Tam Lyn (Retold) - Benjamin Zephaniah ; featuring Eliza Carthy

Happy May Day/ Beltane. As humanity  continues to move  in a very funny direction, here is a message of hope and positivity, a retelling of the traditional folk tale Tam Lyn, by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah who cleverly rewrote the tale for a project called the Imagined Village, with a superb backing of electro-reggae from Transglobal Underground, plus a a haunting accompanying melody from Eliza Carthy. All in all,a pretty good way to start the month. Solidarity and  love.

Tam Lyn (retold)

Don't be scared
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
This was when the workers they
Celebrate fertility

It was the first of May
She stepped into the club
Lookin' for the holy herb
And a magical dub

A virgin full of  rhythm
Her passion shining bright
Her future in her hand
And she was holding it tight

So she found that holy herb
It was sweet Carribean
She burned that holy herb
In an organic chillum

And she moves to the bass
She retold to creation
They was time and space
For this heavenly maiden

It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility

It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility

He was a mover and a shaker
Who was prone to temptation
He stepped up in the angel
And made his objection

Saying "Woman was not made
to partake this herb"
He cursed and she was humble
And she called him absurd

Then she took him to a place
That was not very far
They connected at the waist
In the back of her car

Her innocence was gone
In just under an hour
He was forced to hang on
While she flashed her girl power

It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility

It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
It was when the workers day
Celebrate fertility

Love is impatient
It ignores tradition and convention
It is not bound by human constructs
Jurisprudence and the laws of men

Love reaches out and holds open-hearted
It demands attention
It is in a world of its own
Yet it connects worlds that will forever
Be set apart

Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Have a sweet hope of glory in my soul

Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Oh I know I have and I feel I have
A sweet hope of glory in my soul

Make love not war
This is how we do it
Make love not war
This is how we go
Make love not war
This is how we do it
Make love not war
This is how we flow
Make love not war

Our man had moved on
Said he was wild
Then our lady found
She was heavy with child


When she told her father
He said go seek him out
She found him six months later
Down town hangin' about

He said who's the daddy
She said you are the one
He said I am an alien
And quite soon I'll be gone

'Cos the land immigration
Want to get rid of me
There's no peace in my nation
I'm a war refugee

There's no peace in my nation
I'm a war refugee
There are people in uniform
Out to get me
There's no peace in my nation
There's nowhere I can hide
If you really do love me
Will you stay by my side?

I can groove on the dance floor
But my baby's quite clear
I don't know all the answers
But I'm trying to relate

Since I've been in exiled
I just don't know my fate
And a best-selling tabloid
Always reeling with hate

There's no peace in my nation
I'm a war refugee
I'm surrounded by war
But there's war inside me


"There's no peace in my nation
and I'm feeling downhearted
When the Beastie Boys get me
I'm told I'll be deported

S"So I need you to hold me tight
For tomorrow in court
And I need you fill yourself
with positive forces

 'Cos I wanna be wich' yu
And I wanna live
So I need you to give me
All the love you can give"

So the next day in court
She held him really tightly
Just fifteen minutes before
He went in the dock

So the next day in court
She held him really tightly
Just fifteen minutes before
He went in the dock

And her positive thoughts
Made her touch the almighty
And our brother shivered
From his toes to his locks

He turned into a victim
He turned into a loser
He turned into a pimp
And a real mister mean

But she kept holding on
And when those demon were gone
He turned into himself
Just a cool human being.

And the judge said you can go now
The judge set our man free
He was free to be
Indefinitely

And the judge said you can go now
And our joyous refugee
Just said "Thank you, judge,
and now I plan to raise a family"

So he became a citizen
Our angel became a wife
And they had what modern folks would call
A pretty happy life

They met on the dance floor
On the first of May
And the baby that they had
Grew up to be a club DJ

It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
This was when the workers they
Celebrate fertility

(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
It was the first of May
A righteous holiday
This was when the workers they
Celebrate fertility
(For I know I have and I feel I have
a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul
For I know I have and I feel I have
a sweet hope of glory in my soul)


 (Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
Make love not war
This is how we do it
(Well I have a sweet hope of glory in my soul)
Make love not war
this is how we go
(Well I know I have and I feel I have
A sweet hope of glory in my soul)
Make love not war
This is how we do it
Make love, not war,
This is how we go
Make love, not war
This is how we do it
Make love not war,
this is how we flow. 

After Amber Rudd time for Theresa May to go too.

Amber Rudd  has finally bowed down to the inevitable and was forced to resign  yesterday after 200 MP's signed letter accusing her of making up immigration policy on the hoof. About time too.She was responsible for misleading the government over targets for the deportation of illegal immigrants. Rudd had claimed to a parliamentary committee that her department did not impose targets, but the Guardian newspaper  reported on Sunday, that in a private letter to Theresa May in 2017, she had informed the Prime Minister that she intended to boost deportations by 10%.
Rudd's departure deals a further blow to the embattled Prime Minister's leadership, after a misjudged election  last year aimed at "strengthening her hand" in Brexit negotiations backfired spectacularly when her Conservative party lost its parliamentary majority.
Theresa May may run but she can't hide. Rudd  has shielded her from the Windrush scandal for too long. It's time now for the Prime Minister to take responsibility and consider stepping aside too,let's not forget that it is she that has been the leader that's presided over legislation that's discriminated against a whole  group of people who came from the Commonwealth, who suffered racism when they first came over, and then had to relive the trauma all over again because of Theresa May.
Her apologies and excuses are hollow and shallow, and have come too late from the author of cruel and vindictive policy.During the past six years she has been responsible for the deportation of thousands of people. It was she who created draconian immigration rules. In 2013, May oversaw the whipping up of a climate of increasing state and media racism, typified by government sponsored vans featuring anti immigrant 'Go home'! adverts. Introducing the Immigration Act 2014, she boasted of how living in Britain would now' become tougher for illegal immigrants.' Most of the Act had nothing to do will illegal immigration but this did not prevent her using the word 'illegal' every time she said 'immigrant' and 'hardworking' every time she said 'taxpayer''
She was responsible for whipping up a climate of fear, the 2014 act that was draconian enough was swiftly followed by the 2016 Act, which was more of the same, but even harsher. Her apologies for the treatment of Windrush citizens and her assurances no one would be deported would have carried more weight if she had ackowledged her role in the shameful episode and past measures, that have caused  so much damage. that she has not shown remorse for, or any regret. It was May who was determined to create what she termed a " hostile environment" for illegal immigrants which  had such  miserable consequences for the Windrush generation which has since mortified the country.
From the suffering caused by Home Office policies , under Rudd, and Theresa May that has caused such tragedy. From the Windrush generation to the women who've been on hunger strike  in Yarl's Wood detention centre, and to anyone threatened by the racist 'go home' vans, these policies have spread misery across the country.What is clear and certain that the government under May will continue to wreck the lives of refugees, asylum seekers, low- paid workers and their families.
 Rudd may have gone, but the real architect of these hostile policies remains in Downing Street and the blame for recent scandal remains firmly under her feet, which does not make her own position tenable. From bad to rotten now we have Sajid Javid  a hard nosed Tory banker who bought into the Thatcherite philosophy  that poor people deserve what they get - nothing,  ,whose responses to the Grenfell Tower tragedy  were simply appalling, who only a few weeks ago called a democratic grassroots movement " neo fascist" now traking over a Home Office which has inflicted inhumane treatment on British citizens, denied them medical treatment, imprisoned and deported them, who so far has  done nothing to suggest that he plans to change immigration policy in any substantial from what happened  under his predecessor.
And with Parliament set to debate a petition this week on the amnesty for " anyone who was a minor that arrived in Britain between 1948 to 1971." which would  include the Windrush generation, May looks sure to face more difficult questions over her government's handling of the scandal.
https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/petitions-committee/news-parliament-2017/windrush-amnesty-debate-17-19/
Many are  now calling for Theresa May to quit too,shadow minister Dawn Butler said "Our Prime Minister Theresa May now has no human shield, it is time for her to  follow suit and step down. Labour MP Rosena Allin- Khan added "Rudderless and without direction. Theresa May needs to do the right thing and step down!" .The clock is currently ticking for her , it's time for her to go, at the heart of this Tory Government is its incompetence, vindictiveness and intolerance, and callousness which has damaged the UK's standing and reputation across the world.

Captain Ska - Windrush  - Feat . Rubi Dan

Powerful images from land of conflict and devastation by Syrian artist Tammam Azzam.

The Syrian war, as we all know too well, has been one of the bloodiest of the 21st century. It has bred the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, and the ever climbing death toll, sees no signs of abating. Despite this Syrian artists have managed to render their pain, and create art and to bear witness with artistic memory to this nation torn apart, conveying their hope and despair for the world to see.
The above picture depicting a Statue of Liberty-like structure,rising from the ruins of Syria has recently been doing the rounds of the internet. The image in question is from a work by Syrian Artist, Tammam Azzam, and is actually a digital composition in which different parts of bombed out buildings are assembled together to resemble French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s statue.The artist  has been in the spotlight previously for addressing the Syrian tragedy through his work ( when he photoshoped in 2013 Klimt’s “The Kiss” atop a war-ravaged building from Syria). It is one of many pieces created by the artist over the course of this long running conflict.
Another haunting picture of his shows a Syrian building floating on balloons out of the smoking hole in the side of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

One other shows a hand grenade made of brightly coloured flowers which Azzam captioned "Syrian Spring "

                       
                                                Tammam Azzam

Born in Damascus, Syria in 1980, Tammam Azzam received his artistic training from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Damascus with a concentration in oil painting. Alongside a successful career as a painter in Syria, Azzam was a prolific graphic designer. Forced to flee from his home and studio in Damascus at the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Tammam Azzam left behind his painting materials and reputation as one of Syria’s key artists. Restless in his exile, Azzam could only watch the developments of the conflict stream through his Twitter feed, increasing in number and devastation every day. Anguished in his powerlessness, he could no longer withstand the despair such destruction caused him. As a substitute for paintbrush and canvas, Azzam adapted to a new medium: digital art in which to express himself and his sadness with the events that were unfolding in his homeland of Syria.

                                           Henri Matisse, The Dance (1910)

The artist who is not affiliated with or embedded in any opposition group, moved to Dubai where he spent the next  four years. Here in a solo exhibition held in November 2012 in Ayyam Gallery Dubai (Al Quoz), digital artworks representing a location the Syrian Uprising has affected were overlaid with the text, ‘In the revolution’, followed by the name of the area that witnessed the revolution. Other examples took the form of fractured and wounded maps of my country, stop signs covered with bullet holes, bleeding apples, fallen chess pawns and puzzle pieces, and symbols of peace reconfigured into targets, all symbolizing the violence and suffering the Syrians are facing.
Azzam who is still an active Twitter user, takes advantage of his international fame to share updates of the conflict, but he mainly spreads messages of peace. The artist   tweeted an article  about the statue of  Liberty image  to clarify his position and the misleading associations that have been attached to it.

He said pro-Assad and regime loyalists were sharing the picture and lying about its origins saying: “From a Syrian artist to America, using his own destroyed home in Aleppo.”

He said the work was done by a photomontage on the computer and not a real statue. The Syrian artist explained: “The Statue of Liberty in New York does not represent US politics and I used it only as the symbol of freedom.” “The piece at the time was carrying a message of optimism despite all of the destruction in Syria,” he added “but that was a long time ago.”

Azzam said he doesn’t respond to people who were using his picture in a context that he had not intended. “I’m an artist, and I’m busy with all my art work, and have no time to respond to anyone, I draw people and their worries, and not about politics,” he said.
Recently, he has returned to painting with Storeys, a series of monumental works on canvas, that show the magnitude of the devastation in Syria. The artist studied photographs from several Syrian cities, including Douma and Aleppo, on which to base the paintings, excavating the horrors of war and the ongoing humanitarian crisis, depicting scenes of massive neighbourhood devastation in which whole buildings are bombed or leveled..

Azzam is realistic about the impact of his artwork in the conflict. In an interview he once said  “I believe that art can’t save the country. Bullets are more powerful than art, now. But I believe at the same time that all kinds of culture, art or writing, cinema or photographs, can rebuild something in the future.” Again through Twitter, he often considers the power of political and protest art in a world where anyone who has access to the internet is equal in their freedom to express their discontent. This form of art will continue to define the conflict in Syria and elsewhere in the world, as for the first time in history, any protestor has the voice to address the global audience. Despite the undeniable problems associated with aestheticizing protest by presenting it as art, nothing can prevent the rise of artists like Tammam Azzam and the place they are claiming for themselves in the violent and complex dimension of conflict.

Whether made digitally or photoshopped his work remain powerful pieces of art, and through his eyes,as he sees it expresses a need for unity and the fact that human suffering is the same whatever part of this planet we are on. He remains an arresting visual chronicler of what remains when an entire people’s way of life is upended, possibly for generations to come, using the means  available to him, to show the world what is going on in his country and reinforce  that “empathy should not be limited to the first world”.My heart personally goes out to all those currently suffering the devastating impact of war.
Azzam currently lives and works in Deimenhorst, Germany and has contributed to large scale international exhibitions across the world.

https://twitter.com/tammamazzam

https://en-gb.facebook.com/tammam.azzam/

http://www.ayyamgallery.com/artists/tammam-azzam

Easter Rising : A chronology of Rebellion

The Easter Rising was launched  in Dublin on Easter Monday April 24,war of independence, the civil war and ultimately the freedom  of the Irish republic ( though minus the six counties.) 1916 when revolutionary socialists and nationalists attempted to to spark a general uprising across Ireland against British  imperialism , beginning a process that would eventually lead to the Proclamation on behalf of the Provisional Government, proclaiming the whole of Ireland as a Sovereign Independent Republic.   The background to the rebellion was the centuries of national oppression suffered and felt by Irish people by under British.domination and rule, and the intensification of the national question around the issue of home rule ( limited self-governmet for Ireland within the United Kingdom )
Three groups were behind the rising,  but the most important was the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) which was formed in the mid-19th century.Thomas Clarke and Seán Mac Dermot were the key figures in the IRB, which had been recruiting among Irish nationalists in Dublin ., many of whom were disillusioned to the extent of Ireland's support for Britain in the First World War.
The Irish Volunteers were a military group formed in 1913 and its members accounted for the largest number of men who were called out on Easter Monday.
The Irish Citizen Army, a socialist militia, led by James Connolly https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/james-connolly-working-class-hero.html formed to protect striking miners in 1913 also played an important role.
The key group was a seven-man IRB military council, drawn from those three organisations, which planned the Easter Rising with complete secrecy.They were Tom Clarke, Sean McDermot, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, Joseph Plunkett, James Connolly and Eamon Ceannt.
By 1914, the division over Home Rule had taken Ireland to the brink of civil war. Unionists had founded a 100,000 strong militia, the Ulster Volunteer Force, to resist its implementation, while moderate nationalists set up the Irish Volunteer Force in response.
But the outbreak of the First World War would see the two sides rally to the war effort,, which saw the majority of both militia enlisting in the British Army, making up a large compound of the 210,00 Irishmen who served. However a huge amount of around 13,000 dissident Irish volunteers remained in Ireland, rejecting the war.
The decision to rise was based on the traditional dictum that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity. But it also reflected the military council's fear that Irish nationalism was in decline, a concern reinforced by popular Irish nationalist support for the aims of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the British war effort.
On 23 April, the council agreed to proceed with the rising the next day, Easter Monday.
The drafting of a proclamation declaring a republic was one of the final steps taken by those who planned the rising. It decided that the proclamation should be read to the public outside Dublin's General Post Office (GPO) by the president of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic. It was agreed that Pádraig Pearse a poet and educator should act as president, and 
Connolly as commander in chied, who in the run up to and during the rising itself, made political concessions to the forces of nationalism he was fighting alongside, setting aside some of the ideas and methods he had so carefully developed during decades of revolutionary activity. This is best reflected in the Proclamation he put his name to, which is, notwithstanding the positives sentiments it contains, is a nationalist document. 
Shortly after noon on Easter Monday, Pearse accompanied by an armed guard, stood on the steps of the GPO and read the proclamation, signalling the beginning of the Easter Rising.
Ireland's 'national right to freedom and sovereignty' was asserted, which was partly based on Robert Emmet’s proclamation of Irish independence of 1803, enshrined equal suffrage and equal rights. It spoke of “religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens” and “cherishing all children of the nation equally”. 

The conflict that followed was largely confined to Dublin. The rising itself seemed doomed from the beginning. With only a small number of fighters the rebels were militarily significantly outnumbered and outgunned. The rebellion was largely confined to the fighting in the four courts and General Post Office in Dublin although there was also support from rebel forces in Galway and Wexford. As the week progressed, the fighting in some areas became more intense, leading to several prolonged, fiercely contested street battles. Military casualties were highest at Mount Street Bridge and fierce fighting also took place at South Dublin Union and North King Street. The suppression of the rising was immediate with martial law being declared on April 25 1916. 

Under supreme Commander in Dublin Major General John Maxwell , the British forces had authority to punish the risings participants. They were determined to suppress and crush the new wave  of Irish militant nationalism, arresting and rounding up many in the aftermath, along with leaders as well as suspected supporters in a nationwide sweep, aided by police. Over the following  week, the British deployed over 16,000 troops, artillery and even a naval gunboat into the city at  Liffey  to suppress the rising.After five days of fierce fighting and the rebel headquarters at the GPO being heavily bombarded, the  six-day-long Easter Rising, in which over 2000 Irish Republican Volunteers seized the General Post Office and other key points in Dublin, effectively ended with the surrender of the Irish Republican headquarters to British forces on April 29, 1916. Pearse surrendered unconditionally to prevent the further slaughter of unarmed people of Dublin , realising that his own forces were surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered. 
A total  of 450 people were killed during the rebellion, 2,614 were injured, More than 3,430 men and 79 women were arrested, over twice the number of people that had actually taken part in the actual rising.As far as Mawell was concerned the ringleaders of the rebellion and their supporters were guilty of treason in a time of war. It should be noted that the First World War, was taking place at the same time, and they should recieve the ultimate penalty - death. But the tremendous courage and self-sacrifice displayed by the likes of James Connolly and indeed  the others who fought in the rising cannot be disputed. Let us remember. People gave their lives so that the religious and civil liberty, equal rights and opportunities of all its citizens would be protected. 
Connolly was imprisoned, and despite his severe wounds, was tied to a chair and executed by the British military on May 12th 1916 by firing squad to the outrage of many people in Ireland and across the world.
With the subsequent execution of 15 of the leaders it would sow a wave of resentment, prompted by the general feeling that unnecessary severity had been deployed ,proving a catalyst in changing public opinion into away from a desire for Home rule and  a demand for a fully Independent Irish Republic.
Even though the rising was thwarted five days later and Irish independence would not happen until 1923, many believe that the actions that began that Easter Monday helped inspire similar rebellions in more distant parts of the British Empire, and internment camps such as Frongoch in North Wales became known as the University of Revolution. which would see a total of at least 30 men held here going on to become  MPs in the new Irish parliament in Dublin that would be formed.
By the summer of 1916 the rebel leaders were viewed as heroes, and by January 1919 when a more concerted war for Independence broke out the huge impact of the Easter Rising would be seen.  Sadly the vision of these brave men and women who had risen,  has not been fully realised  with fostering divisions, Britain's continuing claim to sovereignty over six counties in the north east of Ireland, and the failure to actually achieve a united Irish republic,  means that the dream is still not complete, a conundrum than many still find troubling to this day.

The birth of the Irish Republic  - Walter Paget

Earlier piece written on the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising :-

https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/100th-anniversary-of-easter-rising.html 

All born equal?

A woman named Kate Middleton gave birth to a baby boy this morning, her husband William was by her bedside. It's their third child. As the BBC continues  its sycophantic fawning and it takes over the news agenda to divert attention from Windrush and Syria. Here's a really positive way to respond to the Royal Baby news. Donate to the Child Poverty Action Group.
Here's a link :-
http://www.cpag.org.uk
Remember any other family living this kind of life  at taxpayers expenses would be hounded  by the  press  as benefit scroungers. No bunting for me, but congratulations to the parents, but as we continue to face misery under the reign of Theresa May  I can't though find much reason to get over excited . It just serves to remind us all of the appalling inequality that still exists in our country, which is at the core of existence of monarchy. Nothing  quite symbolises stagnation, immovable social barriers  quite like the royal family.
Amid growing austerity,  these occasions should remind  us too, that in 2018 modern Britain the aristocracy still own more than one third of the country continue to hold onto disproportionate power.  This baby will have every need  pandered too, servants to make sure it goes for nothing, while others are born into poverty, whose  mums cannot  afford food or heating.
Behind all the spin and the fairytale nonsense, we should recognise  the sad fact that the gloss of inherited privilege, still shines,  I look forward to the day when, we are all born equal. Should not every new baby born, be headline news.
The upcoming May 2018 wedding of Meghan and Harry should also be seen in this context Austerity Britain and universal credit  verses a pageant of the rich with expenditure being no object.
There's a petition  at the moment too asking that the BBC is fair balanced and proportionate, and avoids  wild speculation and inaccurate claims about the royals and public opinion
You could sign it here :- https://www.republic.org.uk/petition/bbc-coverage

Privilege Verses Poverty

So a child is born
the silver spoons are near
for him to be fed,
with all the vestiges of power
that he could ever possibly eat,
while media overdrive in frenzy
gather outside, a life of privilege awaits.

Meanwhile
the poorest among us
born in chains,
our voices go unanswered
and in refugee camps across the world
children choked in shadows of rubble and dust,
their future already denied
they are seemingly invisible.

Innocent children killed by drones
the press ignores their story
and people consigned to poverty and misery
by tory austerity and welfare reform
are expected to fawn
whilst queing at foodbanks
running on empty.

Daily we are manipulated
and the benefit claimants, disadvantaged,
and the underpaid workers
are told to go to hell,
Royal sprog does not have to worry though
in the 21st century it seems, we're still born unequal,
will be looked after by nannies, sent to public school
look forward to a lifetime of pampering and advantage,
and his grannies had a bloody pay rise too.

Survival

We wait because we have no choice
all of us will not come back from the abyss,
death from warfare, death from addiction.
disease, austerity, melancholic affliction.
most will encounter death in the flesh
strings of infinity, stretched out, as we coalecse.
             
For years now, we have
exchanged propaganda presents,
here, there, everywhere, we wait for return
as dusk dances upon the sky with starlight,
we remind ourselves that everything that lives
will one day eventually cease to exist.

Time gets swept away, conjuring questions
which way now, but elsewhere,.
some choose revelation, some simply forget
others hum notes, that cannot be heard,
by anyone, save the listeners
above and beyond.

The sweetness of the world
its bitter pill often too hard to taste,
tears shed in ditches, to the point of no return
life balances on a thread, wears no uniform,
ready to bleed, ready to burn
a future under a cremated sun.

Life is a segway of delicate navigation
often the scales, tip one way or another,
lets us fall, stay or drift far away
following contracts of internal emotion,
good and evil, light and darkness
passion, apathy, peace, war, love and hate.

As days are dark, and night grows blacker
terrible flashbacks pass through mind,
with no end in sight, souls find no rest
remain powerless as life disparages,
tentative moments, in the pace of uncertainty
in moment's quiet,we can try, find harmony.

Survivors accept things as they are
take steps away from the edge,
abandon division, ideological tides
discover beauty among the ruins,
find some force, to ignite every breath
fight for life,so that they can win.

In aftermath of Windrush Scandal its time for Amber Rudd and Theresa May to be deported from office.

                            The Empire Windrush arriving in Britain from Jamaica, 21 June 1948

After Theresa May was forced to make a grovelling apology to Caribbean leaders for Windrush scandal, after Caribbean migrants who arrived in Britain 50 years ago were threatened with deportation, because some of them may be living here 'illegally', and when over-zealous enforcement means that long-term legal residents live in fear and face deportation from the only home they have ever known, something is very wrong. This follows the case of Jamaica-born Albert Thompson. Who was told to present a British passport or pay £54,000 for NHS cancer treatment., and arrives shockingly during the signifiant anniversary of Enoch Powell's infamous ' Rivers of Blood speech..
Green MP Caroline Lucas was right to say that the Tory government “wants to create a hostile environment for migrants. This isn’t a design flaw, it’s central to their programme.”
We should remember the infamous words uttered by Theresa May as home secretary in 2012. “The aim is to create, here in Britain, a really hostile environment for illegal immigrants.”
Under  racist immigration  polices introduced by Theresa May then and 2014, many of the children of the Windrush migrants are now finding themselves hounded by the government.Further changes to already racist immigration laws in 2012 and 2014 mean migrants can now be forced to prove they have the right to be here. Employers, landlords and public services such as the NHS can demand to see paperwork for healthcare provision.. other  people facing deportation, others have been made homeless or fired from their jobs. And some others have been forced to pay thousands in legal fees in their battle to stay.
This "hostile" immigration policy devised by Theresa May during her time as Home Secretary has been  regarded as "almost like Nazi Germany" by some ministers, the former head of the civil service has said.Lord Kerslake claims that concerns were voiced within government after the policy was announced in 2014.

He added that the strategy was a "very contested piece of legislation" that some ministers were "deeply unhappy" with. "Now, I can't say, and shouldn't say, as the former head of the civil service, precisely who gave what advice to whom. But, what I can tell you, it was highly contested and there were some who saw it, I shan't name them, as almost reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the way it's working," he said. Asked if he was referring to people in the civil service, Lord Kerslake said: "No, some in the ministers were deeply unhappy."
Speaking on BBC 2's Newsnight, Lord Kerslake criticised the way the Windrush controversy was being handled, calling Amber Rudd's attempt to blame the situation on the civil service "completely ridiculous".“You cannot create a climate and then not expect it to have consequences,” he said.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove has refuted these comparisons.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "I have never heard anyone make that comparison before Lord Kerslake did. "It is not for me to criticise a distinguished former public servant like Lord Kerslake, but I respectfully disagree."
Mr Gove went on to praise Home Secretary Amber Rudd's response to the Windrush scandal after many were wrongly threatened with deportation.
"I think the gracious way in which she apologised to those affected was a model of how a politician should react to a situation like this," he said.
Tory local government minister Sajid Javid added that  he was “deeply concerned” about the scandal.
Yet at the same time the  Tories have no sympathy for the thousands of people held at Britain’s borders in Calais, nor is there scandal for people or outrage for people currently cruelly being detained in immigration removal centres like Yarl’s Wood, Is is not shameful that such centres exist at all?
The Home Office vile policy to create a 'hostile environment' for migrants in the UK has rightly come under fire with the Windrush Scandal. We should now be calling on politicians, as well as journalists to sign up to principles for ethical reporting on migration. To recognise that migrants are #notillegalHUMAN. It is scandulous that any human being can be described as illegal.

Amber Rudd, the current Home Secretary has been using the language of individuals to take away from the structural racism that is behind the Home Office deportation system.
This needs to stop. All deportations are unjust.In order to make this happen we need politicians that can pledge to work towards these 10 principles for ethical reporting on migration, of which over 60 politicians and journalists have already signed up to. All deportations are unjust.
We should remind ourselves that  a lot of the government's  policies on immigration/ asylum/ right to stay  isn't driven by actual concrete consequences. It's driven by pandering to anti immigrant / racist views. Britain an only atone for damage caused  by adopting policies exactly opposite to those currently in place, welcoming the migrants who come to our country with open arms and not treat them as second-class citizens.
And in solidarity,it's time for Theresa May and Amber Rudd to be deported from office.

The Chittaqong uprising of 18 April 1930

The Chittagong Armory Raid, also known as the Chittaqong uprising was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxillary forces from the Chittagong armoury in Bengal province of British India by armed revolutionaries for Indian independence from British colonial rule.
This elaborate plan was  conceived by a softly spoken local teacher by the  name of Surya Ben  who was popularly known as Masterda..In. 1916  when he was a B.A  student in Behrampore College he learned about the Indian freedom movement from one of his teachers. He was drawn to revolutionary ideals and joined a revolutionary organization called Anushilan Samity. movement. After completing his studies he returned to Chttagong in 1918 and joined as a teacher at National School. Nandakanan., At that time, the Indian National congress was the most prominent political party there.

   
                                                       Surya Sen

All of the leaders of the uprising, were participants in the congress led civil Disobedience movement launched in 1919. They were bitterly dissapointed by Gandhi's decision to call of the movement following the violence in Chauri Chaura in 1922.Apart from Surya Sen, Lokenath Bal, Ganesh Ghosh, Anant Singh, Ambika Chakravarti, Pritilata Waddedar, Tarakeswar Dastidar, Nirmal Sen and Kalpana Dutta are the names of other unsung heroes, involved in this  revolt..
The inspiration of the Chittagong raid  actually came from the 1916 Irish Easter uprising, which vexed the crown, and  in the case of the  Chittagong mission, there is one dimension which, in later decades and still today, is seen by many as the definitive moment when women left the traditional roles to play a part in defining an independent national identity.
Pritilata Waddedar, also from Chittagong, accompanied Sen during the 1930 mission and later, in 1932, led another raid on the Pahartali European Club, which reportedly had a sign at the entrance: “Dogs and Indians not allowed.” During this operation, Pritilata was surrounded and took a cyanide pill to kill herself, thus creating a defiant nationalistic image to be followed by women in future decades to break down restrictive social shackles.
The aims of  the Chittagong raid  were to seize enough  arms and ammunition which would be used in a great uprising, and show others that it was possible to challenge the armed might of the British Empire.
 After extensive planning and deliberation, and after  managing to  build up an army of teenage recruits. The plan was to assassinate  the members of the European Club – military and government officials who were responsible for siding with the British to maintain the Raj. The other objective  at the time was to make Chittagong independent.
At around 10 pm. around 100 of these recruits clad in khaki, marched in military order  in several groups. One of their batches raided the telephone exchanges and Telegraph offices and managed to cut off all communications between Calcutta and bacca.. The second severed rail connections at Nangalkot and Dham, which caused derailment of good trains and blockading of all railway traffic. At the same time leaflets were distributed all over the town explaining  the objective of the raid.. They also  hoisted the national flag on the premises of the armoury, and proclaimed a provisional Revolutionary Government  It was a symbolic blow on the British supremacy  at the time.
 After that they fled to the hills. They were pursued by the Police; and were  surrounded by the British Indian Army in the Jalalabad Hills, where they had took shelter on the afternoon of 22 April 1830.There was an encounter in which over 80 troops and 12 revolutionaries were killed in a gunfight. Surya Sen and some of his fellow revolutionaries were  successful in fleeing. The revolutionaries who were arrested in Chittagong were captured and trialed with  12 people being deported for life.
Stunned by Surya Sens actions, the British embarked on a series of brutal combing actions around the Muslim dominated villages where the revolutionaries were hiding. Despite repressive British actions, these villagers did not betray Surya and his band, instead they offered them food, work and shelter for three years.
In February 1933  Surya Sen was eventually arrested by the Police after being betrayed by one of his comrades, Netra Sen. He was brutally tortured by the British for days, his teeth knocked out, nails ripped, limbs  and joints broken, before he was dragged to the rope unconscious and, hanged, and given a burial at sea.

In his last letter, written to his friends Master-da exhorted us, 'Death is  knocking at my door.My mind is flying away towards eternity... At such a pleasant, at such s grave, at such a solemn moment, what shall I leave  behind you? Only one thing that is my dream, a golden dream, the dream  of Free India.  Never forget the 18th of April 1930, the day of the Eastern Rebellion in Chittagong..Write in red letters in the core of your hearts the names of the patriots who have sacrificed their lives at the altar of India's freedom.' 

This remarkable, anti-imperial revolt remains relatively little-known, if not quite forgotten, but  at the time managed to rattle an empire and two films have since been made about it. Ashutosh Gowariker's Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se (2010), starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, and Debabrata Pain's small-budget but award winning Chittagong (2012), featuring Manoj Bajpai and Vega Tamotia, both, unfortunately, flopped at the box-office. 

Earlier, Manini Chatterjee, the daughter-in-law of communist leader PC Joshi and Kalpana Datta (1913-95), wrote a gripping account Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 (1999).

She was well placed to do so because her mother, Kalpana, had been one of the insurgents who took part in the uprising.
Surya Sen and many of  his comrades paid a heavy price, sacrificing  their life, for the cause of freedom even though their actions have got dispersed in the pages of history.

Palestinian Prisoners Day

Today marks Palestinian Prisoners Day, a day when the Palestinian people and supporters of justice and liberation for Palestine all over the world express  their support to Palestinian political prisoners of freedom.
In Palestine, political imprisonment is a central feature of Israeli Apartheid with over 20% of Palestinians facing imprisonment in their lifetime.
According to the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoner Affairs ;-
,http://www.addameer.org/news/joint-monthly-report-609-palestinians-arrested-during-month-march-2018  roughly 6,500 Palestinians are currently lanquishing in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 350 children, 62 women (8 of whom are female child prisoners), 500 administrative detainees held without charge or trial. 1,800 prisoners who require medical care (700 of whom suffer from serious and chronic conditions), 6 parliamentarians, and 18 journalists. The youngest being a 12-year-old girl. All are treated with the same callousness regardless of age or gender, and UNICEF has said that Israel’s treatment of child detainees is in violation of international law and the Rights of the Child.
Since Israeli began its military occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip in 1967, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been abducted and imprisoned by Israel.  This figure represents 20% of the total Palestinian population and 40% of the Palestinian male population. It also includes 10,000 women imprisoned since 1967 and more than 200 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons as a result of torture and lack of medical care. Furthermore, 8,000 Palestinian children have been arrested since 2000.
Under international law and conventions, including the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (the Third Geneva Convention), the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966, Israel is legally bound to exercise its powers for the benefit of the occupied area and its people.
Palestinian Prisoner Day was founded to remind the world of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned in Israeli prisons or detention centers without charge or trial for extensive periods of time. The number of Palestinian detainess increases as Israeli occupying forces continue to wage campaigns of arbitrary arrests and detentions against thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails continue to be subject to wide-ranging violations of their rights
and dignity.
 The numbers of Palestinian women detained has also increased,. Investigations have revealed that prisoners are regularly subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including poor detention conditions, in violation of Israel's obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.
Out of the total number of detainees, 48 had spent more than 20 successive years in prison, 25 spent more than 25 years and 12 having spent more than 30 years.
The longest serving are Kareem Younis and Maher Younis, who have been in detention for 35 years, and Nael Barhoutti, who served 24 years in Israeli prisons and released during one of the prisoner exchange deals  but was later re-arrested to continue his previous life sentence and an additional 18 years.
These are some of the  reasons that I support Palestine  Prisoner Day  and continue  to support the international communities efforts to ensure the immediate and effective measures to ensure that Israel releases all unlawfully detaned prisoners, and ensures that conditions of arrest are consistent with international human rights and humanitarian law.

Take action 


http://samidoun.net/2012/04/palestinian-prisoners-day-take-action-to-call-for-freedom-for-palestinian-prisoners/


https://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaigns/childprisoners/

LOWKEY - McDONALD TRUMP

Lowkey fearless rapper with a purpose returns, and hits back at Donald Trump.

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