White poppy controversy

For years I've been quietly wearing a white poppy in the run up to Remembrance day (the 11th November, when Britons commemorate those who have died in wars, traditionally wearing the Red Poppy of the Royal British Legion which became a symbol due to the flowers that grew in the trenches of the 1st World War). Until this year, most people were unaware of the white poppy's meaning (as only 50,000 are worn annually compared to 10's of millions of red poppies) which is to honour the dead while not glorifying warfare, and expressing a commitment to non-violence.

This year things have suddenly changed with prominent TV personalities such as newsreader Jon Snow refusing to wear a poppy on air, and the fierce backlash in the media to my friends at Christian think tank Ekklesia encouraging churches to stock white poppies as well as red ones to give people the choice of what to wear and stimulate discussion on the myth of redemptive violence (the idea that long-term peace can be achieved through war). Simon Barrow's article "Giving peace a chance proves highly controversial" gives a good overview of the debate. See also the Peace Pledge Union's White Poppy site.

Interviews from Iraq

Brian has posted up some excellent interviews on his blog with some of my closest friends from Iraq. Merky talks about his detention in Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca, Majed talks about his first experiences after the war, and Sami of Muslim Peacemaker Teams relates the amazing story of a brave Sunni who died rescuing drowning Shias after a bridge collapse.

New opportunities for me, none for Iraq

Apparently my sister-in-law in Ohio regularly checks this blog for updates and has told me off for not writing more often. I've got a little to report today, as it's my last day working on Peacemakers and next week I'm starting work on From Crisis to Opportunity, a new project of the Oxford Research Group to develop more inclusive and legitimate approaches to conflict in the Middle East.

A bigger development for us is that Jenny is now in her third week with a small and quirky accountancy firm which focuses on auditing charities. As it will take Jenny three years to qualify as a chartered accountant, it looks likely that we will be staying in London for at least that long - also conviniently about the time needed for Jenny to get British citizenship.

Looking beyond our little lives, I haven't really got anything coherent to say about Iraq today. I'm in a catatonic state these days as the violence continues unabated. Rather than reading a rant from me, I direct you instead to my friend Zaid al-Ali's latest article on Opendemocracy critiquing Peter Galbraith's book on dividing Iraq. Also visit Riverbend who has blogged at last after a 2.5 month hiatus that got us all worried for her, and Jeff's new blog War Every Day on Electrionic Iraq. The BBC aired a powerful and distressing documentary this week filmed by a doctor in Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad - it shows the real results of the violence in Iraq which we rarely see.

If you are in London on Sunday go and join in the No More Fallujah's peace camp outside Parliament. I might join it if I can get back in time from Birmingham where we're doing a workshop on CPT at a Fellowship of Reconciliation conference.

Palestinians with no where to flee

Human Rights Watch has just published a report No Where to Flee: The Perilous Situation of Palestinians in Iraq. Through Christian Peacemaker Teams I've had close contact with many Palestinians in Iraq and know those who are in hiding in Baghdad, stuck in border refugee camps and a very few who have made it safely out of Iraq.

We will not be silent

Before the Monarch flight debacle there was another example of Islamophobia on a flight from New York to San Francisco on August 12. My close friend Raed Jarrar, a secular Iraqi-Palestinian who was groomsman at my wedding in June (when you follow the link he's on at the top of the steps in the first photo throwing confetti and on the left of the second photo), was flying back from NY to rejoin his American wife Niki in San Francisco. He is a prominent figure in the peace movement and was wearing a T-shirt saying "We will not be silent" in English and Arabic (a slogan first used by opponents to Nazi rule in Germany). But JetBlue airlines decided to silence him, insisting that he remove his T-shirt in case it worried other passangers. Raed explained "I grew up and spent all my life living under authoritarian regimes and I know that these things happen. But I'm shocked that they happened to me here, in the US." (see his blog for more). You can call JetBlue on 001-801-365-2525 to ask them why he was treated like this. The Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee have lodged a formal complaint.

Today the story featured as a front page item on BBC News (and elsewhere)

Peacemakers

I've just started working on a project Peacemakers launched after the 7/7 bombings in London last year to build bridges with the British Muslim community. It's a range of multi-media products (films, commericals, a photo exhibit, a music video, teachers guide book etc.) showcasing the lives of ordinary Muslim, Christian and secular Brits and peacemakers from these communities. The materials are due to be completed towards the end of the year and I'm working on organising consultation with stakeholders (particularly the Muslim community) and figuring out how to best distribute them through schools, churches, broadcasts etc.

If anyone reading this is going to be at Greenbelt this bank holiday weekend, I'll be hanging about the Peace Zone with friends from Christian International Peace Service and Christian Peacemaker Teams UK and others, so come and say hello!

What to do for Lebanon?

(1) Stay informed: Wikipedia, ElectionicLebanon.net, JuanCole.com, DahrJamailiraq.com, beirut.indymedia.org, lebanonupdates, Siegeoflebanon, Tadamon, Daily Star (Lebanese paper), Haaretz (Israeli paper), Jerusalem Post (right-wing Israeli paper), IsraellyCool, Lebanese Bloggers Forum, Lebanese blog Aggregator

(2) Protest the war. You can do this in demonstrations, letter writing etc. to your own government officials and to Israeli embassies. Some resources for this: www.saveleb.org, www.stopwar.org.uk

(3) Support refugees. At least a quarter of the Lebanese population of 4m have fled the country to Syria and beyond or been internally displaced. There are hundreds of thousands squating in schools and other buildings in Beirut with dwindling supplies. Here are some good organisations working with them you can donate to: FDCD, Sanayeh Relief Center, ICRC, Christian Aid, Toys for refugee childen (set up by some friends in Jordan)more donation options

(4) Remember the dead. I'm looking into establishing a Lebanon Body Count, similar to Iraq Body Count, to use media reports to create a record of all those killed (including Israeli civilians). If you'd like to volunteer to help with this let me know. We particularly need people who also speak Arabic/French. Israeli peace activists would be particularly welcome.

(5) Assert the rule of law. Some Lebanese friends are working to systematically document the damage caused by this war to people and property, with a view to making legal redress. Unfortunately it is very difficult to bring cases related to war crimes when a country such as Israel doesn't sign international treaties and otherwise immunises itself, however it's important that we try. Lawyers to research options for cases against the Israeli government, soliders or officials, as well as potential volunteers to help with the documentation on the ground in Lebanon would be particularly helpful. See Sue Israel. Also see excellent reports by Human Rights Watch on war crimes being committed.

(6) Peace March to the South. A group of Lebanese friends are looking into organising a march from Beirut to Qana and possibly to the border (ideally to be met by an Israeli peace march from the South) to highlight the plight of civilians trapped by fear and destroyed roads in the Israeli kill zone, remember all the dead and demand a ceasefire. If this happens international accompanyment and publicist in the media will be critical - consider if you can fly out to the region within the next week, maybe get a Syrian visa and look into flights in preperation. UPDATE: A similar idea is being developed by www.lebanonsolidarity.org who are planning convoys to the South on 12th and 19th August.

Pit Stop Ploughshares - Not Guilty

On 3rd Feburary 2003, five Irish Christian peace activists slipped into Shannon airbase in southern Ireland (through which 1000 US soldiers pass each day) and disabled a US war plane bound for Iraq with their household hammers. Today an Irish jury found them NOT GUILTY, accepting their defence that their action to damage property was intended to prevent a greater crime. This further strengths the precident set in England ten years ago when the Seeds of Hope Ploughshares affinity group damaged a Hawk fighter due for export to Indonesia (and likely to be used for repression in East Timor). This should encourage people everywhere to stand up against violence and conduct civilian disarmament actions.

Casus Bellum: Hizbollah's three grievances

I've just come across an excellent article, written at the start of the current conflict, which lays our clearly the genuine grievances Hizbollah (and Lebanon as a whole) had against Israel as of 12 July. Its by the Council for the National Interest, a lobby group founded (surprisingly) by a veteran Republican Congressman aiming to counterbalance the Israeli lobby in Washington.

"No one is denying the right of a nation or a people to defend itself. But Israel does not have the right to destroy bridges, roads, power stations and international airports in a vindictive show of force, in what will likely be a futile attempt to force the release of the two soldiers captured near the border. The right to defend a nation of people also applies to even the followers of Hezbollah trying to regain still-occupied territory and prisoners held illegally by Israel. There are real issues between Lebanon and Israel that should have been settled with the help of the United States long ago.

(1) Israel failed to keep her promise to make available maps of the 140,000 mines she left behind in Lebanon.

(2) Three small sectors of land overlooking the Litani River [Sheba Farms] were retained by Israel and were the cause of complaints from the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, not just Hezbollah.

(3) The three Lebanese prisoners that were moved by Israel, contrary to the Geneva Convention prohibition against an occupying power transporting prisoners into its own territory, should have been returned long ago.

The U.S. has ignored all three complaints made repeatedly by the Siniora government. The Council for the National Interest delegation to the Palestinian elections also visited Beirut and talked with all factions from the President on down. In almost every case, the three issues cited above were mentioned and an appeal was made for the United States to take some action before it was too late. That was six months ago."

A word from the wise on Lebanon

The backbone of almost every UN mission in the Middle East (and plenty outside it) are invariably Palestinians. The grow up in the West Bank, Gaza or one of the camps in Syria, Lebanon or Jordan and start working in some basic capacity for UNRWA. Gradually they work their way up and prove their worth, and the cream of Palestinian society (highly educated because study is one of the few life options that is open to them) gets skimmed off and dropped into UN missions across the region. Unlike other nationals who can only stomach the Middle East for a year or two, the Palestinian UN employees will stick around for decades - for one thing they have no where else to go, no chance of other similarly salaried employement (by which they are supporting dozens of family and friends back in Palestine who have no hope whatsoever of an income). They also speak Arabic of course, which is surprisingly uncommon for UN missions in the region, and generally flawless English to boot. So if you want to understand what's going on in Sudan, Iraq or wherever, don't go and talk to the senior UN officials, but find a Palestinian somewhere, even in the admin office, and ask them the score.

I was doing just that earlier today and over the course of an hour learnt more about the current conflicts than I would from a year reading the New York Times. Take for example the news just in that Syria has refused to admit a UN delegation on Lebanon if it including Terje Roed-Larson. "This is no surprise" my Palestinian friends said "Roed-Larson is despised in Palestine because of his closeness to the Israelis and Americans and the Syrians know how biast he is. If he returned to Gaza [where he used to be UN envoy] he'd be killed in 24hrs." They also put forward the plausible thesis of a tension between the US and Israel over involving Syria in the current hostilities "The Americans want the Israelis to use the opportunity to ravage Syria as well as Lebanon, but the Israelis are smarter and actually want to eventually achieve a peace treaty with Syria, as they have with Egypt and Jordan, and so they are unwilling to follow the US instructions. The Israelis are past masters at getting the Americans to do their bidding without ever returning the favour." But in the case of Lebanon they are sure that the normally savvy Israelis have made a big blunder: "Hizbollah were actually a very decent foe to have on their northern border. They had clear objectives (the release of prisoners, the return of Shebaa farms) which the Israelis could have negotiated successfully on and, until now, have actually been very restrained in their methods, in spite of all the attempts to paint them as terrorists. However what is likely to emerge out of this catastrophe is a very agressive enemy on Israel's north following the instructions of Iran far more heavily than Hizbollah currently does." In fact they think that combined with the chaos in Iraq the latest Israeli assault is likely to result in an ongoing regional conflict from which Israel will not actually benefit and the people of the region will suffer horrendously.