London is Burning
July 7, 2005London is BurningBy: Gilad AtzmonWe are used to seeing images of horrors from the Iraqi capital. For most Londoners and Britons, those images are nothing more than a remote call from a foreign country. Somehow, most of us have managed to forget that it is basically our government who is responsible for the continued horror in Iraq. Today’s images of horror are coming from London; seemingly, Baghdad and London appear to share a very similar fate.I am sitting in my front room watching BBC 24 learning that the metropolitan police and the emergency services are operating according to a plan. Clearly they all anticipated such an attack. A government that is fully engaged in some criminal colonialist activity better prepare its voters for the outcome of its policies. A minute ago I heard Tony Blair telling the nation that ‘our’ determination to defend ‘our values’ of life is greater than ‘their’ determination to cause death and destruction. I ask myself, what values is he referring to? Surely the continuation of the robbery of Arab oil is a major value for Blair but it isn’t my value. Tony Blair, a man who initiated a war without UN backing, a man with blood on his hands wants us to believe that he is really concerned about African poverty and climate changes.Whether we like it or not, we must admit that Terror is a message and we better learn to listen to it attentivelyFirst, it tells us that we are as vulnerable as anyone else.Second, it tells us that we may have to let other people live their life according to their values and beliefs.Third, it tells us that we must never again give our votes to war criminals. More than anything else it tells us that we have a moral duty. It is down to us to stop our governments. It is our duty to stand up and to demand the resignation of Blair who is responsible for the death of so many Iraqis and arguably now many Innocent Britons. We must remember that voting in a non-ethical politician makes us all into active shareholders in a criminal company.We know already that both in America and Israel the consequences of terror led the general public towards an endorsement of right wing zealously. I do hope that the British people will follow the Spanish public’s reaction. Warmongers and militant aggressors must be ousted from our political climate. Only then peace will prevail.以上はサイードなどもよく寄稿していたArabic Media Internet Network からの引用であるが、私ははじめてGilad Atzmonという人をこの記事で知った。60年代にイスラエルに生まれたユダヤ人で、ジャズのサックス奏者であり、イスラエルに見られる強行で人種差別的なシオニストのパレスチナに対するやり方を反撃している作家でもある。彼の言葉によるとself-exileという形でイスラエルを出て、今はロンドンに居住している。Exileという名の彼のジャズアルバムはいろんな賞もとったらしい。こういう人がいるのだ。テロはいずれにせよ一つのメッセージである。ブレアの正体はたしかに彼が述べる通りだろう。コイズミも同じかもしれない。われわれにはどんな倫理的な責務が残されているか?この「普通のクニ」になりたいと願う「異常なクニ」の「戦争挑発屋と戦争好きな侵略者」をわれわれは駆逐できるのだろうか?このクニの政治的な風土から。テロはいずれにせよ「われわれ」の甘受しなければならない運命なのかもしれない、というような暗いことを考えたりもするが、もちろんそのまえにGilad Atzmonが言うwe must never again give our votes to war criminals という実際的な行動を起こさなければならないのだが、しかしどのパーティにgive our votesしたらいいのか、途方に暮れるのである。入れてはいけない、ということだけはよく分かっている。