest"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:19 AM February 16, 2008 | Comments (0)

Sorry

It has happened in Australia. "We are sorry" for the sufferings inflicted on the Aboriginee population. Ken Livingstone apologised for for slavery of African peoples on behalf of Londoners. Liverpool has set up a museum on behalf of the nation. A video of the Prime Minister's address shows large numbers of people of all backgrounds inside and outside parliament looking deeply moved. (Source Guardian 14/2/2008).

Jesse Jackson visited Birmingham on his travels and very politely said it would be much appreciated from Birmingham, UK. Nothing happened so I issued an apology as a former councillor and cabinet member of Birmingham City Council. I challenged the present leaders to make a stand. The reaction? Adrian Goldberg raised it on "The Stirrer". Since then the line has gone dead.

Continue reading "Sorry"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:29 AM February 13, 2008 | Comments (0)

Retribution not justice

A mother whose son was killed when the twin towers was hit became a dignified presence on Channel 4 News (11/2/2008). She had only just heard that proceedings were beginning against those held in Guantamo Bay accused of responsibility for the attack.

The British woman spoke of her grief while at the same time stating that any trial had to be open and "transparent". Calling for death sentences was not an answer for her, or, she believed, her late son. She identified herself with grieving mothers in Iraq or where ever conflict was causing unnecessary suffering.

Continue reading "Retribution not justice"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:22 AM February 12, 2008 | Comments (0)

U.S. ups and downs

The U.S. nominations for candidates is nothing if not interesting in as much as it is teasing pollsters to breaking point. Now the Clinton/Obama race turns to favour Obama with four convincing wins. McCain, who we thought was forging ahead out of sight, finds himself challenged by Huckabee. Clearly he has benefited from the withdrawal of Romney

It seems as if it may have dawned on American Republicans that they are bringing in a Bush third term since McCain identifies with Iraq, so clearly loathed by the American people.

Continue reading "U.S. ups and downs"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:24 AM February 10, 2008 | Comments (0)

Deaths of US soldiers at their own hands rises dramatically

The effects of war on men and women is well known, highlighted in the cases of those British soldiers "shot at dawn" because they suffered shell shock. Unsurprisingly it is having a devastating effect on American troops as the Washington Post reports.

British sources seem to be very quiet on the matter. Deaths in custody have become the subject of much debate - with little apparent effect on government with Blunkett marching off to South Africa to find yet more inhumane ways of incarcerating more and more people. New Labour presides over an increasingly uncaring, inhumane society. We thought the Tories were bad!

Continue reading "Deaths of US soldiers at their own hands rises dramatically"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:22 AM February 4, 2008 | Comments (0)

Israeli support for Palestinians

One would have thought residents of Sderot and the surrounding area would be in full support of the Israeli government and Ehud Olmert. Apparently not as the following articles from Jewish Voice for Peace indicate. In Hebron too there is a former Israeli soldier conducting a tour pointing out the suffering of Palestinians at Israels hands. It's the distant lobby of those living overseas who have no actual connection with Israel, but who are affected by sentiment and the all powerful Zionist lobby which support Israeli government policy, a lobby against which no presidential candidate dare utter a sound. Among American leaders ex President Jimmy Carter alone raises a voice.

Continue reading "Israeli support for Palestinians"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:56 AM January 26, 2008 | Comments (0)

Birmingham UK show solidarity with Gaza

A group gathered together near the Bullring in Birmingham yesterday (23.1.2007) to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza. Passers by took leaflets and candles were lit to remind us that lights have gone out in Gaza because of the inhumane blockade by the Israeli government.

There are further rallies being held across the globe, including London and again in Birmingham on Saturday, 26th January.

Continue reading "Birmingham UK show solidarity with Gaza"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:29 AM January 24, 2008 | Comments (0)

Waiting to die in Gaza

It appears there is nothing in the way of the Israeli government doing just as it pleases so that the seriously injured in Gaza cannot be saved if emergency power fails. The population is being punished. They are punished because they upheld their democratic right and voted for a group which displeased the Israeli government, the US government, the British government all of whom yell and bawl "democracy". They keep preaching, but not practicing, as they parade their religiosity and maintain their "holiness".

Al Jazeera reports that Israel has allowed relief supplies as "a temporary measure" but how far this will be effective for the poor and the sick remains to be seen. PNN reports the death of five people due to the cuts to supplies.

Continue reading "Waiting to die in Gaza"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:50 AM January 22, 2008 | Comments (0)

Saving Iraq

Tony Blair embarked on Mission Impossible having been advised of the likely outcome. There was little planning or forethought and so the inevitable happened.

It seems incredible that those who cry democracy loudest practice it the least. Although we pride ourselves living in a democracy the whim of the elected leader can carry the decision based on the particular views, prejudices, whims of a single person. This has happened repeatedly in Britain's history not least over Palestine where both Jews and Palestinians blame the British for todays chaos. Many decisions were made on the basis of belief based on sentiment and religious upbringing so that the Zionist cause had blind support.

Continue reading "Saving Iraq"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:32 PM January 21, 2008 | Comments (0)

Palestinian Mothers cry for help

What is going on in Palestine and particularly in Gaza is taking place in full view of the world. Yet no one of the candidates in the US elections will utter a world. The only voice from America's leadership is from former President Jimmy Carter.

What is going on n Palestine is dictated by people who have never been to that part of the world but hold onto some sort of dream which manifests itself as Zionism. As power is being shut down in Gaza, food withheld and medical help women of Palestine plead for outside help.

At the same time in the West Bank Palestinian land continues to be seized by the Israeli government despite its illegality even in Israeli terms.

Continue reading "Palestinian Mothers cry for help"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 4:17 PM January 20, 2008 | Comments (0)

Blair can't take a hint

Just as you think and hope you have heard the last of him, up he comes again. Blair, evidently egged on by Sarkozy, is standing for the permanent presidency of the E.U. In contrast Bush got the message and made himself scarce. No one wanted him around their campaign for the next presidency!

Familiar too is the cant emerging from Blair. There is no right and left, people just want to be saved by people like him from terrorists and all the other bogeys all invented and put about by the right. Everything about Blair is right wing from his Thatcherite policies to his religious affiliations, his support for the extremist government of Israel and failure to understand the dispossession of the poor. The good news is that Europeans generally didn't like his stance on Iraq, nor his lack of enthusiasm for the Euro. In the latter case he might have a point, but from my point of view I don't like the way that the new Europe is dominated by trade rather than humanity.

Continue reading "Blair can't take a hint"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 3:06 PM January 13, 2008 | Comments (0)

US elections. A turning point?

Tracking Obama I am noting the Iowa contest where he has become front runner for the Democratic nomination with Clinton taking third place behind John Edwards. Not as expected. Similarly Mike Huckabee gained a nomination for Republicans on a low budget campaign. What will happen in New Hampshire? The link is to the Washington Post 5.1.2008.

Not that Clinton is letting it rest there and she repeatedly attacked Obama on policy, such as health, pointing out that rhetoric is not the same as action.

Continue reading "US elections. A turning point?"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:09 AM January 6, 2008 | Comments (0)

The PPP's choice of its new leader does not auger well for democracy in Pakistan

Benazir Bhutto ended her life with a view of her as a courageous politician and fighter in the struggle for democracy. Unfortunately her wishes indicated in her will lead to what Tariq Ali calls a "charade" and "feudal" act by nominating her own family to succeed her.

In the emotional climate following the tragedy of this assassination rational thought becomes clouded. Benazir had Western backers, and as we know only too well they have their own agendas. US involvement in particular in country after country has lead to tears and more tears, but in the case of Pakistan they have followed the trail started by British imperial rule.

Continue reading "The PPP's choice of its new leader does not auger well for democracy in Pakistan"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:28 AM December 31, 2007 | Comments (0)

Solar power takes off, but where's the U.K?

Looks like there's a revolution afoot in the technology around solar panels which allows easier production and cuts costs. Where is this taking place? The production company is in California's silicon valley. Is there interest in Europe? Yes, but in Germany where there are already big steps forward in introducing solar power.

John Vidal writing in the Guardian (29/12/2007) describes the scene: " The solar panels produced by a Silicon Valley start-up company, Nanosolar, are radically different from the kind that European consumers are increasingly buying to generate power from their own roofs. Printed like a newspaper directly on to aluminium foil, they are flexible, light and, if you believe the company, expected to make it as cheap to produce electricity from sunlight as from coal."

Continue reading "Solar power takes off, but where's the U.K?"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:57 AM December 29, 2007 | Comments (0)

Open for business

Bethlehem hotels are full this year and there are more returning to celebrate Christmas. Does this mean all is well. The article from Al Jazeera (26.12.3007) shows that its is not. Smiling Israeli soldiers do not counter the huge barrier separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem. There is also a dwindling Christian population.

Even though there are more in Bethlehem, according to a report by PNN many Christian clergy continue to be denied access to Bethlehem and other places of Christian pilgrimage.

Continue reading "Open for business"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:42 PM December 26, 2007 | Comments (0)

Al Sharpton's Year

The Washington Post (26.12.2007) outlines Rev Al Sharpton's year of battle over Civil Rights issues. I was present when Sharpton visited Birmingham's Afro-Caribbean Millenium Centre a couple of years back when he, like Jesse Jackson earlier this year, had a rallying call to the City's an nation's Black population.

Why necessary? Well see the article to see why in the U.S., but the Black population is at risk in the UK too. Mikey Powell's case is well-publicised since he died while in the hands of the police in Birmingham, yet with no one taking responsibility and no clear reason why he died. A few weeks back the Kuumba Centre in Sandwell were dealing with a case in Ilford, Essex, where a young man with mental health issues had been reportedly beaten up by police. His mother had been roughly pushed out of the room when she complained, knocking her mobile phone to the floor. I don't know if or where this incident has been reported. I don't know how many other cases there are. I do know since the David (Rocky) Bennett report precious little progress has been made on dealing appropriately with need in the African Caribbean community in particular,
which has been high profile. Other groups at risk, such as young Asian women, or refugee groups who have witnessed atrocities in genocidal wars across the globe, don't stand much chance getting health care. Prisons are full up, many it seems are from groups suffering poor mental health. A disproportion, as in the U.S. are from B.M.E. communities.

Continue reading "Al Sharpton's Year"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:04 AM December 26, 2007 | Comments (0)

Does Israel want peace? Not bloody likely

Jewish Voice for Peace have sent the New York Times report and comment from Uri Avnery, not pulling his punches. Neither should he! Even when the excesses of the extremist Israeli regime is revealed no whisper of protest comes from governments around the world.

"Today, 12/23/2007, the New York Times reports that Ehud Olmert’s government is steadfastly refusing to consider Hamas’ ceasefire offer while simultaneously affirming plans for new Jewish housing in two Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land. In his usual provocative and informative analysis, Uri Avnery explains the Israeli government’s choices as part of the overall plan to achieve one expanded Israeli state along with small Palestinian Bantustans; he says “the real aim is to break the Palestinians, which means breaking Hamas.” Avnery describes (again) just how bad things are in Gaza, where Palestinians must deal with dramatic shortages of fuel, water, and other necessities as well as almost-daily Israeli tank & bomb attacks. As most of us watch this barrage from the side, Avnery’s sharp analysis offers one important way to make sense of Israeli behavior."

Sarah Anne Minkin

Continue reading "Does Israel want peace? Not bloody likely"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:15 PM December 24, 2007 | Comments (0)

Baghdad Burning Blog in Syria

It was a feeling of great joy I felt when I checked on this celebrated website. I haven't checked it recently so perhaps this is a belated discovery! It was profound relief to know that its author has found sanctuary in Syria and as ever her vivid description of her new surroundings involves the reader.

The happiness that comes from knowing that a friend is safe and well in no way diminishes the deep sorrow from the knowledge that this is but one instance of displaced people. The knowledge remains that many are still trapped, although some manage somehow to resist the oppression that others, local and foreign, are imposing on them.

The squalid truth is that sectarianism has emerged from the presence of US and allied forces there to preserve and enhance their commercial interests. Civilians representing private corporations are there too contributing to the killing and torture of innocent people. Before Shia and Sunni co-existed, as we read in earlier reports from Baghdad Burning. They lived, worked, intermarried without thinking twice. Life became impossible when you couldn't walk the street without knowing who was your enemy.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:09 AM December 22, 2007 | Comments (0)

This is Bethlehem, 2007

Will Joseph, Mary and donkey ever get in again? Source Redress Newsblog.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:50 PM December 21, 2007 | Comments (0)

The quest for a secular Iraqi state

This article from Jewish Voice for Peace makes the case that reports miss representing the voice of the many caught in the cross fire in Iraq. Two opposing groups are vying to create an Islamicist state while many Iraqis would wish to see an effective secular state. They are offering resistance to those groups, but this goes unreported.

"This article is important because it provides information that is missing from virtually all reports of what's happening in Iraq. We hear constantly about
the ;insurgents', and about violent clashes between the different factions, but
none about civil resistance. Note that this opposition is against 'political
Islam', which is seen as dominating 'both sides in the conflict--the collaborationist regime and the armed insurgents. Both seek to impose a reactionary, quasi-theocratic order', while the civil resistance is aiming to achieve, among various things, a sovereign secular state.
Nadia Mahmoud, leader of The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq emphasizes that if the US exit is to lead to peace and a secular order, the civil resistance will need support from friends abroad. She concludes with the comment: 'The victory against US forces in Iraq will not be a local victory--it will be an international victory.' "

Racheli Gai.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:23 PM December 21, 2007 | Comments (0)

Bali outcome worse than Kyoto

The conclusions about the success or otherwise of Bali are becoming clearer following the happy talk of politicians claiming that a good deal had been stitched up and that the US had compromised.

George Monbiot in the Guardian (17.12.2007) thinks we've moved backwards, while a report the The Independent says we have. The British government is planning a number of coal-fired power stations to meet the UK energy needs which a scientist says will put nails in the planet's coffin.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:35 AM December 17, 2007 | Comments (0)

Israel and Palestine - the reality viewed by the Red Cross

Neither side is safe in the situation where two states stay locked together. the one occupying the other in an extremely unequal struggle. Both sides are struggling. Impartiality is hardly possible but humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross must attempt to be so to retain credibility in their vital work. Their comments therefore need to be read and considered very carefully, which is why I am making a link here.

"The Red Cross said Israel had the right to protect its population but 'the balance between [its] legitimate security concerns and the right of the Palestinian people to live a normal life has not been struck' ". Source The Independent 14.12.2007.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:12 PM December 16, 2007 | Comments (0)

Climate Change. The reality stated at Bali

The declaration by the former US Vice President, Al Gore, at Bali seems to me to move in the direction of articulating what we're up against. Clearly that's not just the accumulation of carbon, it's about the incomprehension of the likes of George W. Bush.

Well, no it's not incomprehension is it? It's that he and other leaders and opposition parties are all geared up to the capitalist enterprise which demands more and more of the same. Thus we have the "green" British Petroleum going into Canada ready to exploit the environment in bigger and better ways than before. It's a force no presidential candidate we've seen yet is prepared to ignore, nor will any of the major British political parties. All drive the same bus, a ramshackle 20th century banger, spewing out greenhouse gases in all directions as it creaks and groans.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:04 AM December 15, 2007 | Comments (0)

Israel's policy of "summary executions"

The following articles are from Jewish Voice for Peace News. A summary execution is one that dispenses with any preliminary hearings or trial, the dead include women, children or whoever gets in the way. (It would be called "murder" if you or I did it). Israel it appears can do what it likes. I suppose that it is because we as Christians were bought up to believe that the people of the Book held the moral highground. The reality is somewhat different:

The three pieces below report on some of the still continuing ramifications of Israel's policy of what is known in human rights law as 'summary executions', the execution of suspects without trial or due process. Though Israel has been secretly performing summary executions for decades, the term 'targeted assassinations' was introduced in the early 2000s to (barely) whitewash the practice, when it was openly declared a systematic state policy.

One instance of summary execution by Israel which received extensive attention and coverage was the killing, in Gaza, of Salah Shehadeh of Hamas. As Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy reiterates in his opinion piece, Shehadeh's assassination – carried out when a fighter jet dropped a one ton bomb on an apartment building – was an assassination of fifteen people including several children.

Human rights, peace and justice organizations, led in the Shehadeh case by the longtime refusers' group, "Yesh Gvul" (see the petition).

This cumulative, unrelenting action is making a mark on Israeli consciousness. It has repeatedly forced high ranking Israeli officers and officials to confront the fact that their actions are or may be classified by some authorities as war crimes and that they are accordingly suspected war criminals. Several such figures have had to deal with serious threats of litigation against them, as demonstrated for instance in the item below by Haaretz reporter Barak Ravid.

Another, complementary, change of consciousness, driven by the policy of assassinations, is outlined by ex-pilot Yiftah Spector in his interview with Neri Livneh, in Haaretz weekend magazine. Spector, one of the air force pilots who declared his refusal to follow such orders, describes his background and part of the process he experienced up to and following his declaration. Spector's interview was published along with a new book he has written on these topics.

No anti-militarist, Spector still balks at the term 'refuser', but says that "the whole country, myself included, 'slid' into war crimes by going along with illegal acts that have been going on for years."

Both these developments represent a process of significant change in perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the military in Israel. The erosion of its former impunity is visible and ongoing. While public resistance to summary executions is still voiced by a minority, awareness of their criminality is considerably broader and looks like it is here to stay.

Rela Mazali
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/932411.html

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

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Last update - 09:57 09/12/2007

London's burning for Dichter
By Gideon Levy

Avi Dichter will not be going to London. The Israeli dream of taking in year-end sales, the new production of Othello or the sights of Oxford Street vanished before the public security minister's very eyes. The Foreign Ministry advised Dichter not to participate in a conference there, because he could be arrested for involvement in the assassination of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, when he was Shin Bet security service head. The one-ton bomb used to target Shehadeh in 2002 left 15 people dead.

The day after the horrible assassination, in late July 2002, I visited the homes that were destroyed in the Al-Darj neighborhood in the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces tried at the time to claim they were "huts," to explain why it was unaware that people lived there. But they were apartment buildings housing dozens of families. The person who dropped a one-ton bomb on them in the dark of night knew it would kill many innocent people.

Among the ruins, I met Mohammed Matar, a Palestinian laborer who had worked in Israel for 30 years, lying in the rubble of his home, his arm and eye bandaged. In the "targeted killing" planned by Dichter's Shin Bet, Matar lost his daughter, his daughter-in-law and four toddler grandchildren. The pictures of the horror from the Gazan neighborhood have haunted me ever since. Someone, I thought, must pay for this. Could it be that no one is to blame or responsible for such an act?

Shehadeh's assassination became a seminal event for Israel's critics the world over. It was not different from many other liquidation operations the Shin Bet had planned for the IDF. In July 2006, for example, Israel assassinated nearly all of the Abu Salmiyeh family - Dr. Nabil Abu Salmiyeh, a lecturer in mathematics, his wife and seven of their children - because wanted man Mohammed Def was visiting their home at the time. In the past seven years, 368 Palestinians were killed in liquidation operations of which Dichter was the founding father.

However, the dimensions of the bomb dropped on Shehadeh and the scope of killing it sowed turned it into an icon of the struggle against Israel's brutal methods of warfare. A damages lawsuit was submitted in a New York district court against Dichter on behalf of the families of those who were killed. Major General (Res.) Doron Almog was forced to remain on a plane when he arrived in Britain in September 2005 and Brigadier General Aviv Kokhavi, a former commander of the Gaza Division, canceled his plan to study in England.

These people and others were marked as war crimes suspects. Unfortunately, this occurred only overseas. Here, they remain ministers and aristocrats, their career and public status untainted, their foreheads unbranded by the mark of Cain. For years, the High Court of Justice deferred discussing petitions against the liquidations, until it finally gave its stamp of approval in December 2006. Another year passed before the state prosecution informed the High Court that it did not oppose forming an investigative committee to study the Shehadeh assassination, five years after the fact - a scandalous delay. In this state of affairs, those who were horrified by these operations could only hope legal authorities abroad would take action to fix what our authorities have chosen to ignore.

Yes, some in Israel believe that dropping a one-ton bomb on a residential neighborhood merits a criminal investigation. They are Israeli patriots no less than those who believe everything is permissible for us in the war against terror. They are not the ones who besmirch Israel's name - Israel's actions are responsible for this; these people seek to put an end to Israel's actions. They would prefer judicial proceedings be held in Israel, but our legal system is blocked before them. Therefore, their eyes are directed abroad.

The Foreign Ministry already has begun to act against the complaints overseas in various channels. It is a shame that this is Israel's only response. It would have been better to clarify here, among ourselves, the responsibility of these people for such grave actions as the bombing of Shehadeh's neighborhood. Meanwhile those who believe that the liquidations have brought us to the verge of a moral abyss must look toward London. Thanks to legal authorities there, people like Dichter are finally feeling "a slight bump on the wing."

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/931680.html

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

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Last update - 02:17 06/12/2007

Dichter nixes U.K. trip; fears arrest for 'war crimes'
By Barak Ravid

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter canceled a trip to Britain over concerns he would be arrested due to his involvement in the decision to assassinate the head of Hamas' military wing in July 2002.

Fifteen people were killed in the bombing of Salah Shehade's house in Gaza, among them his wife and three children, when Dichter was head of the Shin Bet security service. He is the first minister to have to deal with a possible arrest.

Dichter was invited to take part in a conference by a British research institute on "the day after" Annapolis. He was supposed to give an address on the diplomatic process.

Dichter contacted the Foreign Ministry and sought an opinion on the matter, among other reasons because of previous cases in which complaints were filed in Britain and arrest warrants were issued on suspicion of war crimes by senior officers who served during the second intifada.

The Foreign Ministry wrote Dichter that it did not recommend he visit Britain because of a high probability that an extreme leftist organization there would file a complaint, which might lead to an arrest warrant. The ministry also wrote that because Dichter was not an official guest of the British government, he did not have immunity from arrest.

Dichter's bureau said in response that the minister does not intend to go to Britain on any type of official or unofficial visit until the matter of the arrest warrant is resolved.

Dichter was already charged in a civil suit in the United States in 2005 for his part in the decision to assassinate Shehade. But in this U.S., this is not a cause for arrest.

British law, however, states that a private individual can file a complaint against another person for offenses such as war crimes. According to the law, such a complaint might lead to the court issuing an arrest warrant, or a summons to criminal investigation or clarification of the complaint by the police, or even the opening of criminal proceedings.

Dichter is the first minister to face this problem, which has mainly affected senior officers in the Israel Defense Forces. Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, formerly chief of staff, encountered a similar problem when he traveled to Britain in 2002 before becoming defense minister. Other officers in a similar predicament included former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon and former GOC Southern Command Doron Almog.

In September 2005, Almog flew to London and found that a British police officer was waiting in the terminal with an arrest warrant. Almog remained on the plane and returned to Israel to avoid an embarrassing incident.

Israel has brought up the subject over the past few weeks with the British government. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni demanded in separate meetings with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband that the British government work seriously to change the law that harms former IDF officers. Miliband said his government was working on the matter but did not promise anything.

After the incident in which Almog was almost arrested, a joint foreign ministry-justice ministry team worked to hire a major law firm in London to represent Israeli officers if they were arrested.

Senior officials met with a number of the most prominent London firms, some of which offered to provide the service pro bono. But none of the firms were hired, and the idea was set aside.

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Web reference: Haaretz
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Last update - 10:24 08/12/2007

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:11 PM December 13, 2007 | Comments (0)

Profit before environment. Point proven

The news that BP intend to extract oil from Northern Canada illustrates how the treadmill we are on annuls any thoughts of combating climate change. BP is a company that had traded on its green credentials. Now its credibility is in tatters.

Oil not only drives engines, it fuels the economy so that we engage in pernicious wars and call anyone who resists "terrorist". The announcement that UK is to invest in wind farms is totally annulled by BP's intention. The Independent heads this as "The greatest environmental crime in history".

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:42 AM December 10, 2007 | Comments (0)

Lisbon. Continued...

Once again a fascinating read with Merkel striking out against Mugabe with Brown out of sight.

Before his elevation Brown made a song and dance about Africa with a well-publicised tour. I have always thought this decision to say away a very grave mistake. Yes the British government does need to make moral statements - and more importantly act with dignity. No dodgy arms deals or in humane super prisons. This seems like a child taking away the ball. Problem is when it's dealing with African states European leaders have very little moral standing anyway. The nineteenth century scramble for Africa as sealed in the Treaty of Berlin, and from then on there were no holds barred, Germany included. What Angela Merkel said might have been to the point, but actually it's not that simple.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:45 PM December 9, 2007 | Comments (0)

25% of those asked didn't know where Jesus was born

There was consternation when the question was asked "Where was Jesus born?" and a quarter of the sample didn't know. I wonder, though, how many of the remaining 75% know that the birth place is surrounded by walls and barbed wire, its inhabitants imprisoned?

Israel continues to enjoy lavish support from a neo-conservative American government, and from the British government which licensed the sale of £22.5m worth of arms in 2005.

It has become clear that the UK will go to any lengths to trade arms and unnecessary defense systems anywhere it can. Cluster bombs are on the menu.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:34 PM December 8, 2007 | Comments (0)

Lisbon says it all

This article (Guardian 7/12/2007) says it all about the present state of things. While Europe remains the biggest trading partner, China is coming up on the rails at an extremely rapid rate unburdened by a history of colonialism (though the way it's going about things looks to Africans like a good imitation).

This report is a change from the interminable headlines which have led up to the summit (China has hosted several of these since the last European effort). The fact that Mugabe is there and Brown isn't show what a distraction those headers were to the underlying state of things.

The prize for all is the huge wealth leading to a renewed "scramble for Africa". How the indigenous population will get major benefits rather than crumbs is difficult to see. Land ownership is far from resolved even under independence. The fact is dependence has been built in. The one state to try to resolve this, Zimbabwe has come to grief in the process.

In Kenya, close by, a European landowner is in court accused of shooting Africans. This has brought to our attention that even after resistance movements "terrorism" and all European involvement was still tolerated with a wealthy African elite emerging. No answer for the people.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:16 AM December 7, 2007 | Comments (0)

ISRAEL IS STRANGLING BETHLEHEM

In 2004 it looked like Bethlehem was in for a long hard struggle. The pine forest on the hillside overlooking Bethlehem had been cleared and replaced by settlements for aliens from distant lands. It looked then like Bethlehem was being turned into a museum, somewhere for tourists from hotels on that hill to go, devoid of inhabitants. The Church of the Nativity remains full of Israeli bullet holes, including in age-old murals. Yasser Arafat's plea to us was "you must restore the Church". It seemed a sincere heartfelt wish which he saw as a priority.

This is a report for 2007 amd if you look back it gets worse - far worse year on year. And this is not Gaza run by Hamas.

Bethlehem Campaign 2007
“Israel is strangling Bethlehem - Tourists are told “go at your own risk”; and no Israelis are allowed to come to Bethlehem, so there is total harassment, but Bethlehem depends on tourism. The noose is getting tighter around Bethlehem and Bethlehem is becoming more and more isolated. Over 95% of its inhabitants are not able to visit Jerusalem or parts of Israel. These people have difficulty visiting other cities in the West Bank and cannot travel to Gaza. So the Palestinians are being separated from themselves”.
Bishara Awad - Principle of Bethlehem Bible College

This year again we would like to ask you to support the people of Bethlehem trapped behind the apartheid wall. The economic outlook is worsening and access to basic needs is getting increasingly difficult. Please use the information below to campaign and spread the word in the period leading up to Christmas. Everybody who will be celebrating this Christmas needs to be reminded of the ongoing Israeli occupation and the apartheid system imposed on the Palestinians in the Holy Land.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:23 PM December 3, 2007 | Comments (0)

World Against War Conference

I decided to go against feelings I needed to be getting a leaflet together for local campaigning. It meant getting up early enough to join the coach leaving central Birmingham at 7.00am. I saw there was a train into Moor Street Station, right next to the rendezvous, at 6.38 from my local station, The Hawthornes (right behind the West Bromwich Stadium.). Amazingly the train was exactly on time. How long can we expect this to continue now the the new franchise, London Midland, has taken over from Central Trains?

So onto Westminster's Central Hall, the venue for many a Sunday School trip from Grange Park Methodist Church in Enfield, North London when I was little.

Today there were delegates from across the globe, together with familiar faces in the fight against the globalisation which is bringing war in its wake. Tony Benn began low key since he, like us, wanted to hear other people's experiences. Ibraham Mousawi, editor of al-Intiqab did not disappoint. He made it clear how vilified groups like Hezbollah were movements of people, continually misrepresented by media and politicians. Their crime was to stand up against the military might of the Israeli army invading the Lebanon. He made it clear that in his view no religion was worth supporting if it wasn't first and foremost humanitarian. Hassan Juma of the Iraqi Oil Workers' Union put very clearly the situation where his members could not collectively protect their interests, or those of the Iraqi people, against the international onslaught which was taking away their resources. George Galloway made a vigorous speech pressing the continuing dangers of invading Iran.

See videos of speeches.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:15 PM December 2, 2007 | Comments (0)

Michelle takes the stage

The campaign in Iowa appears to have been enlivened since Michelle Obama has taken the stage endorsing her husband, Barack. Her way of taking him apart recalling her reaction when they first met. "I mean we had nothing in common. He was born in Hawaii. Who is born in Hawaii?" and "Barack Obama, what kind-a-name is that?"

Iowa is the first state to nominate for the Democrats so it has its own importance, and Barack Obama has faded since is dramatic entry into US politics. The common sentiment is that "America isn't ready for a black president". Is it ready for a woman president? Is it ready for any kind of progressive president given the succession of dubious men on the far right?

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:05 AM November 29, 2007 | Comments (0)

Is Obama back on track?

It seems that Barack Obama has moved up a gear overtaking Hilary Clinton in Iowa. Iowa is the first to vote in the Democratic nominations so has importance to the campaign.

Obama has attacked Clinton on a wide range of issues relating to both domestic and foreign policy and accused her for "thinking like a Republican". In particular her record of supporting the invasion of Iraq is still an issue.

The problem of one party thinking like another is not peculiar to the U.S. with New Labour attempting to forge ahead with Tory policies on education and crime and punishment. As Ian Johnson, my SLP comrade, pointed out "they're all driving the same bus". That's true of Obama too. His politics are recognisable as more of the same in a number of statements he has made. His views on the "war on terror" are not notably different even if he didn't back Iraq. He has made comments on Pakistan, for example, where he peddled the same basic thinking.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:42 AM November 25, 2007 | Comments (0)

Guyana's rain forest

The general feeling about much effort to offset climate change seems "too little, too late" while we continue to extract and burn fossil fuels. In Guyana the leadership is making a request for help in preserving its rain forest. Elsewhere around the globe timber continues to be a huge commercial operation ignoring any consequences.

Good to see that in Australia the population has exercised its collective muscle and mafe clear the widespread dislike of continuing pollution and war supported by the Conservative government. The US has lost an ally, but what is the UK's attitude? At the moment the fight is on to see who can be more Tory with Cameron reclaiming the Thatcherite policies for education by promising more academies. These look suspiciously like the CTCs.

I spent a short time on the Management Committee of the Solihull CTC. I liked the fact that it brought in the International Baccalaureate which includes students doing field work projects in addition to academic work. A level diets of unrelieved study is bad for the young and extremely exclusive. The problem is that many schools will continue to struggle on low funding. The primary school where I'm a governor is in a deprived area of Birmingham, Winson Green, in the shadow of the prison. It has acquired a huge deficit, largely due to long term absences. I know we are not alone. The fact that the academies are able to introduce what their funders want on the curriculum is also hugely dangerous. We have seen some academies in the North East introduce creationism. That's the kind of thinking the Neocons behind Bush display and which Blair seemed to relish.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:10 PM November 24, 2007 | Comments (0)

Martial law in Pakistan

I attended a public meeting at teh Shaheed Udham Singh Centre in Handsworth last Wednesday 21st Nov 2007 "Pakistan In Crisis". It demanded an end to the state of emergency,
the release the political prisoners and the reinstatement of the constitution. Speakers were Sukhdev Bhomra, President Birmingham Law Society, Cllr Hassan Ahmed, President Pakistan Peoples Party UK who had just returned from Pakistan, Avtar Jouhl, General Secretary of the Indian Workers Association (GB) and Michael Lavalette, a Preston Respect Councillor. The meeting was chaired by Raghib Ahsan.

The meeting began by congratulating Raghib on his victory in the House of Lords declaration that New Labour was guilty of racism in denying an opportunity to stand for re-election as a Birmingham councillor. Avtar Jouhl then recalled the broad front campaign when the Indian government had declared as state of emergency in 1976 suspending democratic processes. The resulting demonstrations made their point.

Michael Lavalette said that American imperialism under the "war on terror" banner was responsible for the predicament that Pakistan faced. This has followed on from British imperial rule under which Pakistan had been created. He couldn't see a difference in others contending for power who were similarly linked in with the U.S.

Councillor Ahmed has been on the plane with Benazir Bhutto on her recent return to Pakistan. While he had been handling security up to the arrival, he had handed over responsibility prior to the devastating bombing which had narrowly missed killing her. He disagreed with Michael Lavalette but said that this was a meeting to inform people of the current situation rather than a political rally.

The Pakistan army had always held power in Pakistan, and early on British officers were involved. This is something India had avoided. Throughout its history there had been assassinations of leaders which had never been solved. It was still unclear who was responsible for the attempt on Benazir Bhutto's life. While the finger was pointed at Al Quaeda it was felt that suspicion could fall elsewhere, including General Musharaf himself.

Sukhdev Bomra described how the Birmingham Law Society stood by the
judiciary in Pakistan who have taken a stand against the imposition of martial law. While Musharaf's act had been described as a declaration of a state of emergency the constitution had been suspended and the country was under military rule entirely. While lawyers were frequently accused of fleecing the people, in this case they were acting on their behalf.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:48 PM November 24, 2007 | Comments (0)

Becoming part of the story

As journalism goes this appears informative. The revelation of Iraq "as it is" was something he tried to reveal with the young marine he recorded becoming a national symbol of all that's good about America under pressure. Now the sequel. There's so much about the subject but I found I wanted to read this. Not clear why. It's another example of PTSD, it's effects on the individual (my question: who wouldn't suffer from it given the experience if they admitted to being half-human or less). Still it goes on at the behest of Bush, Blair now Brown. The great neo-con lie has taken hold. Image is everything. Miller the Great Warrior has been dismissed from the army. Thanks a bundle. At the Cenotaph ceremony this year severely injured young men wanted to try to dispel the nightmare of their encounters with the unimaginable, their own suffering and loss. Sorry guys you can't come to the party. There's a rule see, you're still a serving soldier. Anyway we don't want people to see the consequences of what we're doing for no reason (well you all know the reason). Memories are of the "glorious dead", continuing empire and world power are our delusions.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:47 AM November 18, 2007 | Comments (0)

Arafat remembered

A mausoleum has been built in Ramallah on the site of the destroyed bunker where a group of us from Birmingham had met Yasser Arafat in January, 2004, only months before his death. He was and is deeply revered by Palestinians from both Fateh and Hamas.

It is now 3 years since Arafat's passing and his achievements in holding Palestinians together are underlined by developments since with the West Bank and Gaza split, the latter in a state of perpetual siege. In 2001 he was in London meeting with Tony Blair who was as ever resolving to get the peace process going.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:52 AM November 11, 2007 | Comments (0)

British security firm under investigation in Iraq

I'm always interested to read about the privatization of gun carriers. Stories keep surfacing in Iraq mostly from US, recently Australia and now the UK. A firm is being sued over an American soldier's death. Well, it's argued, you have to carry arms to protect yourself. Often it doesn't look that way as the Blackwater trigger-happy guards have shown.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan security firms are being closed down. I'll be following this up!

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:27 AM October 30, 2007 | Comments (0)

Olive Farming in Palestine

Al Jazeera shows the reality for the olive farmer of Palestine. The fight for confiscated land goes on as illegal settlers continue to get support from the Israeli authorities.

While violent action repeatedly captures the headlines, the non-violent action resistance to the aggressive attacks by illegal settlers goes on without comment.

The olive harvest is key to sustaining the Palestinian economy. Support is given by international volunteers who have done much to ensure right of access to Palestinian property is upheld.

The Israeli army is supposed to protect Palestinian farmers from attack and legislation put forward to strengthen their position. However army personnel use tactics such as demanding permits and "co-operation", and placing impossible obstacles in the way.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:54 AM October 23, 2007 | Comments (0)

Shaheed Bhagat Singh

Bhagat Singh has been celebrated with a group from the Indian Workers' Association and the Asian Rationalist Society (Britain) performing a play about his life and achievements. I went to The Drum in Aston to see a film followed by a talk and discussion in which Bhagat Singh's nephew and nearset living relative, Professor Jagmohan Singh spoke.

I had the privilege of meeting Professor Singh a few day earlier. He clearly embraces Bhagat Singh's life as a freedom fighter against the injustices of a brutal, oppressive colonial power, and his socialist convictions. The film was very much in the Bollywood tradition with the cast breaking into song and dance routines. Even as Bhagat and his two colleagues approached the gallows we were treated to heroic music and lyrics. Still it communicated a story unknown to many. It was a story which to me transcended a place and time when governments continue imperialist practices and place market forces before equality. Jagmoham Singh was dissatisfied with the presentation however emphassing the omission of important facts. Where were the Muslim freedom fighters who supported Bhagat Singh? This is an important point at a time when among the Indian community stories of enforced conversions to Islam are rife when there are many instances where people form different faiths stood shoulder to shoulder. There are further examples coming from the events of 1857 which are also being celebrated on the 150th anniversary.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:26 AM October 17, 2007 | Comments (0)

US held British troops down in Basra

It seemed to me that if the UK had any idea of pulling out of Iraq others would think differently. A report in the Independent (16/10/2007) says just that, and during this period they had to face the bitterest fighting they had endured.

"The US warned that a brigade of troops would be sent from Baghdad to take "appropriate action" to maintain security. The delay in withdrawal resulted in some of the fiercest fighting faced by British forces since the invasion of 2003, leading to the deaths of 25 British soldiers and injuries to 58 others, as well as dozens of Iraqi casualties. Two of the British dead were at the base, Basra Palace, while at least 10 others died in supporting operations." Source The Independent 16.10.2007.

As the report points out the consequence was the loss of more British lives.

Continue reading "US held British troops down in Basra"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:20 AM October 16, 2007 | Comments (0)

MIssion invisible

Another impossible story as Blair visits Hebron. They took the opportunity of telling him - and showing him - as it is. The story tells us he was appalled. How come? It's not the first time he has visited the West Bank. In Ramallah he upset the Palestinians greatly by his abrupt departure after refusing to lay a wreath and show any respect to the recently deceased Yasser Arafat. Is this an indication of how the stratospheric effects of being a leader put you in a cocoon?

Meanwhile it is business as usual as the Israeli government goes ahead in continuing annexation of Palestinian land. This makes it more and more impossible to envisage a viable Palestinian state with its headquarters in East Jerusalem.

Will Tony Blair's new "discoveries" be transmitted back to New Labour? Since it's economic logic that drives our lives humanitarian considerations don't figure. So Tony Blair's "Mission Impossible" is now described as "Mission Invisible". This is entirely in accord with what has been going on in Palestine under his nose as leader during his years in office. Clearly his briefings omitted uncomfortable truths in Palestine, Iraq or Afghanistan. A good relation with the far right administration that had hijacked America was all that mattered then and continues to matter now. For all Brown's initial efforts to distance himself from his predecessor he has now merged into the scene moving even against social democracy. Brown wasn't joking as he welcomed the Blessed Margaret back to HQ. As Blair took Thatcherism to new heights here is Brown attempting to lay the trumps. It is only incompetence which has left the door open for Cameroon to reclaim the legacy.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:15 AM October 13, 2007 | Comments (0)

War crimes, civilian perpetrators and casualties.

This week two more deaths of civilians in Iraq by private security operations, this time Australian. Two Armenian Christian women had their car riddled with 40 bullets, yes 40 bullets. Soldiers in such a situation can face a court, but there appear to be no rules of engagement for these rogue companies who are out for profit from their dubious services. Blackwater we hear are to face war crime charges following their involvement in civilian deaths, while the family of those killed in the latest attack have threatened to turn over every stone to bring the perpetrators to book.

Continue reading "War crimes, civilian perpetrators and casualties."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:57 AM October 12, 2007 | Comments (0)

World Bank encourages destruction of Congo rainforests

While reviling companies for exploiting the mineral wealth and natural resources across the planet, it now seems as if the World Bank has been encouraging just that as it encouraged the destruction of the Congo's precious rain forest.

"It is particularly embarrassing for the British government, which is a development partner of the bank and its third largest financial contributor. It encouraged the bank to intervene in the Congo forests with export-driven industrial logging and has earmarked £50m for further Congo basin forestry aid." Source Guardian 4/10/2007).

Considering the loud noises made about the need to support African countries on the one hand, and the desperate plight of the planet from excessive carbon emissions on the other, declarations from government reach new heights of hypocracy.

Continue reading "World Bank encourages destruction of Congo rainforests"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:02 PM October 4, 2007 | Comments (0)

Blackwater's trigger happy record

Blackwater has been in almost 200 incidents of shooting in Iraq we learn from Al Jazeera (2.10.2007). In a majority of cases they were the first to fire. As a security firm they are supposed to perform a defensive role.

"Blackwater, which has received over $1bn from the US government since 2001, declined to comment on Waxman's statement.

"We look forward to setting the record straight on this and other issues" when Erik Prince, Blackwater's chief, testifies before the committee, Anne Tyrrell, a spokesperson for Blackwater, said."

I swear I haven't any shares in Blackwater or Haliburton!

Continue reading "Blackwater's trigger happy record"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:24 AM October 2, 2007 | Comments (0)

Blackwater and violence in Iraq

The earlier incident when Blackwater was involved in publicised violence in Iraq, in Falluja, led to "an upsurge in violence" according to a report in the Independent (28/9/2007).

The US have persuaded the Iraqi government not to expel Blackwater after making a case that security would fall apart if they weren't present. Yet civilian involvement in Iraq remains a focus of deep resentment among Iraqis who feel that their conduct remains unregulated as terms of engagement are undefined.

As far as Blackwater and other large companies are concerned if the huge contracts they have engineered cease then dividends will fall. So what is the case for ending the war with this logic? New Labour in Britain goes along with this as does the Tory opposition. As for the Lib-Dems who knows? They say they are against the war while in Birmingham they maintain the Tories in power, so what's the choice? Gordon Brown gave the initial impression he would do things differently but as the days go by there are more and more similarities to Blair. If Brown wants to get British troops out of Iraq it is clear that it will not be an easy task. After withdrawal from the centre of Basra they were quickly re-engaged on the Iranian border. To keep America's (and others) arms trade alive a new conflict is needed - and since World War II the US has been successful in keeping conflict going somewhere or other on the planet.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:28 AM September 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

This is Blackwater. "Profitable Patriotism."

Al Jazeera takes a look at Blackwater's operation in Iraq(24/9/2007). The ratio of private personnel to military used to be 1 in 60. Now it is 1 in3. As the Iraqi government performs a u-turn in allowing Blackwater to stay because of a security imperative, they insist on an enquiry into the deaths of innocent civilians. The Iraqis have long objected to the presence of mercenaries when their are no clear guidelines covering their activities.

While there is now some exposure of US mercenaries there has been talk of the involvement of other nationalities, including South Africa and Britain, where one operation appears to have a church front.

Continue reading "This is Blackwater. "Profitable Patriotism.""

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:40 AM September 24, 2007 | Comments (0)

Brown's heavy hand brings back colonial memories

Gordon Brown's announcement that he won't attend a summit in Lisbon if Robert Mugabe does smacks of colonialism and again raises questions of his difference to his predecessor. Other African leaders have said they won't attend if Mugabe doesn't.

The Independent (22.9.2007) reports responses from Africa which make the Brown posturing appear childish and immature.

"Zimbabwe's UN ambassador, Boniface Chidyausiku, said Mr Brown had 'no right to dictate' who should be at the summit.'
He told the BBC's Newsnight programme that Mr Mugabe 'has a sovereign right' to attend the summit. He said: 'He is part of Africa. Gordon Brown has no right to dictate who should come to Lisbon.'

He added: 'The quarrel is between Britain and Zimbabwe. The United Kingdom Government [is] trying to put this quarrel into a multilateral forum.

Really the meeting between Europe and Africa should go ahead. There are bigger issues to discuss than the differences between the UK and Zimbabwe.'

The Prime Minister also faced strong criticism from The Tanzanian president of the Pan-African Parliament, Gertrude Mongella, who accused him of trying to 'manipulate' Africa and insisted that 'arm twisting' by rich nations would not solve the problems of the crisis-hit state.

Dr Mongella said: 'We do know there are some problems, but if somebody wants to arm-twist Zimbabwe, that's not the best way to solve the problems. I think this is again another way of manipulating Africa. Zimbabwe is a nation which got independence.

I think in the developed world there are so many countries doing things which not all of us subscribe to: we have seen the Iraq war – not everyone accepts what is being done in Iraq.'

Dr Mongella added: 'So if we want to talk about the people of Zimbabwe, we should not punish them by the actions of their leaders. I think if we want to move in the right direction, with the African way of doing things, you discuss things under a tree till you agree. So if somebody does not come under a tree to discuss, that is not the African way of doing things.'

Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa warned that he would stay away from the summit if Mr Mugabe is barred. He said: "I will not go to Portugal if Mugabe is not allowed." Source Independent 22.9.2007.

Continue reading "Brown's heavy hand brings back colonial memories"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:32 AM September 22, 2007 | Comments (0)

Not for our consumption

I hadn't noticed mention of a substantial anti-war march held in Washington at which many arrests were made. The main feature reported was that it was led by Iraq war veterans. Al Jazeera reports this (16/9/2007).

The UK press are still hung up with Northern Rock and the McCann saga so the rest of the world seems remote and inconsequential. We know George W. doesn't case for Al Jazeera which is a bombing target as much as all the nations on the U.S. list for action. However what excuse is it for the British media to fall in line and fail to cover such an event?

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:35 AM September 16, 2007 | Comments (0)

Floods hit Africa, but go unreported

Turning to Al Jazeera I was amazed to read about serious floods affecting "large swathes" of Africa with the heaviest rain in 35 years. The effects on the population is very serious:

"International aid agencies are calling for more help as floods continues to devastate large swathes of Africa.

Dozens have died and an estimated one million people affected by the prolonged rains.

In the east of the continent, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda are the worst hit countries, with at least 87 people dead.

Sudan, Kenya and Rwanda have also been affected."
(source Al Jazeera 15.9.2007.

Reuters on the other hand report on flooding in West Africa. So what's going on? Shows just how selective the daily digest brought to us is!

The British press is taken up with the story of the Northern Rock crisis when the inevitable consequences of capitalism have come home to roost. It's not even on thne BBC News front page. So what of the significance of news from a continent, which least pollutes the planet, taking the consequences of the over-industrialised part?

Continue reading "Floods hit Africa, but go unreported"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:42 AM September 15, 2007 | Comments (0)

Going in deeper and deeper

The news that British troops have been deployed on the border with Iran at the behest of the U.S. looks like bad news. If we thought that we were on the verge of a change of direction following Blair's demise then we need to review that idea. Others have different ideas that will draw us in deeper and deeper in never ending conflict. Looks like Brown now faces some difficult choices.

"The mission will include the King's Royal Hussars battle group, 250 of whom were told at the weekend that they would be returning to the UK as part of a drawdown of forces in Iraq." Source The Independent 11/9/2007.

How the Americans have painted a picture for home consumption that the surge has worked has to be seen. A climate of fear has been engendered designed to make the unwilling accept the necessity of the unacceptable. Clearly many senators have expressed deep concern, but this "lame duck" president still has lots of power. Lot of power through friends in organisations which are profiting hugely from America's wars. So this is what Brown meant when he told Bush "we share the same values".

Continue reading "Going in deeper and deeper"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:46 AM September 12, 2007 | Comments (0)

Zimbabweans fight back

Al Jazeera features some interesting videos. Yesterday showed a cartoon which showed how deep the split is between Hamas and Fatah. I decided not to make the link since its depressing propaganda. However this clip shows displaced Zimbabweans fighting back. A group of elderly women have decided to build their own school for their children.

The dominating images of Africa presented at best show dependency whereas the struggles against the apartheid regime of South Africa had so many examples of people fighting back against seemingly overwhelming oppression. So often women were to the fore. They had to be since the men were either away working in dangerous jobs such as mines or were imprisoned for their political activity. LIke minded people, black and white, won through.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:06 AM September 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

Why Mandela's example should stand

Few deserve the high praise that was reserved for Nelson Mandela in London this week, but a story in the Independent (2/9/2007) reminds us of why his example is crucial in this world of brutality and corruption.

We are reminded of the Robben Island years when prisoners were regularly forced to dig deep trenches, lie in them and then have the guards pee on them. When he became President who should Mandela invite but these very same guards? While it's possible to be sceptical about this the action chimes in with the acts of reconciliation which characterised the period of Mandela's Presidency. What was the alternative - to continue bitter feuding and embark on civil war.

In his speech Mandela was typically modest and spoke of the achievement of having a black figure represented in Parliament Square alongside Churchill and Lincoln. Those who spoke in the video testified how it was significant for them. They made it clear as people who had become prominent as politicians and broadcasters that there was still a general feeling that black people couldn't make an impact. It is the legacy of colonialism with the racism that underpinned it that has brought about this state of affairs. Both Mandela and Jesse Jackson have been in U.K. to remind us of the fact and to provide inspiration for us all, but black people in particular.

Is Mandela a one off? It would seem to me that he is a product of his African upbringing. There are many examples through history of wisdom in African cultures from Nubia and Egypt (Kemet) onwards. The tragedy of much that has happened has been in the context of the nineteenth century Treaty of Berlin where European states carved up the continent. Rather than draw on African traditions their modern leaders have continued the paternalism of their former colonial rulers. Simplistic? May be, but not half as simplistic as the view, of which Sarkozy is the latest exponent, that Africa has no history.

My expression of apology for slavery on behalf of Birmingham has fallen on deaf ears and has been ignored by the Birmingham press in general. But thanks to Adrian Goldberg for supporting this in his Stirrer column!

Continue reading "Why Mandela's example should stand"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:03 AM September 2, 2007 | Comments (0)

Sarkozy's bigotry to the fore

We knew Nicolas Sarkozy from the days as Interior Minister he dealt with African migrants. Now he reveals the depths of his ignorance by claiming "African's haven't entered history". From Nubia and Egypt on Africans have been ahead of the game. For profoundly racist reasons Africa's history has been ruthlessly suppressed just like its people.

In Zimbabwe I saw African history for myself, although Europeans, still dreaming of Ian Smith, continue to be in a state of denial. (At one time in Southern Rhodesia it was unlawful to claim that the stone buildings were the work of Africans). What is most alarming is that Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's President, should give him credibility.

That Sarkozy is enjoying popularity in France at the moment is a matter for deep concern and is a sign of a deeply divided country moving to the right. Once Thatcher was that but eventually people saw through her. Once Tony Blair was like that and now people have seen him for what he is. Gordon Brown needs not only to distance himself with the right wing views of George Bush, he needs to likewise from the deeply racist and ignorant Sarkozy.

Continue reading "Sarkozy's bigotry to the fore"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 4:19 PM August 27, 2007 | Comments (0)

Des Browne says....

The expected trite statements follow the news that three more British service people have been killed. On this occasion Afghanistan. "Friendly fire" they say. Never mind they are dead so Des Browne says ..... Whatever it is its not worth repeating, Des Browne never is. Just one more New Labourite dead from the neck upwards.

We are getting tit bits of information that troops will be out of Basra before long. Too late for some. A number more have died since Gordon Brown has taken over. How many more before that's sorted?

Meanwhile Bush is pumping, pumping arms as fast as the factories can churn out the agents of death. Whose names do these have written on them? Presumably not George W. Are these the values we shaer with our American friends and allies Gordon Brown? Accoriding to the Independent 600,000 more Iraqis have fled their home since "the surge".

When I was a member of the Labour Party I thought I would be glad when Blair eventually stood aside, as I had been when I and many others fought for a Labour victory. New Labour intervened and Labour was hijacked.

Continue reading "Des Browne says...."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:16 AM August 25, 2007 | Comments (0)

Jalandhar, capital of a free Ireland

The following was published in an Indian journal, The Tribune written by Varinder Singh:

When Irish govt-in-exile was formed
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

JALANDHAR:
Despite having kept one of the biggest and sensational historical facts under wraps for over 80 years, hardly anyone knows today that Jalandhar Cantonment was once declared a seat of the "Free Irish government-in-exile" and was a place where a rebellion, by 1000-odd unsung Irish soldiers-turned-freedom fighters, who were inspired by the ongoing Indian freedom struggle, turned out to be one of two mutinies” after the famous naval mutiny” faced by the British armed forces.

What created yet another leaf of history after a long gap of time was the fact that perhaps no Irish envoy or Irish representative had visited the place after 1950 till a curious Mr Phillip McDonagh, the Irish Ambassador to India, paid a visit recently to the barracks, where the ‘mutineers” had enacted the high-tension drama to attain freedom for their brethren back home and where one of world’s unparalleled and unheard-of peace efforts was made by one Jim Daley, leader of a group of Irish soldiers, who was shot dead by a British firing squad in November, 1920, after the Britishers cornered the "mutineers" after making them starve for a few months.

A landmark in history and yet the lesser known incident took place in the summer of 1920 when the winds of freedom, sweeping across India as well as Ireland, were fuelled after news of cruelty being inflicted upon the Irish by the British, particularly that of a brother of a soldier having been hanged in Ireland, creeped into Jalandhar Cantonment, where about 1000 Irish soldiers were deployed as part of the British armed forces.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:24 PM August 15, 2007 | Comments (0)

Tired and exhausted

The effects pf "the surge" in Iraq on those charged with carrying out the will of the beleaguered Bush are dire. More and more are deserting according to a report in the Observer (11/8/2007).

War destroys people in more ways than the obvious. It also encourages opportunists to cash in on people's misery. Another story tells of a Polish pizza parlour owner going into business b trading arms from Bosnia to Iraq. It seems as if a British based firm is involved. Just who is involved in the arms business is an interesting question (any British MPs operating in the Middle East?) but we know of one in high places who is. Dick Cheney is involved with Haliburton, just one of the big corporations with access to the power base who are making it big in the theatres of war.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:38 AM August 12, 2007 | Comments (0)

The pointlessness of being in Basra

It now looks as if the penny has dropped and that Gordon Brown is preparing the way for withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. An article in the Guardian (8/8/2007) makes it look as if the only reason fro being there is to fly the British flag somewhere in the country. That makes George Bush look less isolated than he is.

"Ken Pollack, a foreign affairs expert at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, who returned last month from an eight-day visit to Iraq in which he spoke to US officers and officials, predicted that US and Iraqi forces would have to go to the south to fill the vacuum with the same level of commitment they were showing with the surge.

He said Mr Bush would prefer the British to stay: 'What Bush needs is for there to be a Union Jack flying somewhere in Iraq so he can trumpet that as full British participation, but that participation has been meaningless for some time.'

Mr Pollack, who wrote on his return that there were signs that the surge was working, was dismissive of the British contribution over the past 12 to 18 months. He said: "I am assuming the British will no longer be there. They are not there now. We have a British battle group holed up in Basra airport. I do not see what good that does except for people flying in and out.

'It is the wild, wild west. Basra is out of control.' " Source Guardian 8/8/2007.

Continue reading "The pointlessness of being in Basra"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:51 AM August 8, 2007 | Comments (0)

What does the Middle East need most?

The one thing that they are not short of in the Middle East is armaments, but that's what they are getting. Yet more arms courtesy of G.W. Bush and no doubt his sidekick Dick C. With unexploded ordnance lying across the Lebanon, much of it hastily put down when Israel knew it was withdrawing, people are being killed and injured still by existing dangerous explosive debris.

According to the piece below from Jewish Voice for Peace much equipment lies rusting since there is no one trained in its use. The argument that the provision of arms will bring stability anywhere seems to be well tried and tested. Where though has it been shown to have worked? Certainly not in this region. The problem is not only has Bush learned nothing - we don't expect that - but there is no sign that anyone anywhere in the present or prospective U.S. administration has cottoned on. The latest bright spark, Barack Obama wants to go into Pakistan all guns blazing. And Gordon Brown goes on intoning the "special relationship" and "shared values". Not my values Gordon.

And now we learn that the U.S. have mislaid 190,000 weapons in Iraq which are probably in the hands of insurgents. How did that happen?

Continue reading "What does the Middle East need most?"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:15 PM August 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

Stolen childhood

This story in today's Guardian (4/8/2007) I found moving. I'm working with young people in Birmingham who are in care for one reason or another. It seems to me that the damage that can occur by a disrupted childhood cannot be underestimated. This is particularly so for those brought into a culturally alien environment.

The understanding which led to the removal of an Aborginal child in Australia was that he or she would have a better chance with someone from the dominant group, in this case a white European family. The comparison with the siblings who had remained with their family couldn't be starker. Far from getting an advantage the child became confused and grew to become severely depressed as an adult spending time in prison and becoming dependent on alcohol. It is the experience that many children who have been in care have shared.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:59 AM August 4, 2007 | Comments (0)

Please read the small print

The following is an e-mail from the Troops Out Movement

Over the last few days the media has been blazoned with reports that British military operations in the north of Ireland have ended ..... but read the small print! Please also read article below from the North Belfast News

1) There are still to be 5000 British Troops in the 6 counties – “as a peacetime garrison as in other parts of Britain”. (There are 5500 British troops in Iraq)

2) When did the Brit government admit it was wartime in NI !!??

3) NI has the same population as Birmingham – we don’t have 5000 troops as a peace time garrison!!

4) This is from BBC News 25th June o7

The security service, MI5, is moving to a new base in County Down. The move to Palace Barracks, Holywood is in preparation for an expanded role in NI intelligence gathering. MI5 is due to take over the lead role in intelligence involving national security by the end of 2007. Until now, the PSNI Special Branch has had overall responsibility. Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde called the plan "a healthy split". In future, while police handlers will continue to work with individual agents they will, in some cases, report back to MI5.

NB: Holywood is an Army Barracks. Ccould this have something to do with SF joining the police board?? Why do they still need “Agents”?

I don’t think we’ll be giving up yet !!

Mary Pearson – Secretary

Troops Out Movement ~ Campaigning for British Withdrawal from Ireland

PO Box 1032 Birmingham B12 8BZ Tel: 0121 773 8683 0r 0797 017 4167

e-mail
Website.

Continue reading "Please read the small print"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:09 AM August 4, 2007 | Comments (0)

The good news is Cheney's furious.

The good news in Baghdad isn't that "the surge" is working, rather it's that the government has gone into recess without passing the oil law, the "benchmark" that Washington is looking for before troops are withdrawn. Cheney, he's furious.

As for those who have been involved in the conflict the news continues to be not so good with another report on the effects of the combat on peoples' minds and lives.

Meanwhile the press were looking closely at Brown during his first meeting with the U.S. President noting every twitch, body language innuendo to see how the chemistry worked with George W. Problem is we now know who is running America. It was supposed to be significant that Gordon didn't bump into Dick, supposedly recovering from an operation. If he (Cheney)'s the big player what was the point of meeting George anyway?

Continue reading "The good news is Cheney's furious."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:22 AM August 3, 2007 | Comments (0)

Prisoner 345

Muslims are remembering a cameraman working for al Jazeera who was arrested on his way into Afghanistan. He had a legitimate visa but is being held as an "enemy combatant". So it appears that the Muslim world feels that any one of them is fair game to fit into the label "terrorist". Family and friends are working for his release.

The article in Al Jazeera contains a poem from Sami Al-Hajj which speaks of the humiliation of his incarceration.

This poem is an excerpt from an article which appeared in the Independent on June 21, 2007.

Humiliated In The Shackles

By Sami al Hajj

When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees,

Hot tears covered my face.

When the lark chirped, my thoughts composed

A message for my son.

Mohammad, I am afflicted.

In my despair, I have no one but Allah for comfort.

Continue reading "Prisoner 345"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:02 AM July 20, 2007 | Comments (0)

Withdrawal is the only answer for Iraq.

Interviews by Sunni Muslim groups with the Guardian newspaper make interesting reading if only they break the simplistic notions we are fed daily that the enemy is either al-Quaeda or "terrorists" is some way associated with them.

Claims are made that the internal groups "fighting for freedom" in Iraq resent the intervention of foreign-led groups, as al-Quaeda is, which make them look responsible for the sectarian violence dogging the country. They make it clear there will be no end to violence while America and allies remain. As for "the surge" this has resulted in higher U.S. casualties unsurprisingly.

As for Britain it now has the advice of the Iraqi commission which doesn't come up with any clear answers to this desperate situation. Not only are we bound hand and foot, by inplication of their analysis, the U.K. remains high on the hitlist of "terrorist" attacks.

Continue reading "Withdrawal is the only answer for Iraq."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:39 AM July 19, 2007 | Comments (0)

Caterpillar under fire

Consumers and shareholders are concerned with the products they buy and rising dividends often without knowing and caring about the provenance of the goods and services. So if dividends in Halliburton or Blackwater shoot up, "Hooray!", never mind that it has come from lucrative security contracts in Iraq. Caterpillar however has faced challenges to its sale of its products to Israel where its huge armoured vehicles destroy Palestinian homes and farms and the company has had to face battles in boardroom and courtroom.

The following comes from Jewish Voice for Peace:

"Caterpillar gets bad publicity in the boardroom, the courtroom, and the press.

JVP protestors at Caterpillar lawsuit

Caterpillar may want to ignore any responsibility for the sale of bulldozers to Israel used to demolish the homes and uproot the orchards of Palestinian civilians, but we won't let them.

On Monday, July 9th, the family of Rachel Corrie, and 4 Palestinian families--whose family members were killed or injured when Caterpillar bulldozers demolished their homes on top of them- finally got their day in court. Representing the families at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Seattle were Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, attorneys from the International Human Rights Clinic at Seattle University School of Law, and Maria LaHood from the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York. Read more about the case here.

As Rachel Corrie's mother Cindy wrote, "It was moving and momentous, after four years of seeking accountability, to actually be in a court room, to feel a bit of the majesty of the law and the hope that we still find in it."

JVP was among the many supporters outside: a crew of members from the Seattle and Puget Sound chapters (photo above) joined the coalition of peace activists in front of the courthouse and held signs rooted in our Jewish values and our respect for human rights. As a national organization with regional chapters (and more on the way) we are able to respond more quickly and to multiply our voices.

This action was on the heels of our work in June in Chicago, where JVP once again introduced a shareholder resolution that put Caterpillar on notice about its corporate misconduct, generating global attention about the inhumane policy of home demolitions. JVP has been working in coalition with the Sisters of Loretto and the Mercy Investment Group on these resolutions, which bring the issue of home demolitions to the mailboxes of every CAT shareholder and to the ears of CAT's Board of Directors."

Continue reading "Caterpillar under fire"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:29 AM July 15, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Zimbabwean predicament.

Some left wing comment supports Mugabe as a victim of international capitalism conspiring against him. In view of reports such as this from Al Jazeera I don't find such a simplistic response at all realistic.

As I have tried to show in a number of entries regarding African countries (although exploitation of multinationals joined by the Chinese doesn't begin and end there.

My stay in Zimbabwe was with people who remain privileged compared to the indigenous population. They have resources from abroad which actually become more valuable, certainly within a burgeoning black market so they can survive and provide employment for a few. Some 80% remain unemployed.

Continue reading "The Zimbabwean predicament."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 2:56 PM July 14, 2007 | Comments (0)

"It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity."

The comment "It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity." is from a member of the U.S. army quoted in the Independent (12/7/2007).

The point is made that in U.S. both Republicans and Democrats are portraying atrocities highlighted in Abu Ghraib prison as aberrations rather than part of a systemic problem: the entire war operation. It has been clear for a long time with the focus on numbers of war dead from U.S. and allies compared to the much larger number of Iraqis killed that this is a war between the nations. Nevertheless the pretence that the invading forces are there to protect life and rebuild the country is still an underlying assumption. Nor is the massive civilian presence representing multinational business interests included in the count. In U.S. as well as U.K. all parties end up playing the same game.

Continue reading ""It's the fact that the entire war is an atrocity.""

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:56 AM July 12, 2007 | Comments (0)

Soaps and soapstone

I have a soapstone carving of an elegant elder purchased from a roadside trader in Bulawayo. It cost me millions of Zimbabwean dollars. Selling crafts to tourists is one way of surviving the crisis where the growth in inflation has escalated. When I was there last year it was 1000%. Now its way beyond that. Problem is there are few tourists in this wonderful country.

In Kenya one of the soapstone artists and his community have made a breakthrough. They are producing carvings of the Simpsons' characters in this material and it has changed their lives. The story is in today's Independent (10/7/2007).

America it seems is forever adept at exporting its culture and values through the likes of Disney, Hollywood and now the Simpsons. Can the ever present Chinese hope to compete?

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:41 AM July 11, 2007 | Comments (0)

Afghanistan. More civilian deaths

Already there have been protests about the excessive and indiscriminate use of force resulting in the death of civilians. Men, women, children. Now there are said to be around 80 more casualties as a result of the U.S. bombing of a village in the British run Helmand province. This was prompted by an attack by the Taliban on a U.S. convoy.

It seems that any provocation will result in a violent response. Perhaps the enemy realise this since the oft-stated need to win the "battle of hearts and minds" vanishes like water in sand. I would think that British troops in the province are now going to face an even tougher time as a result.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:49 AM July 1, 2007 | Comments (1)

Blair in the Middle East

" 'Can he really intervene?' asked Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian MP and former peace negotiator. She said the Palestinians did not need help building up their institutions. 'We need third party involvement to achieve peace, to curb Israeli measures, to end the occupation and tobuild a state.' " Source Guardian 28/6/2007.

Just who's agenda does the seemingly sudden appointment of Mr Blair as Middle East envoy represent? If there was an identifiable reason for Blair leaving office it was Iraq compounded by the Lebanon. Palestine though remained in the background even though at the end of the day it is the most pressing and crucial of all issues. "Success" in Northern Ireland has been remarked on, even though there has been a lot of papering over of cracks. The insistence of the Orange Order carrying on with marching breaks through the paper with continuing belligerence and deliberately provocative acts. In many ways it looks as if Paisley has it his way. However Sinn Fein have long realised that the ballot box is moving in favour of a rather different future.

It is pointed out that Blair is carrying baggage in the Middle East. I remember his radio broadcast from Jerusalem when he shared a platform with Ariel Sharon. He seemed to share more than a platform and sounded patronising to a degree to the Palestinians. " Be good children" he seemed to be saying. Well there are many trying extremely hard to be "good" and fight against an implacable enemy with non-violent resistance. The response to that is anything but non-violent and provocative in the extreme. Daily.

Yasser Arafat was President of Palestine and a member of Fatah, yet Blair, who called into Ramallah following his funeral, refused to lay a wreath and barely bowed his head. Many were outraged. Then Blair hosted a conference in London inviting Palestinians but not Israel. It seemed to go nowhere, how could it? Once again it appeared patronising. Israel of course were very pleased at being off the hook as they were when they invaded the Lebanon. Death and destruction, as in Iraq, passes without comment.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:11 AM June 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

Washington Post on Cheney continued...

That most lovable of vice-presidents, Dick Cheney, continues to be the focus of the Washington Post (27/6/2007):

"In Oregon, a battleground state that the Bush-Cheney ticket had lost by less than half of 1 percent, drought-stricken farmers and ranchers were about to be cut off from the irrigation water that kept their cropland and pastures green. Federal biologists said the Endangered Species Act left the government no choice: The survival of two imperiled species of fish was at stake.

Law and science seemed to be on the side of the fish. Then the vice president stepped in.

First Cheney looked for a way around the law, aides said. Next he set in motion a process to challenge the science protecting the fish, according to a former Oregon congressman who lobbied for the farmers.

Because of Cheney's intervention, the government reversed itself and let the water flow in time to save the 2002 growing season, declaring that there was no threat to the fish. What followed was the largest fish kill the West had ever seen, with tens of thousands of salmon rotting on the banks of the Klamath River.

Characteristically, Cheney left no tracks. (my emphasis JT)

The Klamath case is one of many in which the vice president took on a decisive role to undercut long-standing environmental regulations for the benefit of business." Source Washington Post 27/6/2007.

Continue reading "Washington Post on Cheney continued..."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:49 AM June 27, 2007 | Comments (1)

Being Deputy

Who would be deputy? The Washington Post is running a series of articles featuring the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney aka the most powerful VP in the history of the U.S. Yesterday (25/6/2007) it was his part in the build up to the use of torture, while today focusses on his influence on domestic policy.

What's the likelihood of Harriet Harman, just voted in as Deputy Labour Leader, influencing the leader? During the selection she openly supported Jon Cruddas' call for an apology on Iraq. On day one she refutes this. Other arguments she made to appeal to the left include reviewing Trident and the introduction of more city academies.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:40 AM June 26, 2007 | Comments (0)

The man who helped capture Saddam

Another "war hero's" story. One of those involved in the capture of Saddam Hussain, feted on his return to New York, is haunted by what he saw of war. Instead of revelling in his acclaimed actions he is forgotten and alone to carry his despair. The Washington Post (17/6/2007) has published yet another portrait of an unsuspected casualty of war.

Washington Post 18/6/2007.

Just who is benefiting from the mayhem. Just those who have shares in the big corporations dining on the fat commissions from government contracts. The cost of their good fortune cannot just be measured in dollars or pounds but in the grief and suffering of countless others whether America and allies or Iraqi.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:49 AM June 17, 2007 | Comments (1)

Iraq's private war

A Washington Post report (16/6/2007) throws more light on what it calls a "parallel war" with private companies fighting it out with Iraqis.

"Private security companies, funded by billions of dollars in U.S. military and State Department contracts, are fighting insurgents on a widening scale in Iraq, enduring daily attacks, returning fire and taking hundreds of casualties that have been underreported and sometimes concealed, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials and company representatives."

So the reality in substantially worse than we have imagined with a privatised which presumably recognises no international law of conduct, has no logistical source, is being conducted in conditions of strict secrecy. The source of funding is massive government contracts so the tax payer pays. Shareholders on the other hand will be dancing in the streets as the dividends swell their bank accounts.International capitalism shows that it has no bounds, no moral underpinning and is totally out of control. The problem is many of its backers claim a religious conviction telling them that God has told them this is their mission. Neither Judaism or Christianity are done any favours by these evil acts, not is Islam served by the blatant disregard of human life by the latest actions of Hamas. One thing Fateh has going for it is that it is a secular organisation.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 3:00 PM June 16, 2007 | Comments (0)

Privatisation cut backs for CIA

Since September 11th 2001 private companies have been making hay providing intelligence services in the U.S., but now Congress is demanding cut backs to something described as not quite a "revolving door" the Washington Post reports (8/6/2007). According to the CIA boss private contractors account for one third of the CIA workforce, but he admits that their work is "not efficiently managed". Nevertheless people searching for a profitable return for their investment look to such companies which are showing huge increases in dividends thanks to sizeable government contracts> in many cases their managers will have influential friends in the Pentagon, people like Donald Rumsfeld, the architect of much of post 7/11 policy.

A "revolving door" seems to me just what private contractors have at the expense of tax payers. In Iraq workers live in luxury apartments rather different to the more basic provisions for the armed forces. The mercenary forces (for that's what many private personnel are) are paid rather better: many were formerly members of the armed services.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 3:34 PM June 11, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Marching Season

The Marching Season is beginning in Northern Ireland bringing with it the old provocations and threats that we thought might go away with the new spirit of unity when the new Assembly took power. The following is from the Irish Times:

Residents to protest over alleged parade breaches
Irish News 04/06/07

"Nationalist residents are to complain to the Parades Commission after what they said was threatening and provocative behaviour by supporters of a loyalist band parade in the small Suffolk estate in west Belfast on Saturday.

Senior Ulster Defence Association figures, including south Belfast loyalist Jackie McDonald, as well as Ulster Political Research Group spokesman Frankie Gallagher, attended the Black’s Road march that saw upwards of 40 bands and several thousand supporters bussed into Suffolk through surrounding nationalist areas.

Paramilitary flags were carried by several bands in contravention of a Parades Commission determination. Breaches of commission rulings at the parade on previous occasions had led to calls for it to be banned. However, an agreement was reached between nationalist residents and members of the Upper Falls Protestant Boys flute band, which organises the march, after mediation.

Community representatives said that while they kept to their part of the agreement by ensuring there was no trouble at the interface, some supporters at Saturday’s parade behaved in a menacing manner. Observers from the Parades Commission monitored the march.

Stephen Magennis of the area’s Safer Neighbourhood Project said he was relieved there had been no major violence but that some issues needed to be dealt with. “While nationalist residents abided by their part of the agreement there were some sections of loyalist supporters who did not,” he said. “Residents were verbally abused by some band members who made threatening gestures as they were arriving. Paramilitary flags were also on view and that has caused anger among residents who see such displays as blatantly provocative. We have no control over the fact that this parade takes place each year. What we can do is work to try and make sure it passes off without incident.”

Mr Magennis said assurances had been given by organisers in Suffolk that they would take steps to prevent trouble. He said the majority of bands were well-behaved on the day.

“However, there were a few who seemed intent on causing trouble,” he said. “The interface at Suffolk is on the whole peaceful and both sides have built up a network of communication that has helped keep it that way. It would be unfortunate for that relationship to now suffer because of the parade. It is in the best interests of both communities to keep tensions at the Suffolk interface at a minimum.”

No parade organiser was available for comment."

For Further information

Troops Out Movement ~ Campaigning for British Withdrawal from Ireland

PO Box 1032 Birmingham B12 8BZ

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:02 AM June 5, 2007 | Comments (0)

Green issues are big business

My general pessimism about the will to turn round the move to environmental disaster is tempered by a report about Colombia (Guardian 5/6/2007). Such has been the success to use palm oil as a biofuel that now groups described as right-wing nationalists and (maybe) left wing rebels are driving people from their land to produce this lucrative commodity. Whereas the growing of coca for the drugs market is illicit, this venture is not.

"Surging demand for "green" fuel has prompted rightwing paramilitaries to seize swaths of territory, according to activists and farmers. Thousands of families are believed to have fled a campaign of killing and intimidation, swelling Colombia's population of 3 million displaced people and adding to one of the world's worst refugee crises after Darfur and Congo." Source: Guardian 7/6/2007).

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:08 AM June 5, 2007 | Comments (0)

Being an interrogator

The cost of war seems infinite. There are the obvious casualties with loss of life and injury, and the huge sums of money spent, refused to us for welfare needs at home, as well as abroad. What occurs in terms of psychological damage is not brought forward. It is well known and has been in recent debate about people shot during World War 1 for those labelled cowards and deserters, but today the military and political leaders particularly are still a state of denial.

In today's Washington Post (4/7/2007) a former interrogator talks about the cost to him in terms of his inability to function normally now he is back in the U.S., and the dehumanising process which allowed him to carry out torture when he witnessed fear and dread experienced by his victims.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 2:15 PM June 4, 2007 | Comments (0)

"It's Apocalypse Now meets Disneyland":

"It's Apocalypse Now meets Disneyland" is a comment made by one of the military personnel during Blair's farewell to Baghdad. Martin Amis has been a fly on the wall during the World Tour and takes in Belfast and Washington as well as Baghdad, Basra and London.

Amis has a go at us "semi-literate bloggers", but quite frankly I found the article a pain to read. So why have I linked it here? It's the way that it conjures up the headline comment that pervades the whole piece, not only in Baghdad. Here we see exposed the horrors of reality against the background of the contrived, managed, spun actors charged with decision making in what at the moment are the powerful nations on earth: America through it's dominance of resources and Britain by virtue of tagging on behind. Are Bush and Blair up to it? Not on this evidence, though would anyone be?

Perhaps not, but the term "delusional" has been applied, it seems aptly, to Blair. This seems to me to make it so dangerous. Amis notes Blair's comments to soldiers in Basra:

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:45 AM June 2, 2007 | Comments (0)

British private venture in Iraq

Following blogs on American commercial involvement in Iraq, the news of the kidnapping of British civilians in Baghdad brings to light the U.K.'s dealings.

From what Americans involved in commercial enterprise have said they went to Iraq expecting to "help out" the Iraqi people. Unsurprisingly many Iraqis don't see it that way, and the deaths of four contractors with the exhibition of their charred remains, while deeply disturbing, illustrates this.

We wish fervently for a happy outcome to the abductions. The questions raised though are what precisely the companies are doing there. There are huge sums of money involved, and those who choose to work in this most dangerous of places can earn considerable sums. Many are former army personnel who return to their former lives on a much higher rate of pay. Are they involved in a humanitarian quest for the people of Iraq, or are they involved, as the Americans have shown to be, involved in the humiliation and torture of Iraqis. Many of the victims have been not insurgents but ordinary people going about their day-to-day business.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:09 AM May 30, 2007 | Comments (0)

Stop the bleeding of Bethlehem

From George Rishmawi

Greetings and Salaam from Palestine.

The Stop Bleeding of Bethlehem Campaign has a new Blog website. For more information with regarding Non Violent Direct actions in the Bethlehem area in Palestine please visit the site.

Below one can find links to videos showing what happened in Artas village during the past few days.

(Some links about uprooting trees failed to work and have been omitted, but those that do work are harrowing enough and make the point about the barbarity of Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine with their belief that they are entitled to act and do what they like. Time for an international outcry - many Jewish people share the outrage: see Jewish Voice for Peace. J.T.)

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:01 AM May 29, 2007 | Comments (0)

Blackwater shoot out in Baghdad

The Washington Post (27/5/2007) highlights an incident involving Blackwater, the private American security firm hired to guard commercial interests in Iraq.

"Blackwater confirmed that its employees were involved in two shootings but could neither confirm nor deny that there had been any casualties, according to a company official who declined to be identified because of the firm's policy of not addressing incidents publicly.

Blackwater's security consulting division holds at least $109 million worth of State Department contracts in Iraq, and its employees operate in a perilous environment that sometimes requires the use of deadly force. But last week's incidents underscored how deeply these hired guns have been drawn into the war, their murky legal status and the grave consequences that can ensue when they take aggressive action." (Source: Washington Post 27/5/2007)

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:52 AM May 27, 2007 | Comments (0)

Six days

40 years after the short but bloody war lasting just 6 days, Israel prepares to celebrate. One man has created a spoiler. He is in his mid seventies and a renowned international lawyer who is himself Jewish and survivor of the Nazi holocaust. He has now reminded the Israeli government and the rest of the world that he warned at the time that settlement on Palestinian land by Jewish settlers would be illegal. This remains his view.

"The declaration by Theodor Meron, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's legal adviser at the time and today one of the world's leading international jurists, is a serious blow to Israel's persistent argument that the settlements do not violate international law, particularly as Israel prepares to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the war in June 1967." (Source The Independent 26/5/2007.)

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:15 AM May 26, 2007 | Comments (0)

Palestinian summer school - reminder

Come and celebrate Palestine, learn Arabic, study history, know the people and their culture, share some time with local families and volunteer with a local community organization

The First month starts at June 20th – July 22nd 2007.

The Second Month starts July 23rd – August 20th 2007.

Now you can check the organizations who are taking part in the program:

The Palestinian summer celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life and culture in Palestine in addition to donating some of their time to a local community organization through voluntary work and internships. The Palestinian summer celebration 2007 will take place in the Bethlehem area in Palestine, between Wednesday June 20th and August 18th 2007. the annual celebration is organized by Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies in partnership with Bethlehem University http://www.bethlehem.edu/ and the US based Society for Biblical Studies, www.sbsedu.org.
Participants will also have the opportunity to listen and question high level speakers of various positions and expertise.

During the first month, participants will be able to study Arabic and in the second month participants will study Arabic and History courses.

The Palestinian Summer Celebration welcomes participants for the time appropriate for them, starting one week until tow months.

Deadline for Registration: June 10th 2007

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 3:14 PM May 22, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Great Oil Theft

A message to Iraqis from Citizens around the World:

"We support the Iraqi people's sovereign right to the country's oil. We reject the pressure campaign led by the Bush Administration and multi-national oil companies to force Iraqis to adopt this draft Oil Law, which risks conceding extraordinary rights over revenue and production to foreign corporations.

Iraq's oil wealth should be shared fairly among all Iraqis to help them rebuild their country. We affirm the right and responsibility of Iraq's national parliament to take the final decisions on this matter, and call on the US President and Congress to respect Iraq's sovereignty. We stand in solidarity with Iraqi leaders who oppose this unwarranted foreign interference."

Sign the Avaaz petition

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:43 AM May 22, 2007 | Comments (0)

Privatisation: war, torture and brutality

The video linked here shows how much corporations have made out of the misery of Iraqi people. Yet everyone still votes for capitalism in the UK, New Labour being among the most enthusiastic exponents. Sadly politicians cover up their own agendas for personal advancement with claims that public services will improve. The evidence is that under privatisation they won't.

The video illustrates one company, Blackwater, who send their employees into the battle zone but take no responsibility for what might happen to them. It also reports that those weighing in on routine torture and brutality are civilians. I believe Britain is also employing private security firms in Basra.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:59 PM May 19, 2007 | Comments (0)

Iraq. The unreported deaths

After this weeks carnage in Baghdad I wonder why I was stopped short by an artickes in Al Jazeera (20/4/2007). It reports that capital punishment in the new Iraq is nearly as high as in China, Iran and Pakistan. Of course we new about Saddam and the botched execution of one of his colleagues. Amnesty International cannot compare it with Saddam's regime since the figure for capital punishment are obscure. What I'm wondering is how much state violence aggravates the worsening situation.

Bush's belief that a final push in Iraq could work things out is being proved as useless as critics told him it would. The British folly of joining in unapologetically isn't improving things at home or abroad either. In Britain the continued attacks on anything Islamic, compounded time and again by a succession of uncomprehending ministers, is downright sinister.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:18 AM April 20, 2007 | Comments (0)

More rainforest devastation in the Congo

You and I might be worrying about global warming expecting a lead from our elected representatives. Worry we might but as long as international capitalism rules the roost there are no holds barred in continuing the rape of our precious planet and its resources for material gain. International companies are about to plunder large swathes of forest in the Congo.There is no concern about the effects on all of us (including the plunders themselves of course). In exchange for bags of salt and other commodities land the size of the UK has been acquired for logging by U.S. and European concerns. No one is telling the local chiefs of the value of the wood they are taking, or the effects on the environment.

It looks as if the World Bank is supporting the venture. It is African teak in the rain forest second only to Brazil which is of value. It is widely used for flooring. The link here is two years old but inspite of deep concerns expressed work has begun clearing the land.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:00 AM April 11, 2007 | Comments (0)

Support for Palestine from Britain

It was reported in the Palestinian News Network (6/4/2007) that my friend Kamal Hawwash is in Ramallah attempting to further the plan to twin Ramallah with a British City.

"Project Chairperson on the British side, Kamal Hawwash, spoke on behalf of his colleagues coming to Ramallah, saying that the current conference aims to 'activate the popular 'twinning' relationship between Palestinian cities and villages, and their British counterparts.'

He told attendees, ' We come here today to share our experiences with our counterparts in the municipalities of Ramallah in the West Bank. These relations are maintained with some 22 Palestinian villages. The latest British fund-raising event was able to establish a children's library in the village of Deir Ammer in the Ramallah District.'

Hawwash explained, 'Social responsibility in helping the Palestinian people in their fight for justice and freedom, who are oppressed under Israeli occupation' drives the movement. Fact-finding to combat a complicit media is also a motivator, he said. 'We see the way information is falsified.' ”

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:38 AM April 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

Confiscated bananas

Jericho is a very old city and fits its description of "a land flowing with milk and honey", that is until now. It is Palestinian land under occupation. Bananas and dates continue to be grown there, but the label "Palestinian Produce" has been replaced with "Israeli Produce".

Nancy Pelosi, against the best advice of George W. Bush, has held talks with the Syrian leader. This he says has undermined his policy of isolating member countries defined as the "axis of evil". She brought a message from Israel's President Olmert saying that they wanted peace talks. However while the talks about talks points to something a long way off the above example illustrates how Palestinian land confiscation continues apace across the West Bank. Both Democrats and Republicans deal with Israel without mentioning Palestine, yet it is this question which is at the heart of the Middle East crisis. Where does the Palestinian President Abbas come into the picture?

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:34 AM April 5, 2007 | Comments (0)

How cheap are lives?

Al Jazeera reports (28/3/2007) of the mass killing of Africans who were pushed from a smugglers' boat. People were beaten if they resisted, women were raped by the smugglers.

The commemoration of the ending of slavery is somewhat premature, but even that is being questioned with the main focus being on white abolitionists. As Gus John points out the writing of black people out of history continues apace.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 1:18 PM March 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

British soldier fired for being injured

The Independent reports on the fate of a British soldier who was victim of a roadside bomb (18/3/2007). The diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been dismissed by the military and he has been dismissed from the army as bing "temperamentally unsuitable".

At a time when we thought that the horrifying effects of war on those individuals was beginning to be understood, there are pockets of resistance. The military establishment continues to be in a state of denial. What the Government is saying or doing about it is deafening in the silence. Only now is it safe enough to pardon men shot as traitors in World War 1.

"The young man is a striking illustration of the unprecedented levels of mental health problems being suffered by soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many complain of feeling discarded and betrayed. Experts are predicting a mental health 'time bomb', with thousands more veterans expected to experience severe problems first identified as 'shell shock' during the First World War.

Thousands of British soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are living in virtual poverty back in the UK because their compensation payments have been delayed, in some cases by up to three years." Source: Independent 18/3/2007.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:54 AM March 18, 2007 | Comments (0)

Cinema reveals - or hides - the past.

The cinema can be as revealing as it is selective in its portrayal of historic events. A French film opens up the Algerian past to show how many supported France against the Nazis in World War 2. This wasn't the first time they had come out in support of the colonial power, just as those from Africa and the Caribbean supported their British rulers and oppressors.

That cinema is still capable of distorting and denying history was demonstrated by Clint Eastwood's film about Iwo Jima, which failed to show black American presence, yet has still gone forward to acclaim somehow. The pains Eastwood apparently took to ensure authenticity about the Japanese involvement seems to have eluded him with regard to the black American presence.

The film "Days of Glory" brings back memories of Franz Fanon and Albert Camus, two hugely significant writers on the colonial experience and depths of racism. Fanon himself volunteered to fight in France, was wounded and awarded the Croix de Guerre. Albert Camus' father had fought for France in Word War 1, Camus himself joined the French resistance.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:56 AM March 9, 2007 | Comments (0)

Clash of civilisations or one world?

WATCH THE VIDEO and decide

then

sign the petition

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 3:52 PM March 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence

Ghana is celebrating 50 years of independence from the British, a fact brought to my attention by Al Jazeera (6/3/2007). I had not noticed it in the British media.

Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan country in Africa to get independence. It is a democracy, but that's not the end of Ghana's or other African states' problems:

"We have a viable, multi-party democracy in Ghana today. But the problem in Africa is that democracy does not feed the people"

Gamal Nkrumah, son of Ghana's first president

In spite of poverty existing, huge sums are being spend on a year-long celebration to which prominent politicians and celebrities have been invited. This includes Mbeki and Mugabe, and Jesse Jackson is a guest from the U.S.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:22 AM March 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

Ban cluster bombs!!!

From Jewish Voice for Peace. I urge you to sign their petition. Thanks, John

Dear John:

Stop cluster bombs now.

Tell the US Senate to join the global movement against cluster bombs.

Sign the petition.

Last summer, during the waning days of the war, Israel dropped hundreds of thousands of US-made cluster bombs in the southern part of Lebanon. From the end of the war, through January 2007, 22 Lebanese civilians were killed and another 164 wounded by cluster bombs that were left unexploded. Seven of the dead and 63 of the wounded were children, who often find unexploded cluster bombs laying about and try to pick them up.

Sign now to bring an end to the use of cluster bombs.

A global movement is well under way to ban these weapons, which cause a disproportionate amount of harm to civilians. But the United States is not part of it.

A Senate bill currently on the table would finally begin restricting the sale, transfer and use of cluster weapons. Similar proposed legislation was defeated last year. The current version is toned down in the hope that it might be passed.

Click here to find out more about cluster bombs and the Senate bill.

Jewish Voice for Peace has partnered with Just Foreign Policy to gather support for the Senate bill and put the United States on track to catch up with the global movement to ban cluster bombs. We'll deliver this petition to every US Senator and every Democratic presidential candidate.

Tell them that US Jews and allies support a total ban on cluster munitions.

Sign this petition today.

Thank you.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:35 AM March 6, 2007 | Comments (0)

March on Selma

As promised both Hillary Clinton, accompanied by Bill, and Barack Obama turned up at adjacent venues in Selma, Alabama. Both claimed to be heirs of the historic Civil Rights march which took place in the sixties. The Washington Post coverage (3/3/2007) includes video clips:

"The two presidential candidates spoke at separate Sunday morning services and later joined in the ritual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, led by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who as a young civil rights leader was beaten on the bridge with other protesters on the morning of March 7, 1965, as they began a voting-rights march to Montgomery."

As for those deciding who to go and hear:

"Democratic Reps. Anthony Weiner (N.Y.) and Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) went to hear Clinton speak. The bulk of the other members of Congress in Selma on Sunday, including Lewis, went to hear Obama."

Continue reading "March on Selma"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:49 PM March 5, 2007 | Comments (0)

Canadian diamonds: "There are no clean diamonds".

After talking about what's happening to Africa's wealth I read in the Washington Post (5/3/2007) about a booming diamond industry in northern Canada, once the scene of a gold rush. The article claims it could be the answer to "blood diamonds" resulting from conflict zones. However on reading the article you might see that there are more than superficial similarities. You see land there is owned by Inuit - the earlier settlers on land which they saw taken out of their hands before. Now there is a surge in interest in education. The report goes on to say there are not too many Indians on the boards of the mining companies which form an industry larger than South Africa's

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:43 AM March 5, 2007 | Comments (1)

Portrait of a war hero

The Washington Post (4/3/2007)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/03/AR2007030301263.html?referrer=email reports on a hero decorated for galantry in Iraq. Problem is his decoration means nothing to him.

"When the narrator finished reading the story of Workman's "extraordinary heroism" in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Richard T. Tryon pinned the Navy Cross to Workman's chest and the crowd in the grandstand stood and cheered. It was a moment of well-deserved triumph, but it didn't make Workman feel any better.

'When they put that medal on me, from that point on, I sunk deeper into depression,' he recalls. 'Everybody says it must be awesome to win the Navy Cross. Well, as a matter of fact, it's not. I lost three guys that day, so for the longest time, I didn't even want to wear it. I'd look down at it and see three dead Marines.' " Source Washington Post 4/3/2007.

The cost of war is nor easy to count: the number of corpses, well if they are American. No one knows exactly how many Iraqis are dead. It doesn't begin to look at what happens to those who survive. Are they the lucky ones?

Continue reading "Portrait of a war hero"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:04 PM March 4, 2007 | Comments (0)

Collision ahead

The two front runners of the Presidential campaign for the Democrats, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, will both be in Selma, Alabama, site of a famous civil rights march in the sixties. Former President Bill Clinton will also be there says the Washington Post (2/3/2007). It's the black vote they're after. Bill Clinton is to receive a civil rights award which will be collected by Hillary.

Clearly Clinton does not intend to give way to Obama and it will be interesting to see the rel;ative support each candidate attracts.

Continue reading "Collision ahead"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:22 PM March 2, 2007 | Comments (0)

Obama surges forward with black voters. Or does he?

The Washington Post reports (28/2/2007) on the early days of the 2008 contest for President. While for the Democrats Clinton remains in the lead there are detectable changes among black voters if not white towards Obama who is seen as the most inspirational candidate. However CNN paints a different picture saying that in its survey it found whites more ready to say it was time for a black president.

Continue reading "Obama surges forward with black voters. Or does he?"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:54 PM February 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

Fair Trade cotton

Interesting to see M & S competing in the market for fair trade cotton goods. Potential exporters are manufacturers located in Palestine.

Freedom Clothing Project imports cotton goods and invests in small livelihood projects. They support cotton production in Turkey which is then sent to a manufacturer in Bethlehem who produce high quality tee-shirts. I have samples of their goods and recommend any who are interested in supporting fair trade in general, or Palestinian producers in particular to contact them.

Continue reading "Fair Trade cotton"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:30 AM February 26, 2007 | Comments (0)

Challenging exploitation of Africa's wealth

Just how dangerous it is to question what is happening to Africa's wealth is demonstrated in the arrest of a British woman investigating human rights violations in Angola. On the one hand ruling elites are propped up by industrial giants prospect for oil and precious minerals, on the other the bulk of the population may be starving, suffering from preventable epidemics such as aids and lacking opportunities for education. Views of African people propagated in colonial times still abound fuelling racism and discrimination. Those like Mugabe know this, but still indulge themselves with the backing of Barclay's Bank and now China.

Continue reading "Challenging exploitation of Africa's wealth"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:34 AM February 20, 2007 | Comments (0)

Children find a voice. The best advice is to listen

Birmingham have spent a great deal of effort setting up a Children's Rights organisation to ensure that children in care get their entitlement to a fair hearing. Advocates are employed to ensure this happens. Problem is it's not independent of the Social Care and Health Department representatives of which fight shy of criticism. As a City Councillor I was used to doing things a bit differently and as a result a material difference could be, and was made for several young people. Many social workers are brilliant, sometimes their managers less so.

Now we learn that we have a poor record caring for our children as a nation, whereas nearby Holland does a much better job. Why?.

This morning I sat, eyes glazed, as I was updated on my role and duties as a school governor. It all seemed to me to be mechanistic, ensuring target after target is met. Problem is it's the kids who are at the heart of all this. One thing scientists are always careful of is not to alter the very matter that they are studying, since observation itself can create change. Don't SATs do just that? Time spent on improving performance are denying all sorts of other experiences that young people should be enjoying: music, expressive arts, just creative play. The very things that do make a difference and inspire. English and maths out of contact doesn't. It kills you off. Of course schools are aware of this and work hard for their children. Problem is clueless inspectors turn up on the door step, probably failed teachers, and rubbish anything that doesn't directly relate to mechanistic performance. They should go the circus and work with seals.

Continue reading "Children find a voice. The best advice is to listen"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:42 PM February 19, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Palestinian summer celebration 2007

From George Rishmawi

June 20 - August 18th 2007

Come and celebrate Palestine, learn Arabic, study history, know the people and their culture, share some time with local families and volunteer with a local community organization

The Palestinian summer celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life and culture in Palestine in addition to donating some of their time to a local community organization through voluntary work and internships. The Palestinian summer celebration 2007 will take place in the Bethlehem area in Palestine, between Wednesday June 20th and August 18th 2007. the annual celebration is organized by Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies in partnership with Bethlehem University and the US based Society for Biblical Studies. Participants will also have the opportunity to listen and question high level speakers of various positions and expertise.

Educational opportunity:
An Arabic language Course and a Modern Palestine Course are offered by Bethlehem U as apart of the program. Three credits hours will be given for each course, upon the participant’s request.
Courses out line

ARSP 101 Introduction to Palestinian Spoken Arabic
HIST 120 Modern Palestine
An opportunity to serve a good cause:
Voluntary work in over 50 different organizations in Bethlehem and the surrounding towns of Beit Sahour, Beit Jala and Doha, also in the three refugee camps in the vicinity Dehaisheh, Aida and Azza who have been suffering the longest tragedy in the history of humanity.
Tips of anticipated voluntary work

1. Office work, like writing, editing, web design
2. Work with Children at Summer camps and Children centers
3. Physical work in agriculture, schools and centers

All participants are invited to submit their resumes so we can send it to a number of organizations and set you up at the right place where your skills and effort are most needed and appreciated.

Where to go home to:
Accommodation will be in the hospitality of local families in the Bethlehem and the vicinity depending on the voluntary work place. Participants will have the chance to share the lives of the local family’s and get exposed to real life situation where they can practice there freshly learnt Arabic and Palestinian culture, experience the tasty traditional Palestinian dishes and all other aspects of Palestinian extended family life. Such an experience will give the participants the chance to build relations with their host families that may last for ever.
Never the less accommodations at guest houses are available for daily, weekly or monthly rates.

Continue reading "The Palestinian summer celebration 2007"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:29 PM February 12, 2007 | Comments (0)

Holding out the olive branch

The PNN reports (12/2/2007) how non-violent demonstrations continue in spite of massive provocation. You see the apartheid wall divides olive trees from their owners. Construction of the wall also means that water supplies are diverted.

On the bulldozed land olive trees are being planted. Many of the trees that have been wilfully uprooted in Palestine by occupying Israeli forces are age old and date back to biblical times. They are a major part of the Palestinian economy and so many livelihoods are being destroyed. Not only are Palestinian farmers harassed but the military but settlers also attack them while harvesting the crop, or maybe steal the olives.

Continue reading "Holding out the olive branch"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:24 AM February 12, 2007 | Comments (0)

Obama's progress

On the day before Obama is to announce his candidacy (9/2/2007) here is coverage of his progress from:
The Washington Post. This includes video of him and Clinton.

The Independent,

Obama's choice of venue, Illinois, will have resonance with voters. This is the place Abraham Lincoln started his campaign with a promise of fighting to end slavery. Responses to the media campaign, and in particular the use of language such as reference to Obama as the new "boy" touch on a raw nerve (see below).>

Obama is calling for an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq saying that troops would be brought home early on.

Continue reading "Obama's progress"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:50 PM February 10, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Chinese promise in African countries sours

The setting up of a textile factory in Zambia by the Chinese provided work and supported local cotton growers, but the thirst for mineral wealth at a knock-down price has put progress into reverse gear:

"But last month the factory shut down production, strangled by a new wave of Chinese interest across Africa that some critics say amounts to little more than another round of foreign plunder, as Beijing extracts minerals and other natural resources at knock-down prices while battering the continent's economies with a flood of subsidised goods and surplus labour."
Source: The Guardian 5.2.2007.

Continue reading "The Chinese promise in African countries sours"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:28 AM February 8, 2007 | Comments (0)

Policing in Northern Ireland

All that has been said about policing in Northern Ireland and collusion between police and far right politicians is being verified by evidence. Not surprisingly the debate about working with the police and judicial services in giving a lot of heartache to Sinn Fein and the matter is now being put to a ballot. This is at a time of the Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Derry.

The current news from the Troops Out Movement gives some views currently held in the debate. There are many links to historical aspects of the struggle for equality and freedom in a united Ireland.

During my visit to Belfast a few years back I went to Portadown, the site of Drumcree and Loyalist marches. This was the place where Robert Hamill had met his death at the hands of Loyalist thugs, incredibly watched by police from their armoured car. I understand the feeling.

Continue reading "Policing in Northern Ireland"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:59 PM January 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

Think -it's not illegal yet

This was one of the slogans on the tee-shirt of one of the thousands of Americans who went to Capitol Hill to drum into the President that they do not want the ar in Iraq to continue, and they don't like a lot of his other policies either. Others across the globe were encouraged to sign petitions of support, which I gladly did.

The Washington Post report said that there were no figures collected to say how many people had come. Some stayed to lobby senators. It looks as if there will be further challenges to Bush in the coming weeks, but he has already declared "I am the decision taker" (democratic license?) so it will be iteresting to see how much poert the neocons still hold. Quite a bit I suspect, just as Blair continues to rampage on the scene in his dying hours in office. Interestingly Gordon Brown had been distancing himself from Blair and Iraq in an interview p at long last.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:09 PM January 28, 2007 | Comments (0)

African leaders question Blair's priorities at Davos

What African countries need is investment say the leaders of South Africa and Liberia. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, had been arguing for developing education.

A few years ago Blair helped set up the Commission for Africa, but what has happened to that?

"Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the Liberian president, and Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, both said Africa needed more investment in its infrastructure if the continent was to move forward.

'We need investment in infrastructure, not education ... real infrastructure that will enable us to attract private investment,' said Ms Johnson-Sirleaf. She also asked for Liberia's debt to be wiped out. Her comments, made at a discussion entitled 'Delivering on the promise of Africa', were echoed by Mr Mbeki who urged the G8 not to add new programmes when it meets in Germany in June. 'We don't have the capacity to do the things that we said we would do,' he said. " Source: Independent 27/1/2007).

Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:36 PM January 27, 2007 | Comments (0)

Dumping our Values

Don't get me wrong, I'm British, English with a touch of Irish here and there. While I didn't have any choice in the matter there are many things I enjoy about it. Once again the Government instructs us that we are supposed to feel good about it and need to teach children it's a good thing, never mind where their origins. Jack Straw adds to his (usually bad) ideas having already made it clear what he tnings about Islamic practices. Alan Johnson has now joined the fray. (I had hoped better after he, alone amongst the New Labour bunch, seemed to have been saying something sensible about children in care).

What I didn't enjoy was reading about what happens to the waste we make. There has been news about the power of supermarkets who seem to have a lot of power: over their suppliers, over the high street, over us. What we don't see or know about, one aspect at least is the subject of today's Independent (26.1.2007). Dumping our waste in China.

"Lianjiao, a remote Chinese village in the booming southern province of Guangdong, is a long way for a plastic bag to travel; but it is where almost all British supermarket carrier bags end up. And the foil-lined crisp packets. And the triangular hard plastic packaging for your bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches from a top high-street chain. Because China is rapidly becoming Britain's biggest rubbish dump." (Source Independent 26.1.2007).

Continue reading "Dumping our Values"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:37 AM January 26, 2007 | Comments (0)

Israeli Wall is cutting Palestinians off - it's official

The Independent has a story about a British Government funded report (23/1/2007) saying that Palestinian communities are being cut off by the Israeli Wall. The Wall is to protect Israeli settlers who are living illegally on occupied land. It takes no account of the lives of Palestinians who are cut off from their livelihoods and each other.

Why this is news is not clear when organisations like the Palestinian News Network publish daily news of acts which flagrantly violate international agreements, not to mention Israeli law itself. The PNN reports on East Jerusalem in today's edition

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:35 PM January 23, 2007 | Comments (0)

Blood Diamond

My question "what is happening to Africa's wealth?" is addressed in a newly released film "Blood Diamond". Blood also known as war or conflict diamonds are part of an illicit trade which pays for arming an insurgency creating appalling conditions for those innocent people caught up in conflict. Where do they go? Well here's one suggestion.

Never mind all that though, what of the "legitimate" traders. They bring morality into the trade don't they? De Beers has been in the trade for years and is a highly respected company, that is in some quarters. They are very much aware of the illicit trade.

Continue reading "Blood Diamond"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:41 PM January 22, 2007 | Comments (0)

Those who preach Armageddon are having their day, never mind the Islamists

As a further 3,200 U.S. troops arrive the Americans face the third largest casualty figure they have suffered in Iraq. (I haven't even mentioned the Iraqi figure).When will this madness stop? What does it take to stop? The story comes from today's Washington Post which publishes photographs of the most recent casualties.

It is now clear that justification for the war was made up. When the first story didn't stand up then another replaced it. One of the far right's arguments is that we are in a battle between civilisation and barbarism. Quite which side is supposed to be civilised and which barbaric? As someone at the London Conference suggested may be we are debating the wrong question. Which side conducts the more acts of terror, against which the U.S. and its allies are supposed to be conducting the war, is also left open.

While it was thought that the Democratic Party had won a victory on Capitol Hill, it appears their will does not count for much against those conservatives wielding the power. Rumsfeld came and went but his destructive ideological presence remains. The right wing Christian lobby can compete with the Islamists any time. They justify Armageddon as fervently as any jihadist supports suicide attacks. Some hypocricy! Of course those like Daniel Pipes say nothing of this, neither does he recognise what happens to ordinary Palestinians daily at the hands of the Israeli state, something that many Jewish people worldwide abhor.

As for the Democrats, the field is emerging for 2008 with Clinton declaring following Obama, both regarded as front runners. We could see either the first woman or the first black president of the United States. That's if it can happen. One black neighbour of mine stated gloomily "look what happened to JFK and MLK". Clinton is already getting flack for her original support for war, back peddle as she might.

Continue reading "Those who preach Armageddon are having their day, never mind the Islamists"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:32 AM January 22, 2007 | Comments (0)

Obama to enter Presidential race

Barack Obama is to announce his candidacy for the Democratic Party following his rise in popularity. This makes him a front runner alongside Hilary Clinton. Clinton's support for the Iraq War in 2002 is noted so Obama's consistent opposition makes him appealing to many people.

Obama is amazed at the way his support has grown. His visit to Kenya, his father's place of origin, showed that his popularity is confined to the U.S. His two books have given him a high profile, although a reference to trying drugs raised some controversy.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 6:54 PM January 17, 2007 | Comments (0)

Africa's wealth - the Tanzania Radar scam

One way the so-called developed world can stay wealthy, and afford to pollute the planet as if there is no tomorrow, is to sell unnecessary things to those who can least afford it. Tanzania has been sold a military radar system which it doesn't need at an inflated price. According to the Guardian lead article Blair supported while Clare Short and Gordon Brown opposed the deal.

"Yesterday's admissions by the Tanzanian middleman, Sailesh Vithlani, led Ms Short to call for BAE's prosecution if the allegations were proved. She said the prime minister had been personally responsible for forcing the licence for the Tanzania deal through the cabinet.

'No 10 insisted on letting this go ahead, when it stank,' she said. "It was always obvious that this useless project was corrupt. ' "

Continue reading "Africa's wealth - the Tanzania Radar scam"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:01 AM January 15, 2007 | Comments (0)

22,950 Iraqis died last year.

The death toll of Iraqis in 2006 has been estimated as 22,950, while the number of U.S. troops has reached 3,000 over the entire conflict. No wonder the author Baghdad Burning says all that matters now that they dodge bullets, car bombs and kidnappers. Reconstruction pales into insignificance if you can't keep safe and secure.

Today in Iraq gives a blow by blow account of what's happening as PNN records the Palestinian experience. Now both the United Nations and the European Union have called on Iraq not to go ahead with further hangings.

It seems doubtful if anyone will listen to reason, even though the execution of Saddam Hussain has been described as a lynching by his political opponents in a number of press articles.

Continue reading "22,950 Iraqis died last year."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:58 PM January 8, 2007 | Comments (0)

Going to work. No problem?

Going to work shouldn't be too much of a problem, although the traffic might be dreadful or the train cancelled. If you are Palestinian and work in Haifa, a once Palestinian coastal city, life is not so simple. You run the risk of being beaten up and arrested for your trouble.

The PNN News Network reports:
"Palestinian workers who comprise part of the low-wage Israeli labor force are subjected to brutality as they try to reach work, in their places of employment, and are often arrested.

Israeli police arrested 60 Palestinian workers on Saturday inside Israeli boundaries under the pretext of being there without permits. The workers were employed in the former Palestinian coastal city of Haifa. They were arrested, banned from work for one month, and fined 5,000 shekels. But first they were severely beaten."

If you are an Israeli citizen but Arab, life in Haifa may not be so simple either as Uri Avnery points out in his column. Falling in love and marrying the wrong person can be problematic to say the least. Such is the inhumane treatment legalised by the Israeli Government for its citizens. ("What Makes Sammy Run?")

Continue reading "Going to work. No problem?"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:20 AM January 8, 2007 | Comments (0)

African remedy to curb obesity

The Independent reports on trials by a number of conglomerates in the pharmaceutical industries to find a way of cutting down on obesity which affects 300 million world wide. Top of the list is a cactus found in the Kalahari desert. It is known that the San people use it to curb their hunger on long hunting trips. Unilever will pay them a royalty for the its use.

"....at the head of the race to cash in on the £3bn worldwide market for dietary control products is Hoodia gordonii - a spiny cactus, which takes five years to mature in the Kalahari desert.

Hoodia contains a secret weapon - a compound known as P57 which has been isolated by a British bio-technology company, Phytopharm, and is now at the heart of a £21m research scheme funded by Unilever.

Phytopharm announced last month that it was making good progress in clinical trials of P57. The cucumber-like core of the Hoodia has been used for centuries by indigenous San tribesmen to stave off hunger pangs. They eat it on long hunting trips.

Unilever has struck a deal with the San to pay the tribe a royalty from the sales of any product containing P57 to be used in a social programme."

(Source Independent 26/12/2006).

Continue reading "African remedy to curb obesity"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:22 AM December 26, 2006 | Comments (0)

Manger Square, Bethlehem, Christmas 2007

The article from PNN describes the major festivities outside the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square where events are put on for children. The Latin Patriarch of the Holy Lands visited here, and with a special permit, Rachel's Well, which is off limits to Palestinians.

"Thousands of people crowded into Manger Square for the annual scouts parades, drum corps, and children's festivities. This is the main event for the Christmas season. After the all night Mass, the city is quiet.

The main event was when the Patriarch arrives from Bethlehem at around 2:00 in the afternoon. He passed through the streets of Bethlehem, flanked with Palestinians, welcoming his procession. Priests and members of the clergy were in and outside of the Church of Nativity, while others passed through the streets with the Patriarch.

Local organizations, charities, school groups, citizens and political parties all made a showing as well for the first stop. The Patriarch arrived at the Mar Elias Monastery in Beit Jala, just up the hill from Bethlehem. The Beit Jala Mayor, Raji Zeidan, received Sabbah, as did the local clergy and residents."

Continue reading "Manger Square, Bethlehem, Christmas 2007"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:57 AM December 25, 2006 | Comments (0)

Christmas story from Bethlehem, 2007

A resident of Bethlehem recalls Christmas past and present with the "little town" surrounded by a fence and wall, and settlements of newcomers.

A group of church leaders from the U.K., including the Archbishop of Canterbury, have pledged to be "a voice for the voiceless" following their visit yo Bethlehem. Speaking out has not been welcomed by the Foreign Office though and the Archbishop has been roundly condemned for his thoughts that British and American foreign policy have damaged relations between Muslims and Christians.

The more the majority of the American people, British people and world wide understand that Middle East policy is a terrible disaster, the more the blind leadership digs its heels in

Continue reading "Christmas story from Bethlehem, 2007"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:54 AM December 24, 2006 | Comments (0)

A New Colonialism in Africa

As was evident on my visit to Zimbabwe and Botswana earlier this year, the Chinese are interested in Africa. Very interested. Now Thabo Mbeki, leader of South Africa, warns other African leaders.

Not that indigenous peoples need outside colonial powers to trample on their ancestral rights. I reported on the Bushmen of the Kalahari being removed in the interests of diamond mining in Botswana. The courts declared this illegal. Nevertheless the government is limiting return to the homelands

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:17 AM December 22, 2006 | Comments (0)

Christmas Greetings from Palestine

The Siraj Centre, Palestinian Christians, sent me Christmas Greetings. The link shows images of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. We send them Greetings from Birmingham UK and wish that 2007 will be a year of peace.

Continue reading "Christmas Greetings from Palestine"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:47 AM December 22, 2006 | Comments (0)

Botswana Court rules eviction of Bushmen from land in the Kalahari was illegal

Having reported about the upturn in Botswana's economy I guess there had to be a downside. It turns out that Bushmen were evicted from the land. Why? Because of the existence of diamonds there. Now a court has declared their removal illegal.

This is ancestral land. Once more it has to be shown that Africa's wealth is withheld from the people. Not only that many are dispossessed. The irony is that many of those who have acquired wealth from the former colonial powers are now mimicking their appalling behaviour.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:18 PM December 14, 2006 | Comments (0)

Still the Wall, still the Land Grab

The effects of the dividing Wall, that the Israelis continue to build on the pretext of defence, is stark in a village which is divided in two, isolating its people. The real purpose is rather to displace and acquire more Palestinian territory.

"The town of Azzun 'Atma has come to represent the worst of the worst of the effects of the Israeli Wall in the West Bank. The small town is in the northwestern West Bank's Qalqilia District as is now known as one of the 'bad parts of the West Bank.'

Azzun 'Atma is surrounded, literally encircled, by the area's 700 kilometers of concrete Wall. Villagers have been trapped by the Wall and now additional illegal Israeli settlement expansion from Ornit and Sha'arei Tikva settlements is designed to wreak additional havoc.

Azzun 'Atma residents cannot reach the rest of the West Bank expect for through one infrequently open gate, and cannot go into 1948 areas under the pretext of car theft. With this, the village is completely isolated from the outside world, accessed only through the main gate of the village that may or may not be open." (Source: Palestinian News Network.)

Continue reading "Still the Wall, still the Land Grab"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:19 AM December 2, 2006 | Comments (0)

CAABU Press Release: 30th November 2006

I received the following by e-mail, and obtained agreement with the Council for Arab-British Understanding, CAABU to reproduce it here. I do so because it refers to the continual violations of airspace and incursions into Lebanese Territory, and then the effects of the residual cluster bombs which are still killing and maiming:

"The problem of cluster bombs is very much to the fore in Lebanon. It is estimated that there are 1 million unexploded cluster bombs in the south of the country—90 per cent. of them were dropped within the last three days of the conflict—and we were told that because of that two people are killed every day while they are trying to gather in the harvest. My first question to the Minister is: what representations have been made to Israel to help that situation? We must clear those cluster weapons at the earliest opportunity and Israel has an important role to play in that." Source Hansard 29/11/2006.

British MPs raise concerns over situation in Lebanon during
Parliamentary debate

Members of Parliament, who recently visited Lebanon on a CAABU
Parliamentary fact-finding delegation, yesterday took part in an
adjournment debate on Lebanon and the Middle East in the House of
Commons.

CAABU, in conjunction with Medical Aid for Palestinians, led a
cross-party delegation to Lebanon in mid-November to witness the impact
of this summer's conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and the
subsequent destruction of large areas of Lebanon by Israel's military
campaign.

The delegation included four Labour MPs, Kerry McCarthy, Tom Levitt,
Shahid Malik, Andy Love, and one Liberal Democrat Colin Breed.*

The itinerary of the visit was balanced between political meetings and
'on-the-ground' insights into the local situation. The breadth of
political meetings afforded the delegation an insight into the positions
of the different blocs within Lebanese politics, while meetings and
tours with local NGOs highlighted the every-day obstacles faced by
people as a result of the recent conflict.

Among the high level political meetings were Prime Minister Siniora,
President Lahoud, the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, and
Mohammed Raad, the leader of the Hezbollah bloc in Parliament.

Despite the wide spectrum of people met by the delegation, the same
sentiments were echoed across the board on certain key issues, such as
the need for the international community to secure an end to the
repeated violation of Lebanese sovereign territory through repeated
Israeli over-flights, and the continued occupation of the Sheba'a farms.
In addition, the urgent need to clear 1.2 million cluster bombs across
the country, the existence of which are daily adding to the death toll
and obstructing reconstruction efforts.

Many of these concerns were raised by the MPs during the adjournment
debate on 29th November. They also drew on their personal experiences
during the visit.

Continue reading "CAABU Press Release: 30th November 2006"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:56 AM December 1, 2006 | Comments (0)

A picture of Gaza now

Today a ceasefire was announced, but even after this morning's start Palestinians accused Israel of continuing it's occupation while missiles were fired into Israel from Gaza in response. With exits from Gaza continually blocked Gaza is a prison.

The link goes to Al Jazeera's portrait of Gaza now with a range of illustrations and articles, including an interview with Uri Avnery. Avnery is Jewish who was born in Germany and formerly a Zionist. He is now passionate about the plight of the Palestinians and an outspoken critic of the Israeli Government.

Continue reading "A picture of Gaza now"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:30 PM November 26, 2006 | Comments (0)

Zulu King honoured in UK

Cetshwayo has been remembered in the UK with the setting of a blue plaque on the house in Kensington where he stayed.

The Zulu King met with Queen Victoria at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. He also had talks with Prime Minister Gladstone while in Britain.

Continue reading "Zulu King honoured in UK"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 6:04 PM November 24, 2006 | Comments (0)

Israel violates its own law

An Israeli peace group has stated that Israel is clearly violating her own laws by allowing setlers to remain on land stolen from Palestinians.

"The data was leaked to Peace Now via an official in the Civil Administration. The group says the government had refused to give this information to it.

The group says that the data it has received has been "hidden by the State for many years, for fear that the revelation of these facts could damage its international relations".

According to the report, 86.4% of the Maale Adumim settlement block, the largest in the West Bank, is built on private Palestinian land." (Source BBC News)

The study by Peace Now shows that 40% of settlement land is Palestinian owned.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:12 PM November 21, 2006 | Comments (0)

In the Middle East it's oil: in Africa it's diamonds which put a gleam in Western eyes.

There have been democratic elections in the Congo, but it appears that rather than settle the issue the country may well return to civil war. In a series of entries to this weblog I have linked to articles considering what is happening to the mineral wealth of African countries.This is the Congo's story. In the article in the Guardian (15/11/2006) the Roman Catholic archbishop in the Congo believes that there is a link to western interests to mine for diamonds and other precious minerals:

"...the European presence only confirms for many in Kinshasa that foreign governments are backing Mr Kabila just as they propped up Mobutu Sese Seko as dictator when the country was called Zaire, in order for western business interests to mine diamonds and other valuable minerals. That view was reinforced on Monday when the archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Frédéric Etsou, told Radio France International that "results that are coming out are not the results that are being published".

'I ask the international community to abstain from all attempts to impose on the people of Congo he whom they have not chosen as their president ... just to satisfy gluttonous and predatory appetites like those of a foreign dictator,' he said."

Continue reading "In the Middle East it's oil: in Africa it's diamonds which put a gleam in Western eyes."

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:48 AM November 15, 2006 | Comments (0)

Civil Rights activists honoured in U.S.

In Washington political leaders and celebrities laid the foundation for a monument to Rev Martin Luther King. President George W Bush and Bill Clinton were there as were veterans of the 50's and 60's Civil Rights Movement. Rev Jesse Jackson and Andrew Young, former friends and allies of Luther King were among those at this moving occasion.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 6:44 PM November 14, 2006 | Comments (0)

Beit Hanoun

Women, children, no one is spared in the Israeli incursion into Gaza. A Guardian report gives a graphic account of what happened to a 13 year old girl in her own home. Yesterday at least18 were killed by tank shells on homes.

The idea is to stop missiles being fired into Israel, but the anger that these incidents arouse appears to be strenthening resolve for more violence including suicide bombings and rocket attacks. Around 80 Palestinians have died in the Israeli operation, many of them have been civilians. In the latest attack most were women and children.

Continue reading "Beit Hanoun"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:59 AM November 8, 2006 | Comments (0)

Africa intends to benefit from the Diamond Trade

!2 diamond producing African countries met in Luanda, Angola's capital, with observers from 7 others attending.

Although Africa produces 60% of the world's diamonds. led by Botswana, control is another matter and there is a significant illicit trade.

"Manuel Africano, Angola's mining minister, said that despite the large amount of diamonds produced in Africa, the continent 'had no say in world diamond commerce strategies'.

Africano said Africa, which includes the world's largest diamond producer Botswana, generated about $158 billion a year from the trade of 1.9 billion karats.

The diamond industry represents 33 per cent of Botswana's gross domestic product, while Angola produces almost $1 billion worth of diamonds annually and aims to double its production in the next year.

Conflict diamonds have long fuelled African wars, with armed factions selling gems to raise funds for weapons."

Continue reading "Africa intends to benefit from the Diamond Trade"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:11 PM November 5, 2006 | Comments (0)

The use of Uranium in bombing in the Lebanon and Gaza

Evidence in soil samples and the unusual amputation of limbs and burning of bodies is raising questions about exactlt what forms of weaponry Israel used in the Lebanon (Independent 28/10/2006).

Both Jerusalem Post and Haaretz pick up The Independent story, but Haaretz speaks also of the Gaza Strip referring to an earlier report in the Italian press.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:03 AM October 28, 2006 | Comments (0)

Africa in the spotlight: the London Film Festival

Africa is in the spotlight at the London Film Festival which is outlined in the Independent today (27/10/2006). There are a number of films about incidents occuring in Uganda, southern Africa and elsewhere. It will be intersting to see how the African film industry is represented. In the past it was Francophone countries which produced a number of notable insights where it was possible to get an African perspective on events. A number of films were shown on Channel 4 giving a rare and welcome glimpse of the richness of life and culture. If poverty existed, the power of human life to exist and flourish came through.

The problem with films by outsiders may not allow the perspectives of Africans to emerge and can easily reinforce stereotypes, if not give a completely false image. C.L.R. James complained in his introduction to the "Black Jacobins" that Africans and those of African origin in the Caribbean, in America, were shown as passive recipients throughout history. This is inclined to continue even within the most well-meaning offereings. India too has suffered from a colonial filter when a whole succession of utter rubbish purporting to show India was screened. One distinguished British director opined that India had never been put on the screen, ignoring the achievements of Satyajit Ray and Rama Rao.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:59 AM October 27, 2006 | Comments (0)

Africa's wealth continued

Ethiopia is said to be the place where the coffee bean originated, but coffee growers are being denied the benefits of their crops. Starbucks coffee outlet has an annual turnover representing three quarters that of Ethiopia's economy. As the ordinary citizen of southern Africa is denied much of the benefit of mineral wealth, so the farmer loses out to business interests of the developed world.

Oxfam has accused Starbucks of attempting to block Ethiopia's attempts to patent the names of the coffee produced in that country in the U.S. which would be worth a substantial amount to Ethiopia's producers.

Continue reading "Africa's wealth continued"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:24 PM October 26, 2006 | Comments (0)

This is happening to Africa's wealth

Speaking of what happens to Africa's wealth, it may be worth looking to see what is happening in the mining world. A Guardian report (25/10/2006) sates:

"Anglo American, the world's third largest mining group, yesterday shocked the City when it broke with tradition and announced it had chosen an outsider to lead the company when the chief executive steps down next year. Even more surprising in a male-dominated industry, the new boss is a woman."

Does appear to be a blow for equality, but clearly there are some who don't welcome the news:

"Some analysts, however, worried about Ms Carroll's lack of experience. Alcan is an aluminium producer - an area where Anglo has no interests. Ms Carroll has also worked for Amoco, the American oil company that merged with BP in 1998. One analyst said: "Oil and aluminium have got nothing to do with Anglo. She has no direct experience in anything Anglo does."

Analysts at UBS added: "In our opinion, heading Anglo is one of the more challenging positions in mining due to the complexity of the group and time spent on 'soft issues' such as South Africa." Anglo American still generates about 40% of its earnings from South Africa. Under the country's policy of black economic empowerment, the company has to liaise closely with the government."

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:37 AM October 25, 2006 | Comments (0)

Written out of history

The process of writing black people out of history goes on apace. We can see from the release of Clint Eastwood new film about Iwo Jima where it is impossible to pick out one African American. There were some 900 serving at the time who took part in this battle. Since there are living survivors they are able to give first had accounts of their experiences. This is included in the Guardian report. They speak of cameramen deliberately turning away from black troops.

The involvement of black people in history seems always to attract debate and be contested. "Out of Africa" was countered by "Not out of Africa", African history itself has been questionned. The fact that black cowboys played an active role alongside their white counterpoints is well hidden. As a child I watched innumerable westerns but don't remember African Americans featuring!

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:14 PM October 21, 2006 | Comments (0)

and what is happening to Africa's resources?

In Kenya the flower market is big business. European supemarkets are kept stocked with exotic blooms. The cost to Kenyans is high since the water being used is drying up rivers (Guardian 21/10/20060.

"One hundred miles from its source on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, the great river Ngiro was just ankle deep yesterday as nomadic farmers walked through waters which have become the focus of conflict.

Kenya's second largest river is a life-sustaining resource for these farmers, but it also sustains big business for flower farms supplying UK supermarkets. British and European-owned flower companies grow vast quantities of blooms and vegetables for export and last week the official Kenyan water authority, regional bodies, human rights and development groups as well as small-scale farmers accused flower companies near Mount Kenya of "stealing" water which would normally fill the river."

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:35 AM October 21, 2006 | Comments (0)

What is happening to Africa's wealth?

The Guardian (20.10.2006) tells the story of a small Malawian boy's adoption by an American superstar. There has been plenty of criticism and comment about a story which covers an uncomfortable reality, a reality which the intention of G8 has been unable to touch.

Africa is a poor continent. Wrong. It has wealth untold, as Botswana is demonstrating quite spectacularly. The problem is the distribution of wealth. When I visited Francistown there were new buildings appearing everywhere with the expectation this will continue. As I return to the station someone calls my name. It is a Nigerian I met in Birmingham. He has come here to find work, but he's African and maybe it's not that easy. The diamond mining is controlled jointly by De Beers, the company founded by Cecil Rhodes a highly controversial figure in his dealings with Africans and others.

Reconstruction of zimbabwe at Khami west of Bulawayo

The existence of a state of Monomatapa is still hotly debated. It includes present day Zimbabwe where there exist a number of stone houses, or zimbabwes, the most well-known being Great Zimbabwe itself. I visited the site at Khami which includes a Portuguese cross on top of the highest point of the hill complex. Khami is being reconstructed by an international group of volunteers with its walls showing the same patterns familiar from its predecessor at Great Zimbabwe. Peter Garlake, the Zimbabwean archeologist who has researched some of the sites and written about Great Zimbabwe, left the country of his birth in 1970 when the Rhodesian Front "instructed that no official state publications may state unequivocally that Great Zimbabwe was an African creation". (Garlake 1982). Portuguese sources provide a different picture some of which are cited in W.G.L Randles' "The Kingdom of Monomatapa" (1981).

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:12 AM October 20, 2006 | Comments (0)

Criticism of Israel cancels book launch

A book on the deportation of Jews from Vichy France had its launch cancelled in New York because its author expressed an opinion that Jews in Israel had forgotten the Palestinians as has the world. Last week I asked a speaker who goes into schools to talk about his experience as a survivor of the holocaust in Germany about other acts of genocide today, including what was happening in Israel. He told me he wouldn't speak about the Middle East, although he went on to say his daughter lived in Jerusalem and had happy relations with Palestinians.

It is terrifying that what can go on in a country can continue without comment. It is safe to tell and retell accounts of past atrocities while turning a blind eye to what is happening now. One of the main points made about making the Jewish holocaust known was that its shouldn't be repeated. Many feel that what happened to Africans through centuries of cruelty should be classed in the same way. Is it? Ethnic cleansing has been going on in the Balkans, and is now happening in the Sudan.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:00 AM October 11, 2006 | Comments (0)

Mahler performances recorded and live

As I write the Sixth Symphony plays under Michael Gielen and the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden. Quite an arresting performance with clear and detailed sound. I started a period of listening again to performances of his works after my wife gave me a copy of Mahler's letters to his wife Alma.

I think my first Mahler disc, on vinyl, was Solti's account of the Fourth Symphony with the Concertgebouw, an orchestra closely associate with the composer in his lifetime when Mengelberg encouraged him at a time when he was struggling to be understood. I still like this account which seems a straightforward approach with a fine soloist in Sylvia Stahlmann in the fourth movement. However I have just listened to Mengelberg's account which seemed to me extremely revealing. His close association with Mahler must surely have provided an insight: for example the use of rubato, apparent on the piano roll that Mahler played himself, is likely to be idiomatic. Rattle's account with the CBSO is also of interest when he takes the opening with a change in tempi, reversing the usual way it starts quickly the slowing. This is claimed to be in accordance with Mahler's wishes.

I added Solti's performance of the First Symphony to my collection, which again I still enjoy for its dynamism, although Abbado's account with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is even more so. I have this in a tape cassette collection along with Tennstedt's performance of the Fourth which I very much enjoy. Lucia Popp like Stahlmann has the right innocence in her voice for the finale,

I was present at the live recorded performance of the First Symphony which Rattle gave with the CBSO in Symphony Hall. He also included the Mahler song cycles alongside the Nielsen Symphonies. Somehow this didn't work for me. I love the objectivity of Nielsen and somehow I couldn't enjoy the Mahler songs which are such an important influence on the earlier symphonies. I treasure recordings of the Songs of a Wayfarer and Kindertotenlieder by Fischer-Dieskau under Furtwangler and Kempe.

Mehta was the conductor of the recording of the Resurrection Symphony on vinyl, with Klemperer and the Philharmonia on tape. I heard Klemperer live at the Royal Festival Hall in this work, and presumably his associations with Mahler give this a special place. I like this sober, but powerful approach.

My recording of the Third Symphony was again with Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under Bernard Haitink. Again I have acquired this on CD coupled with an early work. When the DVD appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, again with Haitink, I couldn't resist it. I see he is performing it in Chicago as newly appointed Music Director there. I have not heard this is the concert hall as far as I remember - ah yes I did attend a performance at the Promenade Concerts at the Royal albert Hall in London in 1962 when Norman Del Mar conducted the London Symphony Orchestra with Helen Watts as soloist. also at the Proms in 1963 Colin Davis directed the First Symphony also with the LSO. At this same concert Luigi Nono conducted his Cantata "Sul ponte di Hiroshima." In August 1964 there were two noteworthy Mahler performances I heard at the Proms. On 13th was the first performance of Deryck Cook's performing version of 10th subsequently made famous by Rattle This was conducted by his friend composer Berthold Goldschmidt with the LSO. On 24th Charles Groves led the combined Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Northern Orchestras, soloists and choirs in the mighty Eighth Symphony. It was Groves with the RLPO who, we wre told, introduced Mahler to Rattle. On vinyl I chose Kubelik (along with the 7th) while on CD I have Mitropoulos's account in addition to Rattle with the CBSO.

Barbirolli's Fifth (with the New Philharmonia) was added to the LP collection. Although he takes broad tempi this is a gripping account. Fond as I am of Barbirolli in Elgar and Vaughan Williams, I'm not always so persuaded in some other repertoire (I can't take to his 4th with the BBCSO and the sleigh bells seem to have been replaced by someone hitting a tin can!), although I went to some of his concerts and remember an outstanding Sibelius Second and Nielsen Fourth with the Halle. I have both the Fifth and Ninth (with the Berlin Philharmonic) on CD. This year I heard the Welsh National Orchestra give a remarkable account of the Fifth in Hereford Cathedral at the Three Choirs Festival. It was under Owain Arwel Hughes. Fantastic playing from these young players.

I have returned to Jascha Horenstein with the Stockholm Philharmonic in the Sixth. Again I attended Horenstein concerts in Birmingham and Cheltenham with Bruckner and Brahms in the repertoire, but I regret not Mahler. I found a wonderful account of Das Lied von der Erde with the then BBC Northern Orchestra (now the BBC Philharmonic with the late Alfreda Hodgson as an affecting soloist.

I reported elsewhere of the performance of the Ninth Symphony Barenboim gave with the Chicago S.O. (He conducted the East-West Divan Orchestra in the First.) On disc I had one of the Karajan performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the other on CD. Barbirolli, Rattle (with the Vienna Philharmonic) and Bruno Walter on CD are on my shelves.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 12:40 PM October 8, 2006 | Comments (0)

Hungary's Blair

The Hungarian P.M. appears to have come a cropper for telling lies leading up to thie spring elections. Sound familiar? I was in Budapest the week prior to voting, and comments I heard then mentioned the arrogance of the candidate! One aspect of this was his picture covering the whole face of a tower block.

Hungarians will not stand for any nonsense as those who remember the 1956 resistance to Soviet power. Now in front of parliament there is a flag with a hole where the reminder of earlier domination has been removed.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:13 PM September 19, 2006 | Comments (0)

Zimbabwe's people

I found Zimbabweans to be unfailingly kind and helpful. The country is rich in mineral wealth and has farmland which led to the calling of the country the "breadbasket of Africa". Yet the reality for people trying to exist here is apalling. With inflation running in the region of 1200% life has become extraordinarily difficult for the people with price rises for basic commodities such as food increasing daily. A kilo of minced beef was put on offer at well over 1 million Zimbabwean dollars!

Someone is benefitting. Travelling down a road out of Bulawayo in my cousin's MGB we gasped as we saw palatial mansions being built. Adrian knew the area well and hadn't seen this development before. Evidently a government minister was residing in the area. A new elite exists in a climate where the masses are exeperiencing massive unemployment and widespread health problems. Aids is a major worry as it is elsewhere in the continent.

Those who can get away from Zimbabwe do. Many told me they would like to go to the U.K. The white population used to be 250,000 but has now fallen to 20,000. In spite of this yhose remaining employ black servants, still referred to as "houseboys" and maids. Time seems to be in suspension with attitudes still harbouring thoughts of Ian Smith, now spending his days in a home in South Africa. Houses have fixtures and fittings common in the UK decades ago. A library I visited had books that could be found in British libraries which had never been updated, quite inappropriate for a modern African country.

Views about Great Zimbabwe and other research which has found Africa's past to be other than to be "one of darkness" as an eminent British historian once put it. Yet views are still held as if Cecil John Rhodes was still around when stories of King Solomon's Mines were current, denying that black Africans had anything to do with such constructions. It still very hard to find a cohesive history of the Kingdom Of Monomatapa, which included both Great Zimbabwe and Khami. Even the Internet doesn't help much.

Whilst racist attitudes and beliefs continue across the globe, at least scholarship in Europe and America has moved on. The debate about Black Athena and the riposte "Not Out of Africa" may still rage, but the work of many scholars both black and white is slowly leading to the realisation that the African past is as rich and varied as anywhere. No where is the denial of the African past more evident than in the story of Egypt. While it is taught about endlessly in schools, it is presented out of its context and without reference to Africa through its Nubian links. No one was more aware of this than the Greek writers and historians who understood that they themselves had inherited an African past in many aspects of their lives.

Such a brief visit as mine cannot take in the dimensions of space and time in which what I experienced exists. I have recorded the cave paintings of the Bush People who inhabited the region for many thousand years. I was able to see a partly reconstructed Khami which had trading links with the Portuguese. In the museum was evidence of the gold mining being carried out by local people 500 years back before the colonial incursion which robbed them of the land.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:07 AM August 22, 2006 | Comments (0)

Hwange and Victoria Falls

Visits to the Victoria Falls and the Hwange Game Park are obligatory for anyone visiting Zimbabwe, or Zambia for that matter. Two nights were spent in thatched cottages within Hwange. The night sky was amazingly clear as it was unfamiliar. A myriad of stars shone brightly and it took time to identify the Southern Cross. Animals came into the compound. We picked out a small group of impala, delicate, light brown in the car headlights. In the morning banded mongoose scurried over to clear up bacon rind after breakfast.

The big cats were elusive and we saw no lion or cheetah, although one morning we heard the lion roar close by. We were told they had been seen by the road near the camp, but they were nowhere to be seen when we went to see.

Down by the water holes there was more to see. Inactive crocodiles basked in the winter sun to build up their body heat. Humps protruding from the water were all that could be seen of the hippopotamus. On one occasion we were treated to some action as they yanked large tufts of grass from the bank. A bird on the back of one of them had to hop on and off as the gigantic hulk submerged.

One morning we came across ostrich with their young feeding. The miniature birds were like toy models of the adults, their bodies still the shape of an egg.

At another pan two haughty kudu, with their twisting horns were taking water. This was a most impressive sight.

Hwange has the largest number of elephants in Africa and we weren't disappointed. The first we spotted were lone males, but later we stumbled across the herd with female elephants with their young. On another occasion a herd descended to the water hole spraying water everywhere.

Giraffe were in evidence and seeing them among the trees as well as on the plains gave us a great feeling that we were seeing their natural habitat. Zebra were less evident, but some appeared on cue. Troops of baboons and vervet monkeys would appear by the road side and at watering holes.

The rhinoceros, particularly the black rhino, is increasingly rare, and there is concern that poachers will kill those remaining. I just caught a television programme of someone who crashed their microlight aircraft while trying to track down a tagged animal. He was extremely lucky to survive in the remote area in which he was searching.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:30 AM August 16, 2006 | Comments (0)

Zimbabwe impressions

I am now left with memories of a two week stay in Bulawayo, second city in Zimbabwe. A young woman in the Museum wanted me to visit Harare and to teach me the Shona language, an offer I'd have loved to have accepted!

The National Natural History Museum is a good starting place. It's exhibits, while not a substitute for Hwange or Mabuto Game Reserves, inform you of the wide range of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, flora and fauna that exist in this attractive country. It still contains to the surprise of some an account of Cecil John Rhodes and his final laying to rest in the Matopos (or Matobos) Hills. Evidently the Shona-led government has been talking about the removal of his, Jameson and others graves from the spectacular site where it exists. The Ndebele are less keen to do this, and even now there is some muttering about their tribute to him at his funeral. Less clear are where the bodies of Mzilikazi and Lobengula, Ndebele Kings, are laid to rest in these spectacular hills with their incredible rock formations. Among them are caves exhibiting prehistoric paintings of animals along with figures of hunters showing what are said to be magical lines of force.

What interested me was the exhibit which showed three skeletons, one badly crushed, which were retrieved from a gold mine dating back 500 years. Evidently there had been an earth tremor which had led to the fragile roof collapsing on the two women and a man. One of the women had tried to escape t up the ventilation shaft, but had fallen back. To me this was evidence of African involvement in the trading invoving both Arabs and Portuguese from both East and West Coasts. While the country and adopted the name Zimbabwe after the ancient stone structures, the name Monomatapa had also been a contender after the black empire which had flourished in the region.

I was disappointed at not being able to get to Great Zimbabwe in the time available, but I did manage to visit the site of Khami, just to the west of Bulawayo. Through an international effort thsi is being reconstructed and exhibits the same wall patterns as found at Great Zimbabwe. The site is quite extensive and one wall being rebuilt is quite impressive. Right at the top a Portuguese Cross is found. Khami followed on after Great Zimbabwe's decline.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:45 AM August 4, 2006 | Comments (0)

To Botswana and back

I haven't been able to access the internet as hoped so reports have been delayed. I took the trip by train to Botswana on the new service, and it appears to be popular with Zimbabweans who wish to replenish stocks of commodities difficult to find in Zimbabwe. Francistown is the second city in Botswana after Gaberone. It has supermarkets and many of the outlets familiar in Europe. Diggers, the hotel is English owned, and the menue would be found in many hotels in the UK. THe reception and restaurant staff are from Botswana and provide a very friendly and efficient service. Africa is evident in road side markets selling a variety of products and providing services such as shoe repair. The town is expanding fast and is evidence of Botswana's strong economy which has overtaken South Africa.

I'll be saying more later and adding photos. I have to report on Victoria Falls and the Hwange Game Park.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:09 PM July 27, 2006 | Comments (0)

Greetings from Zimbabwe

Hey folks I'm a millionaire - a multi-millionaire in fact in Zimbabwe dollars! I have a fifty thousand dollare note which bought me a post card, so when you receive one from me just remember what it cost.

I arrived yesterday via Frankfurt and Johannesburg. The small aircraft that flew into Bulawayo was met by cousins Juliet and Adrian. I then went on to see my Aunt Kathleen who is now a very sprightly 93. Auntie Kath is my Father's youngest sister whom I'm hoping to visit a few more times during my two week stay. At the moment there could be trouble fitting this in because tomorrow (21/7/06) I'm going by train to Botswana. Charles, Juliet's husband, wants to try the new service and in any case shopping promises to be rather less complicated than it is in Zimbabwe. Then there's a trip to the Hwange Game Park and Victoria Falls, and Great Zimbabwe which I really want to see for myself. Today I visited Chipengai animal sanctuary which has a memorial to Princess Diana. Orphaned and injured and endangered animals are brought here. They are returned to the wild if and when they are fit to do so. There is an excellent schools' centre.

This is indeed a beautiful country judging from what I've seen and it's people a delight. This was no surprise since I have Zimbabwean friends in the U.K. two of whom helped me set up the Focus on Africa school project in Birmingham in 1986. This incorporated the Commonwealth Institute's Great Zimbabwe Exhibition.

Since it's winter the days are a mild 28-30 degrees, a little cooler than the Birmingham I left in summer temperatures.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:38 PM July 20, 2006 | Comments (0)

Barack Obama - a name for the future?

The Washington Post reported on a figure who it says the Democrats are taking notice. He held his audience with his ability to communicate with s degree of self-depricating humour. At one meeting he noticed Dionne Warwick in the audience and immediately responded with the first line of "Walk on By" perfectly in tune.

Barack Obama is a Senator from Illinois; born in Honolulu, Hawaii, August 4, 1961; obtained early education in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Hawaii; continued education at Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif., and Columbia University, New York City; studied law at Harvard University, where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, and received J.D. in 1992; lecturer on constitutional law, University of Chicago; member, Illinois State senate 1997-2004; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2004 for term beginning January 3, 2005. Source.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:17 AM June 18, 2006 | Comments (0)

Environmental damage in Canada resulting from the U.S. thirst for oil.

The Washington Post reports the far-reaching environmental effects of trying to quench the U.S. thirst for oil. It is happening in Alberta where effects of opening up mines and shifting earth is drining rivers and polluting them at a rate that had not been expected. The report says:

"The digging -- into an area the size of Maryland and Virginia combined -- has proliferated at gold-rush speed, spurred by high oil prices, new technology and an unquenched U.S. thirst for the fuel. The expansion has presented ecological problems that experts thought they would have decades to resolve."

Huge tracts of forest - an antidote to global warming have gone creating a moonscape, and members of communities living by the polluted river are experiencing rare forms of cancer.

The huge operation makes money for Canada and produces a synthetic oil for the U.S., but for the inhabitants of Alberta it is having a devastating effect although consequences will be felt much further afield. Gases emitted will contibute to global warming.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:15 AM May 31, 2006 | Comments (0)

A weekend in Budapest

A view of the Danube in Budapest with Margaret Island in the centre distance and the Parliament Building on the right

Dal Singh Dhesy and I decided to take a break and so we flew out to Budapest for a few days. This was my fourth visit, the last time bring in 1986 when Hungary was still part of the Soviet Bloc. We found a vibrant city with a variety of shops with their attractive futuristic designs so beloved by Hungarians.

Dal Singh Dhesy at the Chain Bridge with Pest in the background

My old friend Dr Egon Svastics met us at the airport on a rather miserable wet afternoon. We had first met over forty years ago in a tourist office in one of the Lake Balaton resorts when I had wanted to go to a concert at Kesthely at the south end of the lake. Egon stepped in and said that he would be able to find a room for the night with a family in the village. Since then we have met up many times in various places across Europe.

We had planned an excursion to the Danube Bend, but we found that the river had reached a record level and that the Budapest embankment was flooded. Walking across the Chain Bridge from the commercial Pest to the historic and residential Buda hills the Danube was vaste. We took the rail lift up the hill and looked across the river to the parliament building and down to the flooded Margaret Island.

The flooded tramway on the Pest embankment of the Danube

On Saturday we visited the parliament building with Egon and his wife Kinga. Hungary was preparing for a general election the following day with a close result predicted for the major parties. The building was designed to take two houses, but today there is only one house since the upper house was abolished.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:31 PM April 9, 2006 | Comments (0)

Lighting a Candle in Manger Square, Bethlehem

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People (PCR) invite you to a light a candle in a vigil to honor Martyrs for Peace, Tom Fox, CPT Iraq, Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall, from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and to protest illegal Israeli invasion of the Prison in Jericho.

The vigil will start at 18:00 Friday 17 March 2006, at the Manger Square Bethlehem.

Please invite your friends and bring banners if you can.
For more info, please call:
CPT: (02) 222-8485
PCR: (02)277-2018 or cell: 054-453-1339


George S. Rishmawi
Coordinator,
Siraj, Center for Holy Land Studies
Beit Sahour, Palestine
Telefax: +972 2 274 8590
Email

Dear George,
I will be with you in spirit. Rachael Corrie is remembered on my website. I still have the video of Issa driving us into Manger Square with your commentary. It's a remarkable document! The time we spent in Palestine remains with me as a beacon showing how the darkness is defeated. Please light a candle for me!
Peace and love,
John

Dear John,

Salaam and thanks for the hard work. For sure my time with you was great and we can not wait to get together again. Be in touch and for sure will light a candle with you name. Best regards,

George S. Rishmawi

The following comes from Jewish Voice for Peace:

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:43 PM March 16, 2006 | Comments (0)

Malta-Sicily Ferry disaster, 1996

A meeting was held recently at the Sikh Community and Youth service on Soho Road in Handsworth where the speaker referred to the 1996 ferry disaster when a boat, the Yiohan, with its human cargo, many of whom were from the Punjab, sank on its way between Malta and Sicily. This was another example of human trafficking which the speaker had been resesearching and conducting a campaign to bring the perpetrators to justice at last. A Bollywood film is in progress depicting the still disputed events.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:02 PM January 18, 2006 | Comments (0)

Sustainable Urban Development: PRESUD

One of the most rewarding experiences of being a member of Birmingham City Council was the opportunity to become involved with major issues. One of these was the improvement of services through the Best Value initiative (of which more later), the other was to be part of the Birmingham team looking at sustainable development in 9 European cities: The Hague, Malmo, Tampere, Leipzig. Vienna, Venice, Newcastle, Nottingham and Birmingham. This was the PRESUD peer-group assessment project.

My involvement began in 2001 with a training session in an extremely Venice. The venue itself was in the cool environment of a converted warehouse on the Lagoon. The interior had been converted to be like the rigging of a sailing shipm an experience in itself. Our Venetian hosts took us to mostly fish restaurants with an amazing variety of local produce familiar and unfamiliar.

The first review I became involved with was in Leipzig in June 2002. Flying via Munich rather than Frankfurt was quite a long journey. Leipzig airport is quite small some way outside the city. Leipzig is of considerable historical interest, particularly to me with its associations with J.S. Bach and Mendelssohn. As I pointed out at he end of the presentation of our findings, Mendelssohn had association with Birmingham where he performed his works in the Town Hall. My last morning I sat in on a performance of a Telemann choral work. Quite simply stunning.

Sustainability was very much on the minds of the City Council and the surrounding area. There was much activity to create leisure facilities and some of the schemes were on a large scale. There was the use of the former coal quarries to form a lake for water sports and other activities, and a canal was being renewed to join it to a tributory of the Elbe which would open a route to the sea north of Hamburg. We borrowed bicycles to take a look at this project - quite a time since I had ridden! The canal development was one where officers from Birmingham City Council were able to provide the benefit of their experience of renovating the canal system in Birmingham. Bill Clinton visiting the G8 summit in Birmingham during his presidency of the U.S. had enjoyed his stay with a pint of beer in one of the canalside pubs.

The public transport system is well developed, and one of the newly built neighbourhoods was trying to get the extensive tram network into the area. The size of the population would not merit this, however. The exsistence of a car industry in Leipzig brought about a caution which was holding back on progress in sustainability. It was felt that compromises had to be made.

Leipzig was formerly part of Eastern Germany and a large number of people had left following reunification. This meant there were many empty flats and properties. There is a huge complex where Leipzig holds international events such as its Trade Fairs.

The report was welcomed as fair comment on the situation in Leipzig, although we were disappointed at the low turnout in the imposing Council House building. closed the presentation with a vote of thanks for the co-operation we had received with documentation and organisation.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:04 PM December 29, 2005 | Comments (0)

Palestinian art recognised

An Israeli writer, Gannit Ankori, has surprised herself by looking at the art tradition of Palestine. It has led her to a fundamental reappraisal of the history of her country dominated and distorted by the Zionist vision.

Ankori: "I was travelling in a car from Jerusalem to the Galilee with an American journalist and a Palestinian writer to see a play by the Palestinian theatre company Al-Hakawati.

We had just passed Canada Park and the American asked: ' What is this beautiful place?' I told him what I had been taught: 'This is Canada Park, a wonderful place for picnics. The pine trees were planted as part of the Zionist ideology of making the desert bloom.'

The Palestinian responded: 'Yes, this place, Latroun, is now called Canada Park. The trees were planted as part of the Zionist effort to cover up three Arab villages that were destroyed and depopulated after the war of 1967.'

I was shocked. I had no idea. As soon as we passed by Canada Park, I didn't answer any more 'American' questions. I realised that I had to actively re-learn the history of my homeland. My quest to understand Palestinian art was related to this journey and to my need to uncover the narratives that had previously been repressed and covered up. This was in the mid-1980s and I found out."

This vividly illustrates the way that two communities living side by side can be blinded to the reality of their neighbour's lives, a fact shared with the communities in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile the prospect of peace recedes as Hamas denies it is prepared to call a truce with Israel pointing to assassinations and attempted assassinations of its leadership. As always this appears to be counterproductive. Why build a huge wall and then do all you can to ensure the cycle of killing continues?

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:11 AM December 10, 2005 | Comments (0)

Welcome to Niamh Eili

I received this exciting news this week from my granddaughter, Lael, in Vancouver.

My little sister, baby Niamh Eili was born 00:10 (approximately), 16 November 2005. She weighed 6lbs 12oz/3070 g and measured 50cm.

I was there to see her as she was born. It was very exciting. It was very late in the night time. I woke up and I said, "Daddy!" He told me the baby was coming. I came over to Mummy and Daddy and stroked my Mummy over her back. I gave her some water and then I saw a head slipping out of my Mum's body. I thought that was great!

Lots of love from,

Lael

PS. I wanted to say that my Mummy made some very loud noises. She kind of hurt my ears a little bit. I love how Niamh looks. She's very small. She makes lots of noises too, but doesn't cry a lot.

Her Mummi in Vancouver recorded her story in her blog.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:03 AM November 18, 2005 | Comments (0)

Rosa Parks in state

The Washington Post description of Rosa Parks lying in state in the U.S. Capitol is touching. As the report says it reflects her life: dignified, understated.

To me it points up the reality of life behind the headlines. Here was a huge diverse crowd united in expressing their admiration and thanks for this courageous act from someone who did not court publicity, but touched their lives. And here was the mighty President Bush standing in front of the coffin to pay his respects. She towers above him. Rest in Peace Rosa.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 7:46 AM October 31, 2005 | Comments (0)

Ecocide of the Panjab (Punjab)

Handsworth has a sizable Sikh population from the Indian Panjab. A seminar on environmental issues at the Sikh Community and Youth Service on Soho Road alerted the audience to how the environment of the Panjab is being seriously degraded by inappropriate farming, the use of herbicides, pesticides etc. The image of the Panjab as the "breadbasket of India" is very misleading. While it still supplies a considerable proportion of grain the quality has been damaged through poisonous chemicals. Rice crops have been introduced, but the Panjab is described as "semi-arid" and so thise are using up water resources in an unsustainable way.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:16 PM October 15, 2005 | Comments (0)

The West Eastern Divan Orchestra in Ramallah

The orchestra dreamed up by Palestinian academic and author, the late Edward Said and continued by their music director Daniel Barenboim reached a high point in its concert in Ramallah. The concert was packed out. For it to happen
at all much behind the scenes negotiating at government level was necessary. The orchestra is based in Seville and documents were needed to get beyond the checkpoints into Ramallah. Then playing surrounded by heavily armed soldiers is not an every day occurence even for those of Middle Eastern origin. More.

What sort of impression is this imaginative project making? Clearly there are mixed feelings. When awarded a prize for music in Israel Barenboim used the occasion, in the Knesset, to speak out about the petty humiliations that Israel constantly deals out to Palestinians. Certainly Barenboim has succeeded in upsetting some Jewish opinion, but some of the musicians made their own comments after the Ramallah concert.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 5:45 PM August 22, 2005 | Comments (0)

Bosnia remembered

Today (11/08/2005) are stories of Milan Lukic, one time warlord in the town of Visegrad on the river Drina in Bosnia. I am familiar with another Visegrad on the Czech-Hungarian border overlooking the Danube before it bends toward Budapest. It's not that far away and it too is extremly beautiful.

What happened in Bosnian Visegrad in 1992 is far from beautiful. Visegrad has one of the ancient bridges familiar on post cards from those who holidayed in the former Yugoslavia. This was the scene of a massacre of Muslim men, women children, thrown from the bridge shot or alive. There was a complaint from lower down the river that bodies were clogging up the dam.

Elsewhere in the town women and girls were raped, and imprisoned in houses which were then torched. While the name Srebrenica is now well-known, Visegrad and other towns in the region are also scenes of the "ethnic cleansing" atrocities.

The name most associated with this, third only to Karadzic and Mladic, still on the run, was Milan Lukic. He was traced and arrested in Argentina this week.

Continue reading " Bosnia remembered"

Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:53 AM August 11, 2005 | Comments (0)

Kate Tyrrell

Kate is my daughter, born in 1978 in Birmingham. She has always held her own views and stood for equality of women. When in primary school the local BBC encouraged children to say why they thought their teacher was sexist, she put in a response. Her teacher had taken this seriously and was quite ready to follow it up. However when the Head Tecaher found out what was going on the matter ended.

I was fascinated on visiting the Arklow website to find about an earlier Kate Tyrrell who had been a marriner. The article makes much of her stand against the social norms of the day and there is a book about her life.

Evidently the boat she sailed came from the boast yard of one John Tyrrell. My Kate's reaction to this was "That's spooky!"

Kate is a frequent visitor to Dublin, and it is a city where her forefathers once lived. One was a miller there, we understand, a few generations back. There is also a folksong recording this name found in Ireland and Scotland.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:47 AM July 30, 2005 | Comments (0)

Birzeit University, Ramallah, Palestine

In January 2004 a group of us were welcomed to Birzeit University, which consists of buildings constructed out of local white stone. It is impressive. What we were told, however, of the continuing harrassment of the Israeli army was an outrage. While the western world expresses its collective feelings of shock and horror at terrorist activities, there has been a failure to express solidarity with the courageous and dedicated staff and students at Birzeit.

Since we were there it appears that the situation has worsened considerably. On 21st November 2004, four Birzeit University students from Gaza were forcibly removed from their studies in the West Bank and illegally deported to the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation Army. No charges were made against Bashar Abu Shahala, Walid Muhanna, Bashar Abu Salim and Mohammad Matar, but they have been prevented from returning to Birzeit University to continue their studies. The Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University is fighting for their return.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:03 PM July 28, 2005 | Comments (0)

Carl Nielsen

Having watched and listened to Nielsen's Fourth from the BBC Proms, greatly enjoying Osmo Vanska's performance with the BBC SO. It was the third movement's intensity which most impressed with its calm and breathtakingly quiet episodes and exquisite interplay of woodwind as a prelude to the eruption of the finale. I was surprised to hear the announcement that it was first performed at a Promenade Concert in 1965, the centenary of the birth of both Nielsen and Sibelius. John Barbirolli was the conductor of the Halle Orchestra in a concert which included Haydn's Symphony no 83 "La Poule" if my memory serves me correctly, and Beethoven's Eroica. I was present at this concert and still have memories of this fine orchestra and conductor.

The music of Nielsen appealed to me because of its objectivity. After the slowing down of music over long time spans in the nineteenth century, Nielsen becomes a breath of fresh air, rediscovering the movement which was second nature to classical composers like Haydn. The Fourth Symphony was completed in 1916. Robert Simpson in his book on Carl Nielsen 1952) speaks in terms of exploding nebulae which is how the work begins. It is clearly influenced by a world at war, but it is life affirming as its title "Inextinguishable" denotes. Nielsen was very much unknown in the UK until around 1950 when Tuxen brought the Fifth Symphony to the Edinburgh Festival and gramophone recordings became available. The Fourth is the first of Neilsen's 6 symphonies to deal with conflict. The first three are out going and don't appear to be much troubled, apart from the boy lazing on the pier in the Four Temperaments (no 2) when something drops into the water to disturb his peace.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:52 PM July 20, 2005 | Comments (0)

War Requiem

I was listening to Kurt Masur in conversation with Andrew MacGregor this morning (16/07/2005) He is a fascinating figure given his experiences in the life and times he grew up. We learned that he fought in the German army and was one of few survivors from one battle in which he fought. In East Germany he worked in a devastated Dresden before taking up his post of DIrector of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in neighbouring Leipzig. Masur has long since been a champion of Mendelssohn in this context, reminding us that this Jewish composer was banned in Nazi Germany. The War Requiem also strikes a chord in him in its quest for peace. It's first performance in Coventry in 1962 links it to Dresden in their shared experience of devastating aerial attacks.

I listened to the Coventry performance on the radio, but managed to get a ticket for it's second, the London premier, in Westminster Abbey. I remember queuing outside on a foggy December evening. Britten himself was present and his slight figure accompanied the Queen Mother in procession following this moving occasion. Even then I was feeling that the Royal occasion, connected as it is with the military, was at odds with the pacific nature of this work which Masur placed along side the Missa Solemnis and St Matthew Passion.

Posted by John Tyrrell at 1:45 PM July 16, 2005 | Comments (0)

Mozart Bi-centenary 1956

The final concert of the Philharmonia Orchestra's European tour was on 6th February, 1956, celebrating two hundred years since Mozart's birth*. This was the first time I had been to the Royal Festival Hall for a concert - although I remember the 1951 Festival of Britain when the concert hall was just one of a variety of spectacular structures on the South Bank.
In the concert there were two symphonies: no 35 the "Haffner" and no 41 "Jupiter". Joining the orchestra for the A major piano concerto, no 23, was Clara Haskil, Rumanian born, and now stooping and looking frail. As various newspaper reviews make clear the performance belied appearances.

Clara Haskil was thought to be outstanding as a performer of Mozart and her recordings are still sought after. She became a close friend of another legendary Romanian musician, Dinu Lipatti. Haskil had become widely known quite late in her career, although many wonder why since she had started performing at an early age. As a young woman it is said that her performances had the same characteristics. After her death following a fall an annual piano competition was started at Vevey in Switzerland which had become her adopted home.

The 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth is fast approaching and we're in a different world. Many Mozart performances in the mid twentieth century had become slow and over-refined. The rise of the period instrument movement, while initially unconvincing, led to a re-evaluation of performing which was a revelation and refreshment. It is interesting to read in Norman Lebrecht's book "The Maestro Myth" how some of the leading conductors, notably Karajan, had held back the tide of people like Harnoncourt in a highly politicised commercial world of music.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 6:54 PM April 27, 2005 | Comments (0)

A Bethlehem Child's Dream, 2005

Bethlehem is close to Jerusalem. 2,000 years ago Jesus of Nazareth rode on a donkey between the two on Palm Sunday. Today there is a road block with armed guards and look out towers. When I was there in January 2004, an enormous armoured caterpillar tractor which had just been used to demolish the house of the family of a Palestinian police officer who had blown himself up on a bus in Jerusalem that same morning. In that context the following is a human story of what happened this year.

Needless to say the group were prevented from passing the checkpoint when some 40 Israeli soldiers threatened violence. With children present it was necessary to proceed with caution. We still await the realisation of the Bethlehem child's dream.

A Bethlehem Child's Dream of Non-violent Action

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:57 PM April 19, 2005 | Comments (1)

Caterpillars Kill

16/4/2005. 60 vehicles drove in convoy past the Solihull European HQ of Caterpillar, now the symbol of the unlawful occupation of Palestine by Israel. At the following rally in Victoria Square, Birmingham, a Jewish speaker spoke out against the ongoing terror which the heavily armoured bulldozers engendered in the Palestinian people. Not only are they only the size of a double decker bus and armour plated, they are armed to the teeth carrying guns and grenades. A resolution had been put forward at the share holders meeting - three percent (representing dome 600 million shares) voted for it. These were people objecting to pension funds being invested in Israeli interests. If other similar investors followed the example from California the Israeli Government would have to think again. It is being put about that there is a move towards peace. Mahmoud Abbas has been atempting to hold to a cease fire, but meanwhile Palestinians continue to be killed daily, including many children. The Israeli Government is not the slighest bit interested in peace. The huge wall continues to be built around the Palestinians stopping children going to school and expectant mothers getting to hospital. Not only does this activity break international law, it breaks Israeli law.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 6:34 PM April 16, 2005 | Comments (0)

Barenboim: the Concert

April 6th. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra are performing Mahler's 9th Symphony under their Music Director, Daniel Barenboim. A reception has been arranged after the performance.
I have not seen Barenboim conduct before, nor heard a performance of Mahler's Ninth, live that is. I certainly had not appreciated the use of the orchestra where you can hear so many unusual combinations of instruments and strange effects. It's clearly familiar territory as Mahler with Viennese waltzes or military bands breaking through. Full orchestra is pretty impenetrable, well it is for me. All it does is make the constant noise in my left ear louder. The closing pages had to be heard to be believed in the sustained hushed string playing. The movement of people around me was noisy in contrast. The huge audience were clearly caught up in this and there was not a single interruption.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:17 AM April 7, 2005 | Comments (1)

Rachel Corrie

This wreath was laid to the memory of Rachel Corrie on 16th March, 2005, the second aniiversary of her death. The photographs were supplied by Zarina Bhatia shown with others who were there (below).Caterpillar supplies its products to the Israeli Government who use the vehicles to demolish Palestinian homes. Rachel Corrie, an American, tried to prevent one in the Gaza strip. She was crushed to death. Here there is an article by the late Edward Said who visited Rachel's parents in Seattle. He says her father had driven caterpillars himself, but the one that killed his daughter was far bigger than anything he had seen. It had been designed specifically for house demolition. Hanan Ashrawi makes the point "The oppressive nature of a military occupation eventually victimizes the occupier much as it does the occupied."

The political idea of "terrorist" is thrown into sharp focus by this article. The caterpillar is here a weapon used to terrorise a community. Rachel is not he only death caused in the demolition process: houses are bulldozed along with their with occupants and many innocent Palestinians have also lost their lives. As was noted in the televised series "The Power of Nightmares" the idea of "terror" has become a political tool to subdue nations. Both Bush and Blair know this. Blair did not take the opportunity to denounce this form of terror. Along with Ariel Sharon he singled out the Palestinians as the source of the terror.

Throughout Palestine, houses are being demolished and people are being killed as Israel builds it 'apartheid' wall. The machines used in this reign of terror include the Caterpillar Bullldozer. The Financial Headquarters in Europe of that firm are based at Hockley Heath.

Mary Brennan West Midlands PSC Press Officer
National/Regional Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Middle East Fellowship NEWS and PERSPECTIVES
March 16th, 2005
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REMEMBERING RACHEL CORRIE

Two years ago today, on March 16th 2003, Rachel Corrie, an American human rights activist, was crushed to death by a Caterpillar bulldozer. By peacefully blocking the path of the bulldozer, Rachel was attempting to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home by the Israeli military. Though an American citizen was murdered by the military of a government that the U.S. has close diplomatic, economic and military ties to, no official U.S. inquiry has been launched.

RACHEL CORRIE MEMORIAL (In Santa Monica, California)

A memorial will be held for Rachel in Santa Monica on Thursday, March 17th, at 7:00 to 9:00 pm (complete event details and address are listed below). Rev. Darrel Meyers, Laila Al-Marayati and Mary Hughes will be speaking. There will also be a screening of the film "Dispatches: the
Killing Zone" (50 minutes).

Picture story

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 8:57 AM March 17, 2005 | Comments (2)

Relief in Iraq & WCC on Israel/Palestine

After visiting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, empty and badly scarred by Israeli firearms, one wonders where the Christian Churches are. I met the Archbishop of Canterbury's Envoy in Jerusalem in the comfortable surroundings of the King David Hotel. I found out later that he had taken part in ending the siege of the Church of the Nativity. However it seemed he was far closer to the Israelis than the Palestinians. It seems to be forgotten that many Palestinians are Christians as well as Moslems. They appear to live side by side very well sharing the consequences of the Israeli occupation of their territory. They demonstrate by example what interfaith understanding should be. Who is listening? The links below lead to articles on the present situation.

Here there is also information on efforts to support peace in Iraq arguing for the withdrawal of foreign troops and an end to occupation. I would particularly urge you to watch the video clip Eyes Wide Open. This is a powerful statement about the dead of both US and Iraq and refers to events being held in Los Angeles during March. There is a petition addressed to George W. Bush.
Further views on Iraq by Iraqis.

The following is from an e-mail from the Middle East Fellowhips who have been rasing funds for relief efforts in Iraq and organising events in the U.S.

IRAQ RELIEF EFFORTS
Middle East Fellowship has helped raise over $20,000 for relief efforts in Iraq. The relief effort is being implemented by Nuhad Tomeh, one of our board members and the Presbytrian Church's regional liaison for Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Iraq. We urge you to partner with us in this campaign.

WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES ENCOURAGES BOYCOTT
The World Council of Churches has issued a statement urging its members to consider the use of economic measures to wage peace in Israel and Palestine.

California Events: EYES WIDE OPEN EXHIBIT
American Friends Service Committee's "Eyes Wide Open" Exhibit is coming to Los Angeles in March. The exhibit features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty, a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and consequences of the war.

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:13 AM February 27, 2005 | Comments (0)

Meeting Yasser Arafat

There were seven of us from Birmingham, all members of the City Council, visiting Ramallah at the end of January 2004. We were taken there in a mini-bus driven by Issa from Bethlehem. We had left the main highway from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem to go down what looked like a side-track. Up to then all the roads off had been blocked by huge boulders. The check point before Ramallah was crazy. Issa forced his way through the chaotic traffic . We saw long lines of pedestrians queuing up to get through the barrier manned by young Israeli soldiers. People in need of medical aid, such as pregnant women, had died in this situation

When we finally reached Ramallah we passed by what looked like a completely bombed out compound. We were told that this was Yasser Arafat’s Head Quarters. A few days later we were inside to meet the man, a long serving leader of the Palestinian State. Despite having brokered successive agreements on bringing about a peace settlement he had been brought to this state by the forces of occupation.

We went through a security check by the guards and handed in mobile phones. Inside there was a suite of small rooms, and finally the small state room where we gathered round a table to meet this small, slightly frail but very distinguished figure. We had heard that Mr Arafat’s health had not been good, but we found him to be in good spirits and very alert. We introduced ourselves from Birmingham. I told him that I was a Cabinet Member responsible for Transportation in Birmingham, and that I was being heavily criticised for being away while Birmingham was experiencing freezing conditions bringing traffic to a standstill. He beamed and said “but it’s important that you have come!"

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Posted by John Tyrrell at 9:59 PM November 4, 2004 | Comments (0)

The Qustul Incense Burner

The Nubia Salvage Project site has a significance which still has to have the recognition it requires. Why? The figure on the incense burner is old, dated at around 3,200 B.C. This is before the first Pharaoh of the first Egyptian Dynasty. Profesor Bruce Williams asked if this indicates there was a dynasty of Pharaohs in Nubia before Egypt (Kemet). Qustul was then part of Nubia. The persistent argument that the beginning of Egypt is shrouded in mystery could be overturned by this finding. It was unearthed in the 1960s prior to the opening of the Aswan Dam and the flooding of land which could have yielded further clues. This is the oldest example of kingship. A number of writers have taken this up, including Browder and Davidson, and it was featured in a television series on the history of Africa in the mid-80s.

Nubia is today the scene of genocide where black Africans are being systematically slaughtered. They could well be descended from the people who founded Egypt, and subsequently influenced the later civilisations of Greece and Rome.

Vital Link Educational Limited is producing a series of teaching packs looking at this and other evidence which emphasise that Egypt is a part of the African Continent. Why is the link with the rest of Africa persistently ignored?

Posted by John Tyrrell at 10:52 PM October 16, 2004 | Comments (0)

Rainbow over Derry

Jerry, son of my cousin Jack, and brother of Chris, died of cancer a few years ago. He was active in Derry, working with the Quaker Peace Initiative. I went to his funeral, which was extremely well attended by the Catholics and Protestants who valued Jerry and the Project.

The occasion was a truly Irish affair, with Jerry's huge frame on view in the front room of the family home. Jo, his wife, and children Sophie and Jack welcomed me, although I had not had contact with them for a long time. I had spoken to Jerry on the phone when I visited West Belfast a year or so earlier, before Jerry had known about his illness. He was then back in England with his father helping him to move from Isleworth to Aylesbury to be near to Chris and Margaret.

All the male relatives carried the coffin and Jerry was taken first to the College where a Quaker meeting remembered his life and work. I recounted the occasion when my friend and business partner in Vital Link, John Cockcroft, had phoned me to tell me that Jerry's airline ticket to Belfast had been found at the Euston Road Meeting House. Did I know where he could be found? A call to his Father, Jack found him. No, he had not realised his ticket was missing, and yes, he would be picking it up.

Jerry's book on Peer Group Mediation appeared posthumously. I left a copy with the Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem. This group organised a trip to Palestine/Israel this January (2004) when we found a deserted Bethlehem and a family in the Refugee Camp whose house had been demolished as a reprisal for a bombing incident in Jerusalem earlier the same day. More about that later.

The picture is a scene at Jerry's burial at the cemetery above Derry looking down into the valley. The rainbow appeared just as Chris had read "I am in the wind". It is a symbol of hope for Ireland and for Palestine/Israel.

The following links tell you more about The Quaker Peace Initiative and Jerry's work with information about availability of his book.

http://www.ccruni.gov.uk/research/csc/quaker.htm

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/emu/visits.htmhttp://www.peacenews.info/issues/2455/2455381.html

Posted by John Tyrrell at 11:25 PM October 8, 2004 | Comments (1)