30 Jul 2006

post back to your Labour MP

well back from holidays with the Wall brothers and Sarah, staying with Larry Wall's godfather the ever fascinating green activist, anti-fascist and anti-spook Master, Dr Larry 0'Hara.

Anyway back to blog....here is Caroline's statement against the war, remember if you are still in the Labour Party, burn your card, stick the ashes on a piece of cardboard and post back to your Labour MP, especially in marginals. If no MP, try and find a Labour councillor.

Revelations that Blair is going to intervene on behalf of Cliff Richards, his holiday host, to extend copyright back to 70 years, disgusts me.

Within a capitalist system the best of politicians can be corrupted, may be this is Blair's aim to take such capitulation to such extreme and kitsch heights as to make us all into anarchists....bit like Ayn Rand, so pro-the market as to be propagandist's for an anti-capitalist economy.

I mean turning the dome into a giant casino, he is taking the piss, what a legacy.



GREENS BACK UN CALL FOR LEBANON CEASEFIRE

GREEN Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has joined thousands of peace campaigners in calling on Tony Blair to demand an immediate ceasefire in the two-week Lebanon conflict.

GREEN Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has joined thousands of peace campaigners in calling on Tony Blair to demand an immediate ceasefire in the two-week Lebanon conflict.

Nearly 500 people have been killed since Israel launched its bombardment of Lebanon a fortnight ago, the vast majority Lebanese civilians. But backed only by Israel and the US, the British Government - which has approved the sale of £25m worth of arms to Israel in the last 18 months - has refused to call for an immediate ceasefire in the region.

Dr Lucas, who is also a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's national council and Green Party Principal Speaker, said: "A humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Lebanon. Israel is allegedly using illegal cluster bombs and phosphorous weapons - and has already created a refugee crisis of huge proportions and caused an estimated £1bn-worth of damage to civilian infrastructure like roads, bridges, ports, media outlets and electricity and clean water supplies.

"This is barbaric - and a clear breach of international law. I have joined the thousands calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and withdrawal from Gaza - by all parties to the conflict - because it's clear that Blair and Beckett's response to the crisis has been inadequate and irresponsible to the point of placing the UK, along with the US and Israel, in a new, deadly, 'axis of evil' which has caused the deaths of innocent women and children and the worsening of prospects for peace in the region."

The letter, which has been organised by the Stop the War Coalition and CND, will be hand delivered to Downing Street during a 'Ceasefire NOW!' protest in Whitehall, London, from 5pm this Friday, July 28th.

Dr Lucas, who is also a co-president of the European Parliament's cross-party Peace Initiatives group, added: "Of course we condemn the violence on all sides and call on Israel and Hezbollah to cease all military actions, which are indiscriminately killing civilians - and forcing them to flee their homes - and as such clearly breach international law.

"The UK must do everything in its power to ensure international law is fully respected in the Middle East, by all players - including not just Israel and Hezbollah but the US and UK too. As long as our troops are being used to prop up the illegal US occupation in Iraq we can't expect to be treated as impartial peacemakers in the region."

3 comments:

Redaspie said...

""Of course we condemn the violence on all sides and call on Israel and Hezbollah to cease all military actions, which are indiscriminately killing civilians - and forcing them to flee their homes - and as such clearly breach international law"

The statement was a great statement in my view apart from this bit, which I find problematic. Hezbollah are the only people doing anything concrete to actually defend Lebanon right now, and everything I've heard suggests that they are backed, not only by the Lebanese left, but much of the rest of the Lebanese political spectrum, the overwhelming majority of the Lebanese people, and in fact Arab peoples in general. I think its potentially dangerous to make a moral equivalence between Israel and Hezbollah, particularly when its the IDF with the overwhelming firepower.

Derek Wall said...

I don't have any problems as an ecosocialist in calling for peace on both sides.

The task is to stop the war, put pressure on Isreal and stop arms shipments.

I think strong action against the Labour government is necessary.

Ironic that Israeli action now means the Christians and Socialists are supporting Hezbollah

Redaspie said...

Agree with you on what needs to be done - but I don't think there is any need to insist on Hezbollah to stop fighting. They will do so when Israel stops. Israel is the problem here, after all they are the ones with the massive firepower as I stated before. BTW which Christians are supporting Hezbollah?

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