conclusion?
Posted: Wednesday, 11 April 2007 |
The second part of was on Tuesday night you can hear both episodes using the beebs listen again facility, I do not have a television and do not buy national newspapers so I do not see visual images of the news reports except through the internet, so I did not see all the photos of Lebanon last summer that many of you may have seen, this means that when I do see an image it has a far greater impact, again I am posting the photos of the journals with the statement I wrote last summer,
August 2006
Woman 8, when I heard of all the children killed at my heart went out to their mothers, women give birth/life, men take life/kill, how to express my feeling, I do not have T.V. but do use the internet and read blogs, through a series of web links I came to a page with photos of Qana, the horror of seeing lines of children wrapped in clear plastic, that says it all so that would be my journal.
September 2006
Woman 9, one of the many things revelled to me whilst researching, is the many landmines and unexploded devices Israel has left on Lebanese land, dangerous weapons to harm the young and innocent, I thought also of the hard work Princess Diana did to stop the use of landmines and make armies responsible for clearing land of dangerous weapons when they leave, women give birth, men kill.
Owing to having to have the September journal in Houston by the end of the month and being in Scotland I like to leave plenty of time for the British and USA postal services to deliver by 30/09/06, so the September journal was started in August while the was still on,
the killing finally stopped, but has it? Israel left hundreds of cluster bombs to continue the killing, like landmines these bombs kill mainly children and innocent people, I was pleased when the British government announced they would stop using cluster bombs but disappointed that they have not stopped immediately, I think they are stopping in 2008, one reason I heard given was because they already have them in stock and ‘have’ to use them up!!!! I sometimes wonder what kind of mind thinks up ways of killing, what kind of person works in industries that make them, do they even know what they are making?
As you may by now realise I became very melancholy creating these small quilts and so far have not created any more,
August 2006
Woman 8, when I heard of all the children killed at my heart went out to their mothers, women give birth/life, men take life/kill, how to express my feeling, I do not have T.V. but do use the internet and read blogs, through a series of web links I came to a page with photos of Qana, the horror of seeing lines of children wrapped in clear plastic, that says it all so that would be my journal.
September 2006
Woman 9, one of the many things revelled to me whilst researching, is the many landmines and unexploded devices Israel has left on Lebanese land, dangerous weapons to harm the young and innocent, I thought also of the hard work Princess Diana did to stop the use of landmines and make armies responsible for clearing land of dangerous weapons when they leave, women give birth, men kill.
Owing to having to have the September journal in Houston by the end of the month and being in Scotland I like to leave plenty of time for the British and USA postal services to deliver by 30/09/06, so the September journal was started in August while the was still on,
the killing finally stopped, but has it? Israel left hundreds of cluster bombs to continue the killing, like landmines these bombs kill mainly children and innocent people, I was pleased when the British government announced they would stop using cluster bombs but disappointed that they have not stopped immediately, I think they are stopping in 2008, one reason I heard given was because they already have them in stock and ‘have’ to use them up!!!! I sometimes wonder what kind of mind thinks up ways of killing, what kind of person works in industries that make them, do they even know what they are making?
As you may by now realise I became very melancholy creating these small quilts and so far have not created any more,
Comments
I hope you`ll permit another viewpoint on the war? I appreciate that many many people disagree with both the reasoning behind it, and the continuing emroilment in, the war in Iraq. But not all of us feel that way, and I for one have never been ashamed to be British. It`s right and good that in this country, we have the freedom to express such opinions as yours and mine without fear of harsh reprisal. In Iraq, such a thing would never have been permitted. I am proud of the soldiers who fight where their government sends them to fight (and I speak having close friends and relatives in the forces) "women give birth, men kill"? Remember Thatcher and the Falklands? I do appreciate your opinions and hope you can appreciate mine too. Intersting blog.
Hermit from Sanday
P.S I realise your blog concerns the fighting in Lebanon, my points about Iraq were intended to include all the fighting in the Middle East, sorry I didn`t make that clearer. :)
Hermit from Sanday
We really should have a "take it back" facility on these blogs! Forgive my mild rant re wars in the Middle East, I`d no right to put my opinion of it on here and regret doing so. Sorry. *blushes at her own impetuousness and shuffles off stage left*
Hermit from Sanday
I agree with Hermit about a " take it back" thingy on Ib, and also some of her points regarding Iraq were very interesting, I for one wanted to get rid of Sadman Whosane, but not like George The Bush did. Although hindsight is a wonderful thing, if only our leaders had it then maybe we could give peace a chance ( did youze sea how I slipped that in there, now, now Angus, get down )
Tws from Cleaning up The Officers Mess
IT: procreation is a joint venture, and in the species that do well, both males and females contribute. Women, not men, give birth - for obvious reasons. Men are the ones who usually go to war and do the killing (until modern weaponry became an equalizer), also for obvious reasons. # The Middle East is a tough neighborhood where Israel has the right to feel it is playing a zero-sum game. Its neighbors have tried literally to wipe it out several times. # Lebanon is a hot keg, and all its problems cannot be laid at Israel's door. Qana was a tragedy, and the massive use of cluster bombs in southern Lebanon, particularly so at the end of the war, was not in line with its commitments to the US, and was also morally reprehensible. # Do bear in mind that Hizbullah fired several HUNDRED unguided rockets against Israel - not unlike the V1 and V2 rockets that the Germans fired against London etc. The Israelis are more efficient (not enough obviously), but they certainly did not massively and indiscriminately bomb/obliterate Hizbullah (or, more generally, Lebanese) neighborhoods. # Disclosure here: I got my doctorate from Brandeis U. in the States, a secular predominantly Jewish institution.
mjc from NM,USA
Hermit, there is no need to apologize. Nothing inappropriate in your comments. Posting it on IT blog is both more efficient and conducive to discussion. I am sure IT sees it that way. # Wars. Many seem to be against any use of force in principle, and then there is impotent wailing and gnashing over e.g. Darfur. A few thousand NATO or US troops would take care of that problem, and I would be all for it. So, why not? Hopefully we will, before much longer. I am ashamed of my government's inadequate performance in this regard, but it is a far cry from being ashamed to be an American. I don't see why IT should be ashamed to be British either.
mjc from NM,USA
I am against a "take it back" thingy/facility. Just be careful not to flame out (a little fire is fine, particularly when lit under ...). If you make an egregious error (like shooting innocent bystanders), you (I) can always apologize. Otherwise, let it roll. Once it's out there, it's out. Take it back if you wish, and kid yourself, but google will find it. Oh yes, then there is always Father Ted (is it?) every Friday evening before mass to hear you all out at Confessional.
mjc from NM,USA
Most countries have past (or present) actions to be ashamed of. The need for understanding, tolerance and respect for others is great. I think what hurts the most is the hope that the human being would evolve to be kinder to one another and it seems to be such a slow process. We can go over and over who has done what to whom but it just needs to STOP.
macQ from NMtoo, USA
first please remember the statements and journal quilts were made last summer august 2006, so might be seen differently now with the passage of time,
island threads from lewis
I do not mind bloggers posting different opinions, if I did not want comment and discussion I would not put my Art out there for the public to see, I wish I could have been in Houston last autumn to see and hear reaction to the quilts and would love to be in Chicago this weekend but can’t, I find it interesting the different reactions and how we as individuals can have altering reactions on separate viewings,
island threads from lewis
my concern is not war but the killing/murder of children, they are innocent, my shame is with the current government, which I, like the majority of the population did not vote for, the government that allowed missiles to be shipped through Scotland without asking the people of Scotland if that was what they wanted, where is the democracy in that?
island threads from lewis
giving peace a chance is something the world is sadly short of in the 21st century, remember the west put Saddam in charge (so I have been told) but when he stopped being the puppet of the west they turned on him, if the way he treated his people was important then we would not be so friendly with Saudi Arabia,
island threads from lewis
Mjc I just knew you would react to the quoted roles of men and women, I am not referring to individuals or the conception of the human but to the universal roles of men and women, the very fact that not only today but through time women are pushed into nurturing roles, when I think of mothers I think also of the mothers of the men doing the killing, women do not raise there sons to go and kill someone else's child, through time men are frequently aggressors, from a young age, I have worked in environments with young children where no violent toys are allowed and yet little boys from about 2 years on will create a weapon to kill the other people (adults and children) present, thankfully they never succeed, in killing that is, while the girls are caring for the dolls, teddies, cats, dogs and all other animal toys, why can’t we teach our boys to care instead of kill? (no I am not expecting answers, it is a question I ask myself) I just do not understand the lust to kill, make weapons that kill, etc. we are supposed to be intelligent, we should know better, thankfully some of us do but not enough of us, yet.
island threads from lewis
I am most certainly not ashamed to be British, there is still a great deal to be proud of. I am however ashamed at some of the things that have been and are still being done in our name. We all, collectively and individually, do things from time to time for which we ought to apologise; it is part of the human condition, but we show ourselves in a better light if we can find it in us to admit to these lapses.
Hyper-Borean from The creepy stool
re the roles of women and men...history shows a host of bloodthirsty women who indeed DID raise their men children to go out and kill. Queens and the wives of kings and chieftans, to the `ordinary` homesteader of the Norse women, many of them had high stakes in politics and used any means they could via their menfolks to bring about desired change which they believed would benefit their people or their country and add to their own wealth and prosperity. I think that women can, should the occasion demand, be the more bloodthirsty...we often have had the most to lose if not. It is human nature to be territorial and aqcuisitive, throughout our past we have fought through need and desire to further our own causes. Simply because we are supposed to live in enlightened times is unlikely to change that in us all. It was and is part of the survival instinct which makes sure whatever group of people we belong to, thrives and does well and goes forward into the future. A world without killing? In my opinion, will never be. Nature decrees (oversimplification alert here, sorry) that the fittest survive...that is most often, those with the biggest teeth/claws/weapons.
Hermit from Sanday
I think that you've opened a can of worms here IT, or is it a rod for your millstone roundyour neck can? I never get these things correct.
Tws from Sunny Lewis
Well I'm alright then....don't know about the state of everyone else's teeth/claws...
Flying Cat from smug corner
A good intellect is not a bad thing to have either, eh Hermit?
mjc from NM,USA
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