More toys for the police

Already regularly carrying, and using, guns and tasers, UK police have added yet another weapon to their armoury. Police chiefs are facing growing criticism after footage obtained by the Guardian showed an officer using CS spray on three ‘tax avoidance protesters’, leaving them needing hospital treatment. CS gas is widely used in Israel against peaceful protesters, and has caused many deaths there; most infamously the recent killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah.

Politicians and trade union leaders described the use of the spray as "extreme" and "aggressive" after seeing the video of the officer using the spray at close range during Sunday's protest organised by UK Uncut.
Lib Dem MP Tom Brake, co-chair of the party's home affairs and justice committee, said - perhaps a little more kindly than was necessary: "The use of CS gas in a public demonstration, unless officers' safety was at risk, is an extreme tactic and would break a long-standing British tradition of policing public protest with minimal [sic] force. This is a road we do not want to go down."
The footage prompted Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union, and Neal Lawson, chair of the leftwing pressure group Compass, to call for a public inquiry.
"When tax injustice enjoyed by the rich is combined so starkly with vital public service cuts for the poor and the government refuses to listen or act then people have the moral and legal right to protest. We deplore the use of such aggressive policing techniques and call for a public inquiry to investigate and report on the use of CS spray against protestors on Sunday."
The Metropolitan police has said it is “reviewing” the circumstances of the incident, by which we may assume that it is waiting for it to blow over. And should the inquiry ever take place, we may rest assured that it will find that the officers who are subsidised by our taxes behaved in a responsible and professional manner.
Before Sunday's protest, which involved sit-ins at high-street shops around the country, Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), criticised the lack of willingness of new protest groups that have sprung up around the internet, such as UK Uncut, to “engage” with police before protests. He said if they continued to refuse to co-operate, then police tactics would have to become more “extreme”.

US blocks Al Jazeera

Anyone seeking the most thorough, in-depth coverage of the uprising in Egypt can tune into Al Jazeera English.
But American TV addicts, unlike their friends in Canada, will have to wait until one of the U.S. cable-company-approved networks broadcasts footage from Al Jazeera English, which the company makes regularly available. What they can't do yet is watch the network directly.
Other than in a few places across the US - including Ohio, Vermont and Washington - cable carriers do not give viewers the choice of watching Al Jazeera.

So, ironically enough, US big business sides with Mubarak as American diplomats criticize the Egyptian government for blocking internet communication inside the country and as Egypt tries to stop Al Jazeera from broadcasting.
The result of the Al Jazeera English blackout in the United States has been a surge in traffic to the media outlet's website, where footage can be seen streaming live. The last 24 hours have seen a two-and-a-half thousand percent increase in web traffic, Tony Burman, head of North American strategies for Al Jazeera English, told HuffPost. Sixty percent of that traffic, he said, has come from the United States.

The Pink Hotel

Anna Stothard
288pp
ISBN: 978-1-84688-131-2
almabooks Ltd. London 18th March 2011

Anna Stothard's second novel is palpably visual: each line cluttered with voluptuous images like brightly coloured cakes jostling off an assembly line. It takes a lot from cinema in the way we are 'dropped right in it' from the start, and then the girl's persona and back history are gradually revealed as she stumbles onwards into the unknown.

She has flown from the sepia-toned West Hampstead to sun-blasted Los Angeles for the funeral of her mother, last seen when she was in her childhood. She stays in the sun, living on the edge of society while she tries to find out who and what her mother was. Living on the run is natural for her: she sees pain as the status quo, while hoping for love. The story is populated by exotic characters (the serious drinkers, the Armenian ladies, the fake gangsters) who might hardly have been able to exist in the relative monochrome of London; although I am sure that Anna Stothard could paint Brits just as crumblingly bright.
The girl's inner dialogue is facinating, too - including the intensely observed momentary lapses of perception linking actions which we all get to a greater or lesser extent, and which many readers will think about for the first time.

Having read this book in three sittings, I will probably dip into it again from time to time - there are so many 'favourite' bits - quite like the movie I hope to see it become.

Anna Stothard (who is the daughter of Peter Stothard, TLS editor, and of novelist Sally Emerson) came to write this novel because one day she found a bunch of love letters from 'Hitch-hiker' author Douglas Adams to her mother, with whom Adams had a long affair before his premature death in 2001.

Return of the Mavi Marmara

Huge crowds welcomed the bullet-holed Mavi Marmara and Turkey repeated its demands for Israeli 'apologies', as the world's news media including, of course, the BBC, looked elsewhere:

http://youtu.be/yE2r54_965Q

The return of the Mavi Marmara

Faiz Ahmed witnessed the Mavi Marmara's return to a hero's welcome at Istanbul's Sarayburnu port late last month.

The Mavi Marmara returned to a hero's welcome at Istanbul's Sarayburnu port late last month. Docking at its port of departure for the first time since its fateful voyage began seven months ago, it is perhaps the most celebrated of humanitarian relief vessels that set sail to carry foodstuffs, medicine, school materials and other household supplies to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's siege in May 2010.

To be sure, the craft itself was a sight to see. Palestinian and Turkish flags adorned the ship's decks in fraternal tandem, the Bosphorus' coastal breeze causing them to flutter spiritedly in a splendid sea of red, white and green. Brave slogans of solidarity with the oppressed in Palestine -- painted in Arabic, Turkish and Hebrew across its sides -- boldly identified the former ferry liner's peaceful but defiant international relief mission. Meanwhile on shore, cheering crowds of thousands amassed in excitement, gathering from an arm's length of the ship to several blocks down the harbor. Children sat on shoulders of parents and siblings, scrunching tightly to secure a better view.
Yet for anyone familiar with what transpired on the Mavi Marmara's decks hardly one week after departing from Istanbul last May -- when Israeli commandoes stormed the ship, killing nine humanitarian volunteers -- it goes without saying that the hero's welcome was not only for the ship. When news reporters referred to the vessel in Turkish and Arabic as "heroic," even "holy," they were in fact referring to the specific humanitarian mission it represented.

Furkan Doğan, Necdet Yıldırım, Cevdet Kılıçlar, Ali Haydar Bengi, Cengiz Akyür, Fahri Yaldız, Cengiz Songür, Çetin Topçuloğlu and İbrahim Bilgen -- these are the names of the nine aid workers killed in cold blood by Israeli soldiers. And here are the facts: as stated in the UN's international fact-finding mission report published on 27 September 2010, at least five of the victims were shot in the head, two at close range as they lay injured. The 56-page report states unequivocally that "the killing of at least six of the passengers" was "consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution" ("Report of the International Fact-Finding Mission," UN Human Rights Council, 27 September 2010). A forensic examination led by Turkish Attorney-General Mustafa Ercan identified some 250 bullet holes in the ship, with many painted or plastered over by Israeli authorities ("Mavi Marmara'da 250 mermi izi çikti," Turkish Radikal, 11 August 2010). This was not self-defense by any stretch of the imagination.

Beyond their numbers and nationalities, large placards with photos and biographies of those laid to rest were posted near the ship, providing viewers with a bit more of their humanity to reflect upon: "married with seven children," "in April he answered 75 out of 80 questions correctly on his university entrance exam," "his dream was to become a doctor," "a soccer champion," "ever-cheerful," "always coming to the aid of others."

For some, scenes from Sunday's reception also evoked unmistakable imagery and symbolism. Towering minarets from the city's mosques ornamented Istanbul's hilly panorama. Topkapi Palace, the home and administrative quarters of former Ottoman sultans, rests atop a nearby hill, overlooking the entire Sarayburnu port. A gigantic Turkish standard streamed from a prominent flagstaff nearby. Speeches in Arabic and English, but mostly Turkish, blasted Israeli policies intrepidly. Some news pundits may well have described the symbolism of a rising Turkey, rebuffed by the European Union, and reasserting its longstanding historical influence in the region.

But let no one be deceived -- this was not a Turkish political rally. As evident in the diverse cast of speakers and supporters in attendance, this was an international coalition of humanitarians, standing up for Palestine, and against injustice, wherever it may be. In addition to Istanbul-dwellers and Turks from across the country, including family members of those killed, among the thousands in attendance were guests from around the world, including Israelis and Americans against Israel's occupation, representing a plurality of backgrounds, nationalities and faiths. "Muslims, Jews, Christians and non-believers," as one Israeli speaker put it, proudly stood to salute and honor the ship's return. And its continuing mission.

Less inspiring has been the foreign news coverage outside the region. US news coverage on the reception was minimal, or nonexistent. CNN failed to post even a single report of the reception on its webpage. Incredibly, the BBC's lone relevant headline the day of the reception read: "Turkey wants to repair ties with Israel," thereby marginalizing Ankara's staunch demands for an apology and compensation, and its unwavering call to lift the inhumane siege of Gaza. The few European news agencies that did cover the reception seem to be obsessed with one question: will Israel apologize for its "mishandling" of the raid in international waters? Cynics would say not a chance. After all, has any Israeli government apologized for massacres it has previously perpetuated on innocent men, women and children? In Deir Yassin and numerous villages throughout Palestine in 1948, in Lebanon in 1982, in Jenin in 2002 and Gaza in 2009, just to begin a long list? More recently, is Israel really interested in easing the unspeakable siege of Gaza that has refused entry of household items such as crayons, pasta, fruit juice, and children's shoes? Or is it a useful way to "punish" Palestinians when they vote the wrong way?

Others opt to view the issue in a broader light. Apology or no apology from the Government of Israel, the return of the Mavi Marmara was a historic moment here in Turkey, the region and the world. The journey of the Mavi Marmara marked one of the most well-documented and well-publicized demonstrations of civil disobedience by an international coalition of civilians since the anti-apartheid movement. It may well represent a turning point in global indignation at Israeli policies against the Palestinians -- a process that has already accelerated in Europe, though less rapidly in the United States -- again not dissimilar from the nascent solidarity movements against the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1980s, the Vietnam War in the 1970s, and Jim Crow in the United States during the 1950s and '60s. Each began as a trickle of "activists" and intellectuals of conscience, eventually growing to an immense and unstoppable wave of global public opinion.

Certainly, the Israeli government should apologize for its woeful and brutal raid of the Mavi Marmara, offering compensation to the families of victims killed and the humanitarian organizations and individuals whose vessels and equipment were damaged. And the confiscated personal belongings of the passengers should be returned, to say the least. But more significantly, what happened on the Mavi Marmara has inspired countless numbers to continue, or join anew, the emerging tide of global public opinion speaking out for justice in Palestine. This includes a growing number of Jews in Israel, the United States and worldwide who refuse to sanction the crimes of a state that defiles their noble religious traditions and claims to act in their name. It is this undeniable authority of global public opinion, the world's only true superpower in the long-run, that can overcome any arsenal of high-tech weapons that the Israeli army may hurl in its way.

True, Israel will continue to impose incalculable suffering on Palestinians struggling to cope before any genuine change comes to light. Yet one thing is sure: business as usual in occupied Palestine can be no more. In a powerful invitation to all to see for themselves the nature of Israeli "self-defense," Turkish authorities again opened the Mavi Marmara for visitors to board its decks and examine the blood stains, bullet holes and, most poignantly, the exact locations where the nine civilians were slain. Through such educational measures and the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, the Israeli government will be forced to abandon its inhumane siege of Gaza, and brutal occupation of Palestine in general. This growing tide, more than anything else, is the lasting symbol of the Mavi Marmara's return to a hero's welcome in Istanbul last Sunday.

Faiz Ahmed is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently in Turkey conducting dissertation research.

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11713.shtml

Captain Beefheart

When the Captain first toured the British Isles, it was barely credible that He had come among us. It was a supre-special night at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow; most of the audience deserved stage-space themselves- Superman was there, and a gorilla too. A little boy of, say, four years, in a giant bowler hat danced down right in front of the stage through two or three songs. The concert began with guitarist Zoot Horn Rollo striding back and forth in his flowery satin suit like a caged tiger, repeatedly gesturing as if he was about to start playing, and at last blasting off into a slide attack, the band galumphing along with him. When Beefheart had joined the band to deafening cheers and they had got through the first number, he pointed at Rollo and said, "This is the Mascara snake. And (holding up his clarinet) this is the for Chrissake!"

Torture now acceptable as punishment in US for untried prisoners

Once safely tidied away in the pages of history or romance/horror stories, torture is a reality in modern America - (and to an extent in the UK; ask the Guildford Four). For revealing just one instance of the invasion's mindless killer brutalities in Iraq to the world and Wikileaks, quiet, unassuming soldier Bradley Manning has been forced into the most petty and malevolent solitary confinement, denied all comforts.

This has all happened on Barack Obama's watch. The "black" president who claimed that he was the harbinger of change. Who really deserves that prematurely awarded Nobel Peace Prize?

Stop the War Coalition suggests that it is awarded jointly to Julian

Assange, Wikileaks and Bradley Manning, the alleged source of the

leaks which so comprehensively lifted the veil on the secrecy and

lies that Obama, Bush, Cameron etc. use to wage unjustified and

illegal wars.

* THE TORTURE OF TRUTH-TELLER BRADLEY MANNING:

http://bit.ly/epv714

BBC Bias: Let's twist again, like we did last summer

For those of us determined enough to keep up our attack on the BBC for its hair-raisingly Zionistic look at the attack on the Freedom Flotilla there will be in our files a 'stage three' letter referring to the entire body of complaints being treated as one and being looked at by an 'independent' editorial 'advisor', whose paper will be distributed to the complainants and the BBC Executive to give all a further opportunity for comment before it is distributed to the "Committee", whose finding will be 'ratified' by the BBC Trust in April 2011 and then published.

I'd say baroque is a good enough metaphor. I've listened to one or two sessions of the United Nations, and in fact, their deliberations sound very like this. If they lead to anything at all it tends to be an agreement to set up a sub-committee. In such lumbering scenarios, the so-called Palestine 'peace process' grinds ever onwards while the destruction of the country leaps ahead.

One of my fellow-complainants has written an excellent response to the BBC's latest:

Sir,

I would refer to the 'consolidated appeal' procedure which Michael Fadda, Editorial Assistant to the BBC Trust, has described in his email of 3rd December. This was in response to Richard Lightbown’s complaint of 24th August that the Panorama programme, Death on the Med', was biased and lacking in impartiality. The procedure described by Mr Fadda is Byzantine and the process so drawn out as to make any final BBC decision, apparently due in April, meaningless.

It has become increasingly clear that the programme was a whitewash of the truth and represents a nadir of the consistent bias displayed by the BBC in its reporting of the Palestine/Israel situation.

This lack of impartiality was confirmed by John Pilger who told us on the Today programme (on 10/12/10) that the BBC had failed to report the UNHRC report on the Mavi Marmara affair on its main news channels – censorship by omission.

The report of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Israeli attack on the Gaza flotilla was released on 27/9/10. It is revealing and damning and should have been the subject of much publicity; it shows conclusively that US citizen Furkan Dogan and five Turkish citizens were murdered ‘execution-style by Israeli commandos’.

The report states that both activists and journalists on board the flotilla were treated in a cruel and inhuman way and confirms that cameras, laptops, mobiles, passports, credit cards and cash were stolen by the IDF. As John Pilger stated, war crimes were found to have been committed and the report recommends that there is a clear case for prosecution for wilful killing etc – *see extracts from the report shown below.

This Mission report gives unquestionable evidence that ‘Death on the Med’ was a travesty of truth. The BBC should now make an unreserved apology and offer the resignation of the Director General. Under the watch of the current DG the BBC has increasingly shown bias and lack of impartiality in their reporting of the Palestinian/Israeli situation. The BBC appears to be in thrall to Israel – as is much of the American media – it is understood that the UN Mission report did not appear in any US media whatsoever.

The Israeli military and its government have again behaved in flagrant contravention of the Geneva Conventions and should be regarded as a rogue state. For the UK to seek to protect members of the Israeli government from international law procedures – as they are attempting to do on 13th December by tampering with Universal Jurisdiction – makes them complicit in Israel’s serial wrongdoing, as does also the moral support they give in avowing that they are ‘Friends of Israel’

The UK government would be well advised to read the attached UN Mission report, and then to rethink that friendship and their whole policy towards the Middle East.

Ted from Liverpool