Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Silence

I was sitting in a fish and chip shop in Lyme Regis when I heard on the radio that George Bush had refused to condemn the Qana massacre.

Qana: a massacre of 50 people, a similar number to the July 7 bombings in London, except more of them this time were children. People sheltering at the bottom of their apartment block. People who had been faced with the choice of either staying in a village that the Isreali air force was liable to bomb, or fleeing along roads that the Isreali air force was liable to bomb.

In Britain over the last ten years we have observed more and more one or two minute silences. They are based on the assumption that our society is united in valuing human life and mourning the passing of whichever public figure or group of innocent victims is being commemorated.

I will not observe any more such silences this year. If George Bush won't condemn the slaughter at Qana, and if there is still only an insultingly thin wafer between UK foreign policy and that of the US, then how can we pretend that we all value human life, and that we value all human life?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with your sentiment about the situation. It is such tragic that so many innocent people are suffering from the war that doesn't seem justifiable. Is the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers give the Israel government a justification to invade a sovereign country and kill many innocent people including children?And you are right; the silence of U.S.'s government to me is a signal that it is OK for Israel to continue their aggression. These days it seems that in the name of fighting terrorism one country is free to exercise any aggression against another country. The world is becoming chaotic and there seems be no checks and balances in the politics of the world; it is as if U.S. is the ultimate decision maker in the world affairs. Sad.

Welcome back by the way.

Anonymous said...

Hi James, just checking to see if you have posted new blogs. Are you still on vacation? Hope you are doing good.