"To show His pity," Bobbie repeated slowly, "upon all prisoners and captives. Is that right, Mother?"
"Yes," said Mother, "upon all prisoners and captives. All prisoners and captives."'
from The Railway Children by Edith Nesbitt
Hello! This blog should have been written a couple of days ago, but I just haven't found the time. In fact, I haven't updated it at all much recently. I think that the reason for this is partly that I've been busy with things in my personal life, and partly that there haven't been any major developments in things that have been happening to me politically. I have continued to be very involved with the Palestine demonstrations, but not quite as frequently as before; I'm still just as passionate about the cause as ever and I will defend it to anyone, but I have had personal commitments such as holidays and other projects to attend to. In general I try not to let things like this interfere with my work as a political activist, but at the same time it is important that I have a personal life in addition to that. That's something I'll mention first actually, before I get on to the most important point; political activism is one of the most important things in my life, but in order to do it well it is important that I do also have a life. I will say that to anyone who works in this field, that it is very important to strike a fair balance between the two - don't be so selfish as to avoid campaigning so as to indulge yourself, but be aware when you need to focus on yourself individually as well. After all, my whole intention behind doing this is to make it possible for other people to do just that, so it is entirely fitting that I have other things in my life besides it. I think I strike a fair balance most of the time.
Anyway, I have still been doing quite a lot of work in the Free Palestine campaign, which I'm going to talk about here. The quote at the top of this page is from The Railway Children, and I've used that quote on this blog in the past - I'm not a religious man, I just think that's a really lovely quote, and very appropriate to the sort of things that I write about. It is certainly relevant to the issue that I'm fighting for at the moment regarding the people of Gaza. I feel like the awareness of this issue is picking up a lot, and people are realising that you don't have to be pro-Hamas or anti-Semitic to understand the fact that people in Gaza are dying and this is not a war but a massacre, that has been initiated continuously by Israel. I have been involved with the camp outside the BBC on Whiteladies Road in Bristol (it's not there anymore, but it did some fantastic work), I now boycott companies that I know to support Israel, such as Nestlé, Starbucks, Hewlett Packard, Marks and Spencer, Coca-Cola and McDonalds (though I made a point of never buying the last one anyway, because it's ghastly), and perhaps most importantly, I took part in the massive protest in London on Saturday afternoon.
There were so many people at this demonstration, it was unreal. I was lucky enough to be very near to the front of the stage in Hyde Park, and I could see the speakers very well. The speakers included Owen Jones, George Galloway, Diane Abbott, David Ward and Natalie Bennett, among numerous others. I wish that I could use everything that was said in this blog post because it was so inspiring, but I can't, partly because it would keep me up all night and partly because I think it would crash Blogger's servers! I will say though that I wish that everyone could hear the speeches that were delivered, as they made so many amazing points: about Israel's approach; things that Benjamin Netanyahu has said in interviews; the plight of people living in Gaza (I have contacts out there myself, so I do hear quite a lot about it first hand); how our Government and the United States are studiously ignoring the situation; and what we can all do to help. I was especially proud of how many Jews there were there. I'm not Jewish, and I don't generally support tokenism, but I think that when Jewish people come out and say that this is not right, it goes to show that this argument is not about nationality or religion. This is about discrimination and oppression, and that is something that the Jews more than anyone know about. I actually find it baffling that Israel feels morally able to do this given that as a Jewish nation, its people have felt the impacts of this kind of oppression in the past. I would have thought that they would be the last people to treat a group of people in that way, given the mass slaughter that they suffered in the 1940s. Having said that, it is so fantastic that there are so many Jews who have stood up and said that they are not in favour of Israel's actions. I was actually labelled by a friend of mine recently as being anti-Semitic due to my condemnation of Israel's actions. I will always say in response that there is a huge number of Jews who believe exactly the same thing that I do.
Whilst we're on that subject, I'd like to direct you to a very impressive young speaker and activist called Barnaby Raine. He spoke passionately and emotively outside the BBC, and I have made contact with him online and done a little research into his work in the activism world. He is a practicing Jew, and could very easily front this campaign. But there is no point in me discussing him here, as I can link to his speech:
I didn't really get to speak to Barnaby face-to-face, but I was very taken by his speech, as were we all, and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to speak with him since. I always respect young activists, mainly because I am one myself and have been since the age of seventeen. It is people like us who will ultimately change this world for the better, and I hope that Barnaby and I get to work together on such things in the future, along with other similarly-minded people.
I used to have a feature on this blog that I called 'People I Respect and Admire', which essentially meant just referring to a few people in each update who had really touched me. I stopped doing that because it felt a little bit commercial, as people who touch you ought to do that genuinely and spontaneously, and not just because you're looking out for it. I can honestly say though that I am eternally proud of everyone who went to that demonstration. If you were one of them, you deserve to feel proud of yourself. And if you weren't, there will be many more, as this campaign will not stop. I am especially proud of the fact that no one was arrested. Of course, if anyone had been that would not necessarily mean anything, as generally when violence escalates it is initiated and exacerbated by the police more than by the protesters - sad, but true. However, I think the fact that the major newspapers had to write that no arrests were made in a demonstration this size shows the public what protesters and activists are all about. Of course there is the odd person who latches onto it to cause trouble, but at the end of the day what we want is for the demands of our cause to be met. That does not come with instigating aggression. So I feel that the fact that it was 100% peaceful is a great achievement for us. It did help, of course, that on this one the police were unusually co-operative. They do that sometimes, though not as often as I'd like.
Before I go, I should like to promote a petition. Many people reading this will know that recently the American actress Joan Rivers publicly made some horrendous comments about how 'Palestinians deserve to be dead' (and no, I am not exaggerating here). The full video can be found on YouTube if anyone cares to search. Ms Rivers claims that her comments were taken out of context. I personally do not buy that, as I have seen the video myself and it is hate-filled and despicable. Anyway, I have signed a rapidly-growing petition demanding an apology from Rivers and for any of her employers to terminate her contract. I think that a message needs to be sent that this sort of comment is unacceptable for someone in the public eye. I do actually preach freedom of speech more than any other social freedom, but if that freedom impacts on other people's liberties I think that sometimes barriers have to be drawn - but certainly on a case-by-case basis and probably only on rare occasions, such as this one. I feel that this case is exceptional, as Rivers is such a public figure, this is such a contentious issue, and her comments could change attitudes the wrong way, therefore exacerbating the situation.
Thank you for reading this, and I shall see you on my next blog! (Or you'll see me, rather.) Take care, rabid readers!
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