Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tony Bliar on Walkabout in Rochdale
'Tony Bliar' goes walkabout in Rochdale
'Tony Bliar' together with his 'Dodgy Dossier' turned a few heads in Rochdale on Saturday morning (30 January 2010). He was accompanied by members of Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group who were inviting people to express their anger at Tony Blair's failure to apologise in any way for the deaths of an estimated one million Iraqis and 179 British troops during the invasion and military occupation of Iraq.
Their petition calls for the indictment of Blair at an international war crimes tribunal under both the Geneva and Hague Conventions. It cites fourteen alleged war crimes including, "Deceit and conspiracy for war"; "Employing radioactive ammunition causing long-term destruction of the planetary habitat";"Supporting an ally that employs ‘waterboarding’ and other tortures"; "Using inhumane restraints on prisoners"and "The use of cluster bombs and other indiscriminate weapons including white phosphorous".
Pat Sanchez, on behalf of the Peace Group said,
"Many people were sickened by Tony Blair's appearance at the Chilcot Inquiry and by the failure of the members of the inquiry to question him effectively. I was particularly distressed by the contempt which the parents of the soldiers who he had sent to their deaths in Iraq felt he had shown to them. Instead of apologising for the deceits and lies which he used to make the case for the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, Blair continued his attempts to mislead and to obscure the facts. In doing so, he seemed to be aided and abetted by the members of the inquiry who failed to interrogate him about the use of depleted uranium munitions, white phosphorous and cluster bombs in civilians areas or about the abuse of prisoners. The fact remains that Blair lied and as a result many many people have died. The case for his indictment for war crimes is clear. The case for doubting the truth of anything he says is even clearer."
Trevor Hoyle commented
"Blair isn't done yet. He now wants to repeat the devastation and murder of innocent people he and Bush inflicted on Iraq on the people of Iran. The man is a psychopath, there is no other word to describe him. He feels no guilt, no shame, no remorse. I wonder if the Catholic faith is any consolation deep in his heart. Probably not. He is beyond help."
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Peace Group says 'Remember the Children of Gaza ' 16 January 2010
Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group marked the first anniversary of Israel's attacks on the people of Gaza, last year, by publicly reading the names of 313 of the hundreds of Palestinian children who were killed during the Israeli assaults on Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009. Peace Group members gathered in the walkway above the bus station on Saturday morning (16 January 2010) to remind people of the deaths of 1400 Palestinian civilians and 4 Israeli civilians killed during operation 'Cast Iron', and of the ongoing siege of Gaza. .
They asked people to sign a petition calling on the government to exert international pressure to implement the recommendations of the Goldstone Report, which include investigation of war crimes committed during the three week assault by the Israelis and an immediate end to the inhumane siege of Gaza.
Their placard read, "GAZA: Remember The Children Killed. Prosecute War Criminals".
Amongst the many local people supporting the petition was Dr Farrukh Zia. Dr Zia works at the Accident and Emergency Unit at Rochdale Infirmary. In November 2009, he was a member of the Rochdale based Health Aid UK medical team which visited the Israeli Occupied Palestinian Territories and hopes to be speaking about his experiences at a public meeting in Rochdale in the near future.
Philip Gilligan, on behalf of the Peace Group said,
"Twelve months ago, Israel waged an indiscriminate land and aerial assault on the civilian population of Gaza. This included the illegal use of white phosphorus bombs in built-up areas. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in three weeks, including many hundreds of children. Since then, Israel's continuing siege of Gaza has left its trapped population with severely restricted access to food, medical supplies and clean drinking water. Dr Zia told us that doctors are prevented from entering Gaza to help people there. The people there, are also being denied steel and concrete. Thry are unable to rebuild their homes or to repair their devastated infrastructure. In September, Justice Goldstone’s report to the United Nations concluded that serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law were committed by Israel during its military operations in Gaza. Justice Goldstone found that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, during the so-called operation 'Cast Iron'. However, after almost four months, we are still waiting for anyone to take any effective action in response to Justice Goldstone’s recommendations."
For the names of the Palestinian children killed in Israel's attack on Gaza, see http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/Reports/English/pdf_spec/War%20Crimes%20Against%20Children%20Book.pdf
For more information on the Goldstone Report, see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/FactFindingMission.htm
For more information on Health Aid UK, see http://www.rochdaleobserver.co.uk/news/s/1116880_mercy_team_on_special_mission
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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