Thursday 22 January 2009

Plaça Sant Jaume 20th January 2009















Gaza Razed to the Ground


There weren't so many people at the last demonstration.

Maybe because of the ceasefire.

People think it's all over.

Maybe they were watching the inauguration, the world has
placed so much faith and hope in this new President...

But there were children















Plaça St Jaume 20th January 2009


The eyes of a child...

How can you look into the eyes of a child and continue
with this hatred?

It didn't take them long to get up on the stage















Plaça St Jaume. 20 January 2009

With a message for Obama















Plaça St Jaume 20th January 2009


Obama Stop arming Israel.

And one for Bush



















Plaça St Jaume 20th January 2009

Bush you arrived with a war and you're
leaving with a war.















But fame and asking the world to listen gets tiring in the end.


According to the UN

More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and over 5000
injured.

More than 4,000 buildings destroyed and 20,000 severely
damaged.

There are 50.800 Gazans homeless and 400,000 without
running water.

Around $1.9 billion worth of damage.



And so, yes, I will blatantly use photos of children

Because israel has just killed 300 of them













Photo Gaza Graffiti Mark Seager 2007

Monday 19 January 2009

A letter for Obama



















As part of the ongoing campaign in Solidarity with the People
of Palestine, on Tuesday 20th of January at 18h. there will be
an attempt to deliver a letter addressed to the new President of
the United States at the US Consulate in Barcelona asking him
for a change from the war-mongering policies of George Bush
and specifically to stop arming and financing Israel.

At 20h. the same evening there will be a demonstration in Pça.
St. Jaume, with saucepans as they seem to be deaf, to demand
that the Governments of Catalonia and Spain break off relations
with Israel.

Sunday 18 January 2009

Criminal Complicity












The F-16 jet fighter was originally developed by General
Dynamics for The US Air Force.

It is now manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

The bombers have been sold to 25 countries.

Including Israel who have used them in their attack on Gaza
to kill 1300 people and injure 5340. And now, with this fragile
ceasefire, they are still pulling the dead from under the rubble.



The Shipload of Arms for Israel.

The ship carrying US munitions for Israel that was blocked from
Greek ports on Friday has a name: the Wehr Elbe. It's a chartered
German-owned vessel. It has now moved away from Greece but
has turned off its transponder tracking to prevent its location
being identified.

The sale of arms is, of course, totally legal.

Even to rogue states.

The Pentagon insists the sale was arranged last summer and
approved in October. I have read Israel has been planning this
attack on Palestine for months, obviously with knowledge of the
Bush administration. Criminal complicity.


So yes, Mr Obama, we want a change.

We are all Palestinians



















Marco delli Santi.

House of Love and Dissent


Though many look away and carry on their lives as if it
were of no concern.

Like Spain, so many years ago.

And look what happened then, when they did not stop
the fascists.

The world at war.


These words of Pastor Martin Niemöller have been used
and abused many times but are true nonetheless.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,


There was no one left to speak out.


Silence is complicity.

Saturday 17 January 2009

The Spirit of Humanity




















Free Gaza Movement


http://www.freegaza.org/



They bought 2 boats.

The Spirit of Humanity and The Dignity

Four women - Bella, Eliza, Greta and Mary.

And one man - Paul.

To break the seige.

From Greece to Gaza in August 2008.

The first to arrive freely in 41 years.

They subsequently made four more voyages.


Since this war started they have sailed again.

This, for some, is totally unacceptable.

On the 30th December Israeli gunboats, without warning,
deliberately and repeatedly rammed the Dignity, almost sinking
the ship, causing significant structural damage and endangering
the lives of its passengers and crew. The ship found safe harbor
in Lebanon, and is currently awaiting repairs.

If you have seen what has been happening in Gaza hospitals
during this atrocious war you will understand why these, brave
and wonderful people were not deterred.

On the 14th of January The Spirit of Humanity left the port of
Larnaca in Cyprus for Gaza.

With 21 passengers: doctors, human rights workers, parliamen-
tarians and journalists. And more than a ton of medical supplies


Thursday 15th January.

"At roughly 3am UST (1am GMT), in international waters 100
miles off the coast of Gaza, at least five Israeli gunboats surrounded
the Spirit of Humanity and began recklessly cutting in front of the
slow-moving civilian craft. The Israeli warships radioed the Spirit,
demanding that the ship turn around or they would open fire and
"shoot." When asked if the Israeli navy was acknowledging that they
intended to commit a war crime by deliberately firing on unarmed
civilians, the warships replied that they were prepared to use
"any means" to stop the ship.

Israel's reckless and shocking threats against an unarmed ship on
a mission of mercy are a violation of both international maritime
law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that
"the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes."

They were forced to return to Cyprus.


The only small consolation:

Another boat, carrying a new shipment of arms from the US to
Israel was refused permission to sail from the Greek port of Astakos
on Friday morning.

International Criminal Court. Of Justice.

















There can be no global justice unless the worst of crimes
against humanity are subject to the law.
In this age more than ever, we recognize that the crime of
genocide against one people truly is an assault on us all -
a crime against humanity.

The establishment of an International Criminal Court
will ensure that humanity's response will be swift and will be
just.


United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan



But, of course, in this case it won't.

Friday 16 January 2009

It changes colours in the desert sun



















But it is the same.

Thursday 15 January 2009

War crimes












Rockets and mortars fired into Israel since 27th Dec.
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.
(Since Israel first attcked.)


The photos of the dead, that first day the 27th of December,
were Hamas police, for some a legitimate target.

Though, let's get the facts right.

It was Israel who broke the four-month truce on the 5th of
November with a raid on Gaza which killed 6 members of Hamas.

Though now they lie and whine.

And say they are the victims.

And continue massive air and land attacks on Gaza.

The victims













Deaths in Gaza since 27th Dec. Palestinian Ministry of Health.


There are now 1054 Palestinian dead and nearly 5000 injured,
the majority civilians.

Israel, the aggressor, while perpetrating this massacre, has:

Denied the Red Cross access to the injured and UN relief services
access to a people who have been under blockade for 18 months.

Deliberately targeted hospitals and civilian enclaves

Made use of weapons which are banned by the Geneva Convention.

Attacked civilians clearly bearing white flags who were attempting
to flee the bombing.

Denied access to the majority of media representatives,
deliberately attacking those who are there.

Do they really think they can hide their crimes?

Probably not.

They think they are special.

They think they are immune.


A dangerous delusion.

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Solidarity with Gaza. Barcelona 10 January 2009



















Escalator Universitat Tube Station.

It was impossible to get a better photo.

The dove of peace covered in blood.















Because there were so many people this time.

At the meeting point in the old University square.

Under a threatening grey sky.

But only clouds.

30,000? 170,000?

As always the numbers differ.

Not so important, maybe.

Enough to show, as in so many other protests around the world,
that we do not believe the lies.

It took four hours for all the people to reach St Jaume Square.

Mother and daughter



















Remembering November.

Of all the photos I took of the Muslim women, so often, still,
here, silent in the background, without a voice, this is my
favourite.

The love and admiration in her daughter's eyes.















Human Rights. Fontanella St. 10.01.2009

She called me back.

To show me the other side of her message.

Of which there were many



















Fontanella St. 10.01.2009


The European Union

Israel

United Nations

USA

Something smells bad.

Boycott



















729 for those who are interested.

Picasso, again.















Plaça St Jaume. 10.01.2009

Picasso's Guernica was the last to arrive.

This version, a little the worse for wear, is, I think, the one
displayed for months in the window of a student hall of
residence when the US first began the war on Iraq.

Painted over 70 years ago.

Still denouncing the horror and destruction.

That continue.















Plaça St. Jaume 10.01.2009

18 days.

920 dead.

292 of these are children.

4,300 injured.

Last night on the news George Bush, laughing and joking, was
warning Barak Obama of his legacy: the possibility of a new
terrorist attack on the United States.

From the start of this war on Gaza, with the go-ahead, you can
be sure, of the Bush administration, it seems obvious that
this is exactly what has been planned.

The anger and radicalism increase as the days pass...

A new terrorist attack.

What better way to justify the violation of human rights, the
limits on freedom in the name of homeland security.

To ensure the proliferation of the arms industry.

In which they have such a large stake.

And most especially to sabotage the change that so many hope
for with Barak Obama.

Thursday 8 January 2009

Handala




















There are now at least 700 dead and 3000 injured.


Since this war started, I have been trapped; impotent, horrified,
outraged, because it was obvious, from the beginning, what
would happen and that we could do nothing to stop them.

Obsessively looking at news feeds and webs and the photos.

The photos. . .



At the demonstrations and on some Palestinian blogs the symbol
of this little figure appeared. Today I read that it is Handala.

An iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance.

He first appeared in 1969 and is the most famous of Palestinian
cartoonist Naji al-Ali’s characters.

In 1973, he turned his back to the viewer and clasped his hands
behind his back.

The artist explained that ten-year-old Handala represents himself,
forced to leave Ash Shajara, one of the 480 Palestinian villages
destroyed in 1948 to create the State of Israel, and that he would
not grow up until he could return to his homeland.

His turned back and clasped hands are a rejection of “outside
solutions.”

His ragged clothes and bare feet symbolise his allegiance to the
poor.

Naji Al-Ali was assassinated in London in 1987.


Earlier tonight I had to turn my back on the photos.


The decapitated head of a child was too much.

Protecting windows















Photo ANC

The aerial bombardment of civilians as a legitimate war strategy
really got to the point of no return during the Spanish Civil War.
Guernika, the raids on Barcelona in March of 1938, Madrid, the first
to suffer, though it is mentioned less as the battle front was on the
edge of the city itself at the university campus. Difficult to separate
civilians from the military.

Sounds familiar.


Shattered glass from windows can be lethal in explosions. I don't
know what caused the decapitation of the Palestinian child in the
photo but I do know who is responsible - and I'm still trying to
comprehend something I read yesterday: that some Israelis are
taking plastic chairs and cans of pepsi out onto the hills of Sderot
to watch the raids and cheer the explosions.

Then I remembered these other photos.

To be a spectator of this war is almost unbearable. To study a past
war in any depth is almost as bad, in spite of the ideals, the
solidarity, the hope that is tangible. Sometimes just a small thing
can help, some indication that people prefer to create rather than
destroy.


Protecting Windows

Some of the first civil defence instructions issued in the autum of
'36 by Manuel Muñoz.

Paper tape to be glued on all house windows.

In neat criss-crosses.


Until, perhaps, you start to think something else would look better.














Photo ANC.

I hope these two little children survived.

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Ideas from Venezuela



















Ideas.
Weekly publication.
Read it and spread the word!
Libertarian voice of the Bajo Llobregat

Catalonia
1936-1939




Venezuela Expels Israeli Ambassador.

By Latin American Herald Tribune staff.

CARACAS -- Venezuela expels the Israeli ambassador and
part of his staff in Caracas to show its condemnation of the
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Communique from the Foreign Ministry:

"The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
along with the Peoples of the world, is witness, once more, to
the horror of the death of innocent women and children resulting
from the invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israeli troops, and the
systematic bombing by air and land perpetrated by the State of
Israel on Palestinian territory.

Indignant in this tragic hour, the people of Venezuela express
their unreserved solidarity with the heroic Palestinian people, share
in the pain of thousands of families for the loss of loved ones and
states that the Venezuelan government will work tirelessly to see
those responsible severely punished for these atrocious crimes.

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly
condemns the gross violations of international law that the State
of Israel has engaged in and denounces its planned use of state
terrorism.

For the above reasons, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic
of Venezuela has decided to expel the Israeli Ambassador and the
staff of the Israeli Embassy in Venezuela, reaffirming its mission
of peace and its call for respect for international law.

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has
instructed its Mission to the UN to press, along with the majority of
governments who so demand, for the Security Council to implement
urgent and necessary measures to halt this invasion by the State of
Israel on Palestinian territory.

President Hugo Chávez, who has held meetings with senior
representatives of the World Jewish Council, and has always been
opposed to anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination and racism,
calls for the Jewish people throughout the world to oppose these
criminal policies of Israel that are reminiscent of the worst pages in
the history of the twentieth century. With the genocide of the
Palestinian people, Israel will never be able to offer their people
the prospect of a lasting and much needed peace."

Caracas. 6th January 2009.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

On the 6th of January


















AFP/ Getty Images

The day in Spain that the children, excited, happy, open
their presents from "Los Reyes" - The Kings - The Three
Wise Men.

There is no, absolutely no, other way to look at this war.

A doctor's testimony






Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian Doctor at the Al Shifah hospital in Gaza
talks of what is happening.


Later

By Azmi Keshawi and James Hider / London Times

Amid the tidal wave of human misery swamping Gaza City's central
hospital a horrified Norwegian volunteer doctor found a minute to
type a text message on his mobile phone to friends back home.


"We are wading in death, blood, and amputees. Many children. A
pregnant woman. I have never experienced anything so terrible.
Now we hear tanks. Pass it on, send it around, shout it out. Anything.
DO SOMETHING! DO MORE! We are living in a history book now, all
of us."

It was signed Mads Gilbert.

Monday 5 January 2009

The emergency protest against the invasion of Gaza















Yesterday evening in Plaça St Jaume.

Again.

There were a lot more people, maybe three to four thousand.

Because the number of dead continues to rise: 512 at a conservative
estimate over 70 of whom are children. And with 2500 injured the
aggressors are refusing the entry of humanitarian aid.

Yes, you are right, Shimon Peres: "What country can tolerate this?"

Though your "this" is different.

There was smoke over the government buildings

But not like the smoke over Gaza













AFP Getty Image

It was just a flare

There were more messages

One for Obama















Because he has said nothing.

A poem















By Mahmoud Darwish.

A strange sad lament















Shia Muslims, I think.

Striking their chests as they stood and sang.

At the end the children played with the candles















Because here, today, we are safe from war.














Photo Fadi Adwan AP


This child isn't.

Used by Hamas as a human shield - claim the Israeli army.


Like Rachel Corrie.

Sunday 4 January 2009

I remember other shoes













AFP/Getty Images. London Demonstration

Don't they?













Photo Dan Maudsley. Auschwitz shoes


Other genocides.


Maybe that's it... the evil that continues and corrupts
and eliminates the light.


A thousand useless shoes now in Gaza.


The Israelis have prohibited the majority of international media
access to the strip.

But we know what they are doing.


For what solidarity is worth, the least, the very least, is to say: No


Another protest has been called for this evening in Barcelona:

Plaça St. Jaume 20.00h.


http://www.palestina.cat/

The balconies were empty on Friday evening















For the demonstration in Barcelona

Against what is happening

In Palestine.

The Generalitat, seat of the autonomous government of
Catalonia, in Plaça St Jaume.

With its discreet Christmas lights...the statue of St George
fighting the dragon.

Where the people of Barcelona always go when they have
something to say.

Remained silent.

And the Town Hall



















On the other side of the square.


Where were they, the politicians, of this city?

They who, so often, speak of "peace" when there is an
opportunity for personal and party gain?

But the people, maybe 2000, were there















Not just the muslim immigrants.

As most of the media has shown.

Spelling out the Catalan word for peace















In candles.

"PAU"

"PEACE"

At least, now

For the dead.

Peace. Almost surely now impossible















I swear neither to forgive nor to forget.


With so many killed and injured.


And 60 years of occupation, aggression and humiliation.


But this is, of course, what Israel wants.

To justify the genocide.

Meanwhile Israel continues their PR campaign













Getty Images.

Al Shifah hospital Gaza.


Though their attempts to use Youtube prove problematic

"Trusting what we see" BBC News

And smile, still, as they invade Gaza













Getty Images

Friday 2 January 2009

Tzipi Livni was smiling in Paris yesterday













Reuters.

But there is nothing to smile about













Photo Ashraf Amra AP

Nothing to smile about at all













AFP Getty image