All acts of terrorism across the world, (Beirut, Pakistan, Norway, Syria, India, Palestine, London, Australia and France, to name but nine ) should be condemned

................. and then afforded clear, rational, thoughtful reaction.
 

Too frequently though, we see hate filled reactions, seeking to match ' brown faces', rucksack carriers, corner shops, and veil wearers with the ' perpetrators', even before we establish who the perpetrators are. 

And when is the other question asked: is the perpetrator a terrorist or a freedom fighter? 

I have always subscribed to the idea that ' one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist'. So, I recall killings including Paris 1961, when Muslim supporters of the FLN were murdered, and bodies dumped in the Seine. Another was the Shatila - Sabra  massacres of 1982 with claims of as many as 3,500 killed. 

These should not be dismissed as historical happenings, backward looking, or a refusal to move forward.  

Such killings are the shocking on-going reality of the lives and deaths of many people across the world, and these as well as invasions, regime change, then and now, become recruiting sergeants.

But have we tried to establish what turns the individual into a killer?
Each perpetrator starts out as a single entity: an individual. and ends up either as a 'lone wolf' or part of an organisation, however 'loose' that organisation might be. There is inevitably an ideology based on a warped, vicious view of ( their ) religion which is aligned to 'political action' and exemplified in the visceral hatred of ' the other'.
Additional elements can also be involved: power or the lack of it; no strong sense of self-worth or identity; a sense of alienation; grievances, real or imagined, and the ever presence of the historical past.

All of this potent ‘mix’ is then addressed through attachment to the 'organisation' and those commonly held, misconstrued 'beliefs'. 

The individual is turned from inaction into an active killer. 

And as this current atrocity (Paris, November 2015)  produces the inevitable reactions. ‘Blame the authorities for a lack of surveillance, for inaction, for lax security, blame the religion’ 

And worse, actively seeking those we can lash out at, blame, and the closer, the better. 

Possibly a neighbour, or the local carry out, or the place of worship. 

After all, ‘they’ are not ‘us’. 

As Scotland welcomes refugees from Syria, please, no knee jerk reactions, no scape goating, no 'them and us'. 

No pulling up the draw bridge, no turning our backs on refugees currently fleeing the very same killers as those claiming responsibility in Paris.

Equally important, let's take time to consider foreign policies, and whether we want to continue with drones and bombs, and send foot soldiers once again. 

Will the UK stop selling arms to the Saudis, currently active in the Yemen? I doubt it. 

Could we see further drone and manned bombing in a new arena, Syria? The way jingoism is being ramped up, probably. 

What did we learn from incursions in countries including Iraq and Libya? It would appear, not enough.

And does that mean governments, our government, will refuse to engage and dialogue? Did we not learn from Northern Ireland about the need for dialogue?

But what is as vital as any foreign policy is the need to develop shared beliefs and values, in individual countries, starting here. For without building a stronger, sharing society, we will not address poverty, alienation, exclusion. 

We will see further marginalisation and stigmatising of 'others' and the threat of individuals turning to extremism.

Really? Oh yes, because if we take a moment to remember:

Anders Breivik, born in Norway.  London  7/7, three of the four bombers British born.  France & Charlie Hebdo attacks, the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly were French born.  And this time, it has already been noted that some of the killers were French or Belgian born.

The complexity of current violence, here and in the Middle East, no matter the instigator, requires equally complex and rational responses.

And in the main, it appears we must rely on politicians.

Let’s hope they have more than bombs and drones as a ‘strategy’.  

Hasn’t worked in the past, won’t work now.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org Paris massacre 1961 

NB I really find it distressing to provide links to previous atrocities and the perpetrators, so will stop with the one above. Sadly, there are so many, so easy to find. 

 

 

 

It’s been a funny old time in politics................

...........confusing almost. But then, the cynic in me might just say that certain politicians and their parties try to confuse me.. 

But take a moment and stop and think about it: ’parties’. None of the family & friends’  parties I’ve ever been to take money from me for the sake of being there. And, they never invite me with the promise of a super feast, lots of it, drink, music and good company, well into the wee hours, only to find when I get there, having thrown my coat on the bed in the back bedroom, that  it’s not much more than cold porridge, left overs; a wonky cd, and some old faces from the past skulking in the corner talking about …..their past. (Boak!)

No, my real family and friends, don’t offer inducements, don’t kid me along and don’t lie to me. But hey, that seems to be they way of (some) politicians, (some) parties!

If ‘parties’ are not confusing enough, how confusing was the House of Lords? Unelected by me and my ilk, but getting paid £300.00 a day by me and my ilk, the HoL decided to oppose the elected MPs in the House of Commons (elected by me and my ilk). That’s democracy or not: depending on your point of view. Or depending if you can think independently of your ‘party’. (#Robot. #Robot!You talking to me? ME? )

Now MPs might not get £300.00 a day (do the math on their salary) but they do get ‘expenses’ and a majority of these MPs decided to take away ‘benefits’ and ‘credits’ from many of those who had elected them. (Mm..'expenses' 'benefits', 'credits')
Those MPs said it was to ensure ex-recipients work harder, earn more and spend it. When you’re poor you don’t save anything: you spend it all just to keep going, believe me. 

Just one of the confusing points: these are people: families, like you, like me. But to create a wedge between us, there are convenient labels: some are ‘scroungers’, some are ‘work shy’. Labels are good by the way, and not confusing, since it means I can always put ‘them’ into pigeon holes. (Holier than thou).  

So, when ‘working poor’ are in just one, poorly paid job  (it must be  poorly paid, cos they are working, remember and get 'benefits' and 'credits', but not 'expenses')  the logic .....not confusing outcome....must be: they should work two or three jobs at once. 
You know, full time, day time, and part time evening. Or two, three part time jobs in the one day. Phew! Glad that’s sorted. 

But in the meantime, what might happen to ‘them’ when the benefits and credits are cut?  

Silly me! I forgot the food banks! At least ‘they’ won’t need to buy food 7 days out of 7, since ‘they’ can get a 3 day free voucher, every now and then.  

Even then, our kind #bettertogether government are providing more help, and it’s free. 
See. You don’t have to pay. They’re saving you money!

That nice man Mr. IDS is going to help ‘them’. 
When they pop into a food bank, thus saving money for maybe transport to and from all the different jobs, or paying for child care, he’s going to have paid staff on hand to tell them how to get a job, thus helping them make #Change and have #betterchoices.

I am sure nice, kind Mr. IDS -  I Don’t give a Sxxt : one day I will be a Lord/ -  will pay rent to all the vol ogs, churches, halls etc that host food banks, thus making sure the host organisations can put more money into food banks. See, it’s logical, not confusing.

But really, you want confused? Then try the Labour Party in Scotland. 

The Party members in Scotland voted to scrap Trident. Good, not confused.

That means, Labour Party members in Scotland (keep up, don’t get confused…there is no Scottish Labour Party) agree with Corbyn, the  (UK) Labour Party leader. 

Unfortunately, it also means Corbyn and Scottish members disagree with Tom Watson, Deputy (UK) Party Leader and the majority of Labour MPs. 

But hey, they do agree with the sole Scottish Labour MP. Ian Murray. Ian agrees with Corbyn and the members. 

But wait, that means Corbyn, Ian and the Scottish members disagree with their (Scottish) leader #Dugdale. 

Not content with that, Corby, Ian, the Scottish  members now disagree with the (UK) Party,  who want to keep WMD and not spend (the) savings from scrapping Trident on improving services, creating jobs, supporting the working poor...............

God, I am confused, so I just might go and lie down in the darkened, back bed room…but I am too frightened of what I might find under that pile of old coats left over from the last party!

House of Lords

House of Commons 

credits and benefits 

working poor stats: JRF  https://www.jrf.org.uk/

Ian Duncan Smith MP   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Duncan_Smith 

Ian Murray MP  http://www.ianmurraymp.co.uk/

Kezia Dugdale MSP http://www.keziadugdale.com/

Scottish Labour vote to scrap Trident   http://www.bbc.co.uk/

The Continuing Crisis: Refugees arriving in Europe......Populations response, but where are the politicians?

The Continuing Crisis: Refugees arriving in Europe......Populations response, but where are the politicians?

 

I find it ironic that Hungry felt the need to resort to barbed wire fencing and closed borders, since one of the first ever ‘collective’ activities I organised was as a very small kid, setting up a back green ‘concert’ with some friends here in Edinburgh and charging the local kids to come in. The money raised was sent off to help Hungarian refugees, after their very own revolution against the (old) USSR. (yes, that long ago and yes, old pounds, shillings and pence!)

Now, most of us look at the fleeing refugees and ask: how can we help? But some look and say: ‘we have no room, no money, no homes’. There is talk of ….’we need to feed our own,’ and cite the presence of our own food banks, or our own homeless population.  Perhaps the excuse is…. ‘more pressure on the NHS'. But all of that misses the humanitarian ‘get up and do’ response of the ordinary everyday people, whilst hiding behind the fig leaf of political negativity, scare mongering and further demonising of ‘outsiders’.  

Some say: address the refugee problems at the source. If this is considered to be Syria,  I hope that doesn't mean we rush headlong into bombing. Do we want another failed state with regime change and the resultant chaos? Have we learnt nothing from Iraq and Libya? And what hopes of a ‘transition’ period that our great leader, David Cameron will promote today (27^th Sept)  in the USA?

Some say: stay in local camps as internally displaced persons or refugees in neighbouring countries. The UNHCR, 2013, notes that  Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey had in excess of 3 million refugees. That ' number' nay, people, must surely be rising. And the stress put on the fragile infrastructures in those camps will only add to the internal stresses within those host countries. Further destabilisation of both the camps and the host countries must surely be a worry and something to be avoided.

My own view is that many of us fail to acknowledge we are being dictated to and are following the agenda of the far right. Our policies, our banking systems that favour capitalism & profit first and foremost, coupled with our actions including arms sales; favouring one so called ‘good’ dictator over a ’bad’ dictator,  have helped create these very refugees and their circumstances. Surely then, it is time to resist this far right ideology of 'profit first; profit before people'.

Will a new Labour leader help move the Labour party to become a strong opposition party? Will we see a resurgence of socialism coming from the Labour party? Will we see a shift from Westminster Labour MPs as they see the value of working with the SNP? Or will a fractured Labour continue to score own goals thus ensuring the ideology of the far right and the current UK government continues to demonise the work-less population, victimise the vulnerable, prey on the working poor and neglect the refugees on our door step?

Whatever acts we take as a generous population in relation to the refugees must be met with coordinated actions & ultimately political policies that recognise the need for deep seated change over long periods of time, both within our own borders and across the EU.

Scotland has said clearly and early on that we welcome refugees, and this occasion will be no different. Cities such as Birmingham are shaming the UK government with declarations of support and the intent to welcome refugees

Whilst these are welcome actions and policies of the moment, this moment today, tomorrow and the coming months, surely we must address the forms of capitalism that arms militants but denies refuge to the very people shot, bombed, made homeless, terrorised, displaced and dying to reach the ‘west’ …………..the ‘west’ that armed the aggressors in the first instance.

i/Hungarian Revolution 1956  http://www.historyinanhour.com

 

ii/Food Banks:  Facebook:  EdinburghWomenforIndependence    @wfiedinburgh

EdinburghWFI@gmail.com    http://www.womenforindependence.org/edinburgh

Women for Independence  http://www.womenforindependence.org  http://www.trusselltrust.org/

 

iii/UNHCR:  http://www.unhcr.org/

iv/Scottish Govt Responses to the Refugee Crisis: https://firstminister.gov.scot

v/Birmingham’s response : http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/

vi/Edinburgh Cares: Facebook Edinburgh Cares-Aid Convoy to Serbia/Croatia

and from 
http://www.unhcr.org/

..entering into Austria  ...Sept 2015