As the terrorist state of Israel continues it's oppression of the Palestinian people, the people are defiant. Read their comments here.
Also you can read a first hand account of what is happening in Gaza from a blogger. From Gaza, With Love
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
ISRAELI ARMY MOVE IN
As the Israeli army move into Gaza, the Palestinian resistance is preparing to defend their land and their people. Faced with Tanks, Helicopter gun ship’s and an American funded war machine how can the Palestinians possibly fight back? By any means necessary.
The BBC in a rare report, interview a man whose wife and child are in an Israeli jail.
Read the report here.
The BBC in a rare report, interview a man whose wife and child are in an Israeli jail.
Read the report here.
Monday, June 26, 2006
The Palestinian Resistance fight back
I apologize for the images, but I feel that it is important that we are made aware of the actions of the Israeli Military. I am sure we will see the Israeli army 'retaliate', but in reality the Palestinian resistance was retaliating to the occupation of their land and the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians. It should be noted that that the Palestinian resistance fighters targeted soldiers and not civilians. In a war soldiers are legitimate targets. Freedom for Palestine!
A deadly attack on an Israeli Army post near the Gaza Strip on Sunday was a message to Israel to stop killing civilians, the groups behind the assault said in a statement Sunday.
"This operation was a clear and final message to the enemy leaders: They need to keep civilians far from their hateful bullets and leave the battle between the heroes of the resistance and the [Israeli] soldiers," the joint statement said.
read more
article The Daily Star
A deadly attack on an Israeli Army post near the Gaza Strip on Sunday was a message to Israel to stop killing civilians, the groups behind the assault said in a statement Sunday.
"This operation was a clear and final message to the enemy leaders: They need to keep civilians far from their hateful bullets and leave the battle between the heroes of the resistance and the [Israeli] soldiers," the joint statement said.
read more
article The Daily Star
Thursday, June 22, 2006
The World is Blind
How do we reward Israel, we allow them to join the red cross, but Israel has a red diamond instead of a cross or crescent. The world seems to be blind to the war crimes committed by Israel.The Palestinians are under occupation, with the occupations disregard for human life is it a wonder that Palestinians see no other way but to fight back. It seems that white western life is more valuable then Arab lives, this can be seen with our references to statistics when mentioning the Palestinian dead, and a full blown obituary for an Israeli or American or anybody western. As long as the oppression and double standards continue so will the resistance along with so called 'terrorism'.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Welcome All
Britain is one of the worlds richest countries. Western countries in the northern hemisphere have 80% of the worlds wealth, yet only 20 % of the worlds population. Our way of life, our extravagance, wealth and standard of living is broadcast across the world for the less fortunate to see. Is it a wonder that people wish to come to this country in an attempt to achieve a better life?
We have been hearing about an influx of immigrants into Britain, some are asylum seekers, others economic migrants from Eastern Europe along with migrants from the rest of the world. Britain has always been a welcoming country for people wishing for a better life. But what is the threshold for the amount of people we accept into this country?
Politicians and the media have increasingly being using harsh language in describing immigration, some borders on racism, some on ignorance. In an attempt to create an exaggeration of the situation the media has been concentrating on this issue, forcing members of the public to place it on the top of their agenda and playing straight into the hands of racist political parties like the BNP.
Immigrants not only bring with them the prospect of work, but they also contribute to the economy as they pay taxes and provide a valued workforce in the British economy. This country is seen as a tolerant and accepting place, why then are we prepared to turn our backs on this tradition and take a hard line approach to such issues? Immigrants add to the multicultural environment that already exists in so many places in Britain, bringing with them new traditions, culture and languages. This can only be seen as a good thing. But many immigrant communities already existing in Britain are adopting a racist attitude to new people entering the country. Age old arguments about jobs, school places and housing are mentioned. Yet these same first and second generation immigrant communities that are complaining about the new immigrants, seem to have a short memory as similar arguments were used against their parents and grandparents when they first arrived on these shores. An example can be the former head of the Conservative party Michael Howard. Michael Howard in his election campaign was concentrating on the issue of immigration, suggesting tougher laws and limits to be set for how many people we accept into this country. Michael Howard’s own parents were immigrants from Poland, but in an attempt to win public opinion and please certain parts of the media he ignored the fact of his past. Under his very own proposals, Michael Howard’s own parents may not have been accepted into this country.
There is a large Somalian community in Birmingham. Certain parts of Birmingham where once desolate with no businesses and no community based activities. Since the Somalian community has arrives we have witnessed a rejuvenation of the area of Sparkbrook, with many new businesses opening from Restaurants to internet cafes. Community based activities for women to young children set up and generally an all round new look to the area. Without these communities arriving these very areas would have been a burden on the local authorities with no business and no prospects, but the immigrant community has changes all this.
Paul Hubbard who has lived in the area for the past thirty years says “ up until a few years ago this are was run down with little or no business. Thanks to the Somalian community arriving here we know have loads of shops and restaurants. I don’t have to travel very far anymore to get a meal or to do my shopping”
I went to visit a friend in hospital who was suffering from a football injury. The doctor was from India, the nurses were from the Philippines, all foreign workers. I called for a taxi cab, the driver was a British born Pakistani, I proceeded to a restaurant to have a meal with a friend, I looked at the menu and decided to have Britain’s national dish, curry!
From my above example it can be seen how multicultural and diverse our society has become, and how many different people contribute to our communities and culture.
First and Second generation immigrant communities must be wary of getting caught up in the media frenzy on immigration, which results in many of them being racist. I for one welcome all people with a legitimate reason for being here whether economic, asylum or a quest for a better life. Immigrant communities add to this societies diversity and contribute greatly to our ‘Britishness’. Welcome all.
By Guevara Serapion
We have been hearing about an influx of immigrants into Britain, some are asylum seekers, others economic migrants from Eastern Europe along with migrants from the rest of the world. Britain has always been a welcoming country for people wishing for a better life. But what is the threshold for the amount of people we accept into this country?
Politicians and the media have increasingly being using harsh language in describing immigration, some borders on racism, some on ignorance. In an attempt to create an exaggeration of the situation the media has been concentrating on this issue, forcing members of the public to place it on the top of their agenda and playing straight into the hands of racist political parties like the BNP.
Immigrants not only bring with them the prospect of work, but they also contribute to the economy as they pay taxes and provide a valued workforce in the British economy. This country is seen as a tolerant and accepting place, why then are we prepared to turn our backs on this tradition and take a hard line approach to such issues? Immigrants add to the multicultural environment that already exists in so many places in Britain, bringing with them new traditions, culture and languages. This can only be seen as a good thing. But many immigrant communities already existing in Britain are adopting a racist attitude to new people entering the country. Age old arguments about jobs, school places and housing are mentioned. Yet these same first and second generation immigrant communities that are complaining about the new immigrants, seem to have a short memory as similar arguments were used against their parents and grandparents when they first arrived on these shores. An example can be the former head of the Conservative party Michael Howard. Michael Howard in his election campaign was concentrating on the issue of immigration, suggesting tougher laws and limits to be set for how many people we accept into this country. Michael Howard’s own parents were immigrants from Poland, but in an attempt to win public opinion and please certain parts of the media he ignored the fact of his past. Under his very own proposals, Michael Howard’s own parents may not have been accepted into this country.
There is a large Somalian community in Birmingham. Certain parts of Birmingham where once desolate with no businesses and no community based activities. Since the Somalian community has arrives we have witnessed a rejuvenation of the area of Sparkbrook, with many new businesses opening from Restaurants to internet cafes. Community based activities for women to young children set up and generally an all round new look to the area. Without these communities arriving these very areas would have been a burden on the local authorities with no business and no prospects, but the immigrant community has changes all this.
Paul Hubbard who has lived in the area for the past thirty years says “ up until a few years ago this are was run down with little or no business. Thanks to the Somalian community arriving here we know have loads of shops and restaurants. I don’t have to travel very far anymore to get a meal or to do my shopping”
I went to visit a friend in hospital who was suffering from a football injury. The doctor was from India, the nurses were from the Philippines, all foreign workers. I called for a taxi cab, the driver was a British born Pakistani, I proceeded to a restaurant to have a meal with a friend, I looked at the menu and decided to have Britain’s national dish, curry!
From my above example it can be seen how multicultural and diverse our society has become, and how many different people contribute to our communities and culture.
First and Second generation immigrant communities must be wary of getting caught up in the media frenzy on immigration, which results in many of them being racist. I for one welcome all people with a legitimate reason for being here whether economic, asylum or a quest for a better life. Immigrant communities add to this societies diversity and contribute greatly to our ‘Britishness’. Welcome all.
By Guevara Serapion
Monday, June 12, 2006
Immigrants on immigrants
These days, if you ask most people in Britain what their major concern is, there is a strong possibility that you will hear the word Immigration. Sure the average person on the street is worried about Climate Change, Bird Flu and this so-called ‘Terrorist Threat’ we are facing here in the ‘civilized world’, but along with all of these, it is this supposed ‘immigration invasion’ which has begun to take centre stage.
Leaving a side most of the Liberal ideas our British democracy is supposed to be based upon, our collective conciseness seems to have drifted in favour of complete hostility towards our Third World and Eastern European guests, most of whom have dreams of calling Britain their new home.
While it may be conventional to see this attitude as only representative of the white population of Britain, it would also be a gross misrepresentation of the actual situation to continue to do so. The fact of the matter is, that although new immigrants to this country do feel unwanted, even hated by many White people, the same stance towards them is also taken by a growing majority of Black and Asian people. Many of whom are of course themselves immigrants, and the descendents of immigrants, but they nevertheless see the ‘mass influx’ of new comers into their inner-city areas as a major problem.
Recently, parties such as the BNP have been taking advantage of peoples ‘fears’ about immigration, and it seems that many Black and Asian individuals are somehow able to identify with their fascist rhetoric, and some even voted for them in the last local elections. But the question is why?
All this mainstream talk and media focus on the ‘unassailable’ nature of these recent immigrants’ native cultures being a threat to British culture makes little sense in an inner-city context. It cannot be the main concern of Black and Asian people, when we ourselves are still told to this day that we have failed too fully assimilate. If anything, the arrival of these new people should be seen as something positive by us. Since the non-white population of Britain is still a very small voice here, making up only 7.9% in total, the more diverse this place becomes, the more possibility there is of it becoming more egalitarian.
So, while this ‘threat’ to British culture could be argued as one of the causes of grievance for our White citizens, and certainly is as far as the BNP are concerned, it clearly cannot be argued as being one of ours. In fact, anytime you speak to a Black or Asian person about the ‘problems’ of immigration, they merely use it unknowingly as a cover for other, more important concerns. And this is exactly were the problem lies.
Immigrants are blamed for the lack of jobs, housing, and for the poor services we receive in health and education. They are seen as a drain on our welfare system, which we assume is there to serve us alone, so naturally the systems problems can be equated solely to them.
But a closer look at the situation revels that these grievances are all political in nature, and have very little to do with individual immigrants. The problems we face are problems created by an unequal society. Jobs, housing, decent education and health services are all available here in Britain. It is not simply a case of ’others’ taking or using them. It is just that they are ‘more’ available to citizens who are higher on the social ladder then many ethnic minorities currently are, including immigrants themselves.
According to the Office of National Statistics, “Unemployment rates for people from non-White ethnic groups were generally higher than those from White ethnic groups”, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and Pakistani groups are “less likely than White British people to have a degree”, and a recent report published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister claims that people from minority ethnic groups are also more likely to live in “over crowded houses” which are in bad condition.
Bernard Conrad, in his seminal study How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System, stated that the prejudicial attitudes towards immigrant communities “has the effect of diverting the (British) workers energies and attention away from the main cause of their low socio-economic position-the establishment itself”.
We are not angry with immigrants, we are angry with the establishment.
In light of all this it seems that Black and Asian people have also conveniently forgotten an important part their own history in this country. The same blame we are laying on our new arrivals is exactly the same as that which was laid on us when we first arrived. Working class grievances were articulated back then using the same language of racism that we ourselves ashamedly use today. We are not natives of this land, and it would be wise to remember this fact when viewing others as alien. .
These new immigrants, themselves in no better a position then some of us are today, should be welcomed. They are not the ‘threat’ they have been made out to be, and the focus on them as such is simply a convenient form of self deception, and like Conrad said, takes our attention away from the real issue that faces us.
We should start to channel our energy into confronting the establishment, instead of using it to criticize immigrants. We should lay siege to power and demand our rights as equal citizens, who are entailed to the best healthcare, education and housing that so far only the rich have enjoyed. This is a struggle we should face together. Blacks, Asians, and all immigrant communities alike. We should stop letting our concerns get hidden behind bigotry, and start focusing on our real problems. We should stop blaming the governed, and start blaming the governors. And we should start taking action against them, before we end up taking action against each other.
Leaving a side most of the Liberal ideas our British democracy is supposed to be based upon, our collective conciseness seems to have drifted in favour of complete hostility towards our Third World and Eastern European guests, most of whom have dreams of calling Britain their new home.
While it may be conventional to see this attitude as only representative of the white population of Britain, it would also be a gross misrepresentation of the actual situation to continue to do so. The fact of the matter is, that although new immigrants to this country do feel unwanted, even hated by many White people, the same stance towards them is also taken by a growing majority of Black and Asian people. Many of whom are of course themselves immigrants, and the descendents of immigrants, but they nevertheless see the ‘mass influx’ of new comers into their inner-city areas as a major problem.
Recently, parties such as the BNP have been taking advantage of peoples ‘fears’ about immigration, and it seems that many Black and Asian individuals are somehow able to identify with their fascist rhetoric, and some even voted for them in the last local elections. But the question is why?
All this mainstream talk and media focus on the ‘unassailable’ nature of these recent immigrants’ native cultures being a threat to British culture makes little sense in an inner-city context. It cannot be the main concern of Black and Asian people, when we ourselves are still told to this day that we have failed too fully assimilate. If anything, the arrival of these new people should be seen as something positive by us. Since the non-white population of Britain is still a very small voice here, making up only 7.9% in total, the more diverse this place becomes, the more possibility there is of it becoming more egalitarian.
So, while this ‘threat’ to British culture could be argued as one of the causes of grievance for our White citizens, and certainly is as far as the BNP are concerned, it clearly cannot be argued as being one of ours. In fact, anytime you speak to a Black or Asian person about the ‘problems’ of immigration, they merely use it unknowingly as a cover for other, more important concerns. And this is exactly were the problem lies.
Immigrants are blamed for the lack of jobs, housing, and for the poor services we receive in health and education. They are seen as a drain on our welfare system, which we assume is there to serve us alone, so naturally the systems problems can be equated solely to them.
But a closer look at the situation revels that these grievances are all political in nature, and have very little to do with individual immigrants. The problems we face are problems created by an unequal society. Jobs, housing, decent education and health services are all available here in Britain. It is not simply a case of ’others’ taking or using them. It is just that they are ‘more’ available to citizens who are higher on the social ladder then many ethnic minorities currently are, including immigrants themselves.
According to the Office of National Statistics, “Unemployment rates for people from non-White ethnic groups were generally higher than those from White ethnic groups”, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and Pakistani groups are “less likely than White British people to have a degree”, and a recent report published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister claims that people from minority ethnic groups are also more likely to live in “over crowded houses” which are in bad condition.
Bernard Conrad, in his seminal study How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System, stated that the prejudicial attitudes towards immigrant communities “has the effect of diverting the (British) workers energies and attention away from the main cause of their low socio-economic position-the establishment itself”.
We are not angry with immigrants, we are angry with the establishment.
In light of all this it seems that Black and Asian people have also conveniently forgotten an important part their own history in this country. The same blame we are laying on our new arrivals is exactly the same as that which was laid on us when we first arrived. Working class grievances were articulated back then using the same language of racism that we ourselves ashamedly use today. We are not natives of this land, and it would be wise to remember this fact when viewing others as alien. .
These new immigrants, themselves in no better a position then some of us are today, should be welcomed. They are not the ‘threat’ they have been made out to be, and the focus on them as such is simply a convenient form of self deception, and like Conrad said, takes our attention away from the real issue that faces us.
We should start to channel our energy into confronting the establishment, instead of using it to criticize immigrants. We should lay siege to power and demand our rights as equal citizens, who are entailed to the best healthcare, education and housing that so far only the rich have enjoyed. This is a struggle we should face together. Blacks, Asians, and all immigrant communities alike. We should stop letting our concerns get hidden behind bigotry, and start focusing on our real problems. We should stop blaming the governed, and start blaming the governors. And we should start taking action against them, before we end up taking action against each other.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Terror Raids
We are continuously hearing of terror raids , where hundreds of police officers raid a house, in an ethnic area. Reports of armed police, threats of chemical or biological attack, and danger to the public. How real are these threats and what effect are these Police raids having on communities around Britain?
Recently a raid on a house in East London, where two Muslim men where arrested, the raid resulted in one of the men being shot through the shoulder. They are currently being held for questioning. This case further highlights the issue of heavy handed Police tactics used in the war on terror. There are conflicting reports of who fired the shot that injured the man, but what matters here is the way the raid was carried out. 250 officers where involved, there was a ‘real threat’ yet no houses where evacuated, no evidence of terrorist activities has been found, and no one charged. What are the criterions for people to be considered as suspects? Brown skin? Muslim name? Middle Eastern clothes? Visiting the mosque? These are the words we hear when the media interview people when ever an incident such as this takes place. We hear from random people about how quiet the individual, who was arrested was, that he was religious. We indirectly associate these statements with legitimizing the suspicion of innocent members of the Muslim community, heavy handed police raids and eventually fear and suspect anyone that fits this description.
The facts are that over a thousand people have been arrested under the terrorism act in Britain since 11th September 2001, 121 have been charged and 23 have been convicted of terrorist offences. That is a charge rate of 12.1% and a conviction rate of 2.3% but how serious the convictions are is anybodies guess. A climate of fear is being built up, British people think that they are under imminent threat from ‘home grown’ terrorists, and in turn the minority communities are feeling scrutinized and victimized, leading them to fear for their safety.
I have spoken to many Muslim people and a lot of them feel unsafe in Britain because of these police raids, they feel that every Muslim, of Asian origin is a suspect. I was speaking to a young male student, Abdullah Latif from Birmingham, who studies at university and works part time. Abdullah talks of growing anxiety within the Muslim community, and the feeling that they are being used as scapegoats in the government’s homeland war on terror. The realty of the ‘war on terror’ is that it is being used as a cover by the Government to bring in repressive social control measures, which will take away many of our civil liberties, and increase the state influence in our lives.
Abdullah says “tomorrow the police could raid my house and arrest me the media would then interview neighbours, who live 20 houses away. They would say “he was a quite lad” some may say he was religious and visited the mosque, “he wore middle eastern clothes”. To me this is not grounds for legitimate suspicion but for many people these are. Through the effects of the media we are drawing out guidelines for people to spot potential threats. If someone is religious and visits the mosque seems to be reason enough for suspicion, and the intelligence agencies have adopted such criteria to raid innocent peoples homes and scare the crap out of them. In inner city areas feelings of tension between ethnic minority communities and the police are high. And where the police seem to be presenting little evidence for their reasons for the raids, just mentioning the word ‘intelligence’, causes communities to get frustrated and scared, which is not a good combination.
The government needs to clarify the reasons behind such police operation, otherwise these actions will increase feelings of victimization in the Muslim community. Similar tactics where used against the Irish, during the IRA attacks in Britain, we don’t seem to have learnt any lessons.
The root causes of terrorism should be tackled. If our government stops meddling in other countries affairs, ends the occupation in Iraq, recognizes the right of the Palestinians to exist and stops playing Americas lapdog, there will ‘be’ no threat to Britain, but what the public needs to know is the greatest threat to us, our freedom, peace and harmony comes from the very people we have elected to represent us, our own Government.
By Guevara Serapion
Recently a raid on a house in East London, where two Muslim men where arrested, the raid resulted in one of the men being shot through the shoulder. They are currently being held for questioning. This case further highlights the issue of heavy handed Police tactics used in the war on terror. There are conflicting reports of who fired the shot that injured the man, but what matters here is the way the raid was carried out. 250 officers where involved, there was a ‘real threat’ yet no houses where evacuated, no evidence of terrorist activities has been found, and no one charged. What are the criterions for people to be considered as suspects? Brown skin? Muslim name? Middle Eastern clothes? Visiting the mosque? These are the words we hear when the media interview people when ever an incident such as this takes place. We hear from random people about how quiet the individual, who was arrested was, that he was religious. We indirectly associate these statements with legitimizing the suspicion of innocent members of the Muslim community, heavy handed police raids and eventually fear and suspect anyone that fits this description.
The facts are that over a thousand people have been arrested under the terrorism act in Britain since 11th September 2001, 121 have been charged and 23 have been convicted of terrorist offences. That is a charge rate of 12.1% and a conviction rate of 2.3% but how serious the convictions are is anybodies guess. A climate of fear is being built up, British people think that they are under imminent threat from ‘home grown’ terrorists, and in turn the minority communities are feeling scrutinized and victimized, leading them to fear for their safety.
I have spoken to many Muslim people and a lot of them feel unsafe in Britain because of these police raids, they feel that every Muslim, of Asian origin is a suspect. I was speaking to a young male student, Abdullah Latif from Birmingham, who studies at university and works part time. Abdullah talks of growing anxiety within the Muslim community, and the feeling that they are being used as scapegoats in the government’s homeland war on terror. The realty of the ‘war on terror’ is that it is being used as a cover by the Government to bring in repressive social control measures, which will take away many of our civil liberties, and increase the state influence in our lives.
Abdullah says “tomorrow the police could raid my house and arrest me the media would then interview neighbours, who live 20 houses away. They would say “he was a quite lad” some may say he was religious and visited the mosque, “he wore middle eastern clothes”. To me this is not grounds for legitimate suspicion but for many people these are. Through the effects of the media we are drawing out guidelines for people to spot potential threats. If someone is religious and visits the mosque seems to be reason enough for suspicion, and the intelligence agencies have adopted such criteria to raid innocent peoples homes and scare the crap out of them. In inner city areas feelings of tension between ethnic minority communities and the police are high. And where the police seem to be presenting little evidence for their reasons for the raids, just mentioning the word ‘intelligence’, causes communities to get frustrated and scared, which is not a good combination.
The government needs to clarify the reasons behind such police operation, otherwise these actions will increase feelings of victimization in the Muslim community. Similar tactics where used against the Irish, during the IRA attacks in Britain, we don’t seem to have learnt any lessons.
The root causes of terrorism should be tackled. If our government stops meddling in other countries affairs, ends the occupation in Iraq, recognizes the right of the Palestinians to exist and stops playing Americas lapdog, there will ‘be’ no threat to Britain, but what the public needs to know is the greatest threat to us, our freedom, peace and harmony comes from the very people we have elected to represent us, our own Government.
By Guevara Serapion
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