Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11th November, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. in 1918. It is to "commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women".
As we remember lets not forget that more than 500 civilians were killed in Coventry in a single night of bombing in 1940. Five years later, at least 100,000 German women were raped in Berlin by advancing Soviet Army soldiers. in Russia, civilian deaths in World War Two are counted by the millions. In our own time, well over 10,000 civilians have been killed in Yemen, since the outbreak of civil war in 2015. All these civilians have been excluded from most aspects of Remembrance Sunday in the UK.
Until this year the Royal British Legion insisted that their red poppies represent remembrance only for British and allied armed forces.The Peace Pledge Union's white poppies on the other hand symbolise remembrance for all victims of war. They also represent a commitment to peace. https://www.ppu.org.uk/
But things changed in October. The British Legion altered their website to say that they acknowledge innocent civilians who have lost their lies in conflict and acts of terrorism. https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/about-remembrance This is a significant change, since as recently as last year their website was declaring : The Legion advocates a specific type of Remembrance connected to the British armed forces.
I recognise fully why people find this day significant and choose to wear poppies, I totally respect everyone's right to do so and I have total sympathy for anyone who has lost loved ones due to conflict, but let us also all remember what we do not seem to learn, that it is Politicians that send men and women to die, to go to war,so that they are forced to try and win unwinnable battles for them. We should remember to never be intimidated by the media which sees the wearing of a red poppy as a test and definition of loyalty. Let us acknowledge all those people looking for alternative ways of marking and remembering the dead, working for peace, day by day.
Let us remind ourselves how the wearing or not wearing of the poppy has been used to shame people who make the conscious decision not to wear one, or how to criticise, is to be bandied a traitor, as we are told told time and again that soldiers died for our freedoms.
Lets not forget either the families of the wounded or dead who are left abandoned, and the many ex servicemen who are left homeless to fend for themselves. It's time to expose the hypocrites who sanction wars, arms sales and state repression while wearing a red poppy and uttering platitudes on Remembrance Day.
Let us remember that the red poppy is tainted by the hypocrisy of warmongers. Lets remember the ties between the Poppy Appeal and the global arms trade. Lets not forget that both Lockheed Martin and BAE systems, two massive manufacturers of weapons used to commit human rights abuses and fuel destructive wars, sponsor national Poppy fundraisers and British Legion events with the effort of glorifying military conflicts and legitimising war profiteering.
Let us remember the conscientious objectors who refused to serve in the army and all those within groupings that remain implacably opposed to wars, orchestrating and attending anti-war demonstrations and producing anti-war propaganda. Lets remember those that represent a struggle to end war by challenging the rulers and the system that cause it.Let us fall silent to mourn the loss of ordinary men and women who have died when they need not have .
'Lets remember the words of Harry Patch, the last surviving WW1' veteran who died in 2009, who said "Politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder."
As a healthy compassionate society let us fall silent in the hope that remembering will prevent the tragedies of war and the injustice and the unnecessary human tragedy of loss that is caused and work together to prevent such occurrences from happening again. Let us fall silent to remember victims on all sides of conflict, broaden our focus to remember civilians of all nationalities who have been killed and suffered in London, Hiroshima, Dresden, Baghdad, Belfast, Syria,Yemen, Afghanistan, Gaza and countless other places. across the world. Let us reclaim the poppy as a symbol of peace not as a symbol of war. Let us all become messengers of peace.
" Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding. You cannot subjugate a nation forcibly unless you wipe out every man, woman and child. Unless you wish to use drastic measures, you must find a way of settling your disputes without resort to arms."
- Albert Einstein ( from Militant Pacifist, 1931)
A few links to previous thoughts:-
Why I choose to wear a White Poppy
https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/10/why-i-choose-to-wear-white-poppy.html
Shot at Dawn in the First World War and the Welsh opposition that seems to have been forgotten
https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/11/shot-at-dawn-in-first-world-war-and.html
Contribution to letter to Unknown Soldier Project
https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2014/08/we-never-forget.html
A Persistent Peace
https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-persistant-peace.html
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