I am in Tbilisi at the moment, where I spent this early morning drinking tea with some of the 2,000 strong Yazidi community. They see their religion as much more closely descended from Zoroastrianism than appears in most accounts I have read.
I very much enjoyed a visit to Tsinandali which was most useful for gaining a Russian perspective of the Great Game. I don’t have my books with me and am suffering a mental block as to whether it was Connoly, Abbott or Malcolm who visited Tsinandali. I had not realised that Griboyedov was married to a daughter of the house, Nina Chavchavadze. The murder of Griboyedov, Russian Ambassador in Tehran, by a mob rates little more than a footnote in British accounts of the Great Game, even though the British had bribed the religious authority to stir up the riots. What revisionist history there has been, has come from the Iranian side and falsely tried to obscure the fact that the refugees Griboyedov was sheltering were runaway slaves from harems.
This is a neglected recurring theme. When Shuja agreed the treaty already negotiated between Macnaghten and Ranjit Singh, the main stipulation he sought to add was that the British would return to him any runaway slave girls. The immediate motive for the ringleader of the attack on Alexander Burnes was that Burnes had refused to intervene to return a runaway slave girl who had sought the protection of another British officer. My fellow anti-imperialist historians have in general been guilty of emphasising rapaciousness by the British in these incidents and overlooking or excusing the slave status of the girls. Both aspects need to be faced squarely to write honestly the full facts of history. Tellingly, it is generally impossible to recover names of the girls involved.
Griboyedov deserves to be remembered for much more than his murder. An accomplished playwright and poet, he was a friend of Pushkin and had links to the dissident groups who attempted revolution in 1825. His murder left Nina a widow at either 17 or 19 by different accounts, and pregnant. She lost the child on hearing of her husband’s death, and never remarried. It is a tragic story which came alive to me in visiting the family home.
Griboyedov had fought Napoleon in the 1812 campaign, but had helped those Napoleonic adventurers Allard and Ventura evade a British blockade and go into service with Ranjit Singh. Griboyedov’s successor as Russian Ambassador to Tehran, Simonicz, had actually fought on the Napoleonic side against Russia, presumably in the Polish Legion. Nina’s sister was to marry a Murad nephew of Napoleon. The political elites of Europe melded quickly after the convulsion.
With which clumsy segue I shall note that the battle against the entrenched political elites of the UK appears to be going extremely well without me. I cannot express without a welling up of real emotion how happy I am that all I have been saying about the stultifying neo-liberal consensus and exclusion of dissent, and appalling burgeoning wealth gap between rich and poor, has found such massive traction between Jeremy Corbyn in England and the SNP in Scotland. I may have gone AWOL for a few days, but the cause of social justice appears in extremely safe hands.
Oh dear. What a shame. They’ve got the wind up.
Israeli Banks Prepare for BDS Tsunami
August 11, 2015
Recommendations to the EU would “shut down” the Israeli economy.
Israel’s financial sector is preparing for the worst following European recommendations not to work with banks invested in the oPt.
Bank heads in Israel are “panicking” over recent recommendations by the European Council on Foreign Relations that the EU abide by its own laws and not work with Israeli banks invested in the occupied Palestinian territory, reports the Hebrew-language daily Ma’ariv.
“This is a mega-event and if it occurs, the economic implications for the banks and Israeli economy are huge,” a senior Israeli banking official told Ma’ariv. “It can bring us to very difficult places and this topic requires management of the highest levels,” he added.
Israeli analyst Ben Caspi states that the EU is positively considering these recommendations. The deterioration in relations between Israel and the United States over the Iran deal, according to diplomatic sources, means that the US is encouraging Europe to intensify actions against Israeli settlement policy.
/..
http://www.imemc.org/article/72609
She is a SNP MP and she accepted an OBE.
It’s simple enough to understand and answered Hab’s question regarding the ethics of believing in separation while accepting British honours.
She wasn’t an MP when she accepted it. Are you planning another endless retreat from a wrong assertion, Fred?
As to the sealion’s questions, I don’t look at them as they are not visible. But since you can’t think of your own questions, I will comment on the ethical question it purports to raise.
1. It is not unacceptable in my mind for a UK citizen to accept UK honours.
2. Acceptance – or not – should be an individual decision.
3. Notwithstanding (2) if it is party policy not to accept honours, the party is at liberty to say so. It’s still an individual decision. In fact, given this liberty of choice what better proof could we have that the SNP is not composed of Nazis?
4. Honours can be awarded for services unconnected to party politics. The honoree may chose to accept them on behalf of the organisation whose work, with their participation, is being honoured. (OBE = Other Buggers’ Efforts) In that case, there is a strong moral case for accepting such an honour, regardless of the recipient’s party politics.
I’m sure you will disagree. But a question in return, if you would be so good. Is Craig a neonazi?
JEREMY CORBYN AND THE PRIVY COUNCIL
I still don’t think Jeremy Corbyn will win the Labour leadership, but perhaps my cynicism is too extreme and he will. I hope he does.
If he does, surely they won’t let a man who supports the Palestinians onto the Privy Council?
That’d be his first chance for a battle. He could take one of the following routes, for example:
1) condemn the system of “on Privy Council terms”
– a) expose how the Privy Council system requires “opposition” leaders to be loyal to the permanent government and not to reveal information which would damage it
(he could say that this is especially bad given the criminal wars that have been fought and the way billions have been shelled out to the banks)
– b) expose how the Privy Council plays a ministry-coordination role parallel to the Cabinet Office’s, allowing the ‘Queen’ and ‘Prince’ Charles to get hold of secret high-level government information
(he could also mention the way the ‘Queen’ and ‘Prince’ Charles have vetos over government bills – before they ever get to Parliament – that might affect their financial interests)
– c) expose lots of other stuff about it that we don’t know about
– d) call for Labour politicians to leave it
(most of those royal-slurpers wouldn’t, though)
– e) call for other politicians to leave it
– f) call for the Privy Council to be abolished
– g) call for the monarchy to be abolished
2) contest the role of the security and intelligence services in vetting elected politicians
3) demand entry to the Privy Council and say he’s got a mandate
If he wins the leadership and hears privately that he isn’t welcome on the Privy Council, what he shouldn’t do is help the bastards out and say they offered him membership but he declined, and leave it at that.
Fight!
“b) expose how the Privy Council plays a ministry-coordination role parallel to the Cabinet Office’s, allowing the ‘Queen’ and ‘Prince’ Charles to get hold of secret high-level government information”
…and…
ask why they don’t get vetted but elected politicians do.
“She wasn’t an MP when she accepted it. Are you planning another endless retreat from a wrong assertion, Fred?”
She’s an SNP MP and she accepted an OBE.
Is your persistently arguing black is white part of the cybernat intimidation program?
Passing lightly to the issue of transport deregulation in Scotland, may I refer you to England? Where bus services are similarly deregulated, and similarly crap?
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/26/bus-deregulation-outside-london-failure-thinktank
It’s good to see Osborne has recognised the failure, but it remains to be seen whether his proposed re-regulation will materialise. And whether a major player in the English bus game, Stagecoach, has anything to say about it.
http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/2015/05/22/shares/news-and-analysis/transport-sector-faces-re-regulation-QASJJJ5yw6YvEssyZlsUMO/article.html
Stagecoach (Souter) has the most to lose from regional re-regulation. It has one of the largest market shares, the highest margins and derives the bulk of its earnings, cash flow and value from its regional bus operations. \Roughly 20 per cent of Stagecoach’s UK regional bus operating profits come from Manchester alone, which equates to 16 per cent of group pre-tax profits…
Enlightened self-interest would suggest a million or two floating the Tories’ way, particularly as they are no threat whatever to the SNP. Watch this space.
Me: She wasn’t an MP when she accepted it….
Fred: She’s an SNP MP and she accepted an OBE.
Me: I was unaware that Tasmina was a time-traveller. My mistake.
@Lysias re your comment at 10.45pm 11/8.
Thanks for the link to Palestinian-Israelis on Israel’s beaches .
I assume your post was prompted by Lo Zuccone’s much discussed visit to Tel Aviv beach yesterday where he described ” Jewish and Arab Israelis enjoying the beach in perfect harmony ” .
As a visitor myself on numerous occasions over the years the comment confused me . I myself have never been able to distinguish the separate ‘ ethnicity ‘ of beachgoers when dressed in swimming trucks . Further made difficult as many Israeli-Palestinians are fluent Hebrew speakers on the beach unlike their Jewish Russian citizens .
I wonder how Lo Zuccone managed . Does he pack secret ‘ ethic-identifier apparatus ‘ with his bucket and spade when he visits ?
Any ideas , or perhaps Lo Zuccone will inform us ?
“Me: I was unaware that Tasmina was a time-traveller. My mistake.”
Is she an SNP MP?
Did she accept an OBE?
The cabinet is the executive committee of the Privy Council.
So if Jeremy Corbyn wins the Labour leadership and the permanent ones don’t let him onto the Privy Council, they’ll be saying he’s so
pro-Palestiniannaughty that he’ll never be allowed in the cabinet, right?Is your persistently arguing black is white… part of the cybernat intimidation program?
Please learn to distinguish between your comments, usually in italics, and mine.
part of the cybernat intimidation program?
Nothing I do here is part of any program(me) on behalf of or run by anyone else. And you? I am wondering if your constant feeling of being intimidated is part of the e-unionist victimhood exploitation program(me) But that’s just me, I suppose.
Is she an SNP MP?
Did she accept an OBE?
Is Craig a neonazi?
Fred said (11th, 731 pm)
Even SNP MPs accept honours, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE for instance.
Tasmina was not an MP when she accepted her OBE. Therefore an SNP MP did not accept an honour. If you had said ‘even members of the SNP accept honours’ I would have had no dispute with that. But that SNP MP did not accept an honour.
Other people who were not MP’s when accepting honours and subsequently entered parliament:
Lord Fink, Lord Goldsmith, Lord Levy, Anthony Bamford, you name it.
“Israeli Banks Prepare for BDS Tsunami”
If that is true, rather than the usual Zionist cry of “you’re walking all over us!” when they’ve just stuffed their opponents further than their opponents thought was practically possible, then the “flight schools” and “art students” (and maybe some “paintball clubs” and “Dead Sea skin oil merchants”) will be getting ready for action.
Ba’al; “I’m sure you will disagree. But a question in return, if you would be so good. Is Craig a neonazi?”
You have as much chance of Fred admitting his agenda driven hypocrisy, as of Anon1 or Habbabkuk or Resident Dissident admitting theirs, by calling Craig as self-hating Westerner.
Good to see you back, Macky! How was the holiday? You will be saddened to hear that such holidaymakers as yourself, apparently being most cynical in taking advantage of those poor souls in Greece, have been ruthlessly denounced by the most pure of souls around here.
Speaking of pure souls, you’ll see the trouncing St. Fred has taken from a persistent Ba’al. It’s not possible for St. Fred to admit to a mistake, being as he’s so perfect and all, so we’re treated to the spectacle of his staggering on, and on, like some zombie – arms outstretched, un-seeing eyes wide, drooling “SNP = Fascists … SNP = Nazis … wuuurrrhhhgggh…. SNP = Nazi Fascists …. FOAD… CAAAANNNZZZZ…. ” and so forth.
In short, I don’t think you’ve missed too much 😉
You have as much chance of Fred admitting… anything…
I know. Sorry. It’s unsporting to attack someone who never has a real defence, and I shouldn’t do it. But, hey, I really want to know if Fred thinks Craig’s a neonazi.
A Sealion and a dog, fighting over a fish
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03405/potd-seal_3405283b.jpg
I’m sure that’s an appropriate meme image for the free debate here!
(it’s almost as tho’ the Torygraph is following Craig’s blog?)
(it’s almost as tho’ the Torygraph is following Craig’s blog?)
If so, its attention is respectfully drawn to the An Apology thread,
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/02/an-apology/comment-page-2/#comment-543609
most of which details the recent activities of Tony Blair and his enterprises. (It owes more than a little to the Telegraph). He’s very invisible at the moment, contrary to his previous paparazzi-conscious behaviour on holiday, but has taken a family entourage to Sri Lanka for a fortnight. There are hints it may not be a pure holiday…
Thanks Glenn; I’ll recommend a month in Greece to anybody, even trolls ! I had a divine time, and traveled extensively, from the Islands, to the Peloponnese, to central Greece, and up into the North-East. Just a few comments, it was surreal to be there & then check Westerner headlines, with their panic inducing headlines of shops running out of food, and of massive queues at cash points, as the shops in all the towns I visited, including the second city of Thessaloniki, were very well stocked as normal, in fact everything was normal, the restaurants & bars were every night as packed as ever, & the largest cash-point queue I think I saw was for five people, and quite often less or even no queue at all. The only visible constant indication of the crisis were all OXI fly-posters & graffiti. All the people I spoke to were defiant, very anti-German , and it was an amusing experience when I heard gentle looking grandmothers utter striking abuse directed at Merkel & Germany !
On the Island that I visited, I saw hundreds of Syrian refugees, in fact they were the first people I saw as the Ferry docked, because they were on the rocks of the harbour drying their clothes. Apparently they are all sent over in flimsy dingy boats from the nearby Turkish coast, after being fleeced by Turkish smugglers, and conned by them into believe they were reaching Athens, or even Germany ! In fact they are directed to Islands hundreds of miles from Athens, to desolate beaches with steep cliffs, making locals wonder in amazement how they managed to clamber up these cliffs, especially those with children. Every Greek I spoke to about them was extremely sympathetic towards them, and one fisherman told me how he spotted a family group climbing up a cliff, and when he got home he drove out to greet them with food & water, the father of the group fell to his knees & produced a small collection of jewelery to offer in exchange, and the fisherman was proud to tell me that he refused the offer with the words, “This is Greece ! Not Turkey !” 😀
Mary
12/08/2015 10:42am
Every single day, people with dementia are placed in confusing and frightening circumstances that they do not necessarily understand.
They are taken from their homes and placed in residential or nursing care homes, because they can no longer be adequately cared for in their own or a relative’s home.
They are taken to a day centre for the first time.
Their behaviour causes the police or emergency services or social services to be summoned, or they may need to be hospitalised.
They attend medical appointments with consultant psychiatrists or psychiatric nurses.
They attend “best interests” meetings with groups of professionals to determine how they should best be cared for.
Certainly they can display lack of comprehension, fear, irritability, and/or impatience in all these circumstances, and they may attempt to leave the situation. That does not mean that the situation should not have been convened, nor does it mean that there will be lasting ill effects on the person with dementia.
A five-minute criminal court appearance to deal with credible allegations of child abuse is at least as serious as any of these situations for which the person with dementia is at risk of emotional distress. Such distress is quite real and needs to be taken seriously. It does not seem to me that that is sufficient to say he should not be required to be present at all.
Kind regards,
John
Monteverdi
Yes, I went to Israel in about 1977/8 and I noticed that the two populations look the same. All the more reason for Habbabkuk to hang his head in shame that Israel divides them on ethnic/religious apartheid grounds.
Sealions are not ashamed. They strut their stuff to compete with other sealions to get sealion crumpet. So far as they’re concerned nothing else exists.
John Spencer-Davies:
“Such distress is quite real and needs to be taken seriously. It does not seem to me that that is sufficient to say he should not be required to be present at all.”
The judge apparently agreed with you.
Did the ‘technical difficulties’ arise accidentally on purpose?
Labour leadership voter registration deadline extended
1 hour ago
Labour has extended the deadline to register to vote in its leadership contest after “technical issues” with its website.
The party moved the cut-off to 15:00 BST after complaints from supporters.
Thousands of new members are thought to be signing up to back left-wing candidate Jeremy Corbyn, sparking a row within the party.
…….. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33881487
“the two populations look the same”
That is very true. They are distinguishable mostly by their clothes and accents.
John Spencer-Davis Thanks for your comment. Do not think me heartless. I have every sympathy for those with dementia and for their carers as I was a carer for my mother for >8 years. It was a sad time and also isolating but I would not have done differently. My husband was a rock as we made a home here with us. Later I was also a volunteer in a local organisation that provided respite for carers of relatives with Alzheimer’s Disease.
It’s just that I am rather sceptical in Janner’s case and also very angry deep within my being about the harm he did to children, providing he is guilty of the charges of course.
ATB
MJ: ““the two populations look the same”
That is very true. They are distinguishable mostly by their clothes and accents.”
I don’t know about that. Nazis from New York, Russia or eastern Europe don’t look like they’re indigenous to the Middle East at all.
By the way, did you know that as far back as the 1990s, Israel expected the US to fund loan guarantees for “settlers”, to the tune of tens of $Billions? Amazing. Wonder if they’d do that for Greece, say, given their current troubles. Or Iraq, considering the amount of homes they’ve destroyed there. Wonder what the ever generous US taxpayer thinks about all this.
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PCAAA472.pdf
Macky, good to see you back. Thanks for your account of the Greece trip. What a lovely people the Greeks are, accepting refugees without question. What a load of shits the Brits are in turning them away. Only this morning on RT a former British forces commander went to France to unite with his Afghani interpreter. He plans to try and get the interpreter to England and it is an ongoing story.
The way interpreters in post-war zones created by NATO countries have been treated despicably. My own view is that anyone who interprets for the Yanks or Brits puts his or her life at risk from both sides. At least other interpreters know what to expect from these war-mad imbeciles. 🙂
Macky: Good stuff. We used to backpack around Greece for about a month every year back in the day, mostly island hopping. Some are a lot better than others, of course. That was when just taking a towel, string and a bit of basic camping equipment was good enough – we’ve definitely got a bit softer since then.
However, did you observe much of this going on :
—
…On the faces of visitors, there seems to be no regret, no shame, that Europe just raped and humiliated Greece, forcing its government to cancel democracy, instead succumbing to dictate of the mighty Germany and other dictatorial powers.
Tourists are busy frying themselves, stuffing their stomachs with seafood and boozing up in countless cafes, bars and restaurants of the old city. Hotels and eateries are packed. It is yet another hot and sunny day. Crisis? What crises? Yes, it is somewhere… there, maybe in Athens, or maybe just outside the city center.
—
It sounded as if these tourists were nothing but callous bounders!
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/07/aaronovitch-blusters-to-a-well-of-silence/comment-page-3/#comment-541940
Rather. “Interpreters in post-war zones created by NATO countries have been treated despicably.”