|
28/08/06
On 15 August, I used www.writetothem.com to contact my Member of Parliament. This is what I wrote:
We enjoy a quiet, peaceful lifestyle here in Hertfordshire. With our rolling greens and smiling shopkeepers, life seems predictably nice. Such tranquillity, however, makes it so very difficult for us to imagine a town reduced to rubble by angry war planes. As we go about our everyday lives, it is too easy to push aside images of a distraught father, a dead child. It is too easy to dismiss these images as scenes from Hollywood, not real, someone else’s problem. But the catch is that we British citizens fuelled those war planes and gave them our blessings to destroy.
If you give an angry man a loaded gun and point out that the object of his anger is standing vulnerable before him, if you tell him it is okay, go ahead, then you are as guilty as he is when he pulls the trigger. Aiding and abetting—a criminal offence. This is the crime of the British government in repeatedly refusing to condemn the Israeli Offensive against Lebanon. Tony Blair shakes hands with George Bush and says go ahead. Britain has fuelled planes of bombs destined to destroy Lebanon.
The UK bans aircraft from many countries: Liberia, Tajikistan, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and more. Yet it allows American planes of bunker-buster bombs with depleted uranium warheads to land and refuel in the UK en route to Israel. Why would the UK be party to using weapons that Dr. Doug Rokke (PhD, former Director of US Army Depleted Uranium Project) has called “absolutely unacceptable, and a crime against humanity”? Why would the UK be party to using weapons in densely civilian-populated areas, particularly when the dust alone of these weapons has a half-life of 4.2 billion years; the radioactive particles themselves contaminate water and soil permanently? The UK is clearly in violation of Article 35 of the Geneva Conventions.
There is no doubt that Israel has deliberately crushed the infrastructure of Lebanon: electricity, fuel oil, airport, sea ports, roads, and bridges. Israel has destroyed homes, offices, shops, farms, schools, hospitals. Israel has deliberately targeted civilians in their homes, refugees fleeing their homes, ambulances, funerals, press personnel, UN personnel. . . . and the UK encouraged these atrocities. Even in the light of a ceasefire, there is so much tragedy that must be put right. The UK and the European Union must make amends for their part in these crimes. They must aid in rebuilding Lebanon. They must decontaminate the radioactivity. They must offer diplomatic protection so that this never happens again. And they must trust the Lebanese people to govern themselves in the way they see fit to do so. Isn’t that, after all, what true democracy is all about?
As we are blessed with our quiet, peaceful lifestyle, let us remember that everyone, regardless of race, religion, or nationality, deserves a chance for the same. If we are going to interfere, let it be only to help others to reach the tranquillity we ourselves treasure. As a representative of British people and British values, please Mr. Gauke, show the world not hate and violence, but the care, respect and nobility with which the British are imbued.
Well, folks, I got a response. It is a wake-up call to what democracy has in fact become:
It took me a while to put my finger on what I found so irritatingly insulting in this response. I re-read it several times (that didn’t take long). I do not share your views. I truly don’t expect everyone to agree on every aspect of what is, after all, quite a complex issue. What is great about democracy, though, is that elected officials represent a constituency of citizens. These officials offer a professional expertise that enables them to work on a legal and practical level to meet the needs of their constituents. I appealed to my Member of Parliament on a professional basis. He responded on a personal basis. I do not share your views. I imagine him standing arms crossed, chin defiantly tilted.
The idea of a parliament, as I understand it, is the presence of many leaders with intelligent voices in dialogue, answerable to each other and to the public they represent. “I do not share your views” rather cuts the dialogue short. |
|
10/0906
A Friends of Lebanon member found the following interesting viewing:
|
|
14/09/06
A boldly blue and white tie to meet PM Siniora??
|
|
20/10/06 “What difference did Lebanon make?” Panel discussion at the ICA on 6th October 2006
Friday 6th of October saw discussion of recent Lebanese Events come to the Institute of Contemporary Arts in the form of a lively and informative panel debate between some of the UK’s key political commentators. In a change to the billing (Nadine Shehadi and Roula Khalef could not attend), Tim Beeston, diplomatic editor of the Times, Tim Lewlyn from the BBC, George Glass, journalist and ex-Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Khaledi, each took turns to give a brief talk about different aspects and implications of the recent conflict for both Lebanon and the region as a whole, before turning the event over to the floor for questions.
Even with an alternative line up, and a Tim Lewlyn who self confessed to being “dragged over the line between stage and the floor” to give an impromptu speech, the speakers did not disappoint. They gave a nuanced, focused and wide ranging discussion of this summers events, with some interesting anecdotes and stories direct from Lebanon experienced while these commentators where there as events unfolded. While giving some tentative predictions for future possibilities, they also succeeded in putting the summer’s events into their political and historical, something often lacking in mainstream coverage of political events.
It is interesting that the ICA choose to hold such an event in their schedule, as their talks usually keep to abstract subjects such as philosophy or art and film history, and not into the realms of international affairs. This can only be a positive development, as not only does this heighten awareness of Lebanese, and more generally, Middle Eastern affairs, but it also takes academic and serious discussion out of the academy and into the wider world of art and cultural institutions. This does not, as some might argue, cheapen or trivialise a serious subject, but rather gives a platform for valuable, accurate and measured debate, giving members of the public the chance for an alternative to relying solely on mainstream media coverage. Judging by attendance, the event was a near sell out with around 80 people in attendance, showing that this is a hot topic.
Set against the venue, with its lively bar/restaurant, comprehensive niche bookstore and interesting array of current film, theatre, art and music shows, this was an enjoyable as well as informative evening. Judging by the high profile this event was given by the ICA, the large attendance and the content of the speeches, as one made their way out into the darkness of the Mall, it was obvious that was the kind of event that was needed to educate on Middle East issues and break down the stereo types that exist.
--Contributed by Friends of Lebanon member Joseph Downing |
|
03/12/06
Thoughts from a Friend of Lebanon: The current demonstrations in Beirut show democracy at work. It shows the world how the Lebanese are determined to work together, with Druze, Muslim, and Catholics working hand in hand. It is disappointing to see the Western media portray the demonstrations as Syrians pushing around the Lebanese, and that the demonstrations are by just Hezbollah. Anyone watching and listening will know that there are many parties involved in calling for a clean government. Anyone who thinks that Aoun and his many thousands of supporters in Beirut are acting on behalf of Syria obviously doesn’t know their history! |
|
03/12/06
A Friends of Lebanon member found the following website interesting. It offers news articles and editorials in both Arabic and English. http://www.wa3ad.org/index.php |
|
15/12/06
Lebanon United shares this message: |