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Silencing
the Peace Protester of Parliament Square
By MICHAEL DICKINSON
"If I had a bell, I'd
ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening,
All over this land.
I'd ring out danger;
I'd ring out warning..."
So go the words of the old protest song
made popular by the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary and Trini Lopez
back in the Sixties.
Brian Haw had a bell and he
was ringing it out in Parliament Square last week when a trio
of police officers took it away from him forcibly, "following
orders from the Chief Inspector." When 57 year old Haw
complained that they had no right to take his property they said
it would be returned to him in six minutes. They took it away
in their car as Tony Blair rolled past in his through the gates
of Parliament for Prime Minister's Question Time.
The police explained later
when they returned the bell that it had been taken to "prevent
it from being used as a potential missile". They apologized
for the lack of the clapper and said they didn't know where it
had gone. The bell was silent.
Not so the bells of Westminster
Abbey which peal out to celebrate Royal Weddings and the visits
of foreign dignities. Neither those of Big Ben which announce
every hour from the tower that looms over the House of Commons,
Brian Haw's almost personal alarm clock that has ticked and boomed
for him on his one-man peace vigil on traffic island of Parliament
Square for the last five years.
The round the clock vigil began
in June 2001 to protest against the UN sanctions on Iraq which
were causing such suffering to the children; then included the
attack on Afganistan, followed by the invasion of Iraq and the
bloody war staged by Bush and Blair.
For five years, through foul
weather and fair, praise, (on a trip to London last year Cindy
Sheehan dropped by to give support), and abuse (his nose broken
three times in attacks by indignant opponents), constantly circled
by traffic belching out its fumes, Brian Haw has camped there
in Parliament Square with a graphic display of posters and banners
depicting the terror and suffering caused by British policies,
pictures of children maimed and killed and those born deformed
as a result of the depleted uranium scattered by allied bombs,
calling out through his megaphone to Members of Parliament as
they enter and leave to repent and stop the war.
Most politicians find this
constant reminder of their complicity in the catastrophe of Iraq
embarrassing and irritating, (especially Tony) and over the years
they have tried different ways to silence Mr. Haw and the sympathizers
who come to join their voices in protest with his.
The Labour government imagined
they'd come up with a foolproof method to get rid of him last
April when they introduced a law banning any expression of opposition
within a kilometer of Parliament.
Aimed particularly at Brian,
even nicknamed Haw's Law', the Serious Organized Crime and Police
Act of 2005' permits police "to impose conditions on the
holding of a demonstration so as to prevent hindrance to any
person wishing to enter or leave the Palace of Westminster, hindrance
of the proper operation of parliament, serious public disorder,
serious damage to property, disruption to the life of the community,
a security risk in any part of the designated area, and risk
to safety of members of the public".
At first Haw won a high court
action to continue his protest, arguing that the law only applied
to demonstrations that began after it came into force, but earlier
this month the government won an appeal against a high court
ruling, and Haw was forced to seek authorization from the police
to continue his vigil. Under the new law, the Commissioner of
the Metropolitan Police can dictate the location, timing, period,
size, volume and spread of demonstrations. They gave permission
for Haw to continue his protest, but on the provision that he
limit the sprawling display of his placards facing the Parliament
building to 3 metres in width.
Observance of this provision
was not carried out speedily enough for the said police, and
so in the very early hours of the morning last week, 78 officers
arrived on the scene and pulled apart the display of government
shame, dumping it, broken, crumpled and ripped in a big dumper
container they'd brought for the purpose, along with most of
Brian's belongings, leaving him with just one placard.
On Tuesday May 30, Mr Haw must
go to Bow Street magistrates' court to answer charges that the
refusal to remove his signs breached his licence to demonstrate.
To people who used to accuse
him of being authoritarian, Tony Blair would say "Go and
look at the placards of those camped outside Parliament, "meaning
he considered himself a liberal leader, unafraid to face criticism
and a supporter of free speech and expression. What do you say
to people now, Tony?
Brian Haw mended the silent
bell that the police returned to him and had been using it to
ring out his warning of danger to the world again before the
overkill police swooped and destroyed his peace camp. Perhaps
it was even one of the possessions they tossed so casually into
their container.
New Labour may win their case
against Brian Haw and put a stop to his one-man Parliament Square
demonstration, but by their action they only draw more attention
to the draconian world of creeping fascism they are creating,
and increase the shared sympathy, outrage and solidarity people
around the world feel for big-hearted Haw, a hero of our time.
And let's not forget the final
chorus of that catchy old sing-along protest song:
"It's the hammer of Justice,
It's the bell of Freedom,
It's a song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this world!"
We will prevail.
STOP PRESS!!! Today Tuesday 30th April Brian Haws
entered a not guilty plea at Bow Street Magistrate's Court in
London. As his display of posters is now within the limits imposed
by the police, he was granted unconditional bail until his next
appearance at Bow Street on July 11. After the ten minute hearing
his solicitor said he would fight the case claiming it was a
breach of his human rights and an abuse of process.
"We are good people,"
Haws told reporters outside the court "When you see what
is being done to others in other countries because people want
to get filthy rich, it is time for people to stand up and join
us in Parliament Square."
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
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