Heads and tales

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Mozart was used to rows over his operas, but not ones like this. The German opera company, Deutsche Oper, looked like abandoning its production of Mozart's Idomeneo because it contained a scene depicting the severed heads of, among others, Jesus and the prophet Mohammed. The company were advised by police that this might lead to demonstrations of the sort seen round the Danish cartoons or, more recently, the Pope's pronouncements on Islam and violence.

There doesn't seem to have been any evidence that this was likely to have happened. But clearly now Muslims are fair game for being accused of supposedly irrational or violent behaviour. Nor was there any alleged threat from irate Christians protesting at Jesus being shown in this way (even though there must have been far Christian protests outside theatre and cinemas than Muslim ones _ remember The Last Temptation of Christ and Jerry Springer the Opera).

In fact there was no threat from anyone at all. The sensible course of action should have been for the show to go on, with those offended by it being able to react in one of two ways: not going to see it (still the most popular form of protest against art), or organising peaceful protests outside it to make a point.

That is now what is happening, but not before the damaging intervention of the German government in the form of its Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel, who heads up a grand coalition of right and left, is desperate to make her mark on the world stage and is trying to join the so far exclusively boys' club of warmongers. Her foreign policy is increasingly lining up Germany with Bush and Blair.

Merkel has stepped in to denounce 'self censorship', claiming that it plays into the hands of terrorists and extremists. Except this wasn't self censorship, nor was the opera threatened, even in the wildest dreams of the Berlin police, by terrorists. But Muslim bashing, in a country where there are 2.6 million of them, and where the far right made gains only last week in Merkel's home state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern on an anti immigrant platform,is just too tempting for any of that to matter.

Which brings me to our own dear leader, who can make a better speech than Gordon Brown. Not difficult. He told us on Tuesday that the war on terror will last a generation. It won't be his grandchildren who are dying if that is the case.

There must have been hollow laughs around the Middle East when he announced that he wanted to achieve peace there by next May. There is the small question of his bloody record, but a man of Blair's ignorance shouldn't be allowed anywhere. He stated once again that 9/11 predated the Iraq war, so underlining the supposedly irrational and crazed nature of Islamic terrorism. Except bin Laden made clear after 9/11 he was reflecting three widely held grievances: the injustice to Palestinians, sanctions and bombing of Iraq, and the presence of foreign (US) troops on Saudi soil.

There are foreign troops now in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon _and across the region,we have occupied Iraq, and the Palestinians are worse off now than then. That's why 50,000 of us marched at the start of Labour's conference in Mancehser _even the police have upgraded their figure to 30,000.

That protest more accurately reflected opinion than the unthinking hysteria inside the hall on Tuesday. Don't they know there's a war on? But then, denial always works until you can't deny it any more. They all leave their parallel universe today to find a reality where 16 US agencies say Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism and where the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq deteriorates by the day.

That's the real future facing Tony Blair.

9/28/2006 11:11:00 AM | Permalink

A life changing experience

Friday, September 22, 2006

Writing this from a windowless room in the Days Inn here in Manchester. Thirty years ago they would have built council houses, now they build these chain hotels and student residences.

Much excitement for the big day tomorrow. Lots of press, the peace camp has been a big success. We spend our morning planning the speakers' list, dealing with the press, organising the stewards' meeting, phoning the London office to hear that the train has sold out.

Police are all over the city centre as they prepare for the big security shutdown for the Labour conference.It's not hard to see how it's come to this: Tony Blair has to be protected from the people who voted for him nearly ten years ago but are now moved to demonstrate against him. How the political climate has changed when politicians have to be protected from the people in this way.

I noticed the amazement at John Reid being heckled in Waltham Forest earlier this week. It has been described as rude, which kind of reduces politics to a dinner party. It doesn't strike me as rude or wrong for those in public life to be challenged in a robust fashion. Or for people who defend illegal wars and colonial occupations to be confronted by people who sound angry.

What is surely wrong is for politicians to be surrounded by a sterile area into which neither protest nor criticism can encroach.

Anyway, that isn't going to work for them tomorrow when the streets of Manchester will be filled with our protest. There'll be no hiding place from the sight and sound of the demo.

I did a meeting last night at Manchester university where freshers are just turning up for the new year, with Malcolm Kendall Smith and Yvonne Ridley. Malcolm went to prison for several months for refusing to serve in the air force in Iraq; Yvonne was a Daily Express journalist captured by the Taliban during the Afghan war, who later converted to Islam.

I thought as they spoke on how much this war has changed all our lives, and how many more Iraqis, Afghans, Lebanese and Palestinians have had their lives changed for the worse. Five young Muslim women came and spoke to Yvonne and I afterwards, all concerned at the attacks on Muslims and keen to demonstrate. Another young woman was almost in tears when she thanked Malcolm for the stand he has taken. Yvonne and I talked afterwards about how women are the backbone of the movement.

The movement has achieved a tremendous amount; without us this wouldn't be central on the political agenda, and without us Blair's crisis wouldn't be terminal. The message tomorrow to Gordon Brown is 'don't even think about going along the same road, or you'll find yourself in the same mess.'

9/22/2006 01:55:00 PM | Permalink

Shots being fired: official

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Afghanistan is tougher than we thought, says Des Browne, the latest to follow in the footsteps of Geoff Hoon and John Reid as Defence Secretary. Well it's certainly tougher than they told us. Remember Reid telling us only six months ago that British troops were going in as peacekeepers and would probably leave without a shot being fired.

Already then it was well known that the US troops were being defeated by the Taliban. That's why they withdrew and demanded that the British troops took over in Helmand province. Since that happened shots have been fired every day, and the number of British soldiers dying has risen.

It is painful to watch the young British soldiers talking with obvious shock about the strength of the Taliban, and even express admiration for them militarily. They are facing not peacekeeping but battles involving hundreds of forces whose scale has not been seen by the British army for decades.

The Taliban has gone from defeat and exile 5 years ago to growing support in the south of the country. Why? Because they are the only force arguing for resistance to the occupation and opposing government corruption. International aid supposedly for reconstruction has been squandered, going to NGOs and charities and not to the Afghans who so desperately need it.

The British government bleats that the other NATO powers are not doing their fair share: another way of looking at it is that most European governments have not been foolish enough to send their troops to the most dangerous part of the country. The Polish government recently announced another 1000 from February (no rush then)but this has led to a major political crisis. They're brewing here and in Canada too whose troops are bearing the brunt of casualties.

So now that's Afghanistan tougher than we thought, Iraq tougher than we thought. Perhaps the thought might cross the minds of Browne and his colleagues that these wars are unwinnable and that withdrawal will turn out ot be the only option. But how many lives will be lost before they own up to the truth?

As our march approaches on Saturday, I discern a growing anger with the politicians over these issues and an increasing linking of them to wider politics. The NHS is being privatised and butchered while we replace Trident and spend billions on wars and occupations.

The meeting in Sheffield last night with Tony Benn demonstrated that. Over 800 people in a wonderful meeting agreed with our analysis of the war but also applauded those who spoke of opposing NHS closures, attacks on trade unions, and campaigning round issues from Trident to disability to racism. We're a movement mobilised against these wars but also for a better world.

Not good news for Tony Blair when we all turn up in Manchester on Saturday.

By the way, I see John Reid has told Muslim parents to keep their children away from extremists. I suggest they keep their children away from John Reid _otherwise he might slap an ASBO on them or lock them up for 90 days.

9/19/2006 02:28:00 PM | Permalink

Dead man walking

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

I went to the TUC in Brighton yesterday for the Stop the War fringe meeting. On a beautiful warm evening we filled the meeting room in the Albion Hotel. The platform was a clutch of general secretaries (from the TGWU, PCS, UCU and NUJ), myself and John McDonnell MP, who is standing for leader when Blair stands down.

The mood of the meeting was defiant, horrified at Blair's complicity in the Lebanon, determined to oppose future wars and committed to mobilising for the mass demo outside Labour's conference next week on September 23.

Watching the reaction to Tony Blair's speech at the TUC today, I felt very proud of our movement. British trade unions have nearly all developed a strong anti war policy over recent years and they have always given backing to our demonstrations and campaigning.

So Bob Crow _who helped us steward our first really big demo in September 2002_held up one of our 'Time to Go' posters in the hall before leading the RMT delegation out of the hall in protest at Blair. Other delegates wore 'Time to Go' t shirts as they sat grimly listening to what must rank as a poor speech even by Blair's standards.

I can only imagine how badly received certain parts were: the defence of Israel, the call to remember the dead of 9/11 without remembering the dead of Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, the justification of his wars in the name of eradicating terrorism while failnig to notice they have actually exacerbated terrorism.

And then there were no questions on the war!

There can be few in the hall who don't wish Blair would go now, even though not too many seem enthusiastic for Gordon Brown. I know Blair wants a tour which will see him exit on a wave of euphoria: with appearances on Blue Peter and Songs of Praise, and visits to the Millennium Dome and the Angel of the North. He doesn't have to bother _ there would be a wave of euphoria if he went now, and an even greater wave if whoever succeeded him changed foreign policy so we weren't waging illegal wars and occupying other people's countries.

Remarkably, most commentators barely mention the war as the reason for Labour's political meltdown. Yet Lebanon has broken Blair. MPs who reluctantly backed the war in Iraq could not stomach Blair yet again following Bush. That's why more than 100 Labour MPs wanted parliament recalled in the summer and why so many signed letters calling for Blair to go.

The TUC reception was the worst ever for a Labour prime minister. Whatever deals have been done with Brown, Blair is now dead man walking. Definitely time to go.

More unions have come on board with sponsorship of the demo next week _ the latest are the RMT and BECTU. Something's going on in the unions, and the 23rd is going to be a big one.

9/12/2006 01:01:00 PM | Permalink

When the tough get going

Monday, September 04, 2006

I look forward to John Lloyd's columns in the Financial Times magazine every Saturday with a sense of anticipation which is rarely disappointed. The column is called 'The Ideas Department' although a better title might be 'The One Idea Department'.

For Lloyd, former Communist, former industrial editor of the FT, is obsessed with one question: the fight against Islamic fundamentalism and the defence of liberalism. So obsessed is he that virtually every week he returns to the theme, abandoning in the process old liberal concepts of multiculturalism and defence of civil liberties in favour of the new robust liberalism which demands that those who come to this country have to live by 'our rules' _whatever they are.

Perhaps a good editor would tell him to give it a rest and write about something else, but in this case Lloyd is the editor.

He was at it again this week. In response to a new book by an American conservative which seems in synopsis to suggest that the Muslims/ Mexicans _generously allowed in as immigrants _ are about to take over Europe/ the US, Lloyd argues for a third way.

But that will require liberals to get some backbone, to 'end the sloppy equation of being liberal with always saying yes'. The battle is to win over the hearts and minds of those who see themselves as primarily religious. 'The struggle will be _is now_at times a military or police matter', says Lloyd without missing a beat.

Let's look at these military or police struggles. Are we supposed to accept that the mayhem in Iraq, Afghanistan or Lebanon in recent years will be tolerated by the people there because it is part of the wider argument for pluralistic liberal societies? Does anyone believe they will be grateful for being invaded and occupied? Does Lloyd think that the rounding up of young Muslim men in London, the taking apart of their houses and the fear instilled in their families is leading to more dialogue and civilised behaviour?

Or could it be that the military and police matters are alienating people around the world? That they may not see integration into a society which treats them like this as desirable or possible?

Lloyd castigates separatism in all its forms, citing the black power movement of the late 1960s in the US which did not want to integrate into US society. Hardly the same as second generation Muslims _the ancestors of US blacks arrived in slave ships hundreds of years before and had suffered slavery and discrimination ever since, so they had rather a strong point.

But look why integration was right: Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, according to Lloyd. If that's all they can expect in 40 years time, no wonder most young Muslims aren't looking to his model of integration.

Perhaps another way of looking it is that liberal society has failed. It has brought us war, racism, inequality on scales that few would have expected maybe 30 years ago.But instead of looking at its own faults, it is turning on some of the people who have gained least.

Hence liberals who support war and attacks on mulitculturalism. As John Lloyd says, 'tolerance has to be tough _ on the causes of intolerance.'

Which means it isn't really tolerance any more.

9/04/2006 11:01:00 AM | Permalink