Free Ahed Al -Tamimi and Palestinian child prisoners

A Palestinian girl, Ahmed Al - Tamimi aged 16 years, from a well-known activist family who lives in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, who many Palestinians view as their  hero, is currently wearing  prison clothes, her only crime being  is that she was born in Palestine and showed resistance to her oppressors, and called for Freedom, Peace, and ending the occupation and removing the apartheid wall. Her courage is unrivalled.
This brave girl has been participating against her oppressors ,standing up against injustices. She has been protesting the theft of land and  water since 2012. She has had to endure personal sacrifice, having lost an uncle and cousin to the occupation. Her parents Nariman and Bassem Tamimi,  have been arrested time and again.
A video posted on facebook last Friday shows Ahed and her mother blocking two Israeli soldiers from entering their home after occupation forces had shot her 14 year old cousin Mohammad in the face by a rubber bullet, and fired tear-gas canisters directly at their home, breaking several windows.

Two years ago a video featuring her went viral as she sought to protect her brother being taken away by a soldier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=485&v=mg1-_oIfjqc
On Tueday December 18th Ahed , was abducted from  her home, during a pre-dawn raid carried out by Israeli Occupation Forces. At least 30 soldiers were involved in the raid and Ahed's arrest. During this raid,  occupation forces assaulted various members of her family, including Ahed's 14 year old brother, and confiscated their cell phones and computers. Later in the day after learning that Ahed was being held at a police station near Jabaa village, her mother travelled there to be present for her daughters interrogation, only to be arrested by occupation forces on her arrival. An Israeli cour yesterday extended her detention.
Ahed is currently one of 211 Palestinian  child prisoners in Israeli jails as of November 2017 http://www.addameer.org/statistics Israeli Occupation forces regularly abduct, arrest, and abuse Palestinian children and torture them while in custody.The arrest of Ahed is sadly not an isolated incident,  but rather follows suit with Israel's policies and increased attacks on Palestinians since Donald Trump's symbolic assault on Palestinian sovereignty with his announcement on Jerusalem. As Palestinians continue to mobilize in light of this decision, it is imperative that the international community condemns all efforts by Israel to stifle Palestinian resistance. Israel's attempts to silence and install fear in Palestine youth , must be met with outrage, while extending full support to targeted Palestinians so they are not demoralized.
The United Nations has repeatedly called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory. accusing Israel of being guilty of policies and practices that constitute the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people, in violation of international law.
I stand against the imprisonment of Palestinians, especially children, believing that all occupied people have a right to resist their occupation. and therefore stand with Ahed and her family in this difficult time and salute their struggle of firm resistance against their illegal occupation
Please consider adding your name to the following petitions  demanding Ahed and Palestinian children are released from Israeli prisons now. The international community must put an end to the ill-treatment of Palestinian children. Enough is enough. To Ahed and the children in Isreli jails. We stand by your side, and are holding you in our hearts. We wil not give up until you are free. You are not alone. I urge fellow people of conscience to demand freedom for Ahed and her fellow detained and jailed Palestinian children in occupation detention centers, interrogation centers and prisons. The resistance of the Palestinian people has never been quelled by arrests or repression, and it must be clear that we, around the world, continue to stand alongside the Palestinian peope as they defend Jerusalem and their entire land and people under attack. This includes standing with detained and jailed Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for themselves, their people, and their occupied homeland.
It is only a few days now untill the new year,  but children are still being imprisoned in the modern age. Love and peace will never die, and the people of Palestine and the free world, salute you Ahed for the courage that you have shown.

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/free_ahed/

https://www.change.org/p/human-rights-campaign-free-ahed-tamimi-and-all-other-kids

Ahed Tamimi - Living Resistance Tour

Write to Ahed Tamimi, lets shower her with notes of hope, light and love. Let her know the world is watching and standing beside her in solidarity!

Ahen Tamimi
HaSharon Prison
Ben Yehuda,
PO BOX 7
40 330 Israel

Musical highlights of the year ; 2017

Another surreal year, the story of my life,  again not popped to record stores as much as i'd have wished,  have spent some time trying to get over my partners bereavement. Getting there, though I doubt, I will ever quite fully recover from the loss. Despite this , here are some musical highlights from the last year that have managed to pick me up, in no particular order.Power to the music. I feel optimistic about 2018, I believe it truly will be one of change. See you on the other side. Kick the Tories out.

1. Mwstard - Cloc

2, Nik Turner - Life in Space

3. Steve Ignorant's Slice of life - Love and a lampost

4. Open Mike Eagle -  Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

5. Benjamin Zepaniah - Revolutionary Minds

6. Lisa Knapp - Till April is dead

7. Lankum - Between the Earth and Sky

8. Penny Rimbaud -What Passing Bells : The War Poems of Wilfred Owen

9. Diamanda Galas - All the Way

10. The Bug Vs Earth -  Concrete Desert

Festive greetings : Keep on sharing mutual aid and solidarity..

Festive greetings.It's that time of year again, when we sing about peace and good will, amidst mistletoe and wine, merriment and laughter, and we have the simple  impulse  to give, share and support others, release feelings of mutual aid and solidarity..
As the tentacles of the capitalist market reach into every part of our lives,  encouraging us to pay for the convenience of expressing our feelings for our fellow beings, through  excessive gift giving, time also to reflect and think of others who have even less, and those who will be giving up their time to help others. The latter acts I believe  are part of our nature, an impulse that I  believe should  not be  be a once in a year anomoly, it is something as human beings that we should collectively daily  nurture, as Peter Kropotkin wrote in Mutual Aid,' a factor of evolution that we need in order to survive.'
Today lets try not to forget the many organisations  and services providing comfort to those that need it most,who will be dealing with  a sharp rise in demand  for crisis services at this time of year, as people face homelessness and benefits disruption over this festive period, because of our government and its policies. For some ,this time of the year is not a time of year for thinking about buying  or recieving presents, taking time of work and seeing family and friends. It is a time of immense difficulty, fear and uncertainty,  people left in isolation, feeling alone, as services are closed, many left cold, hungry and without support, in a downward spiral . People who feel they do not belong, who are discredited and denied their status as human beings.
So it is important  especially at this time of year to look out for one another, and reach out to those in need of our help, the underpriveleged and marginalised, those too weak to look after or defend themselves. So happy Christmas to all,  but please do not leave individuals standing alone, please keep sharing your  mutual aid and solidarity.  Together we can make a difference to those that need it the most, as some of us get a little inebriated, lets try and keep other spirits alive too, And after this holiday period has ended, lets keep shaping our society into a better place to live, for the many not the few. Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much. All the very best.

20 of the worst comments by Tory MPs in 2017

for links to news articles about all 20 comments go here ;-  https://www.facebook.com/StopTheTories17/videos/309531252868739/

They are simply rotten , as simply as that , and currently more concerned what color passports will be post brexit , at  the cost of £500 m blue is their color, They just want us all to live in an isolated monolingual mono cultural country of poverty and despair, where the hardest  hit struggle to suvive, who simply want some sense and reason to come back into  our lives. But the self seving elitist thieving Tories keep releasing their conscious cruelty with their deliberate punitive policies, leaving the country bedridden with austerity, suffering the fall out from cuts to services,which at end of day are purely ideological. Their Christmas gift to Britains poorest children is to get rid of their free school meals.
This is Conservatism in a nutshell. There is no such thing as a fair society under a Conservative Government. How do we stop them, we keep pushing, fighting back, for a fairer society, for the many not the few, we have to stop them in their tracks.  If you can,  have a merry christmas, do not them steal  any hope or joy that you may have stored within. Kick out the Tories.

The Pagan Roots of Christmas :Happy Winter Solstice

                                                                     
It's come round again, the time some of us celebrate  the Festival of Yuletide, others the Birth of the Sun and, for Christians, the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is a mixture of both ancient and modern traditions adapted through the ages to meet the needs of the ruling class of the time, be it Roman aristocrat, feudal lord or modern capitalist, ts roots go back into the dawn of the human experience of winter in the Northern hemisphere. People gathering around the fire to keep warm, and feasting to raise their spirits in the cold and dark; and looking forward to the return of the sun and the spring.Some people forget that many of the traditional Judeo-Christian winter holiday activities have their origins in Pagan worship, and this is particular true of Christmas which coincides with Yule. 

Although Christians had the goal of spreading their religion across Europe, they were still quite fascinated by many of the customs and ways of the pagans. Clearly they were fascinated enough to pick up a few of those beliefs and traditions and adapt them as part of Christian celebrations! 

At the time, all of these different groups shared one big celebration that just happerned to fall around Christmas time – the winter solstice. People living in the northern hemisphere celebrate winter solstice (or the shortest day of the year) smack bang in the middle of December, and this is why Christmas just so happened to fall around the same time as many existing pagan holidays. 

Yule is associated with reindeer, mistletoe, pine, holly and the fox. It's colors are red, green, silver and gold. Gold is the color of the god and silver is the color of the goddess. Mithras, the Sun King, the Baby Sun God, Apollo, or the Great Mother can be invited.

The Yule tree has in fact been in traditions thousands of years before it became known as the Christmas tree in the 1840s. Dating  back centuries before Jesus Christ, pagan cultures brought evergreen trees, plants, and leaves into their homes upon the arrival of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, which occurs in the northern hemisphere between December 21st and 22nd. Evergreen trees were seen as a symbol of continual life,  especially at the time of the Winter Solstice. Allowing wood spirits to keep warm in the winter months. Bells and trinckets were hung in the limbs to chime when an an appreciative spirit was present, food and treats were hung on the branches for the spirits to eat. Sometimes, these trees were  decorated with things  that symbolized the person's wishes for the New Year , such as coins, lights and corn, which were meant to bring wealth, sunlight and a bountiful harvest, respectively. A five-pointed star, the pentagram , symbol of the five elements, air, fire, water, earth, and aether (or spirit) was placed atop the tree. Decorating  the tree meant looking forward to spring and the fruit it would bring.

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Most ancient cultures in the Northern hemisphere would celebrate the winter solstice in some way, and more often than not this would involve the use of plants, a common symbol of life, fertility and rebirth. Although the specific practices were different in each country and culture, the symbolization was generally the same, to celebrate the return of life at the beginning of winter's decline and to make them think of the spring to come.
Similar belief systems could be found in agricultural pagan societies in Europe.Winter marked a point of sickness from their sun gods, the solstice marked the points of transition after which the deities would start to recover.Evergreen boughs and trees were therefore a common part of winter solstice celebrations.Midwinter  houred the dark womb  of the mother, who is preparing to give birth to the new child of light. The old sun has died, and the new sun is about to be reborn, The new sun is a male child, and the energies of the male and female are combined at Midwinter.

The winter solstice was a huge part of pagan life. As they were primarily agricultural people, Pagans could stop farming through the winter, and instead devoted themselves to worshipping their various gods and celebrating with those around them. As winter in the northern hemisphere tends to be a dark, cold, and hungry period of time, the winter solstice was celebrated to help keep people entertained and enjoy themselves until the sun rolled around again.e year’s harvest and the chance to enjoy the company of loved ones and rest from toiling the fields. 
However these traditions came under fire with the rise of Christianity, the Church desperate to abolish pagan customs. In the third century CE, the decorating of homes with evergreen boughs was strictly prohibited by church authorities and decorating or bringing a tree into ones home to celebrate the holiday was actually frowned upon by by many  puritanical Christian denominations  for being seen as decadent and dangerously pagan, Oliver Cromwell himself preached against them as ' heathen traditions', until  that is in  1841, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's German husband had a Christmas Tree set up in Windsor Castle. Subsequently increasing their popularity.
Also  in addition to the decorated tree, many other Christmas customs have their roots in early Pagan cultures and traditions. Caroling, gift exchanges, and mistletoe all originated from classical Pagan traditions. The mistletoe especially is steeped in pagan ritual, as it was often used by the Celts as a symbol of sexuality, fertility and abundance. Burning the Yule log was done to give strength to the sun, and a wreath served as a symbol of the Wheel of the Year, and the suns passage through the sky. Tradition states that the ashes of a burned Yule log should be saved for a year as a protection amulet, and a piece of this year's log should be kept to start the next years log,
Gift giving comes from  the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, which was a weeklong event at the end of the year honouring  the god of death. Friends and family members would give each other tokens as expressions of love.
So when you look at a decorated Christmas tree, the star hanging on top, and if you  exchange presents, take a moment to reflect on their pagan origins, and what the spirit of this tradition was and is all about. This evening I hope to listen to music and sit by  a warm fire,  and in the wee hours of the morning will gaze at the moon and stars, contemplate  dear departed ones. anyway that's enough of me rambling 

In the midst of  turbulent times it feels easy to fall into despair, but there is also an abundance of hope if we choose to see it. Stay safe out there, everybody.and enjoy this time in any way that speaks to you.. can. And if you just can’t manage it this year, keep holding on. Seasons greetings, happy Winter Solstice and bright blessings. Heddwch// Peace.

References ;-

Wicca - Vivienne Crowley

Everyday Wicca - Gerina Dunwich,

Celtic Rituals, an authentic guide to anciet Celtic Spirituality -  Alexei Kondratiev, New Celtic Publishing

The Pagan Book of Days ; A gude to the festivals, traditions and sacred days of the year - Nigel Pennick

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

Merry Crassmess ( a little rant )

This Christmas  try cut down on consumption
release  some compassion, instead of greed,
avoid the Queens speech, seek alternative news
seeds of another society, that takes away the blues,
in this winter of discontent, its time to rise
keep on planting the seeds of insurrection,
because their  trying to break us in pieces
in the name of austerity, and government lies,
making people, beg, borrow and steal
people in charge treating its citizens like garbage,
as media shields us from  cruel reality
makes some think everything is fine,
the future must change, we must continue to fight
those that dictate, what we can say or what we can do,
beggers all of us, refusing to take the crumbs they give
merry crassmess to all, another world is possible.


Pleased to say this can also be found here :-

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/merry-crassmess-by-dave-rendle/

Elements

Words written
touching, reaching out,
joining dots, rearranging
releasing free thought,
on overiding trains
of existence,
as time passes
beyond the misery and anger,
happiness can be brief
yet can be so bloody beautiful,
fleeting moments can truly satisfy
in a world at times ,we don't want to see,
if you can, keep dancing
move your precious feet,
keep listening, keep talking
release care and understanding,
show some solidarity
follow paths of peace,
beyond world's dissilusionment
scatter your individuality.

Bingo Wings - Home for Christmas

Bingo Wings (AKA Cosmo and Flapsandwich - AKA half- Hungarian half-Welsh tecno-folk duo Sandor Dus and Jason Phillips) provide this years Yule no#1 hit, and for a cracking cause too. Raising money for Boomerang Homeless charity based in Cardiff, that helps prevent families and people becomming homeless and continues to support the homeless at present and helps guide them to a better future.  Its a take on Jona Lewies classic christmas number  Stop the Cavalry, changing the chorus to Stop Austeity and highlights what seems to be the worst winter in recent history for rough sleepers. The single follows news of police taking rough sleepers sleeping bags, and news of deats of young people.
Listen, like share and if your able chip in some solidarity. Available here :- https://tantrumrecords.net/2017/12/16/a-home-for-christmas/

Captain Ska - Sons and Daughters

Nicked, but had to share. The music industry has for too long been in the hands of those  who only care about making profits. Every now and again people organising together can take back some control - Liar, Liar . Rage Against the Machine, the NHS choir, Ding Dong The Witch is Dead. all hit high up in the Top 40s and reflected a big political mood shift in the country. We now have a chance to do this again this Christmas and say that we've had enough of this vicious government, a better world is possible. Kick the Tories out.
Download this song today on all major platforms,  please help get this song into Christmas charts, all proceeds will be split between Foodbanks and the People's Assembly. 
Links here -

iTunes

Bandcamp

Amazon

Spotify

Beyond the desolation

Watch as leaves blow around
remember nature, continually awakens
a powerful current, that forever embraces
releasing petals of real change
new ideals, new visions
drowning  old ones in their path
following freedoms breath
carrying nourishment
winds that rise against  oppression