Caelestis - a reminder of the ultimate futility of borders

Build the wall ................... In control of our borders ..................... Get Brexit done 

There was a time in our land's history when there were no borders. Joined to the continent by "Doggerland" as the North Sea had not yet been formed, people were free to settle in what was to become the British isles. As land and sea found new levels following the retreat of the ice sheets the Britain we know today was formed.

I was reminded of this by the release last year of an album by Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening, in particular a song inspired by a Latin inscription found by Hadrian's Wall. This is perhaps our most famous boundary as the Romans brought in a number of legions made up of soldiers drawn from all parts of their empire. The inscription mentions Syria and Libya along with reference to their gods, "Caelestis".

1900 years ago soldiers stood on that desolate wall protecting those living to the south from attacks from the cold north. They came from warmer lands so it must have been a very unpopular posting. In time, forts and towns were built and communities flourished in the lee of the wall. Soldiers became assimilated into the local population and with the passing of the centuries the wall lost its reason for being. That's the thing about borders, they have a time limited relevance and as our political leaders keep pumping their bile about foreigners they forget that we all originate from immigration. 

I come from a tradition of compassion not hate and this song inspires in me a hope that we can shake off the politics of xenophobia:

Kathryn Tickell is well known to many ........ a Northumbrian pipe and fiddle player and composer who explores with fellow musicians the rich vein of musical history in the North-east of England. With this haunting song, "Caelestis" she links the thoughts and dreams of the Roman soldiers by weaving musical influences of Northumbria with those of the native lands from which the soldiers came.

What will future generations think of Trump's Wall or the Boris Johnson/Farage Brexit ........... or the emergent desire to expel ethnic minorities from Central Europe? They will no doubt see it as a futile attempt to hold back the tide of history The Romans soon realised that Hadrian's Wall needed gates to allow the people of north and south to continue with their social and commercial lives.

The Roman Empire took over 3 centuries to desert their wall but we have precious little time to tear down ours. As we roast the planet we continue to blame those who are displaced because of our selfish actions. The USA drifts towards an election dominated by the cowardice and fear of self centred interest whilst in the UK we also have succumbed to the jingoistic fantasies of politicians whose only interest is to remain in power. Thankfully, on both sides of the Atlantic ideas of love for our planet and humanity are coming into a majority.   

   

Woods of Darney ......... Passchendaele remembered

Wounded, Passchendaele
Paul Nash (1889 - 1946) Manchester Art Gallery

A hundred years ago, November 1917 marked the end of the Battle of Passchendaele. It took place on the Western Front, over a span of 5 months near the Belgian city of Ypres in West Flanders. Hundreds of thousands sheltered in trenches made intolerable by incessant rain; wave after wave sent across the quagmire of no-mans' land to their deaths. The final tally will never be known but estimates put the death toll at 325,000 Allied and 260,000 German soldiers. 42,000 bodies have never been recovered. By the end of November the toll had reached 600,000. It is really difficult to comprehend the scale of such slaughter and the breathtaking callousness of the Allied Command who justified the battle by the belief that the German Empire would be hardest hit by such losses. The chronology and statistics of the battle are horrific as outlined here:

A brief description of the Battle of Passchendaele on the BBC website

A hundred years later and a group of Englishmen competed with a similar group of Germans, this time on the well manicured turf of Wembley Stadium in London. Yes it was a football match but the sport was incidental to the emotional sight of the two nations standing together through a minutes silence, both teams wearing armbands embroidered with poppies, the symbol of loss in war.

For many, like me, this was a significant moment following months of argument with football's ruling international body who maintained that the poppy was a political statement. Finally good sense prevailed the remembrance of those who fell in conflict is allowed on the football pitch. We will never know the full extent of our loss as numbers have never been agreed ............ this Wikipedia article makes grim reading but from whatever nation they came from, all are remembered.

The leaders of government and the armed forces who sent so many to their deaths were fools. WW1 was so shocking that it was dubbed the war to end all wars yet the lesson learned was soon forgotten with 260 major wars since 1918. Still it continues. Lions led by donkeys.

Downing Street Donkeys of 2017

And what of the current drove of donkeys? They fan the flames of war and then turn their backs on those displaced by their "strategic thinking". The UK has a vested interest in conflict as it is the second biggest exporter of military hardware in the world, second only to the USA ......... based on a 10 year average - 2016 Parliamentary report on UK arms industry. There are 170,000 UK jobs involved in the production of arms. It is no co-incidence that Liam Fox, long associated with international arms sales, has been chosen to lead the team given the task of securing trade deals with the rest of the world following Brexit, (Britain's trade policy is just the sound of one hand clapping). The British response to the resultant refugee crisis is disgusting (see here previous BelperStuff posts regarding the plight of refugees). Weaponry enables war. Without the four and a half million shells fired at Passchendaele the battle could not have been fought. Is it wrong to imagine that a concerted effort by society to turn swords into ploughshares is the best way to go? We have much more to gain by solving the evils of worldwide poverty and disease or the climate challenge and substitution of renewable for carbon based energy. The preoccupation with war and armaments must stop as this Mozambique soldier testifies here is the link:

Liam Fox is but one of the donkeys that sit around the cabinet table in Downing Street squabbling for position, arguing for a variety of Bexit flavours that nobody has voted for (Theresa May talking nonsense). 100 years after Passchendaele Europe is a united political entity except for a Britain that is intent on returning to a single nation status that will involve a deterioration in the standard of living of citizens, and a destabilising of international accord on the environment and the rights of individuals. It is only the rich who will benefit ......... because they always do. Our donkeys pursue increased international arms trade as a substitute for what is lost when we leave the EU; donkeys following the carrots dangled by financiers when they should be driven with sticks wielded by a well-informed electorate.

The Woods of Darney

Thinking of the lost 42,000 who slumber beneath the fields of Flanders reminds me of this song from Richard Thompson: For those who need the link. So many lives were lost as European society moved slowly but inexorably towards social democracy and the welfare state. Bloodshed can never be justified but what is embodied in the EU was hard won. There is a tide in history towards order and justice that cannot be halted though war, conflict and subjugation is so often employed by those who resist. The Woods of Darney are far to the south of Flanders but the two places are linked by the same struggle, muddy trenches and sacrifice.

Pauline Latham not sentimental about refugees - updated 7/3/2017

Pauline famously stated at an EU Referendum hustings in St.Peter's Church in Belper that her heart told her to vote to leave the EU but her head said that we should stay in.

I wonder which part of her anatomy persuaded her to make these comments about refugees in parliament?


We are too sentimental about refugees - Pauline Latham quoted in the Independant

Updated on 7th March 2017 with yet another ill-advised Pauline Latham comment

Pauline Latham sends a flippant reply to a chap who found babies, toddlers and two adult refugees trapped in a lorry in Kent - a report in the Independent.

The Independent doesn't seem to like Pauline does it.

For some sanity on this issue please refer to a previous BelperStuff blogpost:

Christians on the left at the Labour Party Conference 2016

Strange Days

Strange Days - The Doors

Strange days have found us

Strange days have tracked us down

They're going to destroy

Our casual joys

We shall go on playing

Or find a new town

Strange eyes fill strange rooms

Voices will signal their tired end

The hostess is grinning

Her guests sleep from sinning

Hear me talk of sin

And you know this is it

Strange days have found us

And through their strange hours

We linger alone

Bodies confused

Memories misused

As we run from the day

To a strange night of stone

Any additional comment from BelperStuff would be superfluous.

The Labour Party Conference 2016 - Saturday evening - Christians on the Left

The conference started on Saturday evening for me. Arrival in Liverpool was followed by an afternoon in the art gallery just opposite Lime Street Station; a dose of culture before immersing myself in the internal wranglings of the Party. That said, I was pleasantly surprised with the first fringe event, Christians on the Left - The Theology of Refugees.

This was a marvelous event ---- even for me, a decidedly non-believer in fact an atheist. The important thing was that all in the room were socialists and in this we were united. There was no debate about who we voted for to lead the party, this meeting was about refugees and how we should respond to their plight.

The main element was a forensic examination of what the Bible has to say about refugees presented by Tim Morley. As he started I braced myself for what was to come but within minutes I was fascinated with the story that Tim unfolded. I learnt that there are numerous references in the Bible to the alien, the stranger or the foreigner and in all cases there is the exhortation to treat them as you would be treated yourself ............ it even goes further by stating that we must honour and cherish them. After 50 minutes of carefully being led through both the old and the new testament I could understand why religious communities in Britain are so insistent that the Tories must change their policies towards refugees.

I left the meeting with my atheism intact but I did gain a profound respect for Christians on the Left and their message of love and understanding. There were a few statements that stood out:

• Christians must love in both thought and action.
• There is a place for righteous anger in the church.
• Perfect love casts out all fear.

I think that these are ideas that even we atheists can accept and make a part of our lives. 

For those christians who might chance across this blog here are the references that Tim explored:

• Leviticus 19: 17-18 and 33-34
• Exodus 22: 21 and 23
• Deuteronomy 10: 19
• John 3:16-18
• Leviticus again 24:22
• Numbers 15: 15-16
• Luke 4: 18-19
• Matthew 25: 35-36

Leave Campaign "small minded, xenophobic and inward-looking" ------- Lady Warsi

BelperStuff has been very interested in the response to the UKIP "Breaking Point" poster, one consequence being that this was a breaking point for Sayeeda Warsi who today left the Leave campaign and now supports Remain. It's not often that this blog experiences a degree of fellow feeling with a prominent Tory but the EU Referendum campaign has created some strange alliances so why should this blog be any different.
Link to Guardian article and subsequent discussion

Sayeedi Warsi - former Tory party chairperson
Leave campaign "small minded, xenophobic and inward-looking"

Lady Warsi said she hoped that the “pause” in the campaign after the killing of the MP Jo Cox would have shifted the debate to a “more measured tone .......... but when I turned on the television on Sunday morning and saw Nigel Farage defending the indefensible and Michael Gove continue to peddle lies about Turkey’s accession to the EU, that for me was a step too far,” she said, arguing that the leave campaign had become “small-minded, xenophobic and inward-looking”.

“If that is the message you run on then that is the Britain you create afterwards,” she said. Warsi cited a posted unveiled by Farage ahead of Cox’s death with the words “breaking point” over an image of hundreds of fleeing refugees, but said she was also alarmed by the rhetoric of Tory colleagues. 

In the course of this being discussed by Guardian readers this caught the eye:

We often see discussions that focus on fact checking, and those around Farage’s poster were no exception.

Farage a proud man with his poster and one brave Stronger IN demonstrator

AjdaXX

20 June 2016 8:15am

she (Warsi) said: How is that poster even defensible? … It is perpetuating lies about who those people are.

I am from Slovenia and unlike Farage, I worked for several months with the refugees shown on the evil poster.

As far as I could find out, the photo on the UKIP poster comes from Rigonce (in Slovenia) and was shot on 25 October 2015.

Some people pointed out that there are only men on the poster, implying that a vast majority of the refugees are single men. Well, single men walk faster than women and children, hence they were always in front of the line. People with children also tend to prefer to be in less exposed places for safety reasons.
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This is the PHOTO used by UKIP.

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Here are some more photos shot in Rigonce at the same time as Farage's poster:

THIS PHOTO shows how families with children walk at the back of the line. Note the front of the line in the distance, led by police on horses.

THIS PHOTO shows quite many children also in the middle of the line.

THIS PHOTO is a close-up of some walking refugees. Not quite as scary as Farage's poster, is it.

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Evil dangerous divisive extremist demagoguery coming from Farage.

After Hungary closed its borders to the refugees, Slovenia was the first country on the Balkan route which systematically registered all refugees crossing its borders.

There were more than 400,000 refugees, of which

45% Syrians
30% Afghans
17% Iraqis

49% men
51% women and children (under 18)
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Source: official figures of the government of Slovenia
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I should also add that being in front of the line made no difference. Slovenia adopted a policy to first allow families with children and vulnerable people across the border so that we could first take care of them, while single men were left to wait.

Angelina Jolie Pitt: Refugee system breaking down

Number of forcibly displaced worldwide: 59.5 million

BBC News World On The Move is a day of coverage dedicated to migration, and the effect it is having on our world.

A range of speakers, including the UNHCR's special envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt, and former British secret intelligence chief Sir Richard Dearlove, will set out the most important new ideas shaping our thinking on economic development, security and humanitarian assistance.

You can follow the discussion and reaction to it, with live online coverage on the BBC News website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-36289420

Watch this excerpt from Angelina Jolie Pitt's speech:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36303688

.......... and see this graphic:

e

Click on this link: UN Refugee Agency to find out the true scale of  the worldwide problem.

Number of forcibly displaced worldwide: 59.5 million

Isolationism does not provide an answer