Please go here...

As my followers may have noticed, I haven't been posting on this blog for some time. That's either because I've been busy (mainly in Palestine, researching a new version of the Bradt Guide to Palestine), or because I'm now blogging mainly on my new website. Please join me there!

ei: Seeing the land as one: Raja Shehadeh interviewed

I don't normally use this blog for plugging articles I've written elsewhere, but this one I'm a bit proud of and the interview itself was very exciting to do - because I love Raja Shehadeh's work, and because it was the same day Sharyn and I appeared at Edinburgh International Book Festival ourselves with an almost sell-out audience for Gaza: Beneath the Bombs.

ei: Seeing the land as one: Raja Shehadeh interviewed

Cool project and crap press

My friend Kolya just sent me a very cool project - a Gazan recipe book being put together by Madrid-based translator Maggie Schmitt and Gazan writer Laila el-Haddad, of Gazamom fame. They're currently in Gaza and the initial posts about the research they're doing look absolutely mouthwatering...
The book is also interesting because it's using Kickstarter to help fund the research - a donations website which allows people to put money into one-off projects they want to support.
The crap press part of the heading is a reference to the common practice of reporting the exciting/shocking/dramatic bit of an event, and failing to report the more mundane downside. This is a widespread phenomenon - I remember reading some research years ago about how newspapers were much more inclined to print the titillating (to a distressingly large number of revolting men) details of rape trials, but then rarely followed up with boring details like, y'know, verdicts and sentences. The main culprits, shock horror, were various tabloids and the vile Torygraph. Posh blokes getting their rocks off at the idea of women being assaulted? Shurely shome mishtake.
But an example I came across today via the blog of an American blogging from Sanaa rather shows up the political agenda behind a lot of our media.
You may remember news agency stories last month of an audacious gun attack on the British Embassy in Yemen, rapidly attributed to al-Qaeda (obviously). What you may not recall are any follow-up reports of the fact that the attack never happened. What actually took place was a squabble between two security guards who were meant to be defending said Embassy, but who got in a row and opened up on one another, and then were too embarrassed to 'fess up to the origins of the gunfire. Read all about it here.
Genius.

Claremont Road Kurdish bakery

Despite the shite weather, less-than-marvellous waste disposal and occasional pissed/gouched neighbours staggering past at all hours, sometimes I love living in Moss Side. One of the best things to pop up in our neighbourhood recently is the new Kurdish bakery on Claremont Road, between the Natwest Bank on the corner with Lloyd St and the old Maine Road ground.


There are no complicated choices to make here. You walk in and give the guys at the desk the number of hot, fragrant flat breads you want (in multiples of four). One young man flips the fat balls of dough waiting on the side with his hands until they're about a foot wide and flat, then the other uses a kind of cushion to slap them onto the inside of the oven and tongs to whisk them back out, seconds later. They come out a bit like a nan bread, but lighter, and absolutely delicious. And at a pound for four, a total bargain.

Support a judge! (yes, really)

Not the sort of thing I'd usually say. But strange times...

After the historic victory of the EDO Decommissioners (http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=3673) earlier this month, the judge in the case, Judge George Bathurst-Norman, has become subject of a concerted campaign of smears and defamation by a number of right-wing columnists, the Zionist Federation, and the Board of Deputies of British Jews on grounds that his summary of the evidence was 'anti-semitic'.

The Office of Judicial Complaints (OJC) has as a result opened an investigation into Judge Bathurst Normans handling of the case.

Although we don't normally find ourselves sticking up for judges we find the charge of anti-semitism a grossly cynical attempt to undermine the significance of these acquittals of pro-Palestinian activists on evidence of Israeli war crimes that was for the most part agreed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

There is nothing anti-semitic in putting agreed evidence of Israeli war crimes to a jury.

You can express your concern about this investigation by sending an email to the Office Judicial Complaints, marking your email 'Bathurst Norman'.

customer@ojc.gsi.gov.uk

A full transcript of the Judge's summary of the evidence has been published by the Jewish Chronicle (strange times indeed!) here.

Weird things to be happy about

There's something wrong, and yet very right, about being cheered up by people's amazing strength and cheerfulness in response to horrible things happening to them. Fr'instance, there's Emily Henochowicz, the 21-year-old Jewish-American activist who had her eye smashed out by an Israeli high-velocity tear gas canister at a peaceful West Bank demonstration only a few weeks ago. One of her reactions to losing an eye, something which as an artist can't be great news, is to design a really fucking cool pair of glasses, with a beautiful pattern half-covering one eye socket. There's a picture of them on her blog here.
And then there's Tristan Anderson, who was also hit in the face by a high-velocity tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier against peaceful protesters (spot a pattern here?). Despite spending the first six months after the incident in what was often described as a coma but which was something which I guess to most of us would look similar, Tristan is now in a wheelchair, able to speak and function in many ways, although severely constrained in others. He's back in the USA and at a rehab centre, which is probably more than many of us who were following his situation from afar ever thought would be possible (and is of course very far from what most Palestinians who suffer similar injuries would ever be able to access). A Q&A on his progress is here.

On a completely different subject, this neat little site gives an easily digested run-through of why all the Tory cuts which are currently cutting a swathe through public sector and probably third sector employment in this country, as well as many not-as-useless-as-they-might-make-out services, are ill-conceived, economically damaging and hypocritically and ideologically selective.

Manchester Anarchist Bookfair

Message from Dave at Manchester Anarchist Bookfair:

We can now announce that the Manchester Anarchist Bookfair will take
place from 11.00am until 5.00pm on Saturday 2nd October 2010 at The
Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford Road (opposite the BBC).
The venue is bigger and more importantly brighter than last year!
Are you interested in having a stall at the next Manchester Anarchist
Bookfair?
Stalls cost £10 per table.
If you are a bookstore or distributor and require more you can book
more tables at £10 per table.
Let us know how many you need.
We'll be posting details of stalls as they are confirmed at:
http://www.bookfair.org.uk
Follow us on twitter
If you live in Manchester and want to get involved in organising
things get in touch.

Ivor Dembina at Manchester Peace Festival

Tickets for anti-Zionist Jewish comic Ivor Dembina's show 'This is Not a Subject for Comedy', running in Manchester for one night only as part of Manchester Peace Festival, are now on sale. The show will be on Wednesday September 22nd at 7.30pm.

According to The Independent, the show tells “the story of how Dembina, 58, had his own unconditional support for the Jewish state challenged when he visited Israel and the West Bank between 2003 and 2005, and the hostility he faced from friends and family for his views.” A review of the show can be seen here, and an interview with Dembina here.

All proceeds from this event will be split between the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and the Free Gaza movement.

Manchester Peace Festival will be launched with an opening concert on September 18th, headed by folk singer Leon Rosselson.

Full details of how to buy tickets for Ivor Dembina, as well as information on the many other events taking place during Manchester Peace Festival, can be found at http://manchesterpeacefestival.wordpress.com/whats-on-at-the-peace-festival/

The Dr Laura letter...

This round-robin email came to me again yesterday, and I thought I'd post it. Firstly because it's very funny.
Secondly because to certain people jumping on the Islamophobic bandwagon on the basis of Muslim homophobia, it's an appropriate reminder that while, yes, deeply unpleasant, backward and reprehensible homophobia is widespread amongst observant Muslims, it's equally common amongst the faithful of the other 'religions of the book,' and no amount of pinkwashing will cover that up. Homophobia, sadly, stems from social conservatism and the alarmingly popular practice of taking the word of 4000-year-old texts a bit too literally, and is not confined to one specific religious group.
And thirdly it's an entertaining highlight to the hypocrisy of the American Moral Right. The 'Dr Laura' mentioned at the start of the email is a Republican radio show host who has authored 'family-first'-type books with titles like: Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives and The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. This family-friendliness did not apparently extend to keeping her hands off the married father-of-three she's now hitched to, having started an affair with him while he was still the husband of someone else. She's also made herself deeply unpopular with the North American gay community, to the extent that "In May 2000 the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) ruled that her "consistent characterization of the sexual behavior of gays and lesbians as 'abnormal,' 'aberrant,' 'deviant,' 'disordered,' 'dysfunctional,' and 'an error' " constituted abusive discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and as such, were in violation of the human rights provision of its Code of Ethics. The CBSC found similar fault with her generalized statements that pedophilia is more prevalent among members of the gay community." She has also been the subject of various - in some cases successful - boycotts and campaigns, most notably StopDrLaura.com.
It's also worth noting that the letter below does not come from the guy whose name is at the bottom. But he seems to be generally sympathetic to it, and has put together an entertaining collection of his reflections on his accidental fame and of the letters - ranging from the bonkers homophobic to the amused liberal - he's received from people who did think it was him.

In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.

The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, written by a US academic and posted on the internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination ... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman,
Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education University of Virginia

PS (It would be a damn shame if we couldn't own a Canadian)

Tom Hurndall killer released

Anyone familiar with Israeli concepts of justice will be depressed but unsurprised to hear - from a report in Ha'aretz earlier this week - that the soldier who shot peace activist and former MMU student Tom Hurndall is to be released before his sentence is up. Taysir Heib was sentenced to eight years in jail for manslaughter in 2005, so he has been released 3 years early, on the orders of an Army committee acting against official legal positions. The Israeli military's culture of impunity strikes again.
It's rare for Israeli soldiers to be prosecuted or even disciplined for killing or wounding unarmed people, even in the very few cases when those killed are international activists, rather than Palestinians. This week a not-atypical sequence of stories appeared in Ha'aretz, an earlier one stating that a Palestinian shot dead while trying to break into the Barkan settlement in the West Bank was "apparently armed," while an update today revealed that a preliminary enquiry showed that actually, he was unarmed. Guess which version will get quoted by Israel's supporters, and which will vanish down the memory hole? I can't give a link to the second version as it only appeared on the 'breaking news' feed. Will it even get a full story?
It is likely that one of the reasons that a soldier was even convicted for Tom Hurndall's death is that the man who fired the shot was Bedouin, and therefore subject to routine racism in Israeli society anyway.
The Hurndall family have expressed their anger and distress at the move, which they heard about from the British FCO, not the Israelis, but Tom Hurndall's sister commented that it was the Israeli system they were concerned about, not the fate of an individual soldier who they extended compassion to. The family have previously been openly critical about the lack of support they received from 'Middle East Peace Envoy' (WTF? I mean, really) Tony Blair while he was still Prime Minister.

"Why Misogynists Make Great Informants"

"In January 2009, activists in Austin, Texas, learned that one of their own, a white activist named Brandon Darby, had infiltrated groups protesting the Republican National Convention (RNC) as an FBI informant. Darby later admitted to wearing recording devices at planning meetings and during the convention. He testified on behalf of the government in the February 2009 trial of two Texas activists who were arrested at the RNC on charges of making and possessing Molotov cocktails, after Darby encouraged them to do so..."

A very interesting and important article from Make/Shift magazine. Read the full piece here.

The Daily Mail Song

Gaza art exhibition at Manchester Cathedral

Image converted to jpg from pdf by the wonderful zamzar.com

Creative Co-operatives

The Creative Co-ops website I was commissioned to copywrite by Co-operatives UK is finally up, after a few technical blips. It includes a collection of information and case studies on the benefits of co-operation for creative workers - writers, artists, musicians, web designers, actors, journalists etc etc etc. Not featured, because I only found them today, are a very cute Glossop-based co-op of textile geeks called Moot Fibre Arts Co-op. They're having a garden party at Glossop Labour Club this Sunday...

ei: IKEA furnishing the occupation

Ikea delivers to Israeli settlements, but not to Palestinian towns. And it gets rumbled just a couple of weeks after Swedish dock workers start refusing to unload Israeli vessels. Ooops.

ei: IKEA furnishing the occupation

Carbon Co-op - events in Moss Side

Email from friends at the Carbon Co-op:

In March 2010 The Carbon Co-op launched its Moss Side project with the Carbon Co-op
Manual offering advice on saving energy in the home. Now we’re inviting you to take the next steps by joining us for a free workshop and tour of local green projects.

*Moss Side Carbon Co-op workshop*
6pm-8pm, Tuesday 22nd June 2010
Greenheys Centre, Gt Western Street, Moss Side
How do you use electricity and gas in your home?
What simple ways are there to save energy and cuts bills?
How might local people club together to make savings cheaply and simply?

Come along to this free workshop to pick up some practical hints and tips and share
experiences with other Moss Side residents.
Arrive 5.30pm for complimentary food and refreshment

*The Big Red Bus Tour of Green Projects*
Midday-4pm, Saturday 19th June 2010
- See energy saving projects up close
- Meet people who have transformed their houses and hear how they did it
- See renewable energy projects from the top deck of a red London bus!
Departs midday from Greenheys Centre, Great Western Street, Moss Side, returns 4pm.
Complimentary food and refreshments available

Book spaces
Both events are FREE! To book a space on the workshop or the Big Red Bus tour call 0161 408 6492 or email info@carbon.coop

Find out more about the Carbon Co-op: 0161 408 6492 or www.carbon.coop

In collaboration with Great Western Street Residents Association and Peace FM.

Paintballs or pepperspray?

I was bcc'd into this email last night, from a friend who is well-versed in the dubious delights of military and 'security' technologies to Jon Snow of Channel 4 news. They raise this point about the bizarre-sounding Israeli claims that some of their commandos were armed with 'paintball guns' (presumably not those who were armed with live ammo):

Hi Jon
I've just watched your interview with an Israeli spokesman (who didn't believe your assertion that Turkey was considering sending a warship to protect a further aid boat wishing to dock in Gaza).
Can I suggest that you investigate whether those paint guns much mentioned in the piece were actually going to be firing pepper spray? I'm told that these weapons are used by Israel, sold to them by the US. This would of course also explain why the Israelis were wearing what look like gas masks rather than some form of goggles to protect them from paint spatter.
For example see www.pepperball.com (you may not see the exact model here, but you will see what is on the market).
Best wishes

The deeply unpleasant military-spec page on pepperball.com is here. The 'law enforcement and corrections' page has some stuff that looks even more like paintball toys.
Which would perhaps also account for the 'strange-smelling gas' that some of the passengers on the attacked boats reported?

Sharyn Lock on Gaza flotilla killings (and Israeli hasbara)

As someone who was in Gaza during the 08/09 attacks, working with the ambulances, I saw first hand the contradictions to all the lies Israel told then.

It makes it impossible for me to trust their side of the story now, when they are preventing us not just from contacting our friends for their side of the story, but from even finding out if they are alive or dead.

I personally know my close friends on board the boats would take an Israeli bullet rather than resist violently in any way - and in the past, some of us have - Caoimhe Butterly for example.

But isn't the question we should be asking instead - why didn't the Navy just stay home and let the aid through, when the flotilla was going nowhere near them, as FreeGaza boats never had in the past?

From Sharyn Lock, founding member of the FreeGaza movement, nonviolence trainer, passenger on the first and fourth FreeGaza boat trips, and author of Gaza: Beneath the Bombs

Call for action from activist Caoimhe Butterly (Gaza TV News).

Call to action in response to Israeli killing of humanitarian activists on FreeGaza flotilla:

Gaza flotilla; Mahmoud Darwish & Trio Joubran

Below is a YouTube video of the wonderful Trio Joubran setting of Mahmoud Darwish reading 'Wait for her.' Lovely.



Today is a tense one for anyone caring about the fate of the flotilla of aid, human rights workers, journalists, parliamentarians and others trying to enter Gaza by sea again. The State of Israel has been threatening all sorts of hi-tech and savage ways to prevent them reaching Gaza, whilst making disingenuous statements about its 'inability' to control shipping in Gazan waters. Follow the flotilla's progress on http://twitter.com/freegazaorg or http://www.witnessgaza.com/

Greenpeace on the BP oil spill

Original here.

Local food event, June 12th

I'll be at a wedding somewhere terrifyingly countrified, but in Manchester on 12th of June this very worthwhile event will be happening:

“Create your own Abundance” open event
Saturday 12th June, 11am-1pm at Madlab,  36-40 Edge St, Northern Quarter, Manchester City Centre, M4 1HN
Abundance Manchester invites groups and individuals in Greater Manchester to find out how they can cut food waste, have fun, reduce food miles, get fit, help vulnerable people and strengthen their communities.....all at the same time. How? By coming to an open event designed to help them set up an 'Abundance' project in their area.
Abundance Manchester is a small voluntary group that harvests surplus and unwanted fruit and veg from gardens, allotments and public places and distributes it to places that need it, like homeless hostels and refugee projects. It has been running for 2 years in South Manchester, covering Chorlton, Didsbury, Withington, Fallowfield & Whalley Range. Jointly with several other Abundance projects in the country, it is one of 3 schemes shortlisted for the ‘Best Grassroots Project’ award at the Observer's Ethical Awards 2010.
“Abundance is a great project, but we can only cover a tiny fraction of Greater Manchester, and we want people in other areas to take advantage of the 'abundance' of fresh produce that's going to waste where they live” said Debbie Clarke of the group. “And we'd like to help get them started”.
On Saturday 12th June, Abundance Manchester is holding a short open event in Manchester city centre where people can find out just how easy it is to start and run their own Abundance project, or something like it. The group will provide tips and advice on getting started, plus the chance to connect interested people from the same areas.
Starts 11am with a short presentation, followed by discussion and one to one advice. Those interested are asked to book by Monday 7th June, as places are limited.
For more info (& to book) - email: abundancemanchester[at]yahoo.co.uk, phone: Nicola: 07515 116 730 or Debbie: 07967 227 981, website: http://abundancemanchester.wordpress.com/

And congratulations to Abundance, especially Nicola, on that Observer Ethical Awards shortlisting. Full details of the shortlist for this year's awards are here - we'll know if Abundance gets the top prize in June.

Oh for goodness' sake...

These are the opening paragraphs of a press release I received yesterday morning:

Abu Dhabi Launches World’s First Gold Vending Machine 17 May 10
Emirates Palace host to unique tourist attraction
The world’s first gold vending machine is now enticing tourists in Abu
Dhabi where the Gold to go™ has found a home in the uber-luxurious setting
of Emirates Palace – one of the world’s most opulent hotels.
Gold to go® dispenses ten specially-designed 24 carat gold bars in various
designs, such as the Kangaroo, Maple Leaf and Krugerrand in denominations
of one, five and ten grams, as well as one tenth, a quarter and one ounce
of gold.

Anyone got any theories on why our civilisation might actually deserve to survive?
Sigh.

Nick Clegg on Gaza

On Tuesday 22nd December last year - 2009 - Nick Clegg wrote on the Guardian's Comment is Free website that:

What is less well-known [than the December 2008/January 2009 invasion] is the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The legacy of Operation Cast Lead is a living nightmare for one and a half million Palestinians squeezed into one of the most overcrowded and wretched stretches of land on the planet. And as Israel and Egypt maintain a near total blockade against Gaza, the misery deepens by the day.
This is not only shocking in humanitarian terms. It is not in Israel's or Egypt's interest, either. Confining people in abject poverty in a tiny slice of territory is a recipe for continued bitterness, fury and radicalism.
And what has the British government and the international community done to lift the blockade? Next to nothing. Tough-sounding declarations are issued at regular intervals but little real pressure is applied. It is a scandal that the international community has sat on its hands in the face of this unfolding crisis.
No doubt the febrile sensitivities of the Middle East have deterred governments, caught between recriminations from both sides. No doubt diplomats have warned that exerting pressure on Israel and Egypt may complicate the peace process.
But surely the consequences of not lifting the blockade are far more grave? How is the peace process served by sickness, mortality rates, mental trauma and malnutrition increasing in Gaza? Is it not in Israel's enlightened self-interest to relieve the humanitarian suffering?
The peace process is in serious trouble right now. Internal Israeli politics limits any meaningful room for manoeuvre, illegal settlement activity in the West Bank continues, and leadership of the Palestinians is divided and incoherent. A two-state solution, long the accepted bedrock of any agreement, is being openly questioned
But paralysis in the peace process cannot be an excuse for the inhumane treatment of one and a half million people, the majority of them under 18 years old. No peaceful coexistence of any kind is possible as long as this act of collective confinement continues.
According to a recently leaked report by the UN office of the humanitarian co-ordinator, Gaza is undergoing "a process of de-development, which potentially could lead to the complete breakdown of public infrastructure". A report released today by a group of 16 humanitarian and human rights groups further spells out the effects.
Family homes destroyed in the invasion lie as shattered as ever. The embargo on construction materials means they will stay that way. Local hospitals and clinics were left devastated by the invasion, and those suffering health problems wait longer than ever to get out of Gaza for treatment. Many have died waiting. Bed-wetting and nightmares are endemic among children.
Half of those under 30 are unemployed. These young people are trapped in a broken land with little hope of economic opportunity. The blockade's restrictions on Gaza's fishermen mean they can sail only three nautical miles from the coast, impoverishing their families. Meanwhile, 80m litres of raw and partially treated sewage is pumped out into the sea every day.
Most disturbingly of all, the lack of access to materials means that basic water infrastructure simply cannot be repaired or improved; 90 to 95% of Gaza's water fails to meet WHO standards. The extremely high nitrate level in the water supply is leaving thousands of newborn babies at risk of poisoning.
The insistence by some that aid should come into no contact whatsoever, even indirectly, with Hamas means NGOs are prevented from repairing basic water and sanitation facilities in schools.
There is a clear moral imperative for Israel and Egypt to end the blockade, as well as it being in their enlightened self-interest to change course. But if they do not do so of their own volition, it is up to the international community to persuade them otherwise.
The EU has huge economic influence over Israel, and it believes the blockade must be lifted. At the same time as exercising leverage over Hamas, it should make clear that the web of preferential agreements which now exists between the EU and Israel – from Israeli access to EU research and development funds to recently improved access for Israeli agricultural products – will be brought into question if there is no rapid progress.
Equally, the US, as by far the largest bilateral donor to Egypt, should press President Mubarak to allow in the humanitarian and reconstruction materials that are so desperately needed.
What will be the state of Gaza's drinking water by next December? Of the health of its children? Of the economy? The attitude of its people towards Egypt and Israel? The risk of waiting another year is too great. Gordon Brown and the international community must urgently declare that enough is enough. The blockade must end.

I wonder if Mr Clegg, from his new position of power in the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition, recalls his words? Perhaps we should ask him. He can be contacted on cleggn@parliament.uk and leader@libdems.org.uk.

Manchester Peace Festival benefit gig

10th May 2010
Benefit night for Manchester Peace Festival
Sand Bar, Grosvenor Street (off Oxford Road) 7.30-late
Music from Vanessa Lewis, Black Jack Barnet, Uncle Meat and the Highway Children, and poetry from Lauren Bolger. And cake. All proceeds to Manchester Peace Festival

Another reply on Palestine (pity about the literacy...) and more election communications

The free postal leaflets for Marc Ramsbottom, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Manchester Central, finally turned up yesterday (a bit late for us postal voters...). This was the biggest of the lot - an A3 size sheet of paper folder into 4 to make an A5 flier. Sadly, the concept of 'less is more' hasn't been introduced to Lib Dem designers. The example below was, unfortunately, crumpled up and put in the recycling by Beloved Husband, so it's a bit creased, but you can see what I mean:






Yesterday's other bit of election communication was the second response I've received to my second round of candidate-mithering via the Palestine Solidarity Campaign website. The first came from Marc Ramsbottom, and yesterday's came from Gayle O'Donovan, the Green Party's main hope for a council seat in Manchester, even though her chances of dislodging Tony Lloyd at Parliamentary level are about level with the survival hopes of a Louisiana seabird.
The email read as follows:

Hi Sarah,
I campaign allot on this issue with Action Palestine, the Free Gaza Boat Project and the PSC. This is a subject close to my heart and I will do whatever is within my power to fight for the rights of Palestinians.
Best Wishes
Gayle O'Donovan

Commendable sentiments, of course. Bit ropey on the literacy side of things, what with 'allot' being a verb meaning to allocate or hand out. It should, of course, be two separate words, 'a lot'. Churlish of me, I know, and I'm sure our pressurised candidates have bigger things to think about than their grammar at this point. But standards, dear boy, standards. It also doesn't specifically say whether she is signing up to the pledge which the email she's replying to asks her to support, and which the Green Party candidates for Manchester Gorton (Justine Hall) and Manchester Withington (Brian Candeland) have signed, according to the list on the PSC website.

Voting algorithm

Beloved husband sent me this the other day. Highly entertaining (although am I alone in not actually recognising the Tory logo? I had to go by process of elimination. Who on earth designed something so incredibly boring and mediocre? It looks like something you'd reject from the logo selection for a set of free business cards).

The Green Party Dalek video returns!

Highly entertaining Green Party propaganda

Reposted from Feminazery...

21 April, 2010
Urgent abortion support appeal: help a teenage girl in Northern Ireland
As publicised by the wonderful Penny Red:

Whether it’s a shortage of mange tout at the supermarket or a friend stranded abroad, we’ve all been affected by the cloud of ash from Iceland. But imagine if you had only a few weeks to navigate your way to England for a safe and legal abortion.
This week, we’ve heard from a number of women who were due to travel to the UK this week for terminations, including a very young teen who is extremely close to the 24 week time limit for abortions in the UK. She had to miss her appointment earlier this week and is now coming next week by ferry and train – a roundtrip journey of more than 24 hours. Her mother solely supports her and her siblings with a part time job and now has to cover costs of £2,300 (procedure + money lost on cancelled flights + last minute ferry and train tickets).
Due to these extraordinary and extremely difficult circumstances, ASN has made a pledge to fund this young woman £500, much more than we usually commit to a single case. This is less than half of the costs she is facing. We would like to help more. If you would like to help cover more costs for her and women like her, please pledge to make a donation today.
You can do this by donating via PayPal (http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/donate/), writing a cheque (email info@abortionsupport.org.uk for our postal address), or by making an online transfer (HSBC/Abortion Support Network/Sort Code: 40-11-18/Account Number: 64409302).
Please mark the donation “Iceland”.
Thank you in advance for any amount you can give – your donation will make a real difference to this family or to one of the other women who have had to re-purchase tickets to travel to England.

The deeply disturbing photoshop genius

of Mr Marc Roberts.
'Nuff said.

A reply on Palestine!

As with the Refugee Council pledge on asylum, the prize for quickest response goes to Marc Ramsbottom, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Manchester Central. If nothing else, this guy's got an effective campaign office.
Having sent a second round of the PSC's automated election lobbying messages to all candidates who'd supplied emails - I think a couple of days ago, lost count now - this arrived in my email inbox this morning. He says he can't sign the pledge - which seems a little odd, since six of his Lib Dem colleagues have, according to the PSC's list here. However:

Dear Sarah
Thank you for your question. As described in the Manifesto, we seek peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, involving two separate Israeli and Palestinian states which both recognize each other and are internationally accepted, following the borders before the Six-Day War. We will also push Britain and the EU to pressure Israel and Egypt to end the Gaza blockade. We also support an International Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the sale of arms to dangerous regimes and would stop British arms from being sold to states which use them for internal oppression.
Therefore, in answer to your questions, we will call on Israel to relinquish the territories you mention. We will lobby to end the siege in Gaza. In accordance with our manifesto, if Israel is shown to be using arms for internal oppression, we will not sell British arms to Israel. We would also go further, addressing the factors causing such conflict. If elected, the Foreign Secretary would actively work for both the establishment of two separate states in acceptable borders, and for an International Arms Trade Treaty including an international ban on cluster munitions. As we have already agreed policies for the Party in the Manifesto, we are unable to sign pledges outside this. However, as you can see, we specifically support the goals which you are understandingly concerned about.
Marc
Cllr Marc Ramsbottom
Liberal Democrat Councillor - City Centre Ward

On the Refugee Council pledge, I still have nothing in the post from Tony Lloyd, despite an email saying I would be getting something 'in the next few days' - ten days ago. I also have zilch from the Tory Suhail Rahuja, but then he might not have got round to clearing out his inbox to know what messages he's actually got...
On other issues, this morning we get confirmation - thirty years late - that anti-fascist campaigner Blair Peach was indeed murdered by a copper who then, along with his mates, lied about it. Well, golly gee.

Tony Lloyd's Big Smiley Leaflet

Well, no sign of the promised reply from Tony Lloyd on the subject of the Refugee Council asylum pledge, but this morning the postie did deliver a slightly scary leaflet featuring Mr Lloyd smiling broadly. The punctuation's a bit ropey, though. And there was only one copy, addressed to Beloved Husband. Our surnames are only a letter away from each other in the alphabet, so I'll assume that mine's on its way, rather than Labour are following the Tories' views on matrimony.

Banksy and the Bethlehem Donkey

Last weekend, at a symposium to accompany the opening of the Contemporary Art Iraq exhibition at the Cornerhouse in Manchester, I encountered someone who was possibly the most breathtakingly rude, arrogant and self-aggrandising journalist I have ever had the misfortune to meet. Which was a pity, because the symposium was fairly interesting (although the speaker count was pretty much halved by the effects of the Icelandic ash cloud) and this woman's aggressive, narrow-focused interrogation of the presenters racked up the tension amongst speakers and audience so much that little real debate seemed possible. It was also a pity because she had some really useful insights and very interesting experiences and information - she just chose to present them in such an exclusionary way that engaging with her was impossible. She is on the editorial team of a magazine I've long respected and have written for in the past; I suspect I won't be going near it again, and from the conversations I've had subsequently, she comprehensively alienated a room full of people who should have been amongst her publication's target market.
However, I should be grateful to her for one thing. She reminded me that I should write up a little anecdote I've been trotting out for a while as an example of the confusions which can plague political art.
On a return visit to the West Bank in spring 2009, my friend Samer pointed out to me the places near Bethlehem checkpoint where graffiti artist Banksy had left his mark. Several of Banksy's wittier contributions to the many murals, stencils and tags on the Israeli military's Separation Wall remained but, as reported widely in December 2007, an image depicting a donkey being id'd by an Israeli soldier had been painted over by irate locals.
According to Samer, Banksy's images had heightened debates amongst locals over whether drawing, painting and spray-painting on the Wall was an act of defiance or a beautification of the unforgivable, something to make the Wall easier to live with and detract from its role in wrecking the Palestinian economy, cutting people off from jobs and hospitals and educational opportunities, and stealing large areas of Palestinian land.
But the donkey cartoon had been singled out for particular criticism by some Bethlehemites. To call someone a donkey the Middle East is excruciatingly insulting, and locals felt that the image compared them with the creature depicted. Hence the mural's fate under a layer of new paint. And, on the roundabout heading into Bethlehem from the checkpoint, even fourteen months later in 2009 and unnoticed by the reporters who initially recorded the story, several concrete blocks bore the sinister message 'R.I.P. Banksy.'

Blog also posted at Menassat, the Arab media community.

Playing this morning...

I've voted!

... in the Manchester local elections, at least - where the choice in Moss Side was between the Big 3, the Greens and an independent who I can find no policies for online and who hasn't been round canvassing, so has somewhat missed the boat. My early vote is because for some historical reason I can't remember, I have a postal ballot, and once you have one of these it seems to be automatic (isn't this one of the reasons it's potentially open to fraud? Surely I could die or emigrate and Beloved Husband, who has a rough idea of my signature, and possibly an even rougher one of my date of birth, could just keep on voting...anyway).
I'm not saying who I voted for. Suffice to say it wasn't the Tories, whose execrable leader is currently smarming his way down the airwaves at me, although the R4 callers are poking him with sharp enough sticks to stop me haring down the stairs for the Off button. He's currently trying to justify his regressive, socially conservative attempt to bribe people into matrimony.
For some bizarre reason, the Conservative Party has forked out for phone box advertising in Moss Side, which is affording me mild amusement each time I leave the house, seeing how much more of the ads have been peeled off, especially from the one by the cashpoint where I guess bored people have a bit of a rip while they're queuing.
Certain items haven't yet arrived in the post. One is my General Election ballot papers, which is fair enough; I'm not expecting them till next week. The other is the letter from Tony Lloyd, giving his position on asylum and immigration, which I was told a full week ago now had been posted.
And absolutely no reply to a SECOND shot at emailing all my candidates from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign lobbying website. The list was interesting: the PSC seems to have acquired the emails for Tony Lloyd and Suhail Rahuja (if he's bothered to clear his inbox out), but doesn't yet have contacts for 3 candidates I didn't know about - those from the Workers Revolutionary Party, the vile UKIP, and one from Socialist Equality. What the PSC site does have is a list of which candidates have signed up to their pledge - a list dominated by Greens (although NOT including Manchester Central candidate Gayle O'Donovan), with some from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Respect, small numbers from various independents and devolved national parties, and none at all from the Tories (although it does say they've had some responses from Conservatives, which implies some have had the decency to get back saying why/why not).
Finding this list, I headed to Wikipedia, where I found out some interesting and generally unpleasant additional facts about Manchester Central. Firstly, that we have the second highest unemployment of any constituency in the country. And secondly, that as well as a Socialist Labour one I hadn't previously noticed and the creepy UKIP, we have a candidate from the fucking fascist BNP scum, some lowlife called Tony Trebilock. Mr Trebilock, unsurprisingly, doesn't seem keen to divulge much about where he lives, and I can't imagine he'll be showing his face in Moss Side too much...

Unlikely birdspotting

I was surprised enough to see a Greater Spotted Woodpecker in Moss Side last autumn, but today I got a really glorious bit of urban birdlife. Walking down the banks of the Irwell near the Lowry Hotel, I saw a rapid flash of turquoise, which zipped fast along the river, low above the water and off under Blackfriars Bridge. I thought I must be fantasising to think it could be a kingfisher, but several posts on the Manchester Birding Forum confirm that there have been a number of sightings on that stretch - right in the heart of the city. Wow.



Image pinched from some birding forum but copyright Cook Images.

Tony Lloyd on refugees... perhaps

In the latest installment of the Refugee Council Election Pledge saga (Manchester Central strand) I have an email reply from Tony Lloyd's office, in response to my reminder email, saying:

Thank you for your e-mail. A reply from Tony about this issue was posted to you yesterday, you should receive it in the next few days.
Yours sincerely,
George
Office of Tony Lloyd

The email was dated Friday 16th, and the letter hasn't arrived yet. Given the standard of postal services in Moss Side that could just mean it's been delivered to any of the six houses either side of mine. I await it with bated breath...
Still nothing from Suhail Rahuja for the Tories, although maybe that's because it's taking so long to clear out his full inbox...
Not one of the candidates has replied to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign message. I don't know if that's a technical problem, or a political one.
On a wider Manchester stage, the Tory council candidate for Manchester City Centre, Yan Zhang, who was supposed to be speaking at this evening's Manchester Climate Forum meeting scrutinising what the future of Manchester city council's action on climate change might be, has pulled out. No replacement seems to have been forthcoming - perhaps because most Tories have nothing useful or sensible to say on climate change, viz:

Tackling climate change not a priority for Tory candidates
"The new generation of Conservative MPs due to take power after the election does not share David Cameron’s professed commitment to tackling climate change, a survey being published this week suggests. “Reducing Britain’s carbon footprint” was rated as the lowest priority, out of 19 policies, by 144 Conservative candidates responding to the survey of the 240 most winnable Tory target seats... The results of the survey by the Conservativehome website, to be unveiled at a conference on the Tory manifesto on Wednesday, suggest a gap might be opening up between the leadership and rank-and-file MPs and activists on the issue." Financial Times, January 2010

'Local press rubbish on climate change' shocker

Nice little analysis by Manchester Climate Fortnightly of a fairly bobbins editorial from Crains Manchester Business. Having been on the receiving end of some of their 'reporting' I've also been quite surprised how amateurish the fact-checking and quoting was, since I presume they're selling themselves along those FT-style 'accurate information for the decision-makers' lines.

Party leader comes to Moss Side!

One of the Major Party Leaders came to Moss Side last night. I'm not sure which one it was, and it was a very fleeting visit, but I expect, not being a marginal or the like, it'll be the nearest we get to a party bigwig (not that that bothers me much).
Hopping my pathetic crippled way up Princess Parkway at about ten thirty, my first thought when a police motorcyclist whizzed past me, lights and siren going, was that someone had shot/stabbed someone else, which is something which, happily, happens round here less often than it used to.
But when about 5 more of them turned up and started blocking the road (maybe I should have though A Coup! and got all excited) it became apparent that something else was up. Then a massive great black 4x4 with tinted windows and a sort of silver people carrier type thing, with police cars too I think, came whizzing past at something that looked well over the speed limit. And I realised that it must have been one of Them, heading back South from the 'Leaders' 'Debate' at Granada Studios. Surely it would be much more cost effective if you're doing a high-security run like that to put the precious cargo in a silver Yaris or a red Fiesta and then no potential attacker would ever be able to track the right car down, and no need for squadrons of coppers.
Needless to say I hadn't been watching the debate, having been busy in the pub catching up on office gossip at Ethical Consumer and debating whether the net effect for the environment of the aeroplane-grounding volcanic eruption was going to be good or bad.
Last time we got a 'senior politician' in Moss Side, of course, they made a total twat of themselves. The Tory shadow home secretary Chris Grayling was taken round the neighbourhood by those sweeties at Greater Manchester Police, and came out with some ridiculous comment about us being 'like The Wire.' At which some enterprising publication got a crime hack over from Baltimore to comment on how his Saturday night out with GMP, where he witnessed some kids cycling suspiciously and someone having a spliff, didn't really compare to his city, with its 350+ a year murder rate.... Grayling, you are a knob. More details here.

Manchester Central: the story continues

Well, I've had replies from the Liberal Democrat and Green Party candidates for Manchester Central, but this afternoon I got a reminder email from the Refugee Council suggesting that I might want to re-contact any candidates which had not got back, asking them to sign the pledge on racism and asylum, and if they didn't feel able to, why not.
Having received a glossy leaflet with a rather scary picture of David Cameron looking all intense and moooooooody on one side, and telling me that "Suhail is always keen to hear your concerns, either about local or national issues, and can be contacted in the following ways..." on the other.




So, I used the email on the leaflet to drop him the suggested reminder. Seconds later I got a reply! Blimey, that's quick, I thought. But it said:

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at yourheartland.org.uk.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
:
Mail quota exceeded.

So, not keen enough to have a flunky clear his inbox out then...
Sent the same reminder to Tony Lloyd on his shiny new gmail address too...

Manchester Central candidate mithering update

A new reply to my Refugee Council-facilitated candidate-prodding in my email inbox this morning, this time from Gayle O'Donovan, the Green Party candidate. She says:

Dear Sarah Irving,
I have already signed up to this pledge, as it is quiet close to my heart. Please continue to raise this with other candidates as it is an important issue.
Best Wishes
Gayle O'Donovan
www.greengayle.com

With all this reasonableness on asylum issues coming from Manchester Central candidates, you'd wonder why the whole system in this country is in such a racist mess... Oh right, the Labour and Tory blokes haven't got back yet.

Meanwhile, here's a neat little roundup from the Guardian green page of where all the parties are on cycling, with the 'reliably daft' (to put it politely) UKIP wanting to make bike riders get off and walk at busy junctions.

ei: UK's discriminatory criminalization of dissent

ei: UK's discriminatory criminalization of dissent

Posted using ShareThis

Spring in Moss Side

Well, spring has finally sprung, it seems, which in my little corner means the sounds kids running around playing boisterous games in the back yard at Rasta HQ, much feline cuteness lying in patches of warm sun, the magpies having lots of fun noisily winding up Tony's evil cats from up the road, and some gorgeous plum blossom (often filled with mysterious tweetings) outside my window:

Election comments...

No update on those messages to various Manchester Central candidates...
In the meantime, some nice comments on the subject of democracy. Firstly, a new song from Leon Rosselson:



And not as new, but still marvellous, is Robb Johnson's 'This is What Democracy Looks Like." Oddly, I can't find a video of this, but the MP3 can be downloaded free here.

And going even further back, and in contrast with the tedious fuss about televised "leaders'" debates, Gil Scott-Heron:

Mithering Manchester Central candidates...

It's barely worth being interested in the upcoming general election if you live in Manchester Central constituency. As Beloved Husband put it, Tony Lloyd could be “like that German bloke at Liverpool Airport and he'd still get elected.”
But being an interfering type, and various campaign groups having decided to make use of web form technology to persecute parliamentary candidates, I've been helping out.
First, there was the Palestine Solidarity Campaign's lobbying tool to contact MPs asking them to sign up to pledges on issues such as a ban on settlement goods and action on the Gaza blockade. When I did this on about Thursday only Green candidate Gayle O'Donovan and Liberal Democrat Marc Ramsbottom had made email addresses available, so only they got that message from me. Tony Lloyd's parliament.uk address won't work once purdah starts, so they didn't have one for him; I sent the PSC his personal website contact address which will no doubt have pleased him immensely (he always used to be very good at replying to the various human rights, environmental and Palestine-related postcards and email forms he had off me, but I think I've become too annoying and he's given up, or he's got a new admin person who isn't as on the ball as the previous one). They didn't have one for the Tory candidate, Suhail Rahuja, either. Having gone back for another look, the PSC have apparently managed to find an email for him too, so anyone using the form now will get all four of them. I haven't had a response from the two who should have had the initial message, though.
Secondly, there is the Refugee Council's Asylum Election Pledge, asking candidates to “reject racism and xenophobia, and to remember the importance of refugee protection in debates about immigration policy.” Again, the pledge organisers didn't seem to have been able to find Mr Rahuja's email address – 'Tory candidate not interested in constituent's view shocker'? - but had the other three listed.
Encouragingly, on this one I got an emailed reply from Marc Ramsbottom before 24 hours were up, and even more encouragingly he had this to say:

Dear Sarah
Thank you for your email about the campaign by the Refugee Council.
I have signed up to support this campaign at their website and in particular support the right of asylum seekers to be able to work and support themselves and their families.
Thank you for contacting me about this issue.

So, not only responsive but talking some much-needed sense on the subject, something rare in the generally racist, alarmist and repugnant political discourse on asylum in this country. So, one up to Mr Ramsbottom (although I believe OA may have less positive things to say about Manchester Lib Dems' new manifesto position on climate change in an upcoming issue of Manchester Climate Fortnightly. And I will be posting any more replies I get...

Cheerleading and other social enterprises

In the last month or so I've been doing some case study interviewing and copywriting for TogetherWorks, the social enterprise network for Greater Manchester. Damien Mahoney's set of 5 short case study films are now available on YouTube, and my favourite is without doubt the fabulous Manchester Diamonds Cheerleading Community Enterprise Company...

Now Playing...

Algerian-French musician Rachid Taha covering The Clash's Rock the Casbah. Genius...

Science Museum rubbish

Another work of bitter genius from Marc Roberts:

Police floor WW2 veteran

As well as reports of heavy-handed policing of the demo against the fascist EDL in Bolton last Saturday, this video has come out of riot police splatting an 89-year-old WW2 veteran who was there to protest against racism. Nice one, lads, 'just doing your duty':

Weird barmy people

I know that on one level I'm scared that the right wing in its many guises is so powerful. But on another, it's a source of eternal mystification and amusement that some of them are so plain barking.
Take 'Eddie,' author of an article called 'Destructive Environmentalists' on Bloggerbase, yet another we'll-make-your-rantings-world-famous writing platform. Now, I know that the Daily Mail article OA & I were interviewed for a good couple of years ago bore about as much relation to reality as Katie Price's mammaries, but at least it managed to get right which of us has been... err... snipped. But good ol' boy Eddie (who cites 'conservatives' who think the Sierra Club is 'extremist'... jeez... and then perpetrates the usual tedious-but-unfortunately-widely-believed climate denialist waffle) apparently can't scan a tabloid article and even come out with its version of events. To whit, this: "Sarah Irving, from Ethical Consumer magazine, who sterilised herself..."
Wow. I sterilised myself? Without noticing? Cool. Wonder how I pulled that one off. DIY pain-free operations - I must patent this invention. Could be worth gazillions. And poor OA, not getting credit for HIS snip.
Second version of this is even more odd. Now I, despite obviously being a terrorist sympathising dangerous unwomanly unnatural extremist etc etc, can grasp why a lot of people around the world are less than chuffed with one Leila Khaled, even if I find her interesting enough to write a book about. I also know that there are a lot of misconceptions and exaggerations about her dotted about the web. But this article on the Northeast Intelligence (ahem) Network's (NIN) website is a real odd 'un. It states: "Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled, who murdered 24 year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem in an airplane hijacking in Beirut in 1970."
Now, I spotted this and started to worry that maybe there was some big chunk of LK's life story I'd missed out on completely, which would be mildly embarrassing. But no, it's Douglas J. Hagmann, Director of NIN, who needs to be hiding his blushes.
An organisation which claims to be 'INVESTIGATING THREATS TO OUR HOMELAND' would, you think, at least get its martyrs straight. Because "24 year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem" was actually on vac from his US Navy underwater construction team in 1985 (yep, 15 years after Leila Khaled's hijackings) when he was on a plane hijacked by Hizbollah (no, not Khaled's PFLP) and killed and dumped on the tarmac at Beirut airport when the hijackers' demands for the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israel was not met.
As usual, Hagmann's article also conflates Islamism and parts of the Palestinian resistance which 25 years ago American rightists would have been squealing about as part of a global Communist threat rather than a religious one. 25 years ago, of course, the US authorities were busy bankrolling Islamic militants like one Osama Bin Laden, as well as supporting Israel in its tolerance of Palestinian Islamic groups like Hamas (because in the late 80s Israel preferred the likes of Hamas to the likes of the PFLP, and the US broadly agreed).
Hagmann also goes on to make various truly bizarre claims about shadowy, dangerous links between completely above-ground organisations - for instance claiming that Al-Awda (an organisation which campaigns and educates on the right to return for Palestinian refugees) "is one part of a larger network known as the International Solidarity Movement." Errr, that would be the International Solidarity Movement that is a human rights observation and intervention organisation in the West Bank (plus some supporters overseas)? They may over the years have crossovers of personnel, be related in their aims, have similar viewpoints on many issues - but they have very different focuses and activities, and one is certainly not "part of" another. NIN claims to be "veteran, licensed professional investigators, analysts, military affairs specialists and researchers," which is really quite funny if they're happy to put this level of 'research' into the public domain. And this loon Hagmann also manages to drag in Obama, Kucinich and the revolting George Galloway as part of a giant anti-Zionist conspiracy. If only.

Visa joys

So, eight months later, I finally have my passport back from the Syrian embassy. For the first time in umpteen phone calls someone has actually confirmed that I was denied a visa, although my remains a matter of conjecture. Up to now, I've simply been repeatedly told on the phone that 'Mr Makdisi' or 'the consul' was dealing with it, and had my various emails completely ignored. A friend-of-a-colleague who applied as a freelance photographer was told that he could have a travel visa but couldn't take any pictures while he was there. Shock, horror, the Syrian dictatorship doesn't want anyone to whom they can't clearly attach to an institution wandering about their country. And lest anyone think I'm not applying the same stands to my own horrible government, read on...
Bizarrely, I've also been given back the postal order for my fee. The young lady at the embassy desk informed me that that was because they are “nice” and return visa charges on denied applications. Although since it's over six months old it's entirely and the Post Office's discretion as to whether they refund it, so I'm not holding out much hope there.
So, the question now is whether I actually risk using this passport ever again, or simply ditch it. Can I depend on the Syrians having simply had it sitting in a file for the past eight months, or should I – given the recent activities of their equally nasty but possibly more efficient brothers in the Mossad – be a little paranoid about they might have been doing with it? Answers on a postcard from Damascus...
This has been the week for people getting shafted by various visa agencies – mainly the British. Firstly, there was the Palestinian farmers who were meant to be in the UK for Fairtrade Fortnight, of whom only one actually got a visa. One, a woman with kids from a West Bank village, got a refusal letter from the British embassy in Amman saying that the officials there were concerned that she wouldn't return home – to Iraq. Anyone would think that British bureaucracies were either a) incompetent or b) not keen to have the effects of Israel's military occupation widely known.
Then there were the various speakers who had to contribute to a SOAS conference on the Palestinian left by video instead of in person. Leila Khaled has, of course, been denied a UK visa on at least one occasion (2005) and is also now routinely denied Schengen visas, so her absence was hardly a shock, even if it was a pity. Jamal Juma of the Grassroots Palestinian Anti Apartheid Wall Campaign was prevented from travelling because the Israelis arrested him – as well as many other anti-Wall campaigners – in December, and they haven't got around to returning his documents for him to even apply to travel with.
And thirdly, my mate Adie has been comprehensively shafted by the British Embassy in Cairo, which (unlike other European embassies) insists on having a letter from a 'legitimate' humanitarian organisation before it will issue waiver letters for British citizens to enter Gaza. So it looks like Adie, who has been waiting in Cairo for two months since the Viva Palestina convoy, will not be spending the next six months in Gaza working with a kids' project and building student solidarity networks. The embassy ruled that the fairtrade organisation he had a letter from was not a 'legitimate humanitarian organisation', and appeals for support from his MP, Gerald Kaufman, have borne no fruit.

Russell Tribunal on Palestine

Live streaming of the Barcelona session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, an excellent initiative to highlight Israel's wide-ranging abuses of international law.

Email etiquette and political spikings?

Generally speaking, it's been quite a good few weeks. After an initial new year's panic when it looked like the recession was finally going to give me a good slapping, I've got a decent amount of work in (actually that's not completely true; I've got far too much work, as it's coming up to the financial year end and various grant-funded organisations, on the Use It Or Lose It principle, are buying in my services). I got my first Guardian by-line (albeit unpaid and online only, but hey). And Gaza: Beneath the Bombs book stuff is going pretty well, especially when we get lovely reviews like this one.
But obviously I couldn't possibly be that upbeat, so here are a few minor trivialities which have hacked me off recently.
Firstly, it's 2010. Email has been fairly common in the UK for the best part of a decade. Especially amongst campaigners. And surely there must be few Young Folk out there who've managed to evade some computer training at school. But it seems like using the BCC field on a bulk email is still beyond some people's capacity.
First, there was the eejit from the Energy Saving Trust (I promise it's the last time I'm going to whinge about the Boiler Scrappage Scheme and its incompetent administration). He managed to send an email confirming receipt of my voucher and claim - and several hundred other people's - to all of us, in the CC field. Then, in an attempt to rectify the fuckup, he sent one of those pathetic 'Recall Email' messages that civil servants use - but again to all X hundred of us. So if anyone on that list has a mate who works in boiler servicing, they have one very valuable little marketing list there... And then, in the same week, some twonk from the newly-formed Unemployed Workers Union which has been set up in Salford did exactly the same thing, with an absolutely vast (and by the look of it, at least 50% totally unrelated) press list. I emailed them back suggesting that they might annoy people if they carried on like that and got no reply... but got another press release off them slightly later doing exactly the same thing. How to alienate potential supporters and sources of coverage, in one fell swoop. Idiot.
Next thing to piss me off was City Library's Manchester Lit List blog, which supposedly covers all events book-related in Manchester. I sent the announcement for the Gaza: Beneath the Bombs launch to them well in advance, and got no reply. I chased the email, and got a reply saying it would be listed on the blog in the week preceding the event. Which it was - very briefly. I know this because I have a Google Alert on 'Gaza beneath the bombs,' and the Lit List came up on it. But by the time I clicked on the link, it had been taken down. I can only assume that this was a political spiking, since this was a bona fide Manchester book launch, in Manchester, with one Manchester author involved. Which is... interesting.

Slingshot Hip Hop

This is the trailer for Slingshot Hip Hop, one of the films shown at the UNRWA fundraiser Sharyn & I did book readings at last Saturday. I've been meaning to see the movie for ages so nice to be presented with the opportunity. A must-see...

How sinister is this?

The boiler guy downstairs has local radio on (so I'm going to be humming various power ballads for the next few days - sorry Openspace/friends). But Foreigner aside, the radio station keeps running adverts for something called Quest For Truth, a company which offers polygraph - yes, lie detector - tests. It presents these as being 'fascinating,' but then goes on to suggest that people can use them for finding out if their partner is cheating or if someone they know has nicked stuff off them. Given the very questionable reliability of polygraphs this just sounds massively dodgy all round. As dodgy as that place in Chorlton that does extra scans of your foetus for you? Dunno. But still highly dubious.

Be Very Afraid, and some updates...

Firstly, thanks to OA again for striking fear into my heart when I opened my email to this excerpt from a Financial Times book review:

The most shocking tales are about Sarah Palin, who last week took up a new role as a Fox News commentator, and whose recent book, Going Rogue, is selling in the millions. So uninformed was McCain's running mate that advisors had to give her junior school tutorials on the first and second world wars, Vietnam and the cold war. Palin insisted that Saddam Hussein launched the September 11 attacks. As the depth of her ignorance sunk in, as well as her total lack of interest in rectifying it, McCain's senior staff members were “ridden with guilt over elevating Palin to within striking distance of the White House.

And a couple of updates.

First, wahey! My boiler scrappage scheme voucher has arrived, and as I type the cats are cowering in the bedroom as the rest of the house descends in to a chaotic mess of disconnected pipes, lifted floorboards and men in boiler suits wielding bits of machinery. But that doesn't mean I'm retracting any of my comments on the equally chaotic implementation of the scheme, which I put down to the EST's political masters trying to create a bit of a warm (literally) fuzzy feeling before the electioneering really gets going.

The second one is a corker. Remember Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling declaring that Moss Side was like the Wire? A couple of journalists - a freelancer from Manchester and a crime reporter from the Baltimore Sun - decided to swap cities and see if he was right. So Baltimore blokey, from a city with several hundred murders a year, gets to spend a night with GMP in sunny Moss Side. Simon Binns reported the result in Crains:

Justin Fenton, the Baltimore Sun crime reporter, spent a week on a job swap with Northern Independent hack Mark Hughes in order to see if Moss Side really was like hit TV show The Wire, a recent claim made by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling. Fenton was positively disappointed at the lack of excitement, however, after 14 hours with Greater Manchester Police. “The lack of action on my ridealongs has been quite ridiculous, especially since the press and the officers I rode around with in Manchester insist that these are tough streets,” he said. “Here's what I witnessed first-hand: a car full of teens who had just finished smoking marijuana; a kid whose furious bike riding raised suspicions but turned out to be nothing.” Furious bike riding is a suspicious activity now? Good news for Manchester's public image, though, and proof that cycling really has taken off since the Velodrome and Sir Chris Hoy's Olympic success.