This week a soldier was run over and attacked with machetes in a savage attack in Woolwich, London. The man, 25 year old, Lee Rigby leaves behind a son aged 2.
We have seen much of the events as they unfolded yesterday, images of a man holding blades covered in blood telling us that our "governments do not care about us" and that scenes like this occur everyday in their countries. BBC Political correspondent Nick Robinson described the assailants as "Muslim in appearance" causing outrage amongst sections of the community and also explained how his initial thoughts were of a terrorist act being carried out.
What we have witnessed since this senseless murder is the framing of events by the media and the establishment. Time and again over the past 24hrs the media have stated intelligence agencies have been concerned for some time that this was the type of attack they feared most, but were unable or unprepared to deal with and so prompting the push for a further curtailing of our liberties with renewed vigour for the Data and Communications Bill.
This attack has led to further framing of agenda by the media.
What makes this attack one of terrorism and the ones of say the woman who was beheaded in Spain, or the Muslim grandfather Mohammed Saleem who was stabbed to death on his door step not terrorism? Why is it that one is of terrorism and the others are either plain murder or racially motivated? The dictionary definition describes terrorism as the pursuit of political gain through the unauthorised use of violence and intimidation. In London since 2005 there have apparently been over 100 teenagers killed at the hands of a blade, going to prove that there is a culture of fear and terror on the streets but it is not necessarily the one the media is fixing for you now.
What makes this attack one of terrorism and the ones of say the woman who was beheaded in Spain, or the Muslim grandfather Mohammed Saleem who was stabbed to death on his door step not terrorism? Why is it that one is of terrorism and the others are either plain murder or racially motivated? The dictionary definition describes terrorism as the pursuit of political gain through the unauthorised use of violence and intimidation. In London since 2005 there have apparently been over 100 teenagers killed at the hands of a blade, going to prove that there is a culture of fear and terror on the streets but it is not necessarily the one the media is fixing for you now.
The narrative being used to reinforce and remind us that Muslim's are terrorists is strong and has been since 9/11, but this was not always the case.
For twenty five years or more the Irish were the symbol for terrorism and terrorists in the UK, a fact that winds up many a passenger at transport hubs such as airports when they complain during random stop and searches. A favourite quip would be "Do I look like a terrorist?"
Yesterday's events took a terrible toll on all involved and the consequences of the actions of those two individuals could have far reaching affects for this country as a whole if we let it. Those who witnessed it first hand will have had their worlds turned upside down for what could be years. A comment from one of the attackers was that violence such as that occurs on their streets every day. In Afghanistan and Iraq that is true and it is hard time for us all to sit and take stock of what acts of terrorism we have been complicit in as a country.
In December 2011 a British soldier was jailed for stabbing a 10 year old Afghanistan child with a bayonet. Wikileaks and the Guardian published news of further atrocities conducted by the British armed forces whilst serving in the wars and just this evening Barack Obama concluded that sometimes civilians get killed in the drone wars and called it a "hard fact." In fact at a Senate hearing a Senator stated that there had been several thousand people killed during these unmanned bombing raids that are coming to be known as The Drone Wars. The blog Scriptonite Daily has some startling statistics on the drone wars and the number of civilians killed by the Nobel Peace Prize winning President Barack Obama.
The people in these countries have no voice. They have no media run states framing the agenda to play out their heartache for us to see or hear. There has been a river of tears shed in the Afghanistan and Iraq over the lies fed to us by Tony Blair and George W. Bush.
Martin Luther King Jnr once said that the greatest purveyors of violence were his own government (of the Vietnam war) and so the sins of the past return to haunt us, as the same is true of our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. To think we are innocent of the bloodshed is to be naive and live in denial. Bush, Blair, Cameron and Obama have as much blood on their hands as the man who addressed the stunned onlookers in Woolwich this week.
So long as our governments keep exporting fear and terror through the barrel of a gun or a drone we will not be able to claim peace. Has anything they have done in the 'war against terror' done anything to make the world feel like a safer place? If anything it has become a war of terror.
This terror is fed on fear and we have plenty of that going around at the moment. The EDL descended on Woolwich intent on having a riot and claiming that this attack was an example of the reason they existed. They fought with police, the leader, Stephen Lennon has a record for it too and they have a lot to say about Muslim grooming gangs, but nothing of the celebrity sex scandal engulfing television with Rolf Harris, Jimmy Saville and Co being outed every week. They prey on people and this time is the turn of the already traumatised people of Woolwich with a brand of patriotism that has previously been discredited by Sandra Oh from Grey's Anatomy, reading Emma Goldman's speech.
The fear being induced by the media, security services and our governments insistence in exporting war, is compounded by a lack of understanding. Facebook and Twitter have been awash with people Muslim bashing, black bashing and calling for a wide range of barbaric tortures themselves to punish those responsible for the soldiers death. Is this really the world they want for their children? Violence begets violence and Martin Luther King said that darkness cannot drive out darkness and that only light can do that. Even on my own social media feeds I have had to field some of the worst, fascist rhetoric regarding what has happened as people's emotions have run high.
Things doing the rounds on the social media sites include some of the following;
Questions have been posed as to the human rights of those that took part in the attack. Fortunately for us all human rights are there for the needs of the many and the actions of a few should not lead to the acts that serve and protect us being torn up for something lesser.
On the question of 7/7 and the lack of compensation for the victims going about their day job that are flying around the social media sites, who's fault is that? The governments, not Muslims.
The solider was apparently wearing a Help for Heroes T-Shirt and now every one is being encouraged to buy and support them. Why do we have a Help for Heroes Charity in the first place? Because the government does not provide for the men and women it sends out there to get blown up fighting illegal wars. Who's fault? The government.
Before condemning an entire religion we must look to take everything that happens in some kind of context and for all those labelling all Muslim's as extremists, attacking Mosques and calling for action remember this, just as not every Muslim is an extremist, neither were all Catholics, nor did all Christians want to gas Jews or wear white hoods and drag black people along the tarmac behind their trucks but some people from all of these religions have done just these very things. It does not make the religions evil, if there is such a thing, it means that a minority of individuals should not be responsible for the condemnation of an entire group. For anyone calling for those hangings, beheadings and mob justice should take a moment to look in the mirror and ask yourself if what you are asking for will do anything to make the world a better, safer place for you and your children?
The only way for us to break free of these cycles of hatred is to first stop participating in them.
We must start to view ourselves as one species, the human species with common problems and not separate races. We must learn to understand the truth behind the language we use and realise we are masters of it and not slaves to it and begin to create our own reality, one that is crafted from love and not fear and hate, free from all forms of terror.
The people in these countries have no voice. They have no media run states framing the agenda to play out their heartache for us to see or hear. There has been a river of tears shed in the Afghanistan and Iraq over the lies fed to us by Tony Blair and George W. Bush.
Martin Luther King Jnr once said that the greatest purveyors of violence were his own government (of the Vietnam war) and so the sins of the past return to haunt us, as the same is true of our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. To think we are innocent of the bloodshed is to be naive and live in denial. Bush, Blair, Cameron and Obama have as much blood on their hands as the man who addressed the stunned onlookers in Woolwich this week.
So long as our governments keep exporting fear and terror through the barrel of a gun or a drone we will not be able to claim peace. Has anything they have done in the 'war against terror' done anything to make the world feel like a safer place? If anything it has become a war of terror.
This terror is fed on fear and we have plenty of that going around at the moment. The EDL descended on Woolwich intent on having a riot and claiming that this attack was an example of the reason they existed. They fought with police, the leader, Stephen Lennon has a record for it too and they have a lot to say about Muslim grooming gangs, but nothing of the celebrity sex scandal engulfing television with Rolf Harris, Jimmy Saville and Co being outed every week. They prey on people and this time is the turn of the already traumatised people of Woolwich with a brand of patriotism that has previously been discredited by Sandra Oh from Grey's Anatomy, reading Emma Goldman's speech.
The fear being induced by the media, security services and our governments insistence in exporting war, is compounded by a lack of understanding. Facebook and Twitter have been awash with people Muslim bashing, black bashing and calling for a wide range of barbaric tortures themselves to punish those responsible for the soldiers death. Is this really the world they want for their children? Violence begets violence and Martin Luther King said that darkness cannot drive out darkness and that only light can do that. Even on my own social media feeds I have had to field some of the worst, fascist rhetoric regarding what has happened as people's emotions have run high.
Things doing the rounds on the social media sites include some of the following;
Questions have been posed as to the human rights of those that took part in the attack. Fortunately for us all human rights are there for the needs of the many and the actions of a few should not lead to the acts that serve and protect us being torn up for something lesser.
On the question of 7/7 and the lack of compensation for the victims going about their day job that are flying around the social media sites, who's fault is that? The governments, not Muslims.
The solider was apparently wearing a Help for Heroes T-Shirt and now every one is being encouraged to buy and support them. Why do we have a Help for Heroes Charity in the first place? Because the government does not provide for the men and women it sends out there to get blown up fighting illegal wars. Who's fault? The government.
Before condemning an entire religion we must look to take everything that happens in some kind of context and for all those labelling all Muslim's as extremists, attacking Mosques and calling for action remember this, just as not every Muslim is an extremist, neither were all Catholics, nor did all Christians want to gas Jews or wear white hoods and drag black people along the tarmac behind their trucks but some people from all of these religions have done just these very things. It does not make the religions evil, if there is such a thing, it means that a minority of individuals should not be responsible for the condemnation of an entire group. For anyone calling for those hangings, beheadings and mob justice should take a moment to look in the mirror and ask yourself if what you are asking for will do anything to make the world a better, safer place for you and your children?
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| No problems but human problems - one species |
The only way for us to break free of these cycles of hatred is to first stop participating in them.
We must start to view ourselves as one species, the human species with common problems and not separate races. We must learn to understand the truth behind the language we use and realise we are masters of it and not slaves to it and begin to create our own reality, one that is crafted from love and not fear and hate, free from all forms of terror.
What cannot be taken away from what has happened this week and what overrides the entirety of the wider debate is the future of the young boy left behind without a father and the prospect of growing up in a world escalating ever more in hatred, mistrust and fear, a world that we have a duty to change for the better for us all.
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