The PSC dayschool event was held in the London School of Economics (LSE) last Saturday. I'm glad I went, despite a thoroughly horrible week at work. While I was slightly late (as per usual Arab timing :P), luckily they had just started.
Daud Abdullah, from the Muslim Council of Britain gave the first speech. Obviously passionate about the Palestinian cause, he focused on how it was now the 90th anniversary of the cursed Balfour declaration, essentially marking the beginning of the Palestinian tragedy. Next was Manuel Hassasian, who would be the official Palestinian ambassador to the UK if Palestine was an actual state (as opposed to the big prison created by Israel, referred to as the "occupied territories). He gave us a run down of the terrible situation in Gaza, and of Israel's near-endless crimes. He was very sceptical of the Annapolis conference actually producing any results, and said that there was no partner on the Israeli side for peace ( I agree - Succesive Israeli governments, whether Likud or Labour, have never been prepared to offer real concessions to rectify their crimes against the Palestinian people and to rectify the destruction of the state of Palestine by the formation of the state of Israel ). He dissapointingly made some silly comments towards the end of his speech concerning the Fatah-Hamas split and his view that Islam and democracy were incompatible, but it wouldn't have been a suitable time and place to properly challenge those assertions.
We were also told of the great difficulty involved in garnering support for the Palestinian cause within the National Union of Students (NUS) By Ruqayyah Collector (NUS Black students officer) and George Woods (PSC representative in the NUS), although there was the good news of the NUS supporting Khaled Mudallal's right to an education ( He is a Gazan who is studying in the University of Bradford, who has been prevented by the Israeli government from being able to return to the UK to complete his studies, thus denying his legitimate human rights ), which apparently is the first time that the NUS has come out openly in support of any Palestinian, ever ( the same NUS refused to support calls for an immediate ceasfire in Israel's war on Lebanon last year, putting in the same camp as Bush and Blair ).
We next had a live phone-in session with Khaled Mudallal in Gaza, where he spoke of his troubles in trying to leave Gaza to return to the UK, including the lies of the Israeli embassy saying he could leave whenever he wanted to. A piece of good news for him was that the LSE student union had elected him honorary vice-president, a success guaranteed to raise his profile and that of the Palestinian cause.
The final part consisted of a speaker from Friends of Al-Aqsa, who went into his own visit to Palestine and emphasised how important it was to go and see for ourselves as to what was happening, so as to appreciate the desperation of these people. Dan Judelson from Jews for Justice for Palestine gave an impressive speech, followed by closing comments from Jeremy Corbyn MP, who said, despite all the terrible things that have happened in recent years, how much more "mainstream" the Palestinian cause had become, with many recent EDMs being passed in parliament, compared to brave individuals soldiering on alone 20-30 years ago.
Sunday 4 November 2007
Sunday 28 October 2007
Rendition
This movie had a lot of unexplored potential
I'm presuming the director was more concerned in telling a story rather than making a strong political point. It only begins to touch upon what might explain or lead to terrorism. Such as the free use of torture by Arab regimes ( for even the smallest act of dissent, let alone acts of terrorism), which I'm sure help recruit many to violent groups. Or the fact that the governments' smothering of free society also acts as an exacerbating factor ( as seen in the suppression of the "Kifaya" demonstration with government thugs, just like what is happening now in Husni Mubarak's Egypt ). Those who are squeezed between oppresive governments and murderous foreign powers are bound to come out abnormal.
All in all, a good film
I'm presuming the director was more concerned in telling a story rather than making a strong political point. It only begins to touch upon what might explain or lead to terrorism. Such as the free use of torture by Arab regimes ( for even the smallest act of dissent, let alone acts of terrorism), which I'm sure help recruit many to violent groups. Or the fact that the governments' smothering of free society also acts as an exacerbating factor ( as seen in the suppression of the "Kifaya" demonstration with government thugs, just like what is happening now in Husni Mubarak's Egypt ). Those who are squeezed between oppresive governments and murderous foreign powers are bound to come out abnormal.
All in all, a good film
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Clever person talks like idiot
"Fury at DNA pioneer's theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners"
"One of the world's most eminent scientists was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after he claimed that black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that "equal powers of reason" were shared across racial groups was a delusion.
James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour at venues including the Science Museum in London. "
The wonders of unchained empiricism in the hands of the "innocent" scientist - say if the above suggestion is true - to what end? for what purpose would such research be conducted to confirm this?. I can only imagine the use of such research by idiots across the globe. Why bother helping the mindless hordes, doomed to their genetic fate?
In an article from counterpunch:
"James Watson, a Nobel laureate for discovering the structure of DNA, hopes that there will soon be a genetic breakthrough that determines a gene for intelligence. He also proposes genetic intelligence can be measured in terms of race. If this so, how would it be done? Who will create the tests? Would one take "random" samples of blacks, whites, reds and yellows? How could we trust these samples are representative of the so-called races? What about the people who are in-between or a combination of the "races"? Are people born with a genetic limit, a cap on the amount of intelligence they can have? At what age do we test people? These questions are rhetorical and meant to illustrate some reasons why scientific studies on race intelligence have failed in the past and will continue to fail in the future."
I recall a program about an English ex-marine who travels the globe, visiting remote nomadic tribes and experiencing their way of life. One African tribal elder proclaimed the unity of humanity on the basis of all having ten fingers and two eyes, thus being all the same (compare to above comments). I imagine you will find Syrian taxi drivers or peasants more enlightened than Dr. Watson.
" For all your subtleties, you yet lack wisdom"
"One of the world's most eminent scientists was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after he claimed that black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that "equal powers of reason" were shared across racial groups was a delusion.
James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour at venues including the Science Museum in London. "
The wonders of unchained empiricism in the hands of the "innocent" scientist - say if the above suggestion is true - to what end? for what purpose would such research be conducted to confirm this?. I can only imagine the use of such research by idiots across the globe. Why bother helping the mindless hordes, doomed to their genetic fate?
In an article from counterpunch:
"James Watson, a Nobel laureate for discovering the structure of DNA, hopes that there will soon be a genetic breakthrough that determines a gene for intelligence. He also proposes genetic intelligence can be measured in terms of race. If this so, how would it be done? Who will create the tests? Would one take "random" samples of blacks, whites, reds and yellows? How could we trust these samples are representative of the so-called races? What about the people who are in-between or a combination of the "races"? Are people born with a genetic limit, a cap on the amount of intelligence they can have? At what age do we test people? These questions are rhetorical and meant to illustrate some reasons why scientific studies on race intelligence have failed in the past and will continue to fail in the future."
I recall a program about an English ex-marine who travels the globe, visiting remote nomadic tribes and experiencing their way of life. One African tribal elder proclaimed the unity of humanity on the basis of all having ten fingers and two eyes, thus being all the same (compare to above comments). I imagine you will find Syrian taxi drivers or peasants more enlightened than Dr. Watson.
" For all your subtleties, you yet lack wisdom"
Until then...
Where is the new 21st century Madhab for Ahl-al-Sunna?
Where is the rapprochement between Sunna and Shia?
Where is the next Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali?
When will Middle Eastern oil become a blessing as opposed to a curse?
When will we be rid of the criminals who run and ruin our lives?
When will the occidentals learn to back off?
When am I gonna get married?
Where is the rapprochement between Sunna and Shia?
Where is the next Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali?
When will Middle Eastern oil become a blessing as opposed to a curse?
When will we be rid of the criminals who run and ruin our lives?
When will the occidentals learn to back off?
When am I gonna get married?
Saturday 13 October 2007
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