Bring Back Our Girls

 

There have been global protests across the world in response  to a global social media campaign, fot the Nigerian government to  do more to rescue more than 200 schoolgirls  forcibly taken from a Northern boarding school in Nigeria, on April 14th  by Islamic militants. The girls   that wee abducted live in a region that has the  lowest  girl child enrolment in Nigeria. They were  taken and abducted   by Boko Haran, simply because  they wanted an education. 
The #BringBackOurGirls  hashtag  is keeping the story in the media lens. If it stays in  the media hopefully the Nigerian government will be forced to act. These girls are children of the poor, in Nigeria's deeply inegalitarian society and  must be saved. This tragedy touches the hearts of everyone, evoking a feeling  of revulsion, at their loss of freedom, their right to education. and the mistaken  assumption that  for these young girls their destination must be forced marriage and servitude.
Whatever mantra this militant group is following it is not  following the words of the Koran. The prophet Muhammed  categorically stated during his lifetime that women or children were never to be harmed under any situation that "oppression is worse than murder  (2:191)) and  that nobody "shall  force girls to commit prostitution." (24:33)
We must though stand in solidarity with these missing school children and any other woman around the world who continues  to fight for their basic human rights ,we  however must be careful of western intervention, we should remember that it is the Wests interests in Africa that has helped foster and spread this dangerous  misinterpretation and corruption of  Islam.
We must continue  to listen to what the  families and thinkers, the professionals  on the frontlines of this crisis have to say.
At the end of the day it is the people of Nigeria that has to find the answers, a troubled area   already, with their own backdrop of corruption and inequality. we do not want to  add to their problems and hasten a scenario that could result in a African Afghanistan.
We can continue to express our anger and frustration, and hope that the Nigerian government finds these girls, and they are taken from harms way and back into safety.
We should not forget many other innocent people who dissapear every day as well, migrants who drown seeking a better life, innocents  killed by remote control drones,  injustices daily incurring across the globe, in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, in all corners of the globe that sadly do not warrant the same headlines, all innocence is worth protecting.

 

The True Little Tramp

In February 1914, in  a time  of economic turmoil and international conflict, Charlie Chaplin walked into screens for the very first time as the beloved Little Tramp character, 100 years later, with homelessness on the rise, massive cuts to  social security, and an uncaring government trying deperately to drag the country  to war once more, Jack Brindell and friends consider what the Tramp's legacy can teach us in modern times.

My earlier post on Chaplin can be found here:-

Charlie Chaplin - Citizen of the World

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/charlie-chaplin-b1641889-251277-citizen.html

 

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters and Nick Mason: Why Rolling Stones shouldn't play in Israel

Like many other musicians across the world, two former members of Pink Floyd Roger Waters and Nick Mason made this call in an op-ed that was published in  http://www.salon.com/2014/05/01/pink_floyds_roger_waters_and_nick_mason_why_rolling_stones_shouldnt_play_in_israel
 in relation to Israel's systematic violations of the rights of millions of Palestinians,  heeding to the recent appeal made by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committe and plans of the Rolling Stones to play in Tel Aviv in June.

" Playing Israel now is the moral eqivalent of playing Sun City at the height  of South African apartheid, regardless of your intentions, crossing the  picket line provides propoganda that the Israeli  government will use in its attempts to whitewash the policies  of its unjust and racist  regime."

Definition of apartheid: from the findings of Russell Tribunal on Palestine - Daniel Machover, Michael Mansfield lawyer and experts on international law and human rights.

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/sessions/south-

The legal definition  of apartheid applies to any situation anywhere in the world where the following three  core elements exist:

(1) that two distinct racial groups can be identified;

(2) that 'inhuman acts' are committed against the sunordinate group; and

(3) that such acts are committed systematically in the context of an institutionalised regime  of domination by one group  over the other.

On July 30 2013 Israel and Palestine agreed to enter a negotiation process of nine months in order to achieve  a final staus agreement. With the active  sponsorship of the United States and encouragement from the  rest of the international community, all final status issues were supposed to be discussed, in order to achieve a two-state solution  on the 1967 border. However rather than achieve a final status agreement, Israeli occupation and colonization  policies were increased advancing settlement units for over 50,000 settlers during the past nine months.
In open violation  of international law and its own obligations, Israel, the occupying power continues its policies of aggression against the people of Palestine, killing dozens of Palestinians, injuring and detaining thousands, demoloshing homes, and carrying out thousands of military incursions within the occupied areas.
At the same time, Israels government incites against the Palestinian people, the Palestinian leadership, the two-state solution and the international  efforts being made in orderto achieve peace.
I believe there is nothing joyous or light hearted in a musical gig, when daily life under occupation, and all aspects of Palestinian lives are under control,the Palestinian people daily  denied basic freedoms, like the freedom of movement, access to land that has been stolen, and the freedom to protest against injustice, against repression. Whilst this is the case in question,  I do not believe it ok or right for musicians like the Rolling Stones, Neil Young etc to play concerts in Israel,under circumstances that seek to normalise the occupation.I believe musicians should continue to back the boycott until their is justice and equality for all.

There is a petition that is circulating that I would urge people to sign below asking the Rolling Stones to cancel their show.
I would be grateful that anyone visiting here could sign.
Thanks...heddwch/peace.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-rolling-stones-the-rolling-stones-please-cancel-your-show-and-boycott-apartheid-israel

The Worker's Maypole - Walter Crane (1845-1915) Happy May Day

Today I remember May Day. The origins of which can be traced back to 1886, and Haymarket where people were shot down, which led to us having the 8-hour day. The sacrifice of so many people  down the years also cannot simply be forgotten.
Today across the world people embrace the ideals of the Haymarket Martyrs, who were ruthlessly gunned down, and those who established this day as an International Workers Day.
And still today the powers that be seek to crush and repress workers who organise, try to divide, silence peoples voices, but I believe in all sincerity  it is impossible to drown the spirits of those who struggle, who daily show fierce resistance.
Solidarity , heddwch/peace, and remember an injury to one is an injury to all. Even where there is no work, we stand together.

The Worker's Maypole

World workers, whatever may bind ye,
This day let your work be undone:
Cast the clouds of the winter behind ye,
And come forth and be glad in the sun.

Now again while the green earth rejoices
In the bud and blossom of May
Lift up your hearts up again, and your voices,
and keep merry the World's Labour Day.

Let the winds lift your banners from far lands
With a message of strife and hope:
Raise the Maypole aloft with its garlands
That gathers its cause in its scope.

It is writ on each ribbon that flies
That flutters from fair Freedom's heart:
If still far be the crown and the prize
In its winning may each take a part.

Your cause is the hope of the world
In your strife is the life of the race,
The workers' flag Freedom unfurled
Is the veil of the bright future's face.

Be ye many or few drawn together,
Let your message be clear on this day;
Be ye birds of the spring, of one feather
In this - that ye sing on May Day.

Of the new life that still lieth hidden,
Through its shadow is cast before;
The new birth of  hope that unbidden
Surely comes, as the sea to the shore.

Stand fast, then, Oh Workers,your ground,
Together pull, strong and united:
Like your hands like a chain the world round,
If you will that your hopes be required.

When the World's Workers, sisters and brothers,
Shall build, in the new coming years,
A lair house of life - not for others,
For the earth and its fullness is theirs.

Happy Beltane too

May your baskets be overflowing 

Say no to UKIP

Lets Unite and say no to UKIP, say no to racism, say no to homophobia, say no to Europhobia, by not voting UKIP.
I quote: 'In the UKIP local Manifesto  2014, the party leader mentions  that "Today, local communities are under attack... On 1 January 2014, the UK opened its doors to people from both Romania and Bulgaria. Up to 29 million people  more people  are therefore entitled to come here, to take advantage  of our benefits and social houses".

The reality is that just 0.06% of these 29 million have come to Britain but the bad news is a total  of 400 million people from Europe are entitled  to come to the UK if they wish so, because all EU citizens have the right to decide where to reside and work within the European Union. According to Mr Farage, one of these 400 million people  is a member of his own family.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-lon-jinga/ukip-romania-immigration_b_5204688.html

Personally  I find UKIPS  brand poisonous and toxic, pandering to racist rhetoric. They are deploying the same language and tactics  used  openly by racist parties and organisations like the BNP, the EDF and the NF before them, who now instead  of targetting migrants from Africa are  now targetting migrants  within the EU.
Scratch under the surface  and their racism is exposed. Many of their candidates, activists and representatives have been caught out  making derogotary and offensive comments. People like to joke about them, but they continue to spread their venom, and the prospect of them gaining any credence or any asssemblage of power is very frightening indeed.
A wote  for UKIP  is like voting  for the mafia as  representatives of  law and order.It is very worrying that  people are  being attracted and drawn to their dangerous ideas that seem intent on stirring up hatred and fostering division.
In Ceredigion, Wales where I live, we have already seen a so called independent councillor  recently joining their ranks.
I really hope  people stop their tide and stop them in their tracks
Oh and UKIP  also have a freephone  number that  will cost  them from their funds everytime  you call...send them some love  folks...the longer  you stay on the better.....

Here's the number

0800  587  6 587

UKIP top brass can add poor driving to their list of recent controversies after one of their  buses  collided with  a railway roof in Portsmouth recently.... ho ho ho.

Remembering Rana Plaza

On 24 April 2013, over 1,100 people were killed and thousands more were injured in the collapse of a building in Bangladesh which housed factories making clothes for Benetto, Primark, Matalan, Mango , Costa and other major brands The fate of the Rana Plaza building turned into a tragedy because workers were forced by their bosses to come to work in a place inspectors had previously ordered closed for safety reasons.It would be the worst factory tragedy in the history of the Garment industry. The majority of the victims were female garment workers. The disaster was entirely preventable. No longer could consumers, workers or governments turn a blind eye  to the dangers facing workers every day.
To this day Gap refuses  to sign a trade agreement that would improve conditions for the workers that produce their clothes. Survivors spoke about the intense costcutting  pressures from Austalian retailers Like Costa. Many of these brands are still stocking clothes made in Bangladesh sweatshops and many workers have no choice  than to return to an industry despite ill-health and fear of another collapse.
We should continue to  demand from the rubbles and ashes of this disaster  that workers particularly women workers  the capacity to fight for a better life, and  as we remember the victims of Rana Plaza we should carry on expressing  our anger at companies mentioned earlier, their disregard for the workers in their supply chains in their thirst for profit.These companies  must take responsibilty for their part in this disaster.
It is more than time  that the fashion industry  make human rights and basic safety non-negotiable. I remember today all those who lost their lives, remember their families, husbands, wives, children, mothers and brothers, all left mourning a loved one and still waiting for justice. A year on, the families of victims and the survivors  are still waiting for full compensation, so they don't  have to live with the additional burden of financial hardship.

In Memoriam

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/apr/24/memoriam

As we remember all those affected, here is a link that names and  calls on all brands that source from Rana Plaza to pay up.

https://www.cleanclothes.org/ranaplaza/pay-up

The real cost of fast fashion

For Chas (R.I.P)

 

( for a dear old friend)

In Golden days,
he put a silver spoon on the table,
left sweetness on a rizla paper,
once when beaten, he opened the door,
a hundred hours later, having passed eternity,
he released me gently back into the world,
left no traces of tears or fear,
over the years, out of nowhere,
he would always return,
in richness bought unprescribed love,
together we followed the roads of possibility,
now I remember all the good times,
and try real hard not to be sad,
will miss the beauty of his familiar face,
as the wind blows, I will hear his breath.           

Golden Child ( At the Water's edge)

                                    
                                         ( for Aidan Llewellyn my grandson on his 2nd birthday)

Without language yet,
he follows footprints in the sand,
hopping, skipping and jumping,
a moving spirit of the earth,
rising and falling  by the seas edge,
with bright eyes, his curiosity does not rest,
running across sandy beach, in boundless joy,
lost in a landscape of play and dreams.

A swashbuckling cavalier of Peace,
marching along the oceans edge,
we will serve him, as long as he needs,
under the sky and ebbing tides,
walk alongside, his determined grace,
sparkling as spring awakes.

No compass guides this great adventurer,
what sweeter cadence can there  be than this,
this innocent soul, protected by love,
who stops for a moment to watch the waves
                                                     rushing by,
filling us all with wondrous hope,
and though he cannot yet speak of freedom,
we will try and make sure, that it fills his heart,
day after day, year after year,
wish him happiness in every  winding path,
here and now, beyond the corners of this topsy
                                                       turvy world.

Why I support Palestinian Prisoners Day

Today April 17th is Palestinian Prisoners Day, a global day of action demanding justice for all Palestinian prisoners. There are demonstrations happening all over Palestine and in many places across the world.
More  than 800,000 Palestinians including children, have been kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel sice 1967, while at least 5,000 Palestinians are currently held by Israel. Everyday arrests are made targetting both men and women, adults and minors of varying ages.
These arrests do not target any certain demographic or age group, instead, they target all aspects of the Palestinian Society, including children, seniors, women, men, officials, ministers, legislators, political leaders, union leaders, disabled Palestinians, students, intellectuals, poets and artists.
There are 19 Palestinian women and 200 children who are still imprisoned by Israel in addition to hundreds of children who grew up and became adults while in prison.

Israel is still holding captive 185 Palestinians under arbitrary Administation orders without charge, eleven elected legislators and dozens  of political officials.More than 1,400 Palestinians need medical attention but are, instead, denied the needed medical treatment.
Administrative Detention is the "Unknown enemy" which the detainees face, as it is a punishment without charge, without indictment. Administrative Detainees are held without trial. Neither they or their lawyers are allowed to defend themselves simply because they face what Israel calls a 'secret file' that no one is allowed to see. Each arbitrary order is usually for 1 to 6 months, but are repeatedly renewed and, in many cases, just as the detainees are about to step out of prison, they are then informedof a new order, often spending months and years under such orders without even knowing when, or if, they will ever be freed.
The memory of Palestinian Prisoners day comes this year while the Palestinian people still suffer systematic Israeli violations against them and their familiesthrough the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
G4S is still profiting from Israel's illegal detention and torture of Palestinians. G4S is British/Danish company that services Israeli prisons and checkpoints.
I hope that the international community will continue to take effective measures to ensure that Israel releases unlawfully detained prisoners and ensures that conditions of arrest are consistent with international human rights and humanitarian law.

 

 

Israel : Lift 'Ludicrous' restrictions on whistleblower Vanunu a decade after release he is still not free.

(from Press release from Amnesty International)

Ten years after serving a full sentence for his revelations to the press about Israel's nuclear weapons programme, Mordechai Vanunu still faces severe restrictions that arbitrarily infringes on his freedom of movement, expression and associaton, said Amnesty International. The former nuvlear technician served an 18-year prison sentence, the first 11 of which were in solitary confinement for disclosing information to journalists about Israel's nuclear arsenal during the 1980s. Since his release in 2004, renewable military orders, have placed Mordechai Vanunu under police supervision. Among  other things, he is banned from leaving the country and participating in internet chats. He must also seek permission to communicate with any foreign nationals, including journalists. "The authorities continued punishment of Mordechai Vanunu appears to be purely vindictive. The government's arguments that these severe restrictions are necessary for national security are ludicrous," said Avner Gidron, Senior Policy Adviser at Amnesty International

Read more from press release here :-

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israel-lift-ludicrous-restrictions-whistleblower-vanunu-decade-after-release-2014-04-16

On 21 April 2014 it will be 10 years since Mordechai walked out  of Ashkelon to cheering supporters from around the world. It should also be noted that Mordechai's initial revelations, were not given to the enemy, but to newspapers, in an attempt to protect his own people, the region and the world against great danger, he has served his time most of it in solitary confinement, with civilised justice a prisoner who has served his time is back in society, but Vanunu itseems is being punished again and again.
It seems  that the Israeli establishment cannot forgive Mordechai his act of honesty and, shamefully, the international community has done nothing to support Mordechai as one of the few men who risked his freedom for peace in the Middle East as a man of peace and conscience.
A traitor to some a hero to others, one thing is clear he has served his time , it's time to let him get on with his life.
As 21April approaches UK Vanunu supporters are planning and hoping to raise his profile and the fact that he is still being held in Israel against his wishes. He is still being harassed and  his current status falls very short of being a free man.

There is already one petition circulating entitled:

We are not free until Vanunu is free

(Please sign it below)

http://www.causes.com/actions/1765266-a-petition-to-world-media-and-israel-we-are-not-free-until-vanunu-is-free

I Am Your Spy- Mordechai Vanunu

I am the clerk, the technician, the mechanic, the driver.
They said, do this, do that, don't look left or right,
don't read the text. Don't look at the whole machine. You
are ony responsible for this one bolt. For this one rubber-stamp.
This is your only concern. Don't bother with what is above you.
Don't try to think for us. Go on, drive. Keep going. On, on.

So they thought, the big ones, the smart ones, the futurologists.
There is nothing to fear. Not to worry.
Everything's ticking just fine.
Our little clerk is a diligent worker. He's a simple mechanic.
He's a little man.
Little men's ears don't hear, their eyes don't see.
We have heads, they don't.

Answer them, said he to himself, said the little man,
the man with a head of his own. Who is in charge? Who knows
where this train is going?
Where is their head? I too have a head.
Why do I see the whole engine,
Why do I see the precipice--
is there a driver on this train?

The clerk driver technician mechanic looked up.
He stepped back and saw -- what a monster.
Can't believe it. Rubbed his eyes and - yes,
it's there all right. I'm all right. I do see
the monster. I'm part of the system.
I signed the form. Only now I am reading the rest of it.

This bolt is part of a bomb. This bolt is me. How
did I fail to see, and how do the others go on
fitting bolts. Who else knows?
Who has seen? Who has heard? The emperor really is naked.
I see him. Why me? It's not for me. It's too big.

Rise and cry out. Rise and tell the peopkle. You can.
I, the bolt, the technician, mechanic? Yes, you.
You are the secret agent of the peopkle. You are the eyes of the nation.
Agent-spy, tellus what you've seen. Tell us what the insiders, the clever ones
have hidden from us.
Without you, there is only the precipice. Only catastrophe.

I have no choice. I'm a little man, a citizen, one of the people,
but I'll do what I have to. I've heard the voice of my conscience
and there's nowehere to hide.
The world is small, small for Big Brother.
I'm on your mission. I'm doing my duty. Take it from me.

Come and see yourselves. Lighten my burden. Stop the train.
Get of the train. The next stop - nuclear disaster. The next book,
the next machine. No. There is no such thing.

1987, Ashkelon Prison