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Category: london

  • Thousands join the protest against Israeli attacks on Palestine

    Thousands of people have gathered in central London to march in solidarity with the people of Palestine following the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and attacks in the West Bank.

    Organisers say “immediate action” is needed by the UK Government to help end the “brutal” violence against the Palestinian people.

    At midday on Saturday, demonstrators arrived at Hyde Park near Marble Arch to march to the Israeli embassy, holding banners and chanting.

    People gather at Marble Arch in central London
    People gather at Marble Arch in central London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

    “Free free Palestine”

    Thousands of people marched through the park chanting “free, free Palestine”, and holding banners calling for an end to the bombing of the territory by Israeli forces.

    Huge crowds of protesters then arrived outside the gates of the Israeli embassy in Kensington.

    A temporary stage has been set up on Kensington High Street and organisers have urged people to keep moving down the road as numbers continue to swell.

    Dozens of police officers are lining nearby streets.

    The Metropolitan Police said: “Officers are engaging with a group of people who have gathered for a demonstration in central London this afternoon.

    “A policing plan is in place to ensure everybody is kept safe and to reduce the spread of Covid-19.”

    Palestine solidarity march
    One demonstrator waving a Palestinian flag climbed on top of a traffic light (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

    Huge crowds

    Huge crowds of demonstrators gathered outside the gates of the Israeli embassy were addressed by multiple speakers.

    Husam Zumlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said:

    This time is different. This time we will not be denied any more. We are united. We have had enough of oppression.

    Today we are saying enough, enough with the complicity. Thank-you for standing with us.

    Organisers said crowds stretched back to Bayswater Road from Kensington High Street and total 100,000.

    Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told those present:

    We must remember we are part of an international movement. This is a worldwide movement for justice.

    Palestinian people are having their land seized… and they are now being killed in their homes.

    All of this is illegal.

    Israel attacks the media

    It comes as the Associated Press (AP) reported that an Israeli air strike destroyed a high-rise building that housed the AP, Al-Jazeera and other media in the Gaza Strip.

    The AP said the air strike came roughly an hour after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate the building.

    Palestine solidarity march
    Demonstrators walk through Kensington as they make their way to the Israeli embassy (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

    The news agency said there was no immediate explanation as to why the building was targeted.

    Forced to flee

    Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee from their homes after a week of sustained conflict.

    Since Monday night, Palestinian group Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, whose military responded by barraging the Gaza Strip with tank fire and air strikes.

    At least 126 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children and 20 women.

    In Israel seven people have been killed, including a six-year-old boy and a soldier.

    The demonstration in London has been organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Stop The War Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain.

    Palestine solidarity march
    Organisers of the march want the UK Government to take action to help end the violence in Gaza and the West Bank (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

    A spokesperson for the organisers said:

    It is vital that the UK Government takes immediate action.

    It must stop allowing Israel’s brutal violence against and oppression of the Palestinian people to go unpunished.

    The bombardment of Gaza which is killing civilians including children is a war crime.

    The UK Government is complicit in these acts as long as it continues to offer Israel military, diplomatic and financial support.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Red London

    Owen Hatherley’s eye-opening account of the left in power in London suggests both the possibilities and limits for municipal socialism.

    This post was originally published on Dissent MagazineDissent Magazine.

  • Extinction Rebellion activists smash windows of HSBC’s London headquarters

    Climate change activists said they smashed the windows of HSBC’s London headquarters over its links to the fossil fuel industry.

    Nine women from Extinction Rebellion (XR) and the political party Burning Pink targeted the Canary Wharf building on Thursday morning, using hammers and chisels to break the glass.

    They then placed stickers on the windows reading “£80 billion into fossil fuels in the last 5 years” and waited for police to arrive, XR said.

    The Metropolitan Police said its officers were called to Canada Square shortly after 7am to reports of protesters causing “criminal damage to a building”.

    The force said nine women have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and remain in police custody.

    The latest demonstration aimed to highlight the financial sector’s role in the climate and ecological crisis, XR said.

    The group claims that despite HSBC’s pledge to shrink its carbon footprint to net-zero by 2050, its existing climate plan allows it to finance coal power.

    XR said:

    The women argue that commitments to reaching net-zero carbon emissions in 30 years’ time are largely meaningless without immediate action to put banks on course to avoid an increase in global temperature in excess of 1.5C.

    A spokesperson for HSBC said:

    We welcome meaningful dialogue on our climate strategy, however, we cannot condone vandalism or actions that put people and property at risk.

    We have an ambition to be net-zero by 2030 and to bring our financed emissions to net-zero by 2050.

    We have also committed to set out short and medium-term transition targets, and to phase out the financing of coal-fired power and thermal coal mining by 2040 globally. We remain committed to supporting our customers in their transition to net-zero.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Children’s charity under pressure for accepting JCB’s ‘dirty money’

    This article was updated on 7 April at 17:15 to add a new comment from the NSPCC

    Campaigners are calling on the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to stop accepting money from British construction company JCB.

    JCB manufactures bulldozers used by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes. The company is currently being investigated by a UK government body over whether it’s in breach of human rights guidelines.

    Demolitions of Palestinian homes and property are part of the Israeli state’s colonisation policy in Palestine, and are illegal under international law.

    New research by Shoal Collective shows that at least 160 children were made homeless by demolitions carried out by Israeli forces using JCB equipment during 2020. The research also found that JCB bulldozers were used to displace at least 278 people in total last year. JCB machinery was also used to destroy a Palestinian graveyard and to demolish a staircase leading to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, the third most holy site in the world for Muslims. Finally, JCB bulldozers were used in the demolition of the Bedouin village of Khirbet al-Humsa, reportedly Israel’s largest demolition in the West Bank for a decade. The village has since been bulldozed a further three times.

    The Canary contacted JCB and asked if the company wanted to comment on the new research carried out by Shoal Collective. We had not received a reply at the time of publication.

    Petition to NSPCC

    On Tuesday 6 April, campaigners handed in a petition of 1,800 signatures to NSPCC’s offices in London calling on the charity to sever ties with JCB. Children’s charity NSPCC has accepted at least £5m from JCB over the years.

    According to Ann Wright, one of the campaigners:

    The NSPCC was founded to prevent cruelty to children but it takes money from JCB which derives profits from inflicting cruelty on Palestinian children – it doesn’t make sense.

    Wright explained that JCB sells its bulldozers to Comasco, an Israeli company that supplies JCB equipment to the Israeli military and Israeli Civil Administration. Wright continued:

    The bulldozers have demolished houses and tents, clinics and schools and have ripped up hundreds of thousands of fruit trees in the occupied Palestinian territories.

    “Shouldn’t NSPCC try to stop this”

    11 year old Zino Masoud, whose father is a Palestinian refugee, said:

    We think the NSPCC should sever its link with JCB. Imagine if your house was demolished and all your safety and belongings are destroyed too, shouldn’t NSPCC try to stop this?

    Wright added:

    These little ones are traumatised by watching their homes bulldozed while their parents look on helplessly.

    A spokesperson for the NSPCC told The Canary:

    JCB employees, their family and friends play an important role in supporting our local work in Staffordshire. They have raised money for our therapeutic services in Stoke on Trent, which has helped many children rebuild their lives after sexual abuse.

    We take all concerns about donations seriously, especially when the wellbeing of children is involved, and have looked carefully and closely at this issue.  We have concluded that JCB cannot be held responsible for what happens to equipment once it has been legally sold and resold.

    Above all, as our guidance demands, we ask ourselves if a donation is in the best interests of the charity and at our last review, we decided it was.

    A campaign that is building momentum

    The handing in of the petition followed a national day of action in March aimed at pressuring NSPCC to stop accepting JCB’s donations. During the March day of action, almost 10,000 letters were sent to the charity and the speakers and facilitators of NSPCC’s national conference were contacted, flagging up campaigners’ concerns about its relationship with JCB. Demonstrations against JCB were also organised in several cities.

    The day of action was organised by a coalition comprising Protecting Palestinian Families, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK), Social Work Action Network (SWAN), UK Palestine Mental Health Network, Palestine Solidarity Campaign England and Wales, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Shoal Collective, and Boycott Israel Network (BIN).

    Demonstration at JCB World Logistics HQ

    Demonstration outside JCB World Logistics HQ

    Meanwhile, people demonstrated outside JCB’s World Logistics Headquarters in Rocester in the West Midlands on the same day. A press release from the group reads:

    The campaigners are protesting about the repeated use of JCB bulldozers used by the Israeli military to demolish Palestinian homes and communities. The group carried photographs graphically illustrating the devastation and trauma caused and read out testimony from Palestinian families whose homes and schools have been destroyed using JCB equipment.

    JCB and its owners, the Bamford family, have been repeatedly called upon to cease all trade with Israel. JCB stands accused of support for the war crimes carried out by the Israeli state in its illegal occupation of Palestinian land, including its cruel policy of home demolitions. For years the Bamford family have ignored all evidence of JCB equipment being used by the Israeli military and all calls for exports to Israel to cease.

    Demonstration outside JCB World Logistics HQ

    Natalie Philips, one of the protesters at the World Logistics HQ, sent a strong message to the owners of JCB:

    JCB is a highly profitable, global company. It could cease trade with its Israeli dealership with scarcely a dint in its profits. Yet it chooses not to. It chooses shamefully to ignore the trauma inflicted on hundreds of Palestinian children. The Bamford family hypocritically pride themselves on their supposed support for children’s welfare, most publicly through their financial support for the NSPCC. The most powerful step they could take to transform the lives of thousands of children would be to end their association with Israel’s brutal home demolition policy, and to call on other companies to do the same.

    Both of these demonstrations show the strength of the growing campaign against JCB’s complicity in Israel’s colonisation of Palestine. Its high time for the NSPCC to pay attention, and to sever links with this toxic company that does so much damage to Palestinian children.

    Tom Anderson is part of Shoal Collective, whose research is referenced above. He is also part of the Stop the Demolitions campaign.

    Featured image via Protecting Palestinian Families (With permission)

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Extinction Rebellion Activists Break Windows At Barclays’ London HQ

    Police have arrested a group of environmental activists who smashed the windows of Barclays’ London headquarters on Wednesday to protest against the bank’s “continued investments in activities that directly contribute to the climate and ecological emergency”.

    Seven members from the Extinction Rebellion group were detained following the protest outside the bank’s Canary Wharf office, after they pasted the message “In Case of Climate Emergency Break Glass” on the front of the building.

    The protesters, wearing patches on their clothes that read “Better broken windows than broken promises”, accuse Barclays of investing too much in fossil fuels.

    Sophie Cowen, a 30-year-old campaigner from London, said: “You may dislike our action today but I ask you to compare a crack in a window to funding wildfires and flooded homes.”

    The post Extinction Rebellion Activists Break Windows At Barclays’ London HQ appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • In a weekend of action, thousands take to the streets saying ‘Kill the Bill’

    Thousands took part in a weekend of action against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. The size and passion of the demos shows that people are willing to fight to stop this bill, which the Conservative government tried to sneak through under the cover of the coronavirus (Covid-19) health crisis.

    50 demonstrations were called across the UK.

    The proposed Police Bill is arguably the biggest attack on our freedoms since the Public Order Acts of the ‘80s and ‘90s. The controversial bill passed its second reading in parliament during March. The bill will give the police unprecedented draconian powers to arrest protesters, and will criminalise trespass, effectively outlawing the livelihoods of the UK’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities.

    According to a joint statement by Sisters Uncut and other organisations:

    The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will enable the police to decide where, when and how citizens are allowed to travel, congregate, protest, and work. Sentences of up to 10 years are laid down for anything from a protest to a house party or even just a lone individual causing ‘serious annoyance’. This bill attacks all communities, and it is all of us that must resist.

    The Canary has tried to compile reports from just a few of the demonstrations that took place this weekend.

    Fifth #KilltheBill protest in two weeks held in Bristol

    I was on the streets of Bristol, where people were holding their fifth protest against the Police Bill in just two weeks. For the last fortnight, Bristolians have been up against an army of riot police. They’ve attacked protesters on several occasions since police violence against a demonstration on 21 March triggered an anti-police riot. I have seen police dogs, horses, helicopters and drones deployed. And police officers have attacked us with batons, riot shields, and pepper spray. Despite this people have fought back undaunted, and returned to the streets again and again.

    Reclaim the streets

    After marching from Bristol’s College Green at 4pm and through central Bristol, a thousand or so marchers occupied a road intersection with a sound system. The road was closed with a huge banner proclaiming ‘This Bill Kills our Rights’.

    As the evening set in, the marchers went on the move again. They first occupied the entrance to the M32 motorway before spending the next hour or so on the move reclaiming the streets of Bristol. On several occasions, the march passed Bridewell Police station. That’s the site of the 21 March battle between police and protesters which ended in three police vehicles being set alight.

    In the early hours of the morning, riot police charged at a small group of remaining protesters. They threatened the protesters with dogs and arrested several. Police launched an unpiloted drone from Castle Park to monitor people as they retreated.

    A local journalist tweeted:

    Solidarity with Bristol from Cornwall

    Hundreds of people also demonstrated in Truro. A spokesperson for Kill the Bill Cornwall told The Canary:

    It was amazing seeing so many people take to the streets to kill the bill in Cornwall for the third week in a row.

    There has been commentary comparing the peaceful protests in Cornwall with those in Bristol. We reject these comparisons when used to condemn protesters. The only difference in Cornwall is that there were only a handful of cops present. If we’d been met with riot cops beating us and our friends with batons and shields, the scenes in Cornwall would have looked very different. Another protest and it could have looked different. Devon and Cornwall police are just as capable of that level of force and indeed were on the streets of Bristol as our friends were beaten.

    “It is the police who are the problem”

    The statement from Kill the Bill Cornwall continues:

    It is the police who are the problem. Not protesters. The police abuse the powers they’ve already got. The last thing they need is more power. Cornwall stands in solidarity with all those who are talking action against this racist and draconian bill.

    Stop and search in Plymouth highlights police racism against Travellers

    If you needed any more illustration of why giving the police even more powers is a bad thing, look no further than this incident in Plymouth. It shows clearly how the new powers that the bill will give police to criminalise Travellers will lead to increased racism. According to a tweet by Devon and Cornwall Police Monitoring Group, police stopped and searched a person at the Plymouth demonstration because they believed that the detained person “was a Traveller”:

    “our absolute right as human beings to travel nomadically is being questioned”

    The No Fixed Abode Travellers and Supporters (NFATS) website explains how the bill’s proposed criminalisation of trespass will affect their community:

    Criminalising Trespass is not solving problems, it is only breeding more problems

    The NFATS statement goes on

    It is a fact that our absolute right as human beings to travel nomadically is being questioned and this is not ok! No one should be questioned, controlled, arrested or have their homes seized for choosing a nomadic lifestyle

    Police violence in London

    Thousands were out in London too. Counterfire magazine tweeted:

    People clashed with riot police around Westminster in central London. 26 demonstrators were arrested. One journalist tweeted:

    Arrests in Manchester

    Protesters have also reported violent policing at the Kill the Bill protest in Manchester, where at least 18 arrests took place. People are alleged to have blocked tram lines.

    One person tweeted this footage of an apparent arrest:

    Huge crowds in Brighton

    Meanwhile in Brighton, a large crowd converged outside the police station. One participant tweeted video footage:

    We need a national movement rooted in local resistance

    One thing’s for sure, the police violence on the streets of cities around the UK shows how important it is that we continue to struggle against the Police Bill. If we’re going to be successful, we need to build a movement as big and as radical as the Poll Tax campaign of the 1980s. A national movement that is deeply rooted in the resistance of local communities across the UK. The beginnings of that movement can be seen in the organising that has taken place over the last few weeks. But we have a lot more work to do, and everything to fight for.

    Tom Anderson is part of the Shoal Collective, a cooperative producing writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism. 

    Photos by Shoal Collective

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • School drops legal action after Muslim girl told her skirt was too long

    Exclusive: Siham Hamud’s father says he is pleased Uxbridge high school listened to the family’s concerns

    A school that had threatened the parents of a Muslim schoolgirl with legal action after she wore a skirt that was deemed “too long” has dropped its legal challenge and apologised.

    Siham Hamud, 12, had described being bullied for her religious beliefs after being sent home every day in December from Uxbridge high school in Hillingdon, west London, and told to only come back when she wore a shorter skirt.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Jury takes under an hour to acquit Kurdish solidarity campaigner after watching damning police bodycam footage

    A protester arrested for assaulting a police officer was found not guilty last week. A jury at Southwark Crown Court reached their verdict after watching damning police bodycam footage.

    Simon Walker (not his real name) was arrested for assaulting a police officer at a Kurdistan solidarity protest at the Turkish Embassy in Belgravia in June 2019. Walker faced up to a year in prison for the offence.

    I was part of the protest, along with fellow Canary journalist Emily Apple. We both attended the three day long trial to support Walker, and to report for The Canary.

    Campaigners accused the police at the protest of using “disproportionate and aggressive” tactics to crack down on protesters.

    The protest was against the construction of the Ilisu Dam by the Turkish state in Northern Kurdistan. The Canary spoke to Ercan Ayboga, who is a longterm Kurdish organiser against the dam. Ayboga told The Canary that the dam, which is now complete, has directly affected the livelihoods of 100,000 people, 25,000 people have so far been displaced.

    The construction of the dam has tragically submerged the beautiful 12,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf.

    “I’ll do what I want”

    The jury in Walker’s trial heard from only one prosecution witness who had been present at the demonstration, PC Nicholas Swift. Swift said that he had arrested Walker after Walker had given him a shove while he was dealing with another protester.

    The court heard how Walker had sustained a head injury and bruising to his wrists and chest area during his arrest.

    However, when footage from Swift’s bodycam was shown to the court, it showed that the officer had waded into the protest in a heavy-handed manner, pushing Walker and several other protesters.

    At one point a protester who Swift had grabbed hold of says “Don’t hurt my arm”. Swift replied “I’ll do what I want”, and then continued, “I can use force”.

    It was at this point that Walker gave Swift a small push. In evidence, Walker said that he was concerned for the other protester and that the push was intended to separate them. Walker told the court:

    If you see someone in front of you and one of them is being violent – or at least you anticipate violence – the instinct is to separate them.

    The defence argued that Swift had “unlawfully manhandled” the other protester and that Walker had acted lawfully to defend him. The jury agreed, taking less than an hour to acquit Walker of the charges.

    Police officer admits acting unreasonably

    Under cross-examination by the defence, Swift admitted that he had felt “frustrated” at Walker and the other protesters’ failure to move.

    When confronted with the bodycam footage, Swift agreed that his actions had not been reasonable, and that if he had seen another officer acting in that way he would have “had words” with them.

    After Walker’s arrest, police violence against the protesters escalated, leading to Apple being hospitalised. According to Apple:

    Protesters blocked the road outside the embassy. One person was violently arrested. In the process, I was threatened with CS gas and thrown on the ground, sustaining ligament damage to my knee. I am still waiting for surgery on my knee. This was a disproportionate and aggressive response from police officers, who seemed intent on aggravating the situation.

    Dragged through a pointless trial during a pandemic

    After his arrest Walker was put on bail for almost two years, facing an imprisonable charge of ‘battery’ against Swift. Walker told us that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had repeatedly refused to drop the case, despite applications that it was not in the public interest to continue with the prosecution.

    Walker lives in Wales and was forced to travel to London to attend court in spite of the lockdown. Apple travelled from Cornwall as a witness. I counted 25 people in the court room at one point in the proceedings. The risk of spreading coronavirus was very real.

    You would be forgiven for thinking that Walker had been accused of something serious in order to be treated like this. However, the evidence in the case amounted to giving Swift “a little push”.

    Edward Hollingsworth, the prosecutor in the case, admitted the alleged ‘assault’ was:

    fairly small fry, it’s not serious violence but we would say it’s unlawful.

    One might ask, why was a case like this ever brought to court in the midst of a pandemic?

    Disrupting international solidarity

    The reason the CPS refused to drop this ridiculous prosecution may well be because the protest was in solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement. A movement that has been increasingly criminalised since several Kurdish organisations were proscribed under the Terrorism Act in 2000.

    The move to criminalise the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and other Kurdish organisations is in line with the UK’s close ties with Turkey. Turkey is seen as a key trading partner and NATO ally. And yet European courts have insisted on numerous occasions that the PKK is simply a party to an ongoing conflict, not a terrorist organisation.

    Several British citizens who have fought against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) in Syria as part of the Peoples’ Protection Units, or YPG, have been unsuccessfully prosecuted in recent years. The state tried but failed to argue that those fighting for these largely Kurdish forces are guilty of terrorism.

    Kevin Blowe, campaigns coordinator of the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) agrees that protesters are often prosecuted because of the cause they support. He made the following statement:

    All too often we have seen wholly disproportionate charges used as a deliberate attempt to disrupt protests involving international solidarity. This isn’t the first time that campaigners appear to have been treated more harshly because of the cause they support. It is intended to wear people down, alienate potential public sympathies and restrict campaigners’ ability to exercise their rights to freedom of assembly and association.

    “Aggressive and unacceptable” response to protest

    The Boycott Turkey campaign made a statement in solidarity with Walker saying:

    The violent arrest of Simon as part of attempts to break up a protest against the Ilisu dam and the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to force Simon to attend trial during a global pandemic represent an aggressive and unacceptable response to the protest. The Boycott Turkey campaign stands in solidarity with Simon and everyone struggling against state violence. The use of aggressive policing against protesters is completely disproportionate and we condemn such state violence unreservedly.The Boycott Turkey campaign stands in solidarity with everyone facing state violence and police brutality.

    The campaign statement went on to point out the irony of the British state prosecuting Walker over a little push, while at the same time propping up the violence of Turkish president Erdoğan’s regime through its close ties:

    Whilst the British state talks of justice, it continues to prop up the unjust regime in Turkey by suppressing attempts to build solidarity with those struggling against the regime’s brutality. The Ilisu dam project has displaced tens of thousands of people, caused untold ecological destruction, destroyed a world heritage site and threatens to restrict access to water for millions of people down-river from the dam.”

    “Repression of protest”

    The UK Kurdish People’s Assembly gave the following statement upon hearing the verdict:

    The fact that this case was ever taken to trial speaks volumes about how those who stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people are mistreated and persecuted by the British state. This is a repeating pattern in the treatment of political protestors in the UK, and a worrying sign of continuing repression of protest and solidarity that specifically targets the Kurdish cause.

    The defendant is an anti-imperialist, an environmental activist and friend of the Kurdish freedom movement, and we are relieved to see a just verdict in his case. We extend our enduring solidarity to people fighting criminalisation and unjust prosecution across the world.

    A ‘circus’

    Outside court, Walker said that the 18-month prosecution had been “extremely stressful”. He continued:

    It’s absolutely outrageous that they would drag not only myself and the defence witness halfway across the country during a pandemic, but also 12 jurors … to oversee a trial this minor.

    The whole case has been a circus intended to intimidate protesters and those who defend themselves against police acting violently.

    Walker’s case shows that the state’s political prosecutions of protesters are continuing, despite the ongoing lockdown. We need to make it clear that if the CPS persist in bringing our comrades to court during this health crisis, then we will be with them in solidarity.

    Featured image by Emily Apple

    Tom Anderson is part of the Shoal Collective, a cooperative producing writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism. 

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Air pollution kills. Naming that problem can help us tackle it.

    In December, a British coroner ruled that the cause of 9-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s death in 2013 was “toxic air pollution.” On its face this may not seem all that important, given that an estimated 7 million people die annually from air pollution and more than 90 percent of the world’s population breathes in hazardous air every day. And yet Ella’s certificate of death is the first to formally list toxic air pollution as the cause of death.

    Ella’s case is part of a growing recognition that human-produced toxic pollution is causing a substantial global health crisis, and it has substantial implications for environmental policymaking and for the legal liabilities that pollution producers may face in the future.

    If the recent cases surrounding glyphosate — the herbicide pioneered by Monsanto in its infamous Roundup weedkiller — are any guide, Ella’s case could trigger a potential windfall of cases. After a California court awarded $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper who used glyphosate for decades, civil cases mounted by the thousands. As a result, Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, agreed to a $10 billion settlement for all other cases in the U.S..

    In the U.K., Ella’s case has already sparked local action. The British government recently stated that in response to the verdict it would allocate $5.2 billion towards cleaning up vehicle transport emissions in cities and reducing urban nitrogen dioxide levels — the pollutant named as partially responsible for Ella’s death in the coroner’s report. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “Ministers and the previous mayor have acted too slowly in the past, but they must now learn the lessons from the coroner’s ruling and do much more to tackle the deadly scourge of air pollution in London and across the country.”

    Living in London, Ella was like many urban-dwelling children who are more likely to develop asthma or other respiratory illnesses due to early and chronic exposure to air pollution from cars, buses, and industry. The coroner concluded that a complex of different noxious gases and particles in the air she breathed daily caused the asthma attack that led to her death.

    While children’s respiratory systems are more vulnerable, adults do not escape the reach of air pollution in cities, where higher rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s are linked to exposure to particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less in size. It’s also one of the strongest correlates of death or hospitalization due to COVID-19. Spikes in particulate matter, along with other air pollutants like nitrogen oxides, are associated with higher death rates in general in the days following exposure.

    Here in the United States, there’s been relatively little attention paid to Ella’s case. Given the pandemic, domestic political struggles, and the transition to a new presidential administration, there is certainly an overload of news competing for attention. But with the renewed focus on climate change and environmental justice signaled by the Biden administration and among U.S. policymakers, Ella’s case could be the perfect catalyst for environmental justice, in which poverty, race, and environmental risk exposure intersect. Ella’s case sets a legal precedent to do something about it.

    Death certificates fall under the purview of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thanks to guidance issued by the Obama administration, environmental exposure may be listed as a contributing factor to a death, but there is currently no code to attribute the immediate cause of death to a toxic pollution exposure. The Biden administration could issue guidance to the CDC to change that, which could shift the way people think about pollution.

    There are more than 450,000 toxic sites across the U.S. and more than 20,000 active permitted polluters. We need to amend and bolster current domestic environmental legislation to hold polluters accountable and to make the changes permanent, rather than executive orders and programs that can be rolled back by a future administration.

    Biden’s order to build a White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and an environmental justice interagency council is a formidable start to mitigating and remediating toxic pollution and its unequal distribution. Additionally, the Biden administration needs to put toxic air pollution on the international environmental agenda, for example leading the charge in creating a corollary international agreement to the Paris Climate Agreement.

    Doing so would signal a shift from treating the outcomes of climate change to treating the causes. For example, in early 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development deemed the Isle de Jean Charles along the Louisiana Gulf Coast too risky to live on and granted $48 million to the community to relocate, for the first time codifying the term “climate refugee.” But what could have been the start to a long process of redistributive environmental justice to communities threatened by climate change was quickly doused by the incoming Trump team.

    In that case and in the case of glyphosate, it is the outcomes of pollution that were addressed — either by restitution or relocation — rather than the root cause.

    Ella’s tragic death puts a face to a problem that will be responsible for many more deaths in the future if we don’t change our current policies. Let’s not let this opportunity for systemic change pass us by.

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Air pollution kills. Naming that problem can help us tackle it. on Feb 24, 2021.

    This post was originally published on Grist.

  • Asylum seeker brings case against Covid ‘curfew’ at London hotel

    Proceedings launched against home secretary challenging legal basis for restrictions

    Asylum seekers in hotels are being subjected to false imprisonment and a 23-hour a day curfew, according to a legal challenge lodged in the high court.

    An asylum seeker, who cannot be named, has launched judicial review proceedings against the home secretary, Priti Patel, challenging the “curfew”. He says there is no legal basis for the restrictions, which amount to false imprisonment and deprivation of liberty in breach of the European convention on human rights. The high court has given the Home Office until 4pm on Friday to file a response to the claim.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Mosque turned into pop-up vaccination centre to encourage take-up from Muslim community

    A mosque has been turned into a pop-up coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination centre. The move is intended to help ease mistrust in the Muslim community about getting the jab.

    Misinformation

    The makeshift clinic has been set up at the London Muslim Centre. Young children attended with their grandparents and relatives aged over 68 in the bitter winter chill to get the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

    It comes just days after local medical officials in Tower Hamlets said only three out of 200 people who’d been contacted had turned up for an appointment. This was according to Asad Jaman of the East London Mosque.

    Jaman said misinformation, confusion, and negative online information had created concerns about the vaccine. Some people even suggested that the coronavirus is not real.

    The East London Mosque in Whitechapel
    The East London Mosque in Whitechapel (Yui Mok/PA)

    He said:

    We are telling the people that it is wise for you to take the vaccine because you are not only helping yourself but you are helping the community and beyond. As a Muslim, it is very important that we give time and support the preservation of life.

    Protection

    The urgent need for the service in the inner city region was spotted after officials in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets saw significant levels of vaccine hesitancy. This was particularly the case among its large ethnic minority community. Posters to promote the clinic sought to reassure the pensioners that “the Covid vaccination is the best protection for you and your family”. This was in light of fake messages which have spread concern among the religious community.

    Jaman said people have been scared because the vaccine was developed so rapidly. And they felt there must be side-effects due to that. But medics and mosque officials were on hand at the clinic to help quell any fears. The mosque, which has a position of trust within the community, managed to give 100 jabs within the first hour of opening the clinic. It was aiming for 400 injections by the end of the session.

    It’s hoped the clinic, along with the medical experts who were there to give advice, can build trust that the vaccine is safe and effective.

    Experts also state that here are no animal or egg products in the vaccine, which is vegan, halal and kosher friendly.

    People attend a pop-up Covid-19 vaccination centre at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel
    People attend a pop-up coronavirus vaccination centre at the mosque (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

    Campaign

    Muslim GPs, imams, and scholars have also been trying to get the message out to the local community to get vaccinated. It’s believed that a targeted community campaign like this is needed amid fears misinformation is stopping some people from taking the injection.

    There was a 6% drop among people who had intended to take the vaccine after they had been exposed to misinformation about it, according to a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine study.

    Those attending the vaccination clinic at the London Muslim Centre had pre-booked appointments through a council helpline. The centre is part of East London Mosque in Whitechapel.

    It was run by AT Medics, a local partnership between GPs from Whitechapel Health Centre, East London Mosque and Tower Hamlets Council.

    The helpline takes queries from residents but also calls and books in eligible residents who haven’t yet taken up the offer of vaccination. The mosque is offering to be a community vaccine centre for as long as is needed due to its place in the community and the levels of trust.

    People attend a temporary coronavirus vaccination centre at the East London Mosque, in Whitechapel
    The mosque is offering to be a community vaccine centre for as long as is needed (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

    Initiative

    Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs, who branded misinformation about the vaccine as “dangerous”, said:

    We need people to get the vaccination because the community has suffered very badly from the virus and we need to get people on the road to recovery…

    The reluctance is due to a mixture of things. There are clearly people who are opposed or there has been word of mouth that has made them nervous. We need to get opinion formers, neighbours and community activists to get the message across that there is nothing dangerous in this vaccine.

    Omar Din, chief executive of AT Medics, said:

    We are privileged to be partnering with East London Mosque to deliver vaccinations in the community. As local GPs, we’ve been very close to the challenges of patient vaccination uptake in Tower Hamlets, and whilst we’ve already vaccinated over 6,000 local people in the past two weeks, we hope this initiative will encourage many more patients to come forward when invited.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • “An indispensable element of my mission”: UN poverty envoy hears stories of poverty and discrimination in East London

    by Kate Garner Continuing his investigation into the impact of austerity in the UK, Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on poverty and human rights, heard moving testimonies from local people and organisations in Newham as they described their experiences of poverty and discrimination in the capital. Over the past week, Alston has visited different […]

    This post was originally published on Human Rights Consortium.