Moses In The Basket!!!

Italy has hinted it could give up or cut the desperate search-and-rescue operation it runs to save the lives of thousands of immigrants who try to cross the Mediterranean – unless other EU countries help share the burden. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has renewed his demand for the European Union to relieve pressure on Italy, which has seen some 100,000 migrants arrive so far this year alone – and hinted the country would stop the operations without help.(Huffington Post)

And lo there was a baby floating in the waters of the River Nile and lo Pharoah’s daughter espied the baby. Reaching down into the waters thus did Pharoah’s daughter exclaim,”But what is this? The boat the child sales in is not seaworthy! Should I be importuned by Hebrews floating their children upon my waters? Should I take in this child it will create an unintended “pull factor” and more Hebrew migrants will attempt the dangerous Nile crossing, drown the child, drown it!”
– From the Bible of Capitalism

Now this is not quite how the bible story goes, but these are the sentiments of the British government as expressed in the House of Lords this week, courtesy of the Foreign Office Minister Baroness Anelay. So, Britain can afford tax cuts for the rich, but it can’t afford to rescue refugees running away from the multitudinous conflicts taking place all over the world (some of which we have had a hand in). It can afford to focus its attention on countries of origin and transit, and take steps to fight the people-smugglers who put lives at risk. But it point blank refuses to pay for helpless people to be pulled out of the water.
I’m wondering this Sunday evening which part of the bible members of the Conservative party read when it comes to issues like this. Could it be the section talking about sowing and reaping? I doubt it, because this looks mighty like that part of the bible where Pharoah observes the burgeoning numbers of the Hebrew tribe and right there and then, decides to drown the lot of them. Only he keeps himself at a distance as it were, promulgating the propaganda (sounds an awful lot like Nigel Farage) and leaving the rest of them to get on with it. The combined efforts of the Italian navy and coast guard have saved over 150,000 men, women and children attempting the perilous crossing from the coasts of North Africa this year so far. That’s almost 200,000 lives that would have wound up rotting at the bottom of an ocean had the Italian government not examined its consciense and intervened.
Don’t you just love that face? I bet it would look exactly as the face of an impressive Prime Minister should look when chewing away on a burger or a Bacon Butty. Doesn’t that face look compassionate, caring and earnest? Doesn’t he look like the kind of person who will govern this country in a manner that makes all its citizens proud, as opposed to wanting to flinch and cringe? I present to you another picture of baby Moses in his less than seaworthy reed basket…

Awareness of Tragic Limitations

The Arab Spring has now degenerated into a brutal Arab Winter, the political vacuum created by hopes for democratic rule have been filled by fundamentalist regimes. And we can only look on in horror as ‘Extremistan’ comes to the Middle East. Western journalists and aid workers are kidnapped (because they supposedly represent the oppressive forces of the west). Put on screen (via YouTube), and then beheaded whilst a jihadist presents his intellectual justifications for each murder in impeccable English. Such psychotic behaviour should make people think twice about joining up with these extreme ‘Islamic freedom’ fighters. But conversely, the number of people travelling from the West to Syria is surpassing those who turned up in Afghanistan.

An extraordinary Jihadi recruitment process is taking place in U.S, France, Belgium, Netherlands, U.K, Germany, South Asia, Africa & Austrailia. With people from more than 57 nations now taking part in the Syrian war. YouTube & Twitter & Facebook accounts encouraging people to join the jihad and talking about the beauty of being a jihadi, abound. The seductive draw is such that it is possible to wave your child off to University one minute, and find that they’ve travelled out to join ISIS the next. The reported total of Britons killed in the conflict now stands at 25. With the most notable case being that of three brothers, two of whom aged 17 and 18 years respectively, have died in Syria,in the past year. The third son, refuses to return home to his family stating that,’he was praying for his ending to be the best martyrdom in the front lines’. The whole world is supposed to believe that this is what espousing Islamic beliefs is all about, not family, not the care of parents and especially not the protection of women and children, just this obsessive and inevitably nihilistic jihad.

Is there a moral imperative for jihadists to hide behind? Well yes, Assad has slaughtered his citizens with chemical weapons, starvation sieges and the onslaughts of his soldiers on the ground, civilians have needed to take up arms. 9.3 million Syrians are refugees in other countries, the majority of them are refugees in their own country and those who have left the country count themselves lucky to be alive. Russia, Iran and Hezbollah could use their influence as allies of Assad to nudge him towards negotiations with some of his more moderate opponents. But, neither Assad or his opponents are battle fatigued, and then there is the problematic emergence of ‘the state of ISIS’.

Iraq has experienced violence within the country since 2003 but they have experienced nothing like ISIS, who have emerged as a potent force within Iraq’s borders, flying in the face of all political rationality. They are not indigenous citizens whose grass roots work in Syria or Iraq has given them a military and political mandate. They are not the product of the disaffection of a political or military elite. Supposedly a religious order, with the weaponry to back up the creation of their ‘Caliphate’, they have a military strategy that is working in the midst of the chaos that has been wrought by both the Iraq war and the Syrian civil war.

Their Islamic beliefs are simplistic, straight down the line and highly attractive to all those who aren’t Christian, secular Muslims, moderate Muslims, liberated women, gay or espousing the values of the west. Ironically, it is believed by some western analysts that sooner or later there is bound to be an uprising against the fanaticism of ISIS. But they’re forgetting how reassuringly welcome even a harsh caliphate can seem, in the face of despotic oppression and social anarchy.