Anas’s Blog

Even in my darkest recollection/there was someone singing my life back to me

– Neko Case

John Adams, yesterday, a thorn in the side of the current administration.

Wandered around the city centre yesterday. Found the Waterstones and galloped right up to the Mind, Body, Spirit section like I always do. I’m drawn toward that otherwise dingy section of books because there usually tends to be a diamond buried amongst all that New Age dogshit. In other words that’s where they usually tend to stock the late, and greatly missed Robert Anton Wilson’s books — along with the latest stuff about Crystals and Chakra healing, and activating your inner goddess, etc. And thankfully I wasn’t to be disapointed on this visit either. There in the “W-Z” section, sat a shiny new copy of ’Emails to the Universe’  — basically a selection of bits and pieces RAW authored over the years,(a lot of which you can find over at rawilson.com, or rawilsonfans.com). Happy and excited, I shelled out the £11.99 the book cost, and later having done the rest of my shopping , sat at the bus stop waiting for the next bus home I turned to the first piece. Entitled ”The Passion of the Antichrist”, it was written in 1965 and detailed the tribulations of Madalyn Murray. What immediately caught my eye about it tho was  the funny little extract introducing the article taken from the US treaty with Tripoli of 1796 and authored by an American diplomat but endorsed by John Adams, second president: 

As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen [i.e., Muslims]; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Muslim] nation [LOL, I think they can Tipp-ex that part out now], it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

Mmmmmmmmmm, interesting, I bet they’re now regretting that was ever written — or as is in fact the case completely ignoring it.

Paida huaa vakeel, to Iblees nay kahaa:

‘Allah nay mujhey Sahib-e-awlaad kar diya.’

(The day a lawyer was born, Satan exulted:

‘Allah has blessed me with progeny of my own.’)

– Akbar Ilahabadi

(Apologies to the nice lawyers out there, and there are one or two, I think.)

From the PACBI site, via Norman Finkelstein’s site 

Boycott Israel – Don’t Play another “Sun City”!

An open letter to the Rolling Stones regarding their planned gig in Israel

Dear Rolling Stones,

The Palestinian arts community received in disbelief media reports of your upcoming performance in Israel, at a time when Israel continues unabated with its colonial and apartheid designs to further dispossess, oppress, and ultimately ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homeland. If the news is accurate, and we sincerely hope it is not, we strongly urge you to cancel your plans to perform in Israel until the time comes when it ends its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and respects fundamental human rights as well as the relevant precepts of international law concerning Palestinian rights to freedom, self-determination and equality.

Performing in Israel at this time is morally equivalent to performing in South Africa during the apartheid era. We all remember how leading Rolling Stones musicians played a prominent role in enforcing a cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa in the 1980’s, and participated in recording the timeless song, Sun City, which had a singular influence on raising public awareness about apartheid and its injustices. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights Prof. John Dugard, and South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils have repeatedly declared, Israel has created a worse system of apartheid than anything that ever existed in South Africa.

Indeed, Israel’s policies throughout its illegal military occupation of Palestinian territory, which have surpassed their South African counterparts, include house demolitions; Jews-only colonies and roads; uprooting hundreds of thousands of trees; indiscriminate killings of civilians, particularly children; incessant theft of land and water resources; denying freedom of movement to millions under occupation, cutting up the occupied Palestinian territory into Bantustans, some entirely caged by walls, fences and hundreds of roadblocks. Sixty years since the Nakba, Israel’s planned campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, and 40 years into its military occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territory, Israel has consistently and relentlessly violated basic human rights and relevant precepts of international law with utter impunity. Moreover, Israel’s war of aggression against Lebanon last year caused more than one thousand civilian deaths, not to mention massive destruction to infrastructure and decimation of entire residential neighbourhoods.

The resounding failure of the international community to date in ending Israel’s occupation, collective punishment, and other forms of oppression was what prompted Palestinians to appeal to international civil society to bear its moral responsibility to put an end to injustice, just as it did against apartheid South Africa. To this end, Palestinian civil society has almost unanimously called for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it fully complies with international law and recognizes the fundamental human rights of the people of Palestine. A specific call for cultural boycott of Israel was issued last year, garnering wide support. Among the many groups and institutions that have heeded the Palestinian boycott calls and started to consider or apply diverse forms of effective pressure on Israel are the Church of England; the US Presbyterian Church; a group of top British architects; the British National Union of Journalists in the UK; the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU); the South African Council of Churches; the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario; Aosdana, the Irish state-sponsored academy of artists; celebrated authors, artists and intellectuals led by John Berger; and Palme d’Or winner director Ken Loach. Is it too much, then, to expect conscientious artists like the Rolling Stones to similarly uphold the values of freedom, equality and justice for all by supporting the growing boycott against Israel?

We appeal to your moral principles and your record of standing up for human rights and human dignity. If the reports are true, we sincerely hope that you shall cancel this ill-conceived and particularly harmful concert in Israel. If they are not true, we urge you to issue a statement to clarify where you stand on this issue of principle.

Sincerely,

PACBI

Have to say that even tho the Stones are one of my all time favourite groups, I don’t really expect much of them as human beings, as opposed to incredible songwriters and musicians (well they were in the 60s anyway). I am not retarded enough to expect anything approaching political consistency(i.e., given their boycotting of South Africa under aparthied) or even scruples from Mick and Keef and co. But still, it’d be awful nice if they didn’t play Israel. And also via Finkelstein’s site, news that that fat bitch Oprah is planning a solidarity visit to Israel.

…and get Labour kicked the fuck out. Errr, if you live in Scotland and are eligible to vote that is. For Iraq if nothing else: