Dismay and sadness around the world as stories about a huge turnout and the greatest challenge to the status quo for years turn to reports of fraud. Iran’s protesters are being beaten in the streets, and communications have been blocked.
Dismay and sadness around the world as stories about a huge turnout and the greatest challenge to the status quo for years turn to reports of fraud. Iran’s protesters are being beaten in the streets, and communications have been blocked.
Tell the Deputy commander of the Israeli Ground Forces what you think of Israeli action in Gaza. Colonel Geva Rapp, head of the ground operations in Gaza Operation Cast Lead, is on a speaker tour in the UK.
Day & Date: Thursday 29th January
Time: 6:00pm (Talk starts at 6:30pm)
Venue: The Jewish London Student Centre in Euston, 163 Euston Road.
Israel admits breaking the ceasefire in November 2008 in an interview on Channel 4 news..
MediaLens has an analysis of bias in the UK media coverage of the Gaza conflict, with suggested actions.
Last week, Jeremy Greenstock, ex-UK ambassador to the UN, implied on the BBC that Hamas was being misrepresented and drew comparisons with Northern Ireland.
My colleagues have introduced Hamas to senior members of Sinn Fein…. This is a regime about which a lot of inaccurate statements are made, particularly by the Israeli and Washington governments. It is not beholden to Iran…. They are not trying to set up a Taliban-style government in Gaza…. They are not intent on the destruction of Israel. That is a rhetorical statement of resistance, not part of their programme.
[The Hamas charter which is often cited as calling for the destruction of Israel] was drawn up by a Hamas-linked imam some years ago and has never been adopted since Hamas was elected as the Palestinian Government in 2006 as part of their political programme…. The tragedy about what is happening is that the cessation of rocket fire on Israel would have been possible if Israel had lived up to its obligations under the June ceasefire to open the crossings, and now the opening of the crossing has to be part of the solution….
I’m afraid the timing of this is very much related to the need for Israeli politicians to defend their populations before elections. Hamas feels exactly the same – it has to keep its electorate with it, by showing it is a resistance movement. There were negotiations going on… before this started. They can [continue] although it is more difficult…. The rockets are being thrown by the Fatah militants, the Al-Aqsa brigades, by Islamic Jihad, by people who are not Hamas. None of this comes out in public. The truth is just not being told about the current situation.
This interview largely went largely unremarked in subsequent media.
Other articles and resources of interest (updated 21 Jan):
Viewers and listeners in the UK might be forgiven for thinking that Sderot and the Israeli settlements near Gaza were subject to daily bombardment during the June-December 2008 ceasefire.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office (PMOH at pmo.gov.il) responds with a standard message referring to the “specter of incessant and indiscriminate rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip” and saying “a truce with Israel was abused by Hamas which persisted in attacking Israeli towns, while also conspiring to upgrade its terrorist capabilities”. However, a 5 November article by the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center says (Section 12) says “Hamas, for its part, did not take part in rocket and mortar shell fire and sometimes prevented other organizations from attacking, although it did not confront them directly and massively or [sic] end their continued violations.”
The Israeli military’s own figures show that during the ceasefire, which they call a “lull in the fighting”, rockets and shells continued at only 1% of the previous rate (and of course there were no fatalities) until well after the IDF killed 6 members of Palestinian security forces on November 4. Hamas has always maintained that those that were fired were fired by Islamic Jihad – according to the Channel 4 report this is accepted by Israel. Whatever conditions of fear Israeli settlers may live in, it must be less than that of Gazans, for whom there has been shown to be no safe place and no escape.
The national demonstration on 24 January will begin at the BBC in Portland Place “as a response to the BBC’s largely one-sided coverage of the Gaza massacre, allowing Israeli spokespeople endless opportunities to propagate lies and deception without challenge.”
10,000 Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on 3 January to demand an end to their government’s attacks. There will be another day of mourning and protest on Saturday 17 January. Gush Shalom also has some suggested media actions.
When the latest attack began on December 27th, demos took off around the country. Many British cities have seen big street demos already, but there’s another round this Saturday (17th).
London – the third Saturday city centre demo in a row – 2pm at Trafalgar Square.
http://www.stopwar.org.uk
to Malawi to imprisonment and onward deportation to Zimbabwe. Well-known Zimbabwean activist, Luka Phiri, was detained while reporting at Becket House, London Bridge today, and given Removal Directions to Malawi on Thursday 15 January 2009.
Luka Phiri arrived in the UK on 5 April 2003 and claimed asylum. He was still bandaged from the torture inflicted on him in Zimbabwe. He was fleeing for his life, unable to renew his Zimbabwe passport speedily and forced into purchasing a Malawi passport to escape.
Luka Phiri produced documents to prove his Zimbabwean nationality including his original Zimbabwe metal national registration ID card; original Zimbabwe birth certificate; original school certificates; original MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) Zimbabwean card; original Zimbabwean court summons to answer charges under POSA+; original apprenticeship contracts only given to Zimbabwean citizens. His brothers and sisters provided certified copies of their Zimbabwean passports and National Registration cards (all are Zimbabwean citizens). All these documents show that Luka is, and remains, a Zimbabwean citizen.
Two different UK Immigration Judges found that Luka Phiri was Malawian because he travelled on a Malawian passport. No attention seems to have been given to his many other documents proving his Zimbabwean citizenship.
Well-known Zimbabwean activists in the UK have prepared supporting letters, statements and affidavits regarding Luka Phiri and his committed activism in the UK over the last five years. Luka has fought tirelessly to improve the situation of Zimbabweans in the UK and bring the abuses occurring in Zimbabwe to UK and international attention through TV, newspapers, talks and interviews.
When the news broke of Luka Phiri’s detention the phones started ringing. From all over the UK, Zimbabweans and UK supporters were ringing and emailing to protest about Luka’s detention.
Luka must be released now so that he can continue his work for Zimbabwe, to enable him and his fellow Zimbabweans eventually to return and help rebuild the new Zimbabwe.
Luka Phiri is a victim of the Zanu regime. Don’t send him to Malawi to imprisonment and onward deportation to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe Association, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT
Tel: 020 7549 0355; Fax: 020 7549 0356; zimbabweassociation@yahoo.co.uk
Contact: Sarah Harland, 07985037198
+ POSA = Public Order and Safety Act
Demonstrate to stop the killing of Palestinians and call for a halt to the Israeli bombardment. Stop the War is asking all its local groups outside of London to book coaches or arrange other transport to help make 10th January the biggest demonstration yet seen in this country in the cause of Palestinian freedom.
Assemble in Hyde Park, London on Saturday 10 January. March to the Israeli Embassy in High St Kensington.
Stop the War, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are also organising continual protests in the next week, culminating in a national demonstration marching to the Israeli Embassy in London on Saturday 10 January.
Popular comedian Zarganar faces 45 years in jail for organising aid runs to victims of Cyclone Nargis which hit in May. He is the latest in a string of opposition activists to be jailed by the military government for
The people of Sarajevo call for an end to recent homophobic brutality.
In an open letter to the international community, a group of progressive citizens of Sarajevo have called for support in condemning the recent brutal attacks against gay, bisexual and lesbian people.
“We, the citizens of Sarajevo, call upon the representatives of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina to raise their voices against the escalation of violence in the Capital, especially with regards to the recent events that increased the feeling of insecurity among law-abiding people. Namely, the events that followed
the opening of the Queer Festival in the night of the 24^th September, when eight people were injured and other participants and visitors verbally and physically harassed in the very heart of the city, are
only the continuation of violent crimes that we have been witnessing over the past year, the most horrific one being the brutal murder of a young boy, Denis Mrnjavac back in February. We believe that the failure of the authorities to take responsibility for prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators in an efficient manner led to this shocking
surge of crime.”
“This is why we ask you to demand from the representatives of the authorities to condemn the violence that occurred on 24^th September and to apprehend and punish the perpetrators. If they fail to do so, we fear that the promotion of fascism and homophobia will spread to the other spheres of social life of the wider community. We, the citizens of Sarajevo, have the right to freedom, without fear of persecution because of our personal beliefs or sexual
orientation.”
“Please help us fight discrimination and violence!“
Activists and indigenous groups condemn Gordon Brown’s offer of military help for Shell in the Niger Delta.
At the G8 Gordon Brown promised to send equipment, trainers and ‘advisors’ to the Nigerian military to “ensure oil production can bring prosperity” and to make sure that there’s a ‘sustainable peace’ in the area.It’s very hard to make an obscene profit when locals keep attacking your oil platforms, as the oil giants have been finding out to their cost since the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) began its campaign in 2005.
MEND responded by saying their ceasefire with the Nigerian government was over, and that British interests would “suffer the consequences.” And they’re not known for making idle threats.
This Thursday, the 47,000 barrels-per-day Eni pipeline was blown up by attackers in what the company, in a rare candid moment, called a ‘community dispute’. The dispute in question is pretty clear; one between the community and the oil industry. Within 24 hours of this attack more than 30 militants attacked the naval boat protecting oil facilities belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company.
Report by SchNews.
Join the call for Zimbabwean exiles to be allowed to work and acquire skills in the UK. The British government can help exiled Zimbabweans by allowing them to acquire the skills they need to rebuild their country when the opportunity comes. Instead, thousands of Zimbabwean exiles in the UK live in limbo – de-motivated and de-skilled, and prevented by law even from working as volunteers.
The Strangers in Citizens campaign is calling for the Home Office to enable Zimbabweans resident in the UK to have:
On Friday, 11th July, the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu will lead a service at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey at 12.00. This will followed by a rally and walk to the Home Office; Parliament Square and the South Bank at 1.30pm
More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a recent University of Washington report.
Since 2003, 64 people unaffiliated with news organisations have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, according to the 2008 World Information Access (WIA) report. And last year, three times as many people – 36 – were arrested for blogging about political issues than in 2006, the report revealed.
More than half of arrests since 2003 were made in China, Egypt and Iran, but British, French, Canadian and American bloggers have also been detained. The average prison sentence for blogging was 15 months, while the longest sentence recorded was eight years.
Arrested bloggers exposed corruption in government, abuse of human rights,or suppression of protests. The report said the rising number of arrests indicates blogging’s growing political importance, especially in times of political uncertainty such as around general elections or large protests.
This year, the report predicts the number of bloggers arrested will exceed 2007 numbers thanks to greater popularity of blogging as a medium, greater enforcement of net restrictions, and elections in China, Pakistan, Iran and the U.S.
GreenNet, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT, Tel (UK): 0845 055 4011
Tel (int'l): +44 (0)20 7065 0935 Fax: +44 (0)20 7065 0936
Contact GreenNet
Please note that the opinions of our user community do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the GreenNet Collective.
