The reasons for protesting

April 16, 2004

Dear Sir,

On Thursday, April 8, 2004, Mr. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom arrived in Bermuda. And, yes, Mr. Scott, he was met on the tarmac by a waiting car and the Governor to boot. He was also met by a small delegation of citizens who oppose the imperialist adventure in Iraq and wished to convey their opposition to Mr. Blair. During and following this demonstration

I have had the good fortune to receive various comments from both fellow citizens and visitors to our shores, and would like to take this opportunity to thank all who made them, be they positive or negative in relation to the demonstration. To begin with, let me make it clear that the majority of comments have been positive and in solidarity with the action, while only a few have been critical or even hostile. Of the critical comments, they appear to crystallise around three themes:

i) Mr. Blair is on a private holiday ? leave him be!

ii) Bermuda has no part in the war, so why protest?

iii) The protestors? time would be better spent protesting Bermudian issues.

I will seek to answer each of these questions in turn, beginning with the first.

1) Mr. Blair was met at the airport (yes, on the tarmac even!) by the Governor and whisked away in the Governor?s official car. Whichever way you look at it Mr. Blair was received in a 100 percent official capacity and not as a private tourist. Had he gone through Customs and caught a taxi or been picked up by a friend in a private car, then perhaps this criticism would carry more weight. That being said, should all visitors to Bermuda be extended the courtesy of privacy and anonymity, or is it right to meet some with protest? Racists, rapists, terrorists and war criminals, for example, should all be met with protest.

Likewise, white-collar criminals and terrorists such as the infamous Enron and Tyco oligarchs should be met with protest. Indeed, should we hear that Kozlowski is on his way here for a holiday I hope we meet him with a general strike and have him tarred and feathered, both for dragging Bermuda?s name through the mud and in solidarity with those workers in the USA whose lives have been ruined by this corporate criminal. Similarly, Mr. Blair with his sending our British brothers and sisters to occupy Iraq under false (and logically flawed) premises of Iraqi WMD (what about US, UK, Russian, Chinese, North Korean and Israeli WMD?s?), should also be met with protest.

2) Bermuda has no part in the war, so why bother protesting?

Like it or not, Bermuda remains a British colony, and the UK speaks for us in foreign policy terms. The UK is America?s main partner in this imperialist adventure of occupying Iraq, and Bermuda, as part of the UK, is thus also party to this barbarism. On a more direct note, prior to the imperialist war various US military planes (primarily transport planes) stopped in Bermuda for refuelling on their way East over the Atlantic.

It doesn?t take a genius to guess their final destination. Furthermore, how many Bermuda based businesses, businessmen and funds have either contributed to or benefited from this imperialist adventure? I seem to remember the business pages of our local newspaper being full of local investment opportunities in Iraqi reconstruction, or nakedly advertising investing in the Anglo-American military-industrial complex. As long as Bermuda and Bermudians continue to aid US military either directly (refuelling) or indirectly (economically) we are all involved in this imperialist adventure.

On a more general level, the majority of us Bermudians are ?workers? and must stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters the world over be they American, European, Arab, Israeli, African, Asian, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Atheist and so on. We all face universally shared problems, regardless of whether we live in more ?worker-friendly? democracies like Bermuda or more autocratic states. We all want a living wage, education, healthcare, accountable democracy (with freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination) and we all oppose imperialism and exploitation in all its forms.

We protest to show our solidarity with our American and British brothers and sisters who have been misled into this imperialist war, one which is costing their country billions of dollars every month. All this while their ?leaders? shed crocodile tears about limited funds as they gut healthcare and education programmes and increase their military budgets. We stand in solidarity with our Iraqi brothers and sisters who simply demand democracy and the end to the imperialist occupation of their country. Should the Americans or any other power choose, in an imperialist panic attack, to invade Bermuda I for one sure hope that our brothers and sisters the world over protest on our behalf.

3) Protestors would be better protesting Bermudian issues rather than international ones.

Yes, there are numerous problems in Bermuda that should be protested, there is no denying this. This in no way makes the imperialist occupation of Iraq any less worthy of protest by Bermudians. In some way this small protest at the airport and the larger anti-war rallies that preceded the war are laying the groundwork for future protests focused on Bermudian issues. It should be however be remembered that many local issues can be resolved without resorting immediately to protest ? one can, for example form/join civic groups.

No doubt many current Bermudian problems stem from pre-1998 sabotages of the public education system combined with various short-sighted economic policies that have led to our present environmental and housing crises. The same policies may be accused of causing health problems like obesity and diabetes, as well as a crude materialistic culture for the latest fashions, one sad consequence of which is the increasing objectification of women.

Post-1998 we continue along the same path in deeds (for all the PLP?s rhetoric they must be reminded that rhetoric is meaningless when action contradicts it), and deal with symptoms and not root causes. If the labour party continues to act like a conservative party (UBP), albeit with a divisive streak of racialism, then Mr. Scott may very well get his wish of being met on the airport tarmac by a government car ? however he will also be met with protests on the roundabout like Mr. Blair.

The government needs to sort out the corruption in the BHC and at Berkeley, we need to get a long term plan for housing (affordable, decent apartment blocks), we need stringent standards for educational qualifications, we need a long term environmental plan including liberation from fuel imports (solar power plants at Morgan?s Point or golf-courses?), cheap and efficient public transportation and reform of or electoral system (proportional representation and increased accountability), to name but a few pressing concerns. Above all we need to remind the PLP that they are a labour party and they need to start acting like one.

Go straight to Govt.

April 22, 2004

Dear Sir,

I write to give advice to Mr. Eddie DeMello on the issue of funding to have Portuguese taught in Bermuda schools. Instead of wasting time and effort in obtaining overseas funding ? he should appeal directly to the Department of Education and obtain the same $60,000 the way Dellwood obtained that amount to fund the Ashay project! Let our Government prove that it is not a racist Government!

Speaking of the Ashay project ? why was it necessary to point out a letter written by a Portuguese student? Was Dellwood trying to make a point? I do not agree with this project or the way in which Government has so readily provided the funding for it when other parts of Education are suffering and in desperate need of funding! It?s a shame that we, the tax payers have no say in the way that Government sees fit to spend our hard earned money!

I got your number

April 22, 2004

Dear Sir,

I?d like to address this to all drivers of our roads who aren?t very considerate when parking their vehicles. I was the middle car parked on Victoria Street today (going down the hill across from Victoria Park). I noticed that the car (a red Toyota) parked directly behind me left a large gap of space behind them (where the white line ends) and just a fraction of an inch of space from my bumper, where they could have backed-up much further away from my bumper to allow room for me manoeuvre my vehicle more easily out of the middle between themselves and the car parked in front of me. Parking on this small island is scarce as it is.

It would be nice for everyone to be more C.C.C (Considerate, Conscientious, Courteous). Would you have wanted to be sandwiched between two vehicles with very little room to get out? I did have your licence number, but I guess that would be considered a personal attack.