19 May 2010
Dear Ambassador
Below is the third letter I have e-mailed to you concerning human rights in Iran and so far you have not responded.
I am now re-sending the letter below to assure you that I will continue to cry out against such outrages with every fibre of my being and I call on you again to stop all executions and all torture in your country.
Dear Ambassador
Again I write to you in dismay and unbelief, also in strongest protest, at the executions, hangings, shootings and torturing of my brothers and sisters in Iran. News of the latest examples of these horrors have come to me through a Nobel Peace Laureate who is also horrified beyond belief at these callous outrages against members of our human family.
Ali Heydariyan, Farhad Vakili, Farzad Kamangar, Mehdi Eslami and Shirin Alam Hooli, all of whose sacred lives you have violated and destroyed for so-called "enmity against God", - all denied the "crimes" with which you have charged them. I believe their word rather than yours. It is reported that they were tortured in an effort to gain "confessions" and I believe this to be true since the practice of torture is so common in Iran according to credible Human Rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Yours is a regime that has executed young gays for being homosexual. You declare the expression of the most noble and tender emotion of human love to be a "crime" punishable by death if the two people expressing it are of the same sex. You charge and murder them for loving one another as if love were a crime.
Yet you see nothing wrong with your hangmen violating the body of a woman, thrusting a rope around her neck and choking her until she is dead. You see nothing wrong either with men violating the bodies of other men by similarly dressing them up for choking and then hanging them until they too are murdered by your regime. How can anyone call himself a man and be responsible for such vile acts against human beings?
The evil involved in these acts must be exterminated in Iran. The darkness that envelopes your country is sending out messages to all reasonable people that your regime is to be opposed for its actions just as a similar message emanates from the State of Israel for its crimes against our Palestinian sisters and brothers. You and Israel are sowing seeds of hate against yourselves.
Stop this culture of torture, executions and extreme cruelty in your country. Put an end to this horrible nightmare. Let the light shine again on Iran. "The moon will not always be hidden behind the clouds".
With best personal wishes
Justin Morahan
Human Rights activist and Pacifist
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Never ending oppression in the West Bank
Yet another harrowing account of sabotage and destruction of Palestinians' lives has come to me from Bil'in in the West Bank. There, weekly protests against Israeli appropriation of land not theirs have been met with violence, tear-gas, arrests, wounding and killing.
Now the Israeli soldiers don't need the pretext of a protest. They come to the village with their guns by day or by night to intimidate, to shoot into homes, to intimidate, to arrest journalists who might witness their vilest actions, - and now to burn down olive trees that are the livelihood of the people whom they persecute.
Below is an account of just the latest crime with an accompanying video taken by a courageous Irish HumanRights defender, Tommy Donnelan of Galway.
"This morning, as is their wont, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intruded into the village of Bilin. This time there were only three to the forefront with backup behind them when challenged they beat a retreat.
This afternoon, villagers rushed to quench a fire in an olive tree sited close to the Apartheid-Annexation Wall which was deliberately set on fire by the retreating IOF, but which was unable to be saved due to the fire being set in a crevice in the trunk which smouldered throughout the day and it was only in the latter stages that the tell-tale smoke was detected.
This pernicious act of economic warfare has deeply angered the villagers as many are dependent on the sale of the olive oil - 700 to 800 shekels per tree annually - for their livelihoods. To rub salt into their wounds and worse, after the fire was extinguished, the IOF ventured forth from behind the Wall and after detaining three activist-journalists - so as not to record their crimes, subjected the villagers to live fire, tear gas and sound bombs.
Today's destruction of the tree has alarmed the farmers in that phosphorus may have been used to unobtrusively burn the tree and olive groves may follow. So it goes in Bilin, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, ad infinitum, in a vicious world which doesn't care."
Now the Israeli soldiers don't need the pretext of a protest. They come to the village with their guns by day or by night to intimidate, to shoot into homes, to intimidate, to arrest journalists who might witness their vilest actions, - and now to burn down olive trees that are the livelihood of the people whom they persecute.
Below is an account of just the latest crime with an accompanying video taken by a courageous Irish HumanRights defender, Tommy Donnelan of Galway.
"This morning, as is their wont, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intruded into the village of Bilin. This time there were only three to the forefront with backup behind them when challenged they beat a retreat.
This afternoon, villagers rushed to quench a fire in an olive tree sited close to the Apartheid-Annexation Wall which was deliberately set on fire by the retreating IOF, but which was unable to be saved due to the fire being set in a crevice in the trunk which smouldered throughout the day and it was only in the latter stages that the tell-tale smoke was detected.
This pernicious act of economic warfare has deeply angered the villagers as many are dependent on the sale of the olive oil - 700 to 800 shekels per tree annually - for their livelihoods. To rub salt into their wounds and worse, after the fire was extinguished, the IOF ventured forth from behind the Wall and after detaining three activist-journalists - so as not to record their crimes, subjected the villagers to live fire, tear gas and sound bombs.
Today's destruction of the tree has alarmed the farmers in that phosphorus may have been used to unobtrusively burn the tree and olive groves may follow. So it goes in Bilin, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, ad infinitum, in a vicious world which doesn't care."
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Rachel Corrie Anniversary 16 March
On the seventh anniversary of the callous mowing down in Gaza, of human rights activist Rachel Corrie while she she protected a Palestinian home from destruction with her own body, a lawsuit is progressing in Haifa in Israel.
Rachel's family are suing Israel for her unlawful killing.
Twenty three year old Rachel stood unarmed, except for her exceptional humanity and bravery in front of the Palestinians' home. The bulldozer that callously and criminally crushed her young body to death was an Israeli Army Caterpillar D9R.
Video recording of the killing had large portions deleted or omitted when it was sent to the Corrie family.
Today Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig and her sister Sarah are asking friends and supporters around the world to support their campaign to receive justice for Rachel. They are asking us to ring the White House
1 urge that George Mitchell visit Gaza, and
2 demand that the US break the blockade of Gaza by providing immediate humanitarian aid and building materials.
The number to ring is 001 202 456 1111
It's not much for them to ask. If you make the call, today or any day during this week, they would be delighted if you also let them (the family) know on the form provided at http://tinyurl.com/Corrie4Gaza
Rachel's family are suing Israel for her unlawful killing.
Twenty three year old Rachel stood unarmed, except for her exceptional humanity and bravery in front of the Palestinians' home. The bulldozer that callously and criminally crushed her young body to death was an Israeli Army Caterpillar D9R.
Video recording of the killing had large portions deleted or omitted when it was sent to the Corrie family.
Today Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig and her sister Sarah are asking friends and supporters around the world to support their campaign to receive justice for Rachel. They are asking us to ring the White House
1 urge that George Mitchell visit Gaza, and
2 demand that the US break the blockade of Gaza by providing immediate humanitarian aid and building materials.
The number to ring is 001 202 456 1111
It's not much for them to ask. If you make the call, today or any day during this week, they would be delighted if you also let them (the family) know on the form provided at http://tinyurl.com/Corrie4Gaza
Sunday, 11 October 2009
A Proposal re the Abused Children of Ireland
The shocking revelations of the past years of the abuse suffered in various Church/State institutions and the meagre efforts to redress the abuse have prompted the following which I call
A Proposal for the Abused Children of Ireland
1 The State to declare all orphans and others who were abused in Ireland's industrial schools and other places of detention to be Honoured Citizens of Ireland
2. An official certificate to be granted to all such citizens declaring that they are Honoured Citizens of Ireland. The certificate to be signed by the President and Taoiseach of the day and stamped officially.
3. Special privileges, apart from compensation, to be granted permanently to Honoured Citizens. These to include Free Medical Card, free travel, free access to cinema and theatre etc.
4 Existing compensation granted to victims to be quadrupled without further investigations. This payment not to be an obstacle to victims (Honoured Citizens) seeking further and better compensation.
5 Those who should have been but were not heard by Judge Ryan to be heard by a new Tribunal composed solely of victims and their cases decided by that new tribunal in a non-adversarial way.
6. A Park of Remembrance to be created to honour the deceased Honoured Citizens and their families. The Park to contain a building for recreative purposes for all Honoured Citizens and their families.
7. In Seanad Eireann and Dail Eireann the present official prayer to be replaced permanently by a declaration recognising the culpability of the State vis-a-via its Honoured citizens and promising that every effort will be made, starting now, to prevent any such abuse from taking place in future or present times in any place whatever within the State. This declaration to be made daily in both Houses before start of business.
8. All Churches and religious congregations to be equally liable with the State for the financing of the above
9. In all Masses, a special statement admitting guilt against the victims, requesting forgiveness and promising never again to be part of such abuse, to be inserted and read publicly. Similarly for other religions who have been responsible for the abuse of children or other inmates under their care.
(Church people themselves might have some other proposals along with these)
A Proposal for the Abused Children of Ireland
1 The State to declare all orphans and others who were abused in Ireland's industrial schools and other places of detention to be Honoured Citizens of Ireland
2. An official certificate to be granted to all such citizens declaring that they are Honoured Citizens of Ireland. The certificate to be signed by the President and Taoiseach of the day and stamped officially.
3. Special privileges, apart from compensation, to be granted permanently to Honoured Citizens. These to include Free Medical Card, free travel, free access to cinema and theatre etc.
4 Existing compensation granted to victims to be quadrupled without further investigations. This payment not to be an obstacle to victims (Honoured Citizens) seeking further and better compensation.
5 Those who should have been but were not heard by Judge Ryan to be heard by a new Tribunal composed solely of victims and their cases decided by that new tribunal in a non-adversarial way.
6. A Park of Remembrance to be created to honour the deceased Honoured Citizens and their families. The Park to contain a building for recreative purposes for all Honoured Citizens and their families.
7. In Seanad Eireann and Dail Eireann the present official prayer to be replaced permanently by a declaration recognising the culpability of the State vis-a-via its Honoured citizens and promising that every effort will be made, starting now, to prevent any such abuse from taking place in future or present times in any place whatever within the State. This declaration to be made daily in both Houses before start of business.
8. All Churches and religious congregations to be equally liable with the State for the financing of the above
9. In all Masses, a special statement admitting guilt against the victims, requesting forgiveness and promising never again to be part of such abuse, to be inserted and read publicly. Similarly for other religions who have been responsible for the abuse of children or other inmates under their care.
(Church people themselves might have some other proposals along with these)
Monday, 5 October 2009
Tales of Ballycumber
I was present at a first night pre-view performance - which fact should be taken into account vis-à-vis any adverse comments in the review.
Tales of Ballycumber is a tragedy. The author, Sebastian Barry, has tackled the extremely difficult and harrowing subject of the large number of suicides recently happening among young Irish people, especially young men. For those who have not been touched in real life by being close to such tragedies, the play might be a bitter pill to swallow. For those who have had to swallow a more bitter truth already, in a barn or bedroom maybe, at a moment of awful, sudden and unchangeable realisation, this work and its performance on the Abbey stage will provide at least a little hint of empathy and hopefully a little solace.
The play has been carefully constructed with a mixture of story-telling, bright and dark imagery, rural dialect, farm lore, ghosts, parenting and themes of young love hindered by shades of ever so delicate inter-religious tensions. It begins with the brilliant song, Heartbreak Hotel, made famous by Elvis Presley which sets the scene to follow. Farmer Nicholas Farquhar (Stephen Rea) is 45-ish, his young friend Evans Stafford (Aaron Monaghan) is 17, both are Protestant. The neighbourly Evans has just helped Nicholas to root out a crow's nest from his chimney when the two sit down to tea and chat. Evans has news about Elvis's ancestors coming from the nearby Hacketstown, Nicholas recounts tales of the famous Kennedys. In between, Evans is anxious to talk about the girl with the greeny blue eyes, a Catholic with whom he has fallen in love, whose brother has lately hanged himself. Nicholas counters with recalling the tragedy of a young local girl, "one of the most beautiful wee girls that was ever seen around Ballycumber" who has died of cancer.
However, it is Nicholas's own advice to Evans, summed up in "You couldn't be trusting a girl like that to look after you" , that sows the seeds of the play's own immediate tragedy. Evans leaves a note saying that "Nicholas Farquhar knows" why, when the young lad shoots himself in the stomach. The focus turns on Nicholas. The gentle Andrew Stafford, Evans's father, wants to know, while Evans still struggles for life, what had Nicholas said to his son that caused him to do this. Nicholas's own sister, Tania, also wants to know. She becomes the bearer of bad news that Evans has died. She further wants to know "was there anything amiss" between Nicholas and Evans, recalling a shopkeeper whose wife had to lock up their three sons "so he couldn't get at them". For Nicholas this is too much.
He has ghosts in his head. One is the wee girl who died of cancer. Another is his dead mother to whom he cries in his grief. The wee girl (who sang the Heartbreak Hotel song) comforts him from time to time. Evans becomes another ghost, visiting him with a strange tale of how he was looking for the girl with the greenie blue eyes, found her (now her name was Casey) but just when they were enjoying each other's company, a band of men attacked him, pinned him down and shot him in the stomach.
The cast is star-studded. The writing has a strong hint of Synge. The portrayals, especially of Nicholas and Evans, were memorable. So, I have been asking myself: Why was it not a very satisfying theatre experience for me?
Part of the answer is probably that it was a first night pre-view, some characters were not fully prepared, some sentences were lost, some voices very weak. Another reason may be the denseness of the text, the difficulty of listening to long tales without any action. The cyclorama failed to convey the atmosphere it was intended to convey. The direction (on that first night) may have lacked subtlety. There was little movement on stage. People spoke mostly from a standing or sitting position. The stage itself looked unbelievably small and odd. Most of all I think it was the daffodils (which unnecessarily smothered the stage) that made me uncomfortable.
On the positive side, what a brilliant idea to have the full text of the play published in the official programme. This affords you an opportunity to compare what you heard with what you see and to try to tackle the unanswered questions of the play.
Tales of Ballycumber is a tragedy. The author, Sebastian Barry, has tackled the extremely difficult and harrowing subject of the large number of suicides recently happening among young Irish people, especially young men. For those who have not been touched in real life by being close to such tragedies, the play might be a bitter pill to swallow. For those who have had to swallow a more bitter truth already, in a barn or bedroom maybe, at a moment of awful, sudden and unchangeable realisation, this work and its performance on the Abbey stage will provide at least a little hint of empathy and hopefully a little solace.
The play has been carefully constructed with a mixture of story-telling, bright and dark imagery, rural dialect, farm lore, ghosts, parenting and themes of young love hindered by shades of ever so delicate inter-religious tensions. It begins with the brilliant song, Heartbreak Hotel, made famous by Elvis Presley which sets the scene to follow. Farmer Nicholas Farquhar (Stephen Rea) is 45-ish, his young friend Evans Stafford (Aaron Monaghan) is 17, both are Protestant. The neighbourly Evans has just helped Nicholas to root out a crow's nest from his chimney when the two sit down to tea and chat. Evans has news about Elvis's ancestors coming from the nearby Hacketstown, Nicholas recounts tales of the famous Kennedys. In between, Evans is anxious to talk about the girl with the greeny blue eyes, a Catholic with whom he has fallen in love, whose brother has lately hanged himself. Nicholas counters with recalling the tragedy of a young local girl, "one of the most beautiful wee girls that was ever seen around Ballycumber" who has died of cancer.
However, it is Nicholas's own advice to Evans, summed up in "You couldn't be trusting a girl like that to look after you" , that sows the seeds of the play's own immediate tragedy. Evans leaves a note saying that "Nicholas Farquhar knows" why, when the young lad shoots himself in the stomach. The focus turns on Nicholas. The gentle Andrew Stafford, Evans's father, wants to know, while Evans still struggles for life, what had Nicholas said to his son that caused him to do this. Nicholas's own sister, Tania, also wants to know. She becomes the bearer of bad news that Evans has died. She further wants to know "was there anything amiss" between Nicholas and Evans, recalling a shopkeeper whose wife had to lock up their three sons "so he couldn't get at them". For Nicholas this is too much.
He has ghosts in his head. One is the wee girl who died of cancer. Another is his dead mother to whom he cries in his grief. The wee girl (who sang the Heartbreak Hotel song) comforts him from time to time. Evans becomes another ghost, visiting him with a strange tale of how he was looking for the girl with the greenie blue eyes, found her (now her name was Casey) but just when they were enjoying each other's company, a band of men attacked him, pinned him down and shot him in the stomach.
The cast is star-studded. The writing has a strong hint of Synge. The portrayals, especially of Nicholas and Evans, were memorable. So, I have been asking myself: Why was it not a very satisfying theatre experience for me?
Part of the answer is probably that it was a first night pre-view, some characters were not fully prepared, some sentences were lost, some voices very weak. Another reason may be the denseness of the text, the difficulty of listening to long tales without any action. The cyclorama failed to convey the atmosphere it was intended to convey. The direction (on that first night) may have lacked subtlety. There was little movement on stage. People spoke mostly from a standing or sitting position. The stage itself looked unbelievably small and odd. Most of all I think it was the daffodils (which unnecessarily smothered the stage) that made me uncomfortable.
On the positive side, what a brilliant idea to have the full text of the play published in the official programme. This affords you an opportunity to compare what you heard with what you see and to try to tackle the unanswered questions of the play.
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