The Sunday Papers.

Sunday March 21, 2004 13:15

by iosaf

incorporating all the other sunday papers within a 2500km radius.

It has long been valued that on their non-banking days people are pretty much the same as when they work, graft, toil and sweat.
Except they have less money making opportunities. This facilitates their increased participation in their society as citizens and nationals of the Civilised World.

Non ho avuto paura dei fascisti figurati se ho paura di te.

In this last week, the present incumbent of the White House declared that the reaction of the Spanish and European People to the atrocity of M11, was a clear sign that the civilised world is at war.

If this is true, the civilised world does war differently to the USA. We can not discount that Canada was less than joyful to be brought into the Bush alliance. We have mostly watched a charming movie/documentary by Mr Moore in which the differences between Canada and the US were given timely attention.

The mobilisations yesterday saw citizens take part in collective action, expressing their political philosophies which are myriad, their sincerity which can not be now doubted, around the world.

There are still some who believe a "day out" with a million people marching and a centurion of megaphones will bring peace in our time. This is unfortuanate. In Ireland several thousand demonstrated for Peace, for Neutrality and against Irish involvement in the War.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63935

In other cities the turn-out was described as dissappointing in London, yet Greenpeace the well equiped protesters did manage to climb the tower of St Stephen known as Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster and leave a simple message "No to War".

That message might have been worth 80,000 more megaphones and posters walking down the street. But I will never write that.

In Shannon two of Ireland's most acknowledged pacifist acitivsts left a wreath in memory of the dead. That message might have been worth a few thousand. But I will never write that.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63939

In Spain, reported attendances hovered around the 150,000 figure in the main cities of the peninsula. There can be no denying that there is an extended community in that country of all ages, at all socio-economic levels who have entered the 21st century with hope, intelligence, ideas, creativity, morality and some very old flags, songs and colours.
This will be known in the future as their "Spring" the youngest children wheeled yesterday in their buggies through the streets of Madrid, Bcn etc., will never know the subtle undermining of their heritage. "Speaking we understand people". They walked each group a representative of different stories, of different memories of the diversity of opinion and freedom speech which gives their country it's beauty.
http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/78986/index.php

In Italy every protester was worth a battalion.
One million pacifists entered the city of Rome yesterday. The Disobedients are claiming 2 million, the Italian Police are claiming 300,000, "the centre of Rome" said a million.
I shall write a million.

"Non ho avuto paura dei fascisti figurati se ho paura di te".

They came to Rome to describe with their myriad colours their fear. They came to Rome to declare that no-one may deny them the right to speech, the right to association, the right to Liberty.

"Nessuno mi può impedire di manifestare"

They came from all over the continent, from all over the world. The retroguard of the slow but purposeful procession being taken as in BCN by a group who simply flew the banner
"Statunitensi contro la guerra"
="U.S. Americans against the War"
http://www.repubblica.it/
http://www.repubblica.it/2004/c/sezioni/politica/iraqita1/corteopace/corteopace.html

this tumult of humanity was supported in their intiative by numerous recognisable names, including the President Of the European Commision Romano Prodi, who chose this week to publish in the Repubblica his thoughts on the alternative to war.
"Il popolo europeo nella sua interezza è stato parte integrante del movimento della pace, anzi ha posto la pace nell'identità stessa della nuova Europa. A distanza di un anno, alla vigilia di una nuova giornata mondiale per la pace e contro la guerra, c'è una domanda che il popolo della pace pone alla politica, anche in Europa, e che non può essere evitata."
[= Pacifism is integrating as an essential pillar of the European Identity]
http://www.repubblica.it/2004/c/sezioni/politica/iraqita1/prodialte/prodialte.html

*Mr Prodi too, has known Terror*
*Mr Prodi too, is a Victim*

Yesterday the Victims marched.

They did not all march, many can not, many may not leave their homes. Yesterday they spoke and sang, and not in English alone. Yesterday they sounded their drums and pipes. Italian newspapers might pose the idea that "the pacifists invaded Rome".
The allusion is odd, Rome has often been invaded, by barbarian, by the French, by Sardinian. The black shirts of the 20s thought to invade it but found they couldn't walk the distance, it is one simple sign of their "Lie" that they remember the ascent of Musolini as the march on Rome. When in fact they gave up far from the Eternal City.

When later this year the famous and symbolic empty plinth of London's Trafalgar Square is taken by a statue of a young pregnant woman who has lived with prenatal deformity which took her arms, yet more victims will take their proper place in our memory.

Humanity is worth preserving, the genius which is common to all free thinking peoples, be they Occidental or Oriental or African or South American comes from the potential of the human spirit which makes us all so terribly equal. A world given to the 21st century distilate of fascist, racist, nazi ideologies no matter the religious clothing it would dress itself in, will give us a world of not only ethnic cleansing and terror but a world of mediocre heirs, a world bereft of talent, art, beneficial science. A world without Leonardo Da Vinci, a world without Van Gogh, a world without Mozart a world without Stephen Hawkings.

We hold that All men are created equal
we hold such a truth to be self-evident.

So declared the founding Fathers of the USA, it was the _contract_ which established their legitimate rule of their section of the Northern American Continent. No-one can deny that such truths did not appear self-evident then, no-one can deny that the majority of those entrusted with building the USA were slave owners. But the founding principles remained and proved a template to bring the ideological trouble makers who sowed dissent on our continent hundreds of years ago into the community of Civilised Nations.
We it appears still have much work to do with our troublesome children as we have much work to with our troublesome neighbours. But we are as capable now as at any time.

We wish see
The contract of the Republic of the United States honoured.

We wish see Peace and the extension of Civilised Values from all the Civilisations of Earth to all the peoples of Earth.

We neither seek appeasement nor Offence.

It is many years on, and the arguments are as simple as ever they were.