From Knowledge to Wisdom

"Great Hatred, Little Room" - peace in Northern Ireland

Been reading Jonathan Powell's "Great Hatred, Little Room" on the history of the Northern Ireland peace process, after a tip by banstead on Flickr.

Powell was Tony Blair's Chief of Staff and deeply involved, for ten years, in the public and private processes of negotiation with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, and various Unionist leaders including David Trimble and Ian Paisley, along with the Irish government lead by Bertie Ahern.

The story gives detailed insight into how the negotiating processes worked, mainly what was going on in the confidential contacts and the secret meetings that led to the public meetings and public agreements (and disagreements).

There are anecdotes about the people and the circumstances. You get the impression that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness really felt at home in 10 Downing street. Powell tells how on one occasion he urgently had to get Adams and McGuinness in from the back garden where they were playing with Tony Blair's kids and trying to ride a skateboard down the path. A photograph of the incident would have given a totally misleading impression of the public relationship between Sinn Féin and the British Government.

The story of the negotiations is told in a welter of detail. So it seems like an endless process, repeatedly covering the same ground, with progress measured in imperceptible steps, and successes followed by immediate setbacks. It is clear that endless patience and determination were needed. Part of the motivation for writing the book is to explain why and how success was achieved so that lessons can be learned for resolution of conflicts in other regions of the world.

Achieving a lasting peace in Ireland is positioned as a major mission for Tony Blair. He was convinced a settlement was possible and was determined to keep on talking until it was achieved.

From the Protestant Church of Smyrna

See the report from the From the Protestant Church of Smyrna to the Global Church about the recent torture and murder of three Christians in Malatya, Turkey.

It is a gruesome story in more than one way:

• Firstly the terrible way the Christians were tortured and murdered.
• Secondly the fact that they were murdered for their belief.
• Thirdly the ambiguous attitude of the people and authorities in Turkey.

Such barbarism is all the more disturbing when it happens so close to home. Turkey is a candidate for EU membership. It is a popular holiday destination. Two groups from my daughter's school will spend a week there in October. Many fellow residents of NL are of Turkish origin.

So are we in Europe going backwards into barbarism? Is this the 'clash of cultures'? Do we have to pay attention to Jespersen and Pittelkow and their book "Islamists and Naivists"?

Are we strong enough in our faith to face the persecution, when it comes our way, with such grace as the families of these martyrs?

References:
Bible publishing firm murders in Malatya on Wikipedia
Turkish Believers "Satanically Tortured" Before Being Killed on BosNewsLife
"Danish wake-up call on Islam" review of Jespersen and Pittelkow book on International Herald Tribune

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

We saw 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley' in the intimate Kleine Zaal at Plaza Futura on Friday evening a week ago. It turned out to be a interesting preparation for my trip to a conference in Ireland.

Impressions:

- authentic, realistic
- the rural green of southern Ireland
- the accents – beautiful
- the violence is intimate and personal

Starting in 1920 the story follows the men of a rural area showing how they become radicalized and engaged through the violence of the British Army who are trying to suppress and control the population.

The absolute arrogance and disdain of the British for the Irish, despite the fact that the young British soldiers come from poor working class backgrounds and, in fact, have much in common with the Irish.

Loyalty becomes the key – you can’t raise a guerrilla and fight a war without loyalty and discipline. What is the vision which develops such loyalty? The vision of freedom and self determination for the Irish people, liberation from the oppressor. But ultimately splits in loyalty come on the ‘green’ or ‘red’ divide – a national solution still driven by the capitalists or the vision of a socialist state relieving the massive poverty of the people.

Issues of oppression and control
- this was England’s first colony
- 700 years of oppression of religion, culture and language
- it would be a dangerous precedent for other parts of the massive British Empire if Ireland separated.

I can see how the stories, events, heroes, martyrs and achievements of this time could fuel a vision for the (P)IRA in Northern Ireland in more recent times. They could repeat the process of a liberation war. But terrorism attacking the civil population, as happened in NI and England, is different from attacking the occupying military forces.

There was a nice scene in the courtroom in the liberated town – it reminded me of my radical daughters, they could run a court like that as judge and public prosecutor.

Issues of justice, order, democracy
And oppression, exploitation, poverty.

Justice is meted out in extreme measures – the death penalty (or assassination without trial) for treason or disloyalty.

Apparently the film is not widely available in Britain.
- not yet ready to recognise the dark side of their history in Ireland
- and responsibility for creating the mess there
- terrorism is a hot topic, the justification of liberation fighters is currently politically incorrect.

It is a powerful, painful film – a cameo of the tragedy of Ireland and its relations with its overbearing nearest neighbour from the next island.

Keeping Track of the Kids - the Court Case

The Case: The State against Catherine, Ruth, Marieke Mieke and Bram

Characters:
The accused: Catherine, Ruth, Marieke Mieke and Bram, members of the International Socialists, Amsterdam
The Public Prosecutor: a tall blond guy who could not communicate well
The Judge: a blond of about forty with a high intelligent forehead
Advocate for the defence: Jelle, one of the gang, looking very smart in his toga
Clerk of the Court
Three journalists
The public: concerned parents and close friends

The Scene:
A courtroom for criminal offences in the Amsterdam Courthouse, the Parnas Building designed by Ben Loerakker.

The charge:
Refusing to follow the instructions of a police officer according to Article 184 Section 1 of the Criminal Law of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

A Hearing in Eight Acts:
1. Identification
2. Introduction of the case
3. The accused tell their story
4. Review of the personal circumstances of the accused
5. The case for the prosecution
6. The case for the defence
7. Closing remarks
8. Judgement and sentence

Keeping Track of the Kids

The kids have made the AT5 News again. (Link to previous).

Basically the news item says the four students, members of the International Socialists, who were arrested on 10 November at the request of the Hogeschool Amsterdam, will be in court on Thursday. They regard their arrest as a restriction of their right to freedom of speech.

So we will be in court on Thursday to see if the judge is of the same opinion.

Bling for my Blog 2

Making minor adjustments to blog content and layout again. The recently added Opinmind widget has now been replaced in the left column by a link to IRREPRESSIBLE.INFO. This is an Amnesty International UK campaign against government repression of freedom of expression on the Internet.

Also signed the pledge which says:

I believe the Internet should be a force for political freedom, not repression. People have the right to seek and receive information and to express their peaceful beliefs online without fear or interference.

I call on governments to stop the unwarranted restriction of freedom of expression on the Internet – and on companies to stop helping them do it.

This will be used in support of the Amnesty position at a UN conference on the future of the Internet.

While following some links around this I cam across this account of the arrest of an innocent on the London tube by UK anti-terrorist police.

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Technorati tags irrepressible.info Amnesty International

Keeping Track of the Kids

Catherine phones home today: "just to let you know we were arrested (again) for a while this afternoon". The piece on AT5 Nieuws roughly translates as:

Anti Verdonk Activists Arrested
Four activists were arrested on Thursday afternoon at the Amsterdam College (Hogeschool) because they were collecting signatures in favour of the resignation of Rita Verdonk. The International Socialist activists were demanding Verdonk's resignation because of the fire on Schiphol which cost the lives of eleven people. According to the  Socialists "the arrests are a continuation of the police policy which lead to the earlier forcible removal of protest banners against Verdonk from house fronts." The police arrested the activists on the grounds of breach of the peace".

According to the news reports their arrest by the police was initiated by the College management. The police sent four cars to arrest four students who were peacefully collecting signatures on a petition.

After being held in a police cell for six hours and questioned about the organisation of the protest they were suddenly released without charge. Theories about what triggered their release include that the national TV news were onto the story, it is a good follow up to the police removing the protest banners. But bad news for Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam, his speech at the memorial to Theo van Gogh last week was full of stuff about Amsterdam being a great place for liberty and freedom of speech.

Quote of the day

In the Economist there is a nice reflection on the British tradition for civil liberties and the adoption of strangers into society. This in the context of Mr. Blair's blustering about measures against potential terrorists. It is fortunate that long traditions of civil liberty are so embedded in law and international treaties that it will take more than a quick PATRIOT Act to undo them.

Britain has a long tradition of sheltering firebrands, which is reflected in the law. Victorian London was an excellent place for foreign radicals to set up shop—whether they were scholarly types like Karl Marx, who plotted the overthrow of capitalism from the reading room of the British Museum, or militants like Johann Most, a German anarchist who was allowed to wander the streets despite penning a guide called “The Science of Revolutionary Warfare”. Ancient laws on free speech, a light touch from the censor and a lack of legal distinctions between citizens and non-citizens have appealed to African National Congress supporters and Islamist radicals alike. If the government really wanted to overturn this tradition, it would need extensive legislation.

See: Watch your mouth | Economist.com.