Turkish Forum

Tag: Labour Friends of Israel

  • Blair postpones book party at Tate Modern

    Blair postpones book party at Tate Modern

    (Reuters) – Former premier Tony Blair has postponed a party at the Tate Modern art gallery celebrating the launch of his autobiography because of threats from protesters, his office said on Wednesday.

    Anti-war demonstrators had planned to disrupt the reception on Wednesday evening and a group of celebrated artists including Tracey Emin and Vivienne Westwood had called on the gallery to cancel the “disgraceful” event.

    Blair has also been forced to cancel a signing session for “A Journey” at a bookstore in central London.

    “It has been postponed for the same reason as the book signing,” a spokesman for Blair said.

    “We don’t want to put our guests through the unpleasant consequences of the actions of demonstrators.”

    At the weekend, protestors hurled eggs and shoes at the former prime minister during a promotional event in Dublin.

    Blair, prime minister for Labour between 1997 and 2007, led Britain into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In particular, the occupation of Iraq by Western coalition forces was widely opposed and contributed to a dive in Blair’s popularity.

    Emin, Westwood and musician Brian Eno, were among figures from the arts world who wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday to voice their concern about the Tate Modern event.

    “It is disgraceful that the Tate is being used for this purpose,” they said.

    (Reporting by Matt Falloon; Editing by Steve Addison)

    The Reuters

  • MPs join Gaza protest against BBC

    MPs join Gaza protest against BBC

    By Mark Hookham
    Political Editor

    Fabian Hamilton, MP

    THREE Leeds MPs have added their voices to the mounting criticism of the BBC for its refusal to televise an appeal for victims of the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

    John Battle (Leeds West, Lab), Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East, Lab) and Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West, Lib Dem) have joined more than 100 other MPs in signing a parliamentary motion urging the corporation to reverse its decision.

    The Disasters Emergency Committee’s two-minute Gaza Crisis Appeal was screened on Monday by ITV, Channel 4 and Five.

    However, BBC bosses have insisted that airing the film would threaten its impartiality and that the corporation should not give the impression it was “backing one side” over the other.

    Protests

    The decision has sparked more than 15,500 complaints and protests at BBC Broadcasting House.

    Mr Battle, a former junior minister, has also raised the issue with ministers at a Commons international development select committee.

    Relatives of his sister’s husband live in Gaza and have given him first hand reports of the intense suffering caused by the bombing.

    Fabian Hamilton, a member of Labour Friends of Israel, said: “To a child who has lost his parents and whose house is a pile of rubble it doesn’t matter whether it was Israelis or an earthquake. That child needs aid and our help. We have a duty to relieve that suffering.”

    Greg Mulholland said he thought the BBC’s reasoning was “utterly flawed.”

    A RALLY is to be staged outside the BBC’s regional HQ in Leeds to protest at the corporation’s refusal to broadcast a charity appeal for funds to help the people of Gaza.

    The rally takes place this evening from 5pm to 7pm outside BBC Broadcasting Centre in St Peter’s Square, near Leeds bus station.

    The BBC has refused to broadcast the appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee which includes charities such as Christian Aid and Oxfam.

    It says to do so might lead to accusations of “bias.”

    Source: Yorkshire Evening Post, 28 January 2009