Remembering Srebenica

Thousands have  gathered in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica to commemorate Europe’s worst atrocity, a genocide unprecedented in Europe since the Second World War.
The remains of 71 recently identified victims were laid to rest at Srebrenica-Potočari Memorial Centre and Cemetery, to join 6,504 white gravestones  as mourners observed the twenty-second anniversary of the massacre.
We remember the more than  8000 Bosnian fathers, brothers and sons were systematically separated from their wives, mothers and daughters, taken away, executed and dumped into hastily dug pits (so inappropriate to call them graves).
Every year, new bodies are discovered and the remains are identified through DNA analysis before being buried at Potocari.Thousands of activists each year attend massive marches to remember the genocide victims.
Srebrenica had been declared a UN safe zone, to which thousands of Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) had fled during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. However in July 1995, General Ratko Mladić and his Serbian paramilitary units overran and captured the town,  Dutch  UN peacekeeping forces were at the time accused of  failing to do enough to prevent the massacre.The Muslim men and boys were told by the Dutch peacekeepers they would be safe and handed over to the Bosnian Serb army. They never returned. The Netherlands  has since been found  partly liable for the deaths of 300 Muslims killed in the Srebrenica massacre, a court recently confirmed.The Hague appeals court upheld a decision from 2014 that ordered the Dutch state to pay compensation to the victims families.
Srebrenica  happened during a war with seemingly few rules of engagement, bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing and systematic mass rape. Essentially a territorial conflict, one in which people of difference looked back on times of peaceful coexistence, however fragile, and forward to ethnic separation, exclusion and to living apart.
In March last year, former Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic, was convicted of war crimes for his role in the Srebrenica killings and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors at The Hague war crimes tribunal have called for a life sentence to be imposed on the Bosnian Serb military commander, Ratko Mladic, for genocide and crimes against humanity committed by his forces during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Yet for many Serbs he is still regarded as a hero of his people and is celebrated.
Humanity has lived through the darkest of times, but few events have stained our collective history more than the Srebrenica genocide.Today we remember the victims, survivors and those still fighting for justice. Let us continue to unite against forces of hatred. We must continue to learn lessons from this tragic event, never forget and recognise the dangers of what can manifest when racism, prejudice,  religious-hatred and discrimination go unchallenged and ethnic divisions are exploited by political leaders.

Here is a link to the official site of rememberance.:-

http://www.srebrenica.org.uk/

Erich Mühsam ( 6/4/ 1878 - 10/7/ 34) - The Revolutioner

On 10 th July 1934 Erich Mühsam, German anarchist poet,cabaret performer, who achieved international prominence during the years of the Weimar Republic for works which, before Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, condemned  Nazism and satirized the future dictator.was found dead at the Orianenburg concentration camp. He had been murdered during the night by Nazis.The nazis claimed that he committed suicide. Many details and many testimonies proved that he was coldly killed by the SS. 
Miihsam was the son of a pharmacist. In his first collections, which included The Desert (1904), he depicted the world through the eyes of a lonely hero. He published topical verse in satirical journals. In its thematic content, Mühsam’s poetry was similar to the rebellious antiwar lyric poetry of left-wing expressionism. For the first time in 20th-century German democratic poetry, Miihsam created the heroic figure of the revolutionary.
Erich Mühsam represented the idea of ​​nonviolent anarchism and characterized anarchists as follows:
"An anarchist never enters into voluntary commitments that can  affect self-determination or subordinate him to authority."
The way he lived shows how consistently he followed his credo, formulated in 1918: "And if they slay me, to obey is to lie!" Mühsam tried repeatedly to unite all left-wing parties in solidarity against the war and with these pacifist efforts he was a thorn in the eye of the imperial empire. After a counterrevolutionary coup in Munich, he was arrested and remained in prison until 1925. When, after his release, he and his wife arrived at the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin, thousands of comrades were waiting for him singing the Internationale, for which they were attacked by the police.
In 1929, the Jewish-born Mühsam warned the SPD and the KPD that the fascists were planing a coup.In the night of the burning of the Reichstag, 27th to 28th February 1933, Mühsam was arrested and taken to jail. His plan to escape the next morning to Prague did not work out. He was held in various prisons and concentration camps and suffered  repeatedly months of beatings and torture.In his satirical play Weather for All (1930; published posthumously), he exposed the behind-the-scenes collusion of the Nazis, industrialists, and the German military clique and the conciliatory policy of the right-wing Social Democratic leaders.
After his death he was buried on 16 July 1934 in the cemetary of Dahlem. The following  is a short account of his life, work and subsequent  martyrdom.:- https://libcom.org/library/erich-m%C3%BChsam-his-life-his-work-his-martyrdom-%E2%80%93-augustin-souchy

The Revolutioner - Erich Mühsam, 1908 (Original in German)

Dedicated to German Social Democracy

A guy for revolution screamed
Who as civilian lanterns cleaned
Marched like chased by Lucifer
With all the revolutioners

And he cried: “I revolute!”
His revoluting hat so cute
Tilted over his left ear
Felt most dangerous, oh dear!

But the revoluters roved
In the middle of the road
Where usually, without dismay
He cleans the lanterns every day

The revolutionary crowd
Began to tear the lanterns out
The pavement disarrayed
They built a barricade!
The pavement disarrayed
They built a barricade!

Our revolutionary cried:
“People, I’m the cleaning guy
Of this lamp, so kind and warm
Please, don’t do it any harm.”

“If we take away their light
The citizens won’t see at night
Spare these lamps, I do deplore
Or I won’t play with you no more!”

The revolutionaries laughed
And the gas lanterns they smashed
And the lampman slid away
Cried so bitter in dismay

So he stayed at home
And wrote a mighty tome:
Called: How to revolt
and still scrub lanterns to the last bolt

Don't live in fear

Don't live in fear. Live your life.It is our responsibility to break down these walls of indifference, to shatter these conspiracies of silence,to stand up and be counted and not look around to see whoever else is standing before we make a judgment to do so, because in the world in which we live, there are few people prepared to stand, let alone be counted.

So open up the borders, give refugees a safe welcome, oppose war, fight injustice, stand with others in solidarity. Together we can make a difference. In the words of the philosopher Edmund Burke ’the surest way to ensure that evil will triumph in the world is for enough good people to do nothing.’ 

United we can bring about a better society, we can cheer one another on  in pursuit of love, truth, justice and freedom. 

People standing together, gain strength, I believe in people  power,the more of us standing together, raising the call for justice and equality, the louder our voice. United we can take on the might of governments, corporations, and the media , holding forces of tyranny and oppression that brutalizes and dehumanises to account. With a shared inclusive identity in which all have a stake, we can build another world. Never be complicit through silence. And as for Jayden K Smith they can simply piss off.

River poem

( no apologies, another poem for Jane , 9/5/ 60 - 8/1/17)

We sat together by the river teifi
My dear friend and I,
As life floated on by
Onwards  into eternity,
We held hands, consumed by love,
As waters moved  so feely
We had so much in common,
Our laughter rippled
As tidal currents flowed on and on,
We smiled and consoled one another
Trusting the forces of nature,
Gliding and glistening
Our love was real,
Reflections of the past
All belong to this earth,
As time rumbles on
Waters deep hold a common treasury
The future will always, belongs to us all.

Hold HSBC to account.

The first week of July has seen lots of activities for the Stop Arming Israel campaign across the country, coinciding with the third anniversary of the brutal military assault on Gaza. In the summer of 2014, Israel carried out its deadliest ever massacre of Palestinians in Gaza, killing more than 2,300 people. Over 550 of these were children.
HSBC holds shares and provides loans to military and technology that sell weapons and equipment to Israel used in the abuse of Palestinians’ human rights,. HSBC’s complicity in Israel’s militarised oppression includes Elbit shares worth £3.64m and  holds £180m of shares in BAE Systems, a key company involved in manufacturing the F-16 fighter jets used by Israel to attack Palestinians in Gaza. HSBC also holds £102m of shares in Boeing, who have provided Hellfire missiles, F-15 Eagle fighter jets, MK84 2000-lb bombs and Apache helicopters used in Israel’s devastating attacks on Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Since the summer of  2012, HSBC has also been involved in syndicates with other banks that have provided loans to arms companies supplying weapons to Israel worth around £19.3 billion.The bank was also involved in providing loans to Caterpillar, whose bulldozers are used to demolish Palestinian homes.
BDS campaigners said HSBC policy appears to state that the bank should not give financial support to the arms trade. Riya Hassan of the Palestinian BDS national committee said: “By investing in and providing loans to the arms companies that help Israel to oppress Palestinians, HSBC is lending its support to Israel’s violations of international law.“HSBC is profiting from the armed violence and repression that lies at the heart of Israel’s system of oppression over the Palestinian people.”

The anti-poverty charity’s senior militarism and security campaigner Ryvka Barnard said: “HSBC holds shares in, and arranges loans to, a number of companies that sell weapons and military technology to Israel, used in the abuse of Palestinians’ human rights, including war crimes.
“If HSBC is serious about a commitment to human rights, its first step must be to immediately end its business relationship with companies that sell weapons to Israel.”

Please keep  calling on HSBC to immediately end all forms of support for arms companies that help Israel to oppress Palestinians and violate international law. People will be taking further action in due course to pressure HSBC to end its complicity with the Israeli arms trade.
We must urge them to end its complicity in Israel’s systematic violation of Palestinian rights.

Do not let  HSBC and Elbit Systems look away from the consequences of their continued dealings with the Israeli military. Arming any country in my opinion in this unethical way, is simply wrong. 

https://secure.waronwant.org/page/11112/action/1?locale=en-GB

Magic

(was not sure whether to share this, but arrived a moment ago, as mood descended,  as it made me feel better I thought id share it.)

I have not forgotten, that out of the darkness
An individual arrived, put a spell on this earth,
A faraway voice nearly seven months gone,
(in my head,  still  keeps an eye on us)
Releases rainbow lakes  into which I dive,
In slow motion her hands outstretched move devotion
Allow my fears to disappear from this troubled world,
In the storms calm descends, her eyes appear illuminating 
Casting  captivating rays in every town and city,
Walking beside us, a little flower of heaven
With compassion on her lips, an inspiration of magic,
Though faraway, still releases  beauty
Putting smiles back on  faces, allowing flowers to bloom  
As stars shine down feel the magic.

Happy 69th Birthday NHS

Nye Bevans legacy came into the world 69 years ago this morning, when he opened Park Hospital in Manchester at a time of rationing and shortages, when we were nearly bankrupt, a jewel  that the war generation left us with, a proud legacy, for us to all to continue to share.For the first-time doctors, nurses, opticians, dentists and pharmacists all worked under one organisation, free at the point of use. A healthcare service which is available to everyone for free is what separates us from the US. It offered for the first time a free healthcare system for all, and has since  played a vital role in caring for all aspects of our nations health. It has been the envy of the world ever since. My own father served it well for nigh on 40 years.Remember we paid for it, so it is owned by us, it is our precious commodity, it must survive, we must tear the vultures hands from it.
It wouldn’t be possible to run a 7-day NHS, caring for millions of people day-in-day-out without the hard work and dedication of its staff. Despite all the adversity that’s thrown at them: poor pay, bursary cuts, hospital parking fines and staff shortages to name a few; they continue to become stronger and relentlessly deliver fantastic healthcare to the nation .Recent tragic events that have taken place in London, Manchester and Grenfell Tower have once again highlighted the strength, professionalism , dedication and bravery of our healthcare staff. It is truly inspiring to see how amazing the staff handled the awful situation and it was a testament to every healthcare worker throughout the UK. They  are a credit to our nation and we couldn’t be more proud.
The NHS  here in Wales employs close to 72,000 staff which makes it Wales’ biggest employer. I can never forget the compassion they gave to my dear departed, the staff always managing to keep her spirits high, never once showing any dereliction of care.Dedicated, compassionate staff  are under increased pressure, leading to low moral. Recent figures have emerged that 2/4s of hospitals have been warned about dangerous staff shortages.
As the Tory's and their rotten hearts seek to dismantle it,  we should not forget Nye's words who said ' It will last as long as their are folk with enough faith to fight for it. We  cannot reach the day again where people make a profit out of our sickness.On its birthday we should also join the call for fair pay for all NHS staff - scrap the cap ,Public sector pay has been capped for too long. This is despite rising inflation and increased living costs. Workers in the UK are on average £1200 worse off a year than in 2008. It's not OK that NHS staff like nurses are resorting to food banks to get by
We are now standing at a precipice: the NHS has been severely damaged by underfunding and privatisation .But remember we paid for it, so it is owned by us, it is our precious commodity, it must survive, we must tear the vultures hands from it.As the Tory's and their rotten hearts seek to dismantle it,  we should not forget Nye's words who said ' It will last as long as their are folk with enough faith to fight for it.' We  cannot reach the day again where people make a profit out of our sickness . The NHS is a shining example of how a caring society can create   good and safe care based on social solidarity., making such a great contribution towards social and health equality.    
Please sign the following  birthday card to Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt a message - It's time to care for the NHS

http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/actions/happy-birthday-nhs