Sleep easy war criminals - Michael Mansfield

Britain's insulting rules on arrest warrents will only encourage Israel's view of itself as above the law.
Israell  has violated innumerable UN resolutions and international laws over the past 50 years  without any sanction being incurred - whether legal, economic, political or military. Most blatant is its disregard for the overwhelming opinion of the international court of justice in The Hague, which in 2004 declared the erection of a wall through the occupied territories to be unlaful. If you add the illegal occupation pf Palestinian  tterritory, continued extension of illegal settlements, forced evictions and house demolitions, requisitions of water recources, Gaza blockade and illicit use of cloned passports to facilitate an assasination outside Israel, anyone might br think that this is a state that regards itself as above the law.
The creation of international crimes with universal jurisdiction was accomplished after years of negotiation and careful deliberatin for one purpose: to ensure there could be no hiding  place or safe haven for the perpetrators of the most heinious crimes against humanity. Examples of such cases are genocide, war crimes and torture.
The ICJ itself made clear in the wall case that the obligation to prosecute is the concern of all states. The problem is that no state has been willing to take on this task is-a-vis Israel other than on a very muted diplomatic level. Lawyers acting for individuals in Palestine have been forced to do so themselves.
In 2009 Westminster magistrates court issued an arrest warrent for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister at the time of Operation Cast Lead , which caused an estimated death toll of 1,400 in Gaza. Britain's Labour government hierarchy fell over itself rushing to the Israeli authorities, not about the death but to apologise for the warrant.
A dramatic incident occurred as Livni was about to appear on Israeli television during the invasion. The interviewer Shlomi Eldar recognised a name that appeared on his mobile - Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Palestinian doctor who had given services equally to Israelis and Palestinians. "They sheeled my house. They killed my daughters. What have we done? Shlomi, I wanted to save them  but they are dead. They were hit in the head. They died on the spot. Allah, what have we done to them?" Three of his daughters and his niece had just been killed by Israeli forces. The call was broadcast and transmitted round the world. The whole story is told in his acclaimed book I shall not hate.
There could be no question  that this admired physician was associated with Hamas or terrorism, or even a hostile thought. Only two possibilities make sense: a deliberate attack, or an indiscriminate one that dod not afford proper protection for civilians. In these circumstances it is hardly surprising that the UN fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict found that the Israelis -and Hamas - had committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
In September the British Government changed the ground rules by providing the director of public prosecutions with the power of veto over private applications for arrest warrants. It is an insult to the court to insinuate that they cannot be trusted  to assess the requisite threshold for issuing a warrant. In 10 years only two out of 10 such applications had been granted. We are dealing here with arrest, not charge.
It is therefore highly unlikely that any prosecutions of consequence will ensue either at the instigation of the government itself or of an individual - ax - Livni's meeting with William Hague in London last week demonstrated. Given the British Government's lacklustre performance in this field when it comes to nations or individuals who are seen to be unacceptable (eg Pinochet, where it took a Spanish magistate to act), those in positions of command and responsibility at times when war crimes are committed can now rest easily in their beds.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/07/israel-tzipi-livni

The concept of universal jurisdiction is that a national court . of one country , should be able to try cases in which grave crimes against humanity are suspected. The principle is that no country should be a safe haven for those thought to have committed crimes recognised as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The bill to approve the change in Britains Universal Jurisdiction Law was passed because of one decisive vote. Meanwhile the foreign Office has declared that Tzip Livni, former model now enjoys temporary  diplomatic immunity. Wth a what  the **** message to the world, Welcome to Great Britain , War Criminals gratefully recieved., our government is openly compliant!

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ON UNIVERSAL JURIDICTION.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/international-justice/issues/universal-jurisdiction

Counting the Mad - Donald Justice (12/8/25 -6/8/04)

Susan T. Adams
- They leak through me

Today October 10rh , is World Mental Health Day, the issue still seems a problem, but it's not the mentally ill who are the problem. It's attitudes and ignorance, everyone can be affected, but is not like a virus that people can scrutinise under microscopes. Effects eveyone regardless of their class, their race, their politics, but having certain governments in control will often aid the spread of declining mental health, especially among the poor, the dispossessed, the marginlised, the voiceless. Often people fall beneath the cracks in the pavement, where they are shunted and betrayed.
Sadly in this present time, still so many causes, so many labels,  often people  are misdiagnosed, mislabelled , put in boxes and forgotten about. The stigma of being  different, with a different perception can in the end be very painful, one of the last taboos,   labels need to be cast aside, we should be looking for equality, a world without fear, without exploitation, a rejection of a society that  offers us no hope.
For me the summer has ended but the fall now approaches, learnt different methods to ease me through the good days and the bad days, the highs and lows, without ignoring the dark impulses that sometimes reappear, like  heavy magnets thrown through time! Am lucky can still smoke funny cigarettes, they make me normal, well sometimes. Able to form new relations, acquaintances, I guess I'm lucky because I prescribed myself a while back, a formula called hope.
Today I have I suppose a good day, that's just me, I guess I'm a survivor but many others are caught up daily in a cycle of depression, anxiety and  unnessecary pain and suffering, life a constant battle, some wrongly prescribed, stuck in an endless loop of frustration, some get tired of fighting.
The tory government smiles and empathy is silenced, they do the worst for everyone, especially those ostracised  or who daily suffer. On this day Mental Health provisions and services are now being cut, the compassionate side of our government is not easy to see. . Today  I try to think of others, we should try and show understanding,  no judgement today......  I think that's how it should be..... think for yourself, but lend sometimes, someone a helping hand, small gestures can be amazingly  worthwhile, say hello to a stranger, spread love instead of hate,  but for future's health.... kick out the Tories. Formulate new ideas, spread understanding, through tolerance and yeah sometimes it takes a lot and lot of patience. Remember theirs more than one way. Having awareness is one thing, but theirs still a long road untill the mentally ill get acceptance. As the gap between the rich and poor mounts, and the governments extreme  austerity measures, sadly anxiety will only increase. We must resist this.
In our age there is no such thing as ' keeping out of politics'. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly , hatred and schizophrenia. Now what does that scenario remind me off.

Counting the Mad

This one was put in a jacket,
This one was sent home,
Rhis one was given bread and meat
But would eat none,
And this one cried No No No No
All day long

This one looked at the window
As though it were a wall,
This one saw hings that were not there,
This one things that were,
And this one cried No No No No
All day long

This one thought himself a bird,
This one a dog,
And this one thought himself a man,
An ordinary man,
And cried and cried No No No No
All day long

Judy Chicago (b 20/7/39) - Untitled Poem.

Judy Chicago
-Through the flower.

                                                                                                                              
                                                         Judy Chicago

American

Feminist artist.

Untitled Poem

And then all that has divided us will merge
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then compassion will be wedded to power
And then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind
And then both men and women will be gentle
And then both women and men will be strong
And then no person will be subject to another's will
And then all will be rich and free and varied
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many
And then all will share equally in the Earths abundance
And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old
And then all will nourish the young
And then all will cherish life's creatures
And then all will live in harmony with each other and the Earth
And then everywhere will be called Eden once again

Judy Chicago
-Caroline Hershell Test Plate, China paint on Porcelein, 1978.

        Untitled Poem
from ' The Dinner Party'
            1979
Doubleday & Company, Inc.

CERTAIN THINGS ARE MADE FOR SHARING.

Qui Jin (8/11/1875 -15/7/07 ) - China's Revolutionary Poet.

Qui Jin was a radical Chinese women's rights leader and revolutionary. Born in Xiamen. Fujian Province. She was one of the first women of China who attempted to educate and mobilise and emancipate Chinese Women. She loudly said no to womens degradation, advocating for their rights in open defiance of the imperial empire. She refused to be silenced or subjegated by the power of patriarchal rule. She stood up against foot binding , it is easy to forget that  for a long time, this barbaric practice had been acceptable behaviour, she also oppossed other repressive orders. Spending time in Japan where she developed some of her ideas.
She helped found and write,a radical women's magazine called the 'Chinese Womens Journal' based in Shanghai. One of the first women who attempted to educate, mobilise and emancipate Chinese Women. Encouraging other women to resist oppression.
Standing against womens degradation, her cause was one of emancipation and freedom. She also became a martial arts expert , wouldn't you want to defend yourself, and together she joined forces with other revolutionaries to try to overthrow the corrupt Manchu Government and make war against authority. However she was betrayed and on July 12th 1907 she was arrested. Subsequently though she refused to admit any involvement or implicate and betray anyone else. 
She was beheaded on the 15th July 1907, she was only 32,  but had  become one of Chinas first revolutionary martyrs and is remembered to today for the sacrifice she made for her people.
The dynasty that she revolted against fell in 1912, with the declaration of a republic. Her legacy lives on, since after all, she introduced the idea of womens independance to China,  and beyond her actions, her memory lives on in her words.
Below  I share with you some of her poems. Full of a beguiling tranquility and mythological  elements, but it is she who has become legend. That today we must recall.

On Request for a Poem

Do not tell me women
are not the stuff of heroes,
I alone rode over the East Sea's
winds for ten thousand leagues.
My poetic thoughts ever expand,
like a sail between ocean and heaven.
I dreamed of your three islands,
all gems, all dazzling with moonlight.
I grieve to think of the bronze camels,
guardians of China, lost in thorns.
Ashamed, I have done nothing
not one victory to my name.
I simply make my war horse sweat.

Grieving over my native land
hurts my heart. So tell me:
how can I spend these days here?
A guest enjoying your spring winds?

Crimson Flooding into the River

just a short stay at the Capital
But it is already the mid autumn festival
Chrysanthemums infect the landscape
Fall is making its mark
The internal isolation has become unbearable here
All eight years of it make me long for my home
It is the bitter guile of them forcing us women into femininity
We cannot win!
Despite our ability, men hold the highest rank
But while our hearts are pure, those of men are rank
My insides are afire in anger at such an outrage
How could vile men claim to know who I am?
Heroism is borne out of this kind of torment
To think that so putrid a society can provide no camaraderie
Brings me to tears!

Untitled

Riding a white dragon up to the sky,
Striding deep in the moutain on a fierce tiger.

I am born in a roaring storm with a violent dancing spirit
I shall be holy on the earth.

How could I ever be satisfied with settling down!
Without witnessing Commander Xiang win his great battles,
Or hearing Liu Xiu rumbling war drums

They were only twenty years old but could make their contries floursh.
Don't blame them for bloodshed but admire them for bravery.

Shame and failure!
I am already twenty-seven

Yet have no glory to my name
I only worry for my country and do not know how to expel these invaders.

I am glad my great ambitions will not rot and waste away,
Not when I hear the roar of war drums.

Deep inside I am outraged
I cannot get help from my own people

I feel so helpless, so weak.
It is for that reason alone that I am going
to Japan: to rally up aid to look for assistance.

Here is a link to a trailer to a film about her :-

Autumn Gem

Wiki entry below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiu_Jin

NEWTOWN NEUROTICS - KICK OUT THE TORIES

THE TORIES ARE EVIL, AS SIMPLE AS THAT.......
SAME  AS THEY EVER WERE.

This is Real Democracy - Kutiman

WORK THIS OUT

Children's Art from Palestine--Censored!

R.S. Thomas (29/03/13 - 25/09/00) - Welsh History.

                                             image above courtesy of Mr Howard Barlow   
                                             http://howardbarlow.com 
                                             http://howardbarlow.photoselter.com/gallery/Writers/G0000yFg97xtMWk/                              

We were a people taut for war; the hills
Were no harder, the thin grass
Clothed them more warmly than the coarse
Shirts our small bones.
We fought, and were always in retreat,
Like snow thawing upon the slopes
Of Mynydd Mawr; and yet the stranger
Never found our ultimate stand
In the thick woods, declaring verse
To the sharp prompting  of the harp.

Our king died. or they were slain
By the old treachery at the ford.
Our bards perished, driven from the halls
Of nobles by the thorn and bramble.

We were a people bred on legends,
Warming our hands at the red past.
The great were ashamed of our loose rags
Clinging stubbornly to the proud tree
Of blood and birth, our lean bellies
And mud houses were a proof
Of our ineptitude for life.

We were a people wasting ourselves
In fruitless battles for our masters,
In lands to which we had no claim.
With men for whom we felt no hatred.

We were a people, and are so yet.
When we have finished quarelling for crumbs
Under the table, or gnawing the bones
Of a dead culture, we will arise,
Armed, but not in the old way.