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Current Thoughts
July 4th 2009  Hearing Gordon Brown in an interview talking about growth: 'growth will get us out of recession' etc reminded me that one of the greatest threats to humanity in terms of our survival as a species is democracy.
This will be regarded as heresy no doubt and any alternative is far from clear, but the politicians' wish/need to give people what they want in order to get back into power is part of the reason why we have such an acquisitive society. There is the shallow belief that more material objects will make us happy.
Together with the need for business to sell more through 'innovation' in the short term (these days in business there is no long term), the West strips the world of resources and accelerates global warming.Work which supports this drive to greater and greater material acquisitions is lost through automation, whilst work which would be meaningful, for instance caring for elderly family members, mothers having a real choice in caring for their young children, is deemed uneconomic or paid at a subsistence rate. A change in the political system is not what is required. What is required is a change in the values of Western society. A shift from competition to cooperation, from winning to caring, from greed to compassion, from individualism to community. Whilst this ultimately has to come from the grass roots, politicians could help the process by being honset about the real cost of the free market economy. That cost is extinction.
July 1st 2009 It has attracted little media interest but the UN is conducting an enquiry into what happened in Gaza, holding a public meeting in Gaza on June 28th. "The purpose of the public hearings in Gaza and Geneva is to show the faces and broadcast the voices of victims – all of the victims." said the chairman, Richard Goldstone.
In spite of the fact that Richard Goldstone took part in South Africa's constitutional court, was a prosecutor in the UN tribunals on Yugoslavia and Rwanda and is Jewish, Israel, predictably, accuses the UN of anti-Israel bias. It is a dismal, depressing refrain. One day Israel and the Israeli people will wake up to just how unreasonable, not to say evil, their successive governments' behaviour has been and continues to be.
Last Month
June 29th 2009 Coming back from holiday on Friday, having been news-free for a week. the BBC 6pm news was primarily devoted to the death of Michael Jackson, indeed the second half started "and now other news". A parallel is evoked in the hyperbole about Michael Jackson's genius and eternal legacy.
There was another musical child prodigy whose father took him around Europe on concert tours. He too offended people by his outrageous behaviour. He too died young - but much younger than Michael Jackson. He too had debts when he died. In contrast to all the media hype and the rush to buy anything remotely connected with Michael Jackson, this other musician was buried in a common grave.
His name? Mozart. It is safe to say that more people have listened to Mozart than have listened to Michael Jackson and that Mozart will be listened to when Michael Jackson is regarded rather as Sammy Davis Jnr is today: a good entertainer. Hype and popularity are, inevitably, shallow, serving commercial interests. One more example of how market capitalism works and its prey are not even aware of
how they are targeted and fleeced.
June 17th 2009 Lord Carlile blows the whistle on the predictable and predicted abuse of the draconian anti-terror laws. "Whilst arrests for other crime have followed searches under the section, none of the many thousands of searches has ever resulted in a conviction for a terrorism offence.""I cannot see a justification for the whole of the Greater London area being covered permanently. The intention of the section was not to place London under permanent special search powers." "I have evidence of cases where the person stopped is so obviously far from any known terrorist profile that, realistically, there is not the slightest possibility of him or her being a terrorist and no other feature to justify the stop." Up to 10,000 people are stopped and searched per month under the act. The police do not have to have any reason to justify the stop and search. The Home Office's response? "As part of a structured anti-terrorist strategy, the powers help to deter terrorist activity by creating a hostile environment for would-be terrorists to operate." For "a hostile environment for would-be terrorists" read "a hostile environment for everyone" and don't you just love the "structured anti-terrorist strategy" Orwell-speak?
June 15th 2009 Some more extracts from Binyamin Netanyahu's speech: "The right to establish our sovereign state here, in the Land of Israel, arises from one simple fact: Eretz Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish People."The use of the term 'Eretz Israel' is deliberate and ambiguous. For some it means a land from the Nile to the Euphrates, but it at least means what Israeli's refer to as Judea and Samaria, land known to the rest of the world as the West Bank. He is therefore saying, or implying, that the West Bank belongs to Israel. Further, in tracing the history and right of the Jewish people to their homeland, he says "The truth is that in the area of our homeland, in the heart of our Jewish homeland, now lives a large population of Palestinians. We do not want to rule over them. We do not want to run their lives. We do not want to force our flag and our culture on them." Note the "now", as if the Palestinians had just arrived. Note also the implication of not wanting to rule them, not wanting to force our flag and culture on them. In other words, they should leave Eretz Israel, ie. leave the West Bank. This is made more explicit in the following sentence: "In my vision of peace, there are two free peoples living side by side in this small land, with good neighbourly relations and mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and government, with neither one threatening its neighbour's security and existence." As long as the Palestinians move out if Israel. There cannot be two free peoples, each with their own flag, government, anthem (except the Palestinians would have no independent means of defence or travel) living in the same area of land. Commentators have said that the Palestinians are now wrong-footed: now that Israel (by no means for the first time, of course, it's only the first time Binyamin Netanyahu as PM has said it) has stated a willingness to agree to a two state solution, the Palestinians will be seen as the problem, not wanting peace. Well, my advice to Mahmoud Abbas, who incidentally was born in Safed, Galilee and ended up a refugee in Syria in 1948, in the short term is to play the Israeli's at their own 'game': agree to, but only to, a demilitarized state for the Palestinians on condition Israel is also demilitarized. This will be refused of course, but Israel will be seen to insist on having a different status and be seen to be refusing. Israel produces politicians who are past masters at proposing the preposterous as if it were reasonable. Would that the Palestinians could do the same in that being pro-active and proposing solutions might change the general world perception that the Palestinians just react negatively and violently to all these 'reasonable' Israeli proposals. I wish too that the world could see through the spin that purports to show this speech as a step forward. Israel has taken so many steps backwards, that any one step forwards gets nowhere near the starting line. At present, the starting line appears to be the 1967 boundary pushed back in so many places and ways that any independent Palestinian state is not viable. The Palestinians should be putting the reasonable case for 1967 and no settlements, making this clear that this is a huge concession from the original area of Israel as agreed internationally in 1948. Israel may talk of Eretz Israel, but any land beyond the 1948 boundaries has no foundation in law, quite the opposite.
Another subject, new to me, but to which I will direct my attention. Another people oppressed, branded as terrorists, or simply forgotten. Below is an edited version of an email I received today:"Villagers along the northern Iraqi Kurdistan border have been subject to repeated cross-border bombardment from Turkey and Iran for over two decades. Turkey has identified the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Iran cites the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) as their targets. Those groups have been resisting Turkish and Iranian repression of their Kurdish populations, and both are on US and EU lists of terrorist organizations. Meanwhile thousands of villagers have been forced to flee. Those from around the town of Zharawa are 137 families from eleven villages, totalling more than 600 people, now sharing 45 tents. In 2008, the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) contracted a private company, Qandil, to build an IDP camp outside Zhawara. The conditions at the camp are terrible. There is no shade, and summer temperatures here can reach 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit). "I spend most of my day looking for shade for my children," one parent told us. The people have no electricity to refrigerate their food. Latrines are dangerously close to their tents. They anticipate rampant illness, and worry about how the elderly will survive. There is no employment; whatever resources people had are dwindling away. "Some families cannot buy even a bag of fruit," one man told us. There is no prospect of an early return to their homes. Something must be done urgently before people start dying. So two women from the Christian Peacemaker Team will move into the tent camp on 14 June 2009. We hope their presence will help to focus international attention on the plight of the IDPs. A week later, all being well, the men from the team will follow them. Please help us to tell the world what is going on. Join us too in praying for the IDPs, and for a just solution to this sad conflict." I do not know on what historical basis the Kurds claim to have the right to their own country, which is divided up between Iraq, Turkey,Syria, Armenia and Iran but it is probably similar to that of the Israeli claims, ie. it stems from ancient history.
June 14th 2009 "If we have guarantees on demilitarisation and if the Palestinians recognise Israel as a state of the Jewish people, then we arrive at a solution based on a demilitarised Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Each will have its flag, each will have its anthem. The Palestinian territory will be without arms, will not control airspace, will not be able to have arms.""I call on you, our Palestinian neighbours, and to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority - let us begin peace negotiations immediately, without preconditions." Extracts from Binyamin Netyahu's speech today. Maybe the sense of the speech got lost in translation, but doesn't the first extract contain conditions? Conditions which render a Palestinian 'state' a mere demilitarised zone, toothless, not able to defend itself in any way, its citizens not even able to fly in and out independently. Further, there are several references to Israel as a "Jewish state" and a "state of the Jewish people." If this means anything at all, it is racist: implying exclusivity, that non-Jews are not welcome (as indeed they are not) and are second class people in the 'Jewish' state, otherwise why use the term? On this site I have tried to be scrupulous in my terminology: my distaste for Israel's policies and actions should not be confused with a genuine respect for Jewish people everywhere and Judaism as a religion. It seems to me that the deliberate mixing of 'Israel' and 'Jewish' is geared simply to make it easier for people like myself to be accused of anti-semitism. Well, I will continue to use only the term 'Israel' in my criticism of state action. Finally, from the same speech: "The refugee problem must be solved outside of Israeli borders. Their return goes against the principle of Israel as a Jewish state." As a statement of 'principle' this is breathtakingly racist, inhumane and fascist in nature. It directly echoes Hitler's view of Nazi Germany as only for "Aryans", not for Jews. Nowhere else in the world would a leader say such things and not expect the condemnation of the rest of the world. The refugees belonged in the land that is now Israel, many still have the deeds and keys to their former homes. Israel should not and should not be allowed to wash her hands of a problem that she herself created.
June 11th 2009 To a large extent it must represent domestic Israeli politics but it is interesting what Ehud Barak, Israel's Defence Minister said this week.
"You know the government is made up of several parties. Our party, the Labor party, joined the government, among other reasons, because we agreed that this government will abide by all agreements made by previous governments. That's
why we think we should clearly state that we commend President Obama's initiative, that we are committed to the Road Map and that we want two states for two peoples, all this without compromising on our security concerns. It would not be
right for Israel to get in the way of American efforts to form a Palestinian state according to the vision of two states for two peoples. Pre-empting what Binyamin Netanyahu will say on Sunday, or an indication of division?
He also, unfortunately, threw out hints of possible Israeli action on Iran: . "When we said we are not taking any options off the table, [regarding Iran] it's like a hint that we are also considering other things, without talking about them, and we mean it.
But because there are cameras and recording equipment here, I cannot say any more than that."In this context it is depressing that Israel, even if allowing the possibility of a two state solution, demands that any Palestinian state should be demilitarised. So: it's OK for Israel to devastate Lebanon in 'self-defence', to devastate Gaza in 'self-defence', to attack Iraq unilaterally in a pre-emptive strike, to threaten Iran unilaterally, but a putative neighbouring state would not be allowed any means of defence. Yes, Israel has been attacked far too much and far too often, but the damage Israel has caused to all her neighbours is out of all proportion to the actual threat posed by her neighbours. Any independent state has, unfortunately in the present uncivilised way of human behaviour, the right to defend itself, otherwise it is not independent, but a mere vassal of another state. If I were a Palestinian, in the context of the history of the region, I would not agree to such a status.
June 9th 2009 The UK government has learned nothing over the expenses issue. Shahid Malik stepped down after it was revealed that he may have broken the ministerial code relating to low rental on a property and that he claimed £730 fro a massage chair, plus £2,600 for a home cinema sytem and £65 for a summons
for not paying council tax. The government announced that Sir Philip Mawer to investigate. Well, Sir Philip's report has been carried out, but only into the alleged breach of the ministerial code. Furthermore, the report is not going to be made public because "It is not our intention to publish the report. It goes into quite a lot of detail about Mr Malik's personal affairs." A redacted
version removing the personal details will not be issued either. So the government follows its old way of limiting severely any investigation (as in the various watered down 'investigations' into the Iraq war) and failing to be transparent.So much for thoroughly investigating MPs' claims which may have broken the requirement to honour the rule: "You should avoid purchases which could be seen as extravagant or luxurious." in order to begin the task of restoring public confidence. The inference is that so many MPs have made "extravagant" and "luxurious" claims that there would be few left. Shahid Malik has now been appointed a junior communities minister. He commented that his time (a few weeks) on the backbenchers had been "incredibly stressful" As stressful (he is a Yorkshire MP and a Muslim) as his constituents are about the BNP gaining an MEP for Yorkshire and Humberside?
June 8th 2009 Everyone is wringing hands about the BNP MEPs being elected. Well, remembering the Edmund Burke saying: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." then the fault lies with those mainstream voters
who did not bother to vote. Whilst not comparing the BNP with Hitler (their manifesto is carefully worded), we should not forget that Hitler first came to power via a democratic process: Germany was a democracy at the time. It also points up again the danger of the draconian laws that this UK
government has passed to reduce our liberties: they are ideally suited to be used/abused by extreme parties. We should never fall for the "We won't abuse the powers" argument, unless we are more stupid than Red Riding Hood.
June 6th 2009 What a welcome change from George Bush: "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop."
And: "Let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.
Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed."
Barack Obama.A remarkably similar to the words of the Pope recently - certainly regarding the plight of the Palestinians. Israeli government spokesma Zalman Shoval: "No democratic government can be expected to stop people, hundreds of thousands of people, living legally and under the law, wherever they live, of having children or putting up additional buildings. Look, this is not a dispute; this is a fact of life." The flaw in this response? The words "living legally and under the law". Each and every West Bank settlement is illegal as they go beyond what the international community agreed to be the boundaries of the state of Israel. Any country which annexes land unilaterally becomes a colonial power. As has been written before, Israel is a colonial power, one of the few left, a colonial power that not only builds illegal settlements for its own citizens, displacing those already living there, but also a power which oppresses and humiliates the occupied population, a fact that Barack Obama also noted.
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