Ship ahoy! The Gaza Flotilla

This is my account of the latest aid convoy to Gaza, organised by the Turkish international aid agency, I.H.H. I will add to it whenever I can, and wherever I can attach myself to the internet. As of now, 1.30am on Thursday 20th May, two Bristol convoy veterans, Sakir and Cliff, are waiting for taxis to take them to the Heathrow bus.

Young Refusnik tours UK

Or Ben-David is a 19 year-old high school leaver. She has come from Israel on a UK tour to speak about her refusal to serve in the Israeli army - and about why she has served three jail terms for doing so.

Or is one of the Shministm – Israel's Young Conscientious Objectors. The Shministim are Israeli high school students who have been imprisoned for refusing to serve in an army that illegally occupies the Palestinian Territories.
Explaining her decision, Or stated:

“I refuse because I want to make a difference. I want all those Palestinian youths who have lost hope to see that there are Israelis who care and who make a different choice. I want all those of my friends who became soldiers or who are about to become soldiers to see that things don’t have to be the way they are.”

On Monday 17th May she spoke for nearly two hours to a packed house at the Bristolian, a cafe on the edge of boho Montpelier, showing everyone just how little they really know about much of the pressures facing young Israelis. The high incidence of sexual harassment and abortions for girl soldiers, and the time when teachers got pay bonuses for persuading their students into the army, for instance. She made it clear that joining the army is not such a widely-held ambition as we might have thought, and that kids will do anything to stay out; even posing as religous believers - risky, as such a lie is punishable by a jail sentence.

This tour was promoted by Jews for Justice for Palestinians as 'Conscientious Objectors - Resisting Israeli Military Conscription'.

Nakba Day, Bristol England

On the 62nd anniversary of the Disaster- the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and the killing, imprisonment or expulsion of its non-Jewish inhabitants, many actions took place all over the UK, including outside the Israeli Embassy in London, and this double-header of a demo and propaganda exercise in Bristol:

Lena Horne

Some of my male readers may have heard this, as I did, at an impressionable age. I would have been around eight years old when this record 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwrNqICSWSo

came out, and Lena Horne played a leading role in alerting me to the vague possibility that there was something in life that was good and hot.

A Terrible Beauty

British Artists in the First World War
(Sansom and Company £29.99)
Paul Gough


Having written extensively on the various subjects of this book, Professor Gough has now brought together the varied experiences of British war artists in WW1, the actual creation of the War Artists Advisory Committee - the scheme itself; and a potted history of the English art scene of the time including the (literally) short-lived Vorticists, Britain's only entry into the new world of isms'. His persona as a lecturer and broadcaster is very much to the fore, and the book does work like a 'set' text book - although none the less readable for that. Its mixed origins give it a slighty patchwork feel but there is a fair warning in the introduction that the chapters are meant to be read as much as monographs in themselves as much parts of the whole story. It's a considerable pleasure to see that the notes and references are not hidden away to be forgotten at the back, but are right there on the page.


The book describes the plate-spinning act artists had to master: dealing with the trauma of the battle, their painting techniques, army politics, 'pulling strings', the censor, being mistaken for spies, staying alive. And the gradual change in emphasis through time as the government had to ask for less straightforward propaganda and more redemption.

The official war art scheme began at the Foreign Office in late 1914, with the creation of a secret agency to manage and disseminate propaganda. This was strictly literature at first: published in several languages and distributed around the globe, although a pictorial section was established in 1916, producing films, picture cards, calendars, lantern-slides, photos and drawings. But the growing appetite of the agency and then the illustrated newspapers demanded yet more, and more authentic, front-line images. Cash incentives were offered to any soldiers who could draw a bit. The head of the agency became aware of one recent recruit: Muirhead Bone (elder cousin of William, who taught in Glasgow School of Art until the mid 1970s)- although he knew nothing about the art scene, he became persuaded that the Scottish etcher was the man for the job of first Official War Artist.

War art's first public appearance was as little folios of reproductions aimed at 'collectors', for a shilling each - about a fiver now. It was, first, an ultra-realist painting by Eric Kennington of off-duty soldiers; then a Futuristic exhibition by C R Nevinson that encouraged others to take it on to the next stage. At the new Ministry of Information the future newspaper magnate, Lord Beaverbrook, set up a British War Memorial Committee and began encouraging artists to depict war as it was, as a record and a legacy rather than short-term propagandist spin. The irony of this was that it got certain uncomfortable facts past the censors, who still had the more factual newspapers very much under their thumbs until as late as 1945. This is partly due to the artists being given free rein to paint as they chose to paint and not revert to being mere recording machines; but they had to paint what they saw. All the most celebrated, or infamous, pictures are here: John Nash's Over the Top, Paul Nash's We are Making a New World, John Singer Sargent's wide-screen Gassed; and Nevinson had dropped his Futurist style by the time he painted the unequivocally sordid and tragic Paths of Glory.
Coloured with quotes from the artists, many of whom could write as well as they could paint, this is an all-round sensual experience as much as a history book. As Wyndham Lewis said:
"... Those grinning skeletons in field-grey, the skull still protected by the metal helmet: those festoons of mud-caked wire, those miniature mountain-ranges of saffron earth, and trees like gibbets - these were the properties only of those titanic casts of dying and shell-shocked actors, who charged this stage with a romantic electricity."

336pp: Sansom & Company Ltd Bristol, UK
ISBN 978-1-906593-00-1, 2010

Tony Blair very close to being Indicted for War Crimes

Global Research, April 24, 2010

While on a speaking engagement in Malaysia organized by "Success Resources Company", former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was the object of an articulate protest movement demanding his indictment for war crimes.

This was no ordinary protest. Tony Blair has been accused of war crimes in a legal initiative led by the country's former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

A War Crimes Tribunal, as well as a War Crimes Commission, was set up, integrated by renowned jurists. Documentary evidence of war crimes committed by Blair and Bush has been carefully compiled and collected since 2006. The prosecution is led by several of Malaysia's most prominent lawyers.

Dr Mahathir in a public statement "expressed disgust at the companies that had sponsored Blair's visit here. 'How can you sponsor and get advice from a liar? Do you also intend to lie in carrying out your business?' he asked." (Thousands Of Slippers To 'Greet' Tony Blair In Malaysia, April 24, 2010)

Rather than mingling with delegates to the venue, Blair was hiding in the VIP lounge of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, surrounded by British and Malaysian security personnel. Upon entering the main convention hall, Tony Blair was very close to being served with an indictment for war crimes:

Acting Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission, Mr. Zainur Zakaria, Chief Prosecutor of the War Crimes Commission, Mr. Matthias Chang [barrister], two members of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation, Mr. Ram Karthigasu and Mr. Christopher Chang, a representative of the Malaysian Kwong Siew Association (one of the largest Chinese clan association) and two representatives of the Iraq Community in Malaysia evaded the security by registering themselves as delegates.

At 8.30 am, members of NGOs gathered at the entrance of the convention centre to protest against the visit of war criminal Blair. Undercover teams were dispatched to the three separate entrances to confront and attempt to serve the war crimes indictment on Blair. But he could not be seen entering the convention centre.

He had entered surreptitiously and was hiding in a VIP room just above the convention hall where the function was held. His original schedule was 10.00am this morning. But organisers issued statements that no schedule is available.

British and Malaysian security officers were seen patrolling the corridors and had identified the seven delegates who were waiting for Blair. They kept a close watch on the delegates. Mind games began when rumours were spread that Blair would not be speaking today. Hints were given that Blair would be speaking on Sunday in the hope that the seven delegates would abandon their vigil.

At 11.25am, the seven delegates discovered that Blair was hiding in the VIP room just above the convention hall. They took their positions, with three members tasked with taking photographs.

At 11.30am Blair and his team of goons descended from the VIP room and walked towards the VIP entrance of the convention hall.

Mr. Matthias Chang and Mr. Zainur Zakaria rushed forward to serve the indictment, while the Iraqi representatives loudly denounced Blair ? "mass murderer, war criminal, shame on you," repeatedly. Blair was obviously unsettled and put on an embarrassed smile.

Mr. Matthias Chang and Mr. Zainur Zakaria were prevented from handing the indictment to Blair by over 30 British and Malaysian security personnel. Both of them denounced Blair within earshot, "War criminal, shame on you! Mass Murderer!"

Mr. Zainur Zakaria also shouted at the Malaysian security personnel, "Why are you protecting a war criminal?" The security officers could only respond with a silly expression.

Having arrogantly told the Chilcot Inquiry in London that he had no regrets for invading Iraq notwithstanding there were no WMDs, Blair displayed cowardice in the face of only seven delegates.

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission stated that this is only the beginning of a global campaign to ostracise war criminals like Blair and Bush and urge people the world over to adopt similar campaigns against Bush and Blair. No Where to Hide: Fears of Arrest and Prosecution by Tony Blair on Charges of War Crimes, Global Research, April 24, 2010)

While these unfolding events have been acknowledged by the Malaysian press, Tony Blair's visit to Malaysia has passed virtually unnoticed in the United Kingdom. In fact, outside of Malaysia, the issue has not received press coverage.

Deafening silence and complicity of the British media? One would expect that people in Britain would want to know what happened to Tony Blair in Kuala Lumpur.

About the author:

Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Member of the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission and Signatory of the 2005 Kuala Lumpur Initiative to Criminalize War.

ref: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18838