16 March 2010: Remember Rachel Corrie

On 16 March 16 2003, 23-year-old American student Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer, as she was helping peacefully to protect a Palestinian doctor's home from being demolished.

By Amy Goodman
Truthdig
10 March 2010 

In a sign of growing disquiet at the continuing media reports of a health crisis in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, British MPs have submitted a parliamentary motion accusing the US military of a human rights atrocity.

12 March 2010 - ICBUW

Responding to reports from Sky News, the Guardian newspaper and the BBC of a developing humanitarian crisis in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, a mixture of Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent members of parliament have supported an Early Day Motion that accuses US forces of involvement in a human rights atrocity.

What is an Early Day Motion?

Early day motions (EDMs) are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. However, very few EDMs are actually debated. Instead, they are used for reasons such as publicising the views of individual MPs, drawing attention to specific events or campaigns, and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.

An MP can add their signature to an EDM to show their support. They can also submit amendments to an existing EDM.

Israeli ambassador declines Oireachtas invitation
PAMELA DUNCAN

ISRAEL’S AMBASSADOR to Ireland, Dr Zion Evrony, has declined a request to attend a meeting of an Oireachtas committee to discuss the use of forged Irish passports by a team allegedly responsible for the assassination of a senior Hamas operative.

Oireachtas foreign affairs committee chairman Dr Michael Woods said the members were “most disappointed” by the ambassador’s decision not to attend the meeting.

BRITISH RESIDENT SHAKER AAMER IS STILL DETAINED IN GUANTANAMO WITHOUT CHARGE.

All the other UK Guantanamo detainees have returned home. President Obama’s pledge to close Guantanamo by January 2010 has not been met but, gradually, detainees are being transferred to countries willing to accept them. They are detainees, cleared for release, who can not return home. Shaker Aamer’s case is different. He has a home in Battersea, wife, four young children and family members waiting for his return.

So why is Shaker Aamer still in Guantanamo? Why is he still there after more than 8 years, many of them spent in solitary confinement?

12 People

On Monday (Feb 15 2009) I listened in a mixture of disbelief & disgust to the morning radio news which mentioned that 12 civilians died in Afghanistan after NATO rockets struck their house in Marjah in the Helmand province. A brief, clinical, apology for “the loss of life” followed by the NATO commander and then focus of the news item quickly returned to “the military offensive”.  The morning news then continued & I sat there wondering about humanity, journalism, governance, democracy, life. There were so many unanswered questions.

By monday evening the story was even further down the playlist. Whilst the duration of the story was unchanged, the apology had been replaced by regrets over the incident due to the damage it would undoubtably do to the image of the offensive. Further comment informed the listening public that the use of rockets was being suspended & that this would also hinder the progress of offensive. This only served to add to the list of unanswered questions that were spilling over in my head….

Why was this not reported as murder? Why were we not advised that 12 people were killed? Why was the passive (“died”) used? Why the abstract “loss of life”? Who has “lost” here? Will anyone gain? Humanity? Will anyone every be held accountable for this? What would happen if 12 innocent people were killed by rocket attack on a house in Europe? In USA? In Ireland ? Are the forces responsible acting on my behalf? Am I somehow consciously/unconsciously supporting this ‘offensive’ ? Who were the slain family? What were their names? What were their plans for their futures? How will this affect their community? Did they die instantly? Did they suffer? Could anything have been done to save them? To ease their suffering? What exactly was the cause of the rocket hitting the house? Was it definitely an accident? Will anything change in the military as a result? Why are they (NATO forces) there in the first place? How much was done to help the affected civilians? To help the PR efforts of those responsible? Are there women, children, family, remaining without anyone to care for them? Why were they referred to as ‘people’ in one report and ‘taliban’ in another? Is it ok to kill Taliban? Who dictates how news events are reported? Do the public not want to hear the human side of the story? Why not, surely this is “reality  tv” at its most real? When did this sanitisation of news reporting commence? Has it crept up on us? Do people prefer this approach? Who is behind it? Surely a state broadcaster has a duty of balanced, humanitarian reporting? Is war propaganda reporting something that only happened in other countries? Or in the past? Why is there national uproar over a sporting injustice but barely a whisper over loss of life? Do others feel as I do? Are they also somewhat confused? Where are they? Where is their voice? Will anything change? How does it start? Who will lead it? Do we really live in a democracy? Is what living in a civilised democracy means?

Noel Guinan - Dublin

Five civilians killed in Nato rocket attack in Afghanistan

Incident follows death of 12 civilians after stray Nato rockets were fired in Helmand yesterday

James Meikle, Declan Walsh in Islamabad, and Stephen Bates guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 February 2010 20.00 GMT

A Nato airstrike against suspected insurgents has killed five civilians in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan today.

A Nato statement said a joint patrol of Nato and Afghan troops saw individuals digging along a path in the Zhari district of Kandahar province today and mistakenly concluded that they were planting an improvised explosive device. Two civilians were also wounded in the strike.

 We Are Many from Amir Amirani on Vimeo.

Do anti-war demonstrations achieve anything?

Two million marched on 15 February 2003 against the Iraq war. The war went ahead and a million people were slaughtered. But the legacy of 2003 is that today many feel that it would be impossible for any government, even one convinced of a case for a just war, to carry the nation with it. Wars corrode our political system. But protest is the engine of democracy.

By Caryl Churchill and Amir Amirani
www.guardian.co.uk
15 February 2010

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