Notes on My Speaking tour in the UK

Online Dating With A Twist – Got Sent A Terrorist From Gaza! Pt2

http://canadiansforpalestine.ning.com/profiles/blogs/online-dating-with-a-twist-1

But it didn’t end there, in Westminster (Part 1) - our brief encounter was to be extended through the course of the week, as the PSC had launched a series of national events to build on the gains made since Israel’s latest misadventures in Gaza.

Which, in their own words:

“These Activist Days aim to involve new and recent members with local branches in building the campaign and extending the reach of PSC. More activist days will be set up over the next few months and we would like to hear from branches that would like to host them.

We will focus on discussion on the current situation and dealing with difficult political issues. We will be looking at how to build support including; working locally, acting globally; getting the message out; liaison with local media; lobbying MP’s and MEP’s and involving all sections of the community.

Local activists, members of the EC and a media expert will be present at each day to explore how best to achieve our aims.”

The first of these Activist Days was to be in Bristol, almost my neck of the woods and the PSC hierarchy had very kindly asked me to host him overnight.

So from our opposite ends of the country we both adorned ourselves on Bristol, where Sameh shared the platform with Betty Hunter, Director General of the PSC.

Sameh shared with us his experiences of what it is like to be living under bombardment whilst trying to record and report on the event, as he did via phone to Sky News (see Part One) and also gave accounts of individual families such as that of Khaled Abed Rabbu, from Jabalia city in northern Gaza, who had witnessed the cold bloodied murder of two of his daughters on January 7th.

Obviously, during his after-talk questions, the issue of Hamas’ popularity after all this carnage emerged as the hot-topic. Somebody mentioned that even Tony Blair had now called for them to be brought into the peace process - I had to intervene here, I hate this man with a passion, not only had he systematically killed the UK’s Labour Party, taken us into an illegal war but I could make a strong case for him being seriously complicit (as ‘so-called’ Peace Envoy) with Israel’s latest attempt to crush Hamas. I reminded everyone of his statements from early December of last year quoted in the Lebanon’s Daily Star, where he said, ‘he wanted to see the ‘right measures’ put in place to ensure that Hamas would be defeated in forthcoming elections,’ and asked whether anyone else felt that the recent trashing of the Gazan infrastructure had something to do with these and his ‘right measures..’ In the end Sameh said it hadn’t affected their popularity and had only strengthened their resolve.

I couldn’t help but notice throughout the day that I wasn’t the only, general anti-war type, who had sort of drifted onto the issue of Palestine and while Betty Hunter told of the rise and rise of the PSC’s Annual National Lobby of Parliament, wondered why the Anti-War Movement as a whole hadn’t adopted this approach to their campaigning. OK, Palestine is still occupied but there have been at least a couple of positive developments of late - the recent creation of the Labour Party Friends of Palestine and also the UK government’s decision to backtrack on its original choice to rent part of a Leviev building in Tel Aviv for its new Embassy, after a letter-writing campaign was launched in protest, both suggest that the UK government might just be getting the message.

One thing I certainly agreed with Betty on was that concerning Palestine, you just can’t do enough, I always feel like that.

Then there were workshops and discussions about how to effectively lobby your elected representatives and ways and means of setting up, organising and advertising events in your own locality, all of which I found most beneficial, not least because of the European Elections approaching and because my own local peace group seem to have become most inactive and ineffectual and could well do with some fresh ideas which this event as a whole gave.

Sameh doing what he seems to do very well... make friends..

The next one is to be in London:

PSC Student Dayschool - After the University Occupations, Campaigning 4 Palestine
Saturday 21st March

11am - 5pm University of London Union , Malet Street , London
And will include some high profile speakers inc:

Ken Livingstone (former Mayor of London), Betty Hunter, PSC Director General, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Sameh Habeeb, photojournalist from Gaza, Khaled Al-Mudallal, Palestinian student (formerly trapped in Gaza) and contain - Reports from Students involved in Recent Occupations with many others to be confirmed. More info:

Then came the best bit, taking Sameh home and an utter delight! I had been looking forward to something like this for some time. So many times over the last year or so, I have phoned him up in Gaza and more often than not he would assume I’m just another journalist looking for info and he would start reeling off facts and figures of Israel’s latest means of collective punishment of his people and I have had to stop him in his tracks: ‘Hang on Sam, it’s me, your mate, I got all the news, how are you?’ etc. When he went on a whistle-stop tour of Italy last year his feet hardly touched the ground and while he is based in London for the present he is probably at the beck and call of the PSC, I just wanted him for a short time at least, away from it all and almost free…

So we were off, from Bristol:

To Taunton:
To Minehead:

After Sameh called me a ‘natural Gazan’ in Part One, I’d like to return the compliment and say he is a ‘natural Minehead-ian.’ I dragged him about town and tried coaxing him into a drink but he was having none of it, bless but the manner in which he just sort of blended in took me a little by surprise but without any help from me at all he made a few new friends to say the least.

Sameh blending in, to the scenery even. Hey! We may have a few smugglers tunnels but no Israeli gunboats on these shores...yet!
All went well, until he asked me to get him a haircut – on a Sunday!

Don’t know why but Sameh now thinks I’m a terroWrist!

All's well that ends well (the haircut) - my mate was well pleased to meet Sameh and get his sheers back!

All I can say, after seeing Sameh on his way back to London, if this is Israel, the West and George W Bush’s ‘You’re either with us, or you’re with the….’ idea of a terrorist, then the world needs more…

A big THANK YOU to the PSC for hosting Sameh in the UK & Bristol for putting on the above event.


--
Sameh A. Habeeb,
Photojournalist, Peace Activist &
Founder of The Palestine Telegraph Newspaper
London, United Kingdom
UK Mob:0044- (0) 7949725139
Gaza Mob: 00972599306096
Sameh.habeeb@gmail.com
Skype: Gazatoday, Facebook: Sameh A. habeeb
Web: www.Paltelegraph.com
www.gazatoday.blogspot.com
Photos:http://picasaweb.google.com/sameh.habeeb