Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Child Victims of War - meeting in manchester.

Prudance Dancer | 05.11.2004 21:58 | Social Struggles

On Wednesday 3rd of November, I went to the meeting to hear the childrens charity Child Victims of War, speak at the Cross Street chapel in Manchester.

I went there because I was ignorant about the issue of Depleted Uranium and wished to learn more from people who supposedly worked in this field.

I came away shocked and disgusted by the speech of the gentleman speaker Abdul Haq Al-Ani from Child Victims of War, who after his partner Ms. Joanne Baker, spoke of DU in Iraq, Abdul Haq Al-Ani, spoke on a completely different issue - such as the war being motivated by racism alone and we in the UK were the cause of the war because we voted in Tony Blair and he said that every body in the United Kingdom was a "racist".

He informed us, the audience that under Saddam Hussains regime every person, who had been detained by the Iraqi Police, was entitled to representation by a lawyer and was treated fiarly by the courts. This was after he told us, the audience, that all the laws in the UK were silly, and were the laws of terrorism, what about the years of terror brought to the UK by the IRA and the Iraqi's by Saddam!

He also said that he is so disgusted by the United Kingdom, the country where he has got his law degree from (from the way he went on that was debatable) and he intends to go "home" to Iraq "and die with his people" in the relatively rich area of Monsoor.

A question to ask Child Victims of War, if this is how you feel, then why have you lived outside of Iraq, for over twenty years, when Iraqi's were being persecuted by Saddam, being killed in the Iraq/Iran war, people were dying under sanctions, war and the current invasion - and you wait till now to make your choice to die in Iraq, after all, is'nt your organisation about IRAQI CHILDREN?

He also made the point, that all the work people in the UK were doing, to have DU banned was pointless and stupid because apparently secret laws exist that have prevented any evidence being brought to the courts and according to him, he has tried but failed in taking a court case against the British government due to these secret laws. A vallid point was made by another Iraqi chap and that was, why not take it to another country? Al-Ani went absolutely ballistic, calling this man names and the chair person had to calm the situation down - this behaviour was coming from a barrister.

I was saddened and disgusted that children were used this way because his comments also gave an opening for peoples to talk about their opinions of Fidel Castro, Land mines, anti-semitism in the USA, RESPECT and the presentation of the meeting and not about the effects of Depleted Uranium in Iraq.

This meeting was supposed to be about the effects of Depleted Uranium in Iraq, and how it has affected men, women and espeacially children, the first two speaker, Cammile Warren frm CADU and Joanne Baker were good but the the gentleman from child Victims of War was an absolute TUBE!

I would not recommend Child Victims of War as the organisation for the Iraqi people or anybody associated with Abdul Haq Al-Ani, founding member of this charity, sorry, I mean Limited Company.

Prudance Dancer

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

Abdul Haq Al-Ani

15.11.2004 14:05

You are absolutely correct to be very suspicious of Abdul Haq Al-Ani. I have encountered him a number of times, once I had a lengthy conversation with him where it was quite evident that he was quite blatantly lying. We argued about a number of points about British law about which he seemed quite ignorant.

He has raised suspicion across the board and there is much about this man to be seriously cautious about. I cannot say any more.

Anon


Re: Abdel Haq al-Ani and Joanne Baker

08.11.2005 14:59


I am somewhat surprised at the negative report given on Indymedia, of a talk by Joanne Baker and Abdel Haq al-Ani, about Child Victims of War, and other matters.

Jo Baker is an old acquaintance and fellow activist from my home city of Bristol. We leafleted together on many occasions, protesting against the sanctions on Iraq that were having devastating effects on child mortality between 2000 and 2003 - something well documented by the World Health Organisation, and also by Jo herself, during her visits to Baghdad. (Madeleine Albright, Clinton's Secretary of State during that period, is on record as having made the breathtakingly callous remark: '"We think the price is worth it.")

As for Abdel Haq, I can't claim to know him that well, having only met him three or four times. He has always struck me as both pleasant, and highly intelligent. I can imagine that he might be a little 'over-the-top' in defence of his homeland, which has suffered so terribly at the hands of the West - beginning in 1919, when Churchill ordered the bombing of Iraqi villages that were resisting the British occupation of the time.

Abdel Haq could not return to Iraq till recently, as he had fallen foul of Saddam Hussein't regime - a regime that we should remember was propped up by the US and Britain during the 1980s and most of the 1990s, and supplied by them with chemical weapons to use against Iran.

For Prudence Dance to represent Abdel Haq as talking total nonsense - as opposed to exaggerating somewhat - seems untypical of the man I know. If anyone saw and heard him on Newsnight a couple of weeks ago, talking about his role as a defence lawyer in Saddam Hussein's impending trial, and running intellectual rings around Ted Koppel, I think they would have received a very different impression from the account given in the pieces on Indymedia.

I hope this brief account may serve to set the record straight ?

In peace -

Margaret Jones

Dr. Margaret Catherine Jones
mail e-mail: nabataat@yahoo.co.uk


IS 'PRUDANCE' THE SAME AS 'ELVIRA' ? THEY SEEM TO HAVE WRITTEN THE SAME ARTICLE

08.11.2005 15:26


I found this piece (copied below) in 'The Weekly Worker'. It seems to be identical to the contribution that appeared in Indymedia under the name "Prudance Dance." But here the author signs herself
"Elvira Braun."

Whichever one you are, how about going public, being up-front, and using your REAL name ? Then at least, when one's friends get slandered, one knows who one is speaking with, and might be able to correct any misunderstanding ....

Sincerely,

Margaret Catherine Jones
(Tel. 0117 - 94 66 885)


CHILD VICTIMS

On Wednesday November 3, I went to the meeting to hear the children’s charity, Child Victims of War, speak at the Cross Street chapel in Manchester. I went there because I was ignorant about the issue of depleted uranium (DU) and wished to learn more from people who supposedly worked in this field.

I came away shocked and disgusted by the speech of Abdul Haq Al-Ani from Child Victims of War, who after his partner, Ms Joanne Baker, spoke of DU in Iraq, spoke on a completely different issue - such as the war being motivated by racism alone and we in the United Kingdom were the cause of the war because we voted in Tony Blair and everybody in the UK was a “racist”.

He informed us that under Saddam Hussein’s regime every person who had been detained by the Iraqi police was entitled to representation by a lawyer and was treated fairly by the courts. But the laws in the UK were silly and were the laws of terrorism - what about the years of terror brought to the Iraqis by Saddam? He also said he is disgusted by the UK, the country where he has got his law degree from, and intends to go “home” to Iraq and “die with his people” in the relatively rich area of Monsoor.

A question to ask Child Victims of War: if this is how you feel, then why have you lived outside of Iraq for over 20 years, when Iraqis were being persecuted by Saddam, being killed in the Iraq/Iran war, when people were dying under sanctions, war and the current invasion - and you wait till now to make your choice to die in Iraq? After all, isn’t your organisation about Iraqi children?

I was saddened and disgusted that children were used this way because Al-Ani’s comments also gave an opening for people to talk about their opinions of Fidel Castro, land mines, anti-semitism in the USA and Respect. The meeting was supposed to be about the effects of depleted uranium in Iraq.

I would not recommend Child Victims of War or anybody associated with Abdul Haq Al-Ani, founding member of this charity - sorry, I mean limited company.

Elvira Braun

Liverpool

Dr Margaret Jones
- Homepage: http://Nabataat@yahoo.co.uk


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech