Kathy Laluk
Short, wispy silver hair surrounds her freckled and slightly worn face. She speaks with a decisive tone, and though the tongue in which she speaks is unfamiliar to me, I was fascinated by the story of Hana Ibrahim when I met her in February at SOAS in London.
The lifelong Iraqi resident began campaigning for women’s rights about ten years ago and founded the Women’s Will Association, an Iraq- and Syria-based NGO, in Baghdad in 2004 and Gender magazine, which discusses women’s rights…
Last month, a Qatari ex-Guantanamo prisoner, a Palestinian human rights leader, a Lebanese newspaper editor and a British MP were all prevented from entering other countries.
Jarullah al-Marri, who was released from Guantanamo last year after seven years’ imprisonment, was detained at Heathrow, ostensibly because he failed to notify the government of his time in Guantanamo.
Al-Marri, who was planning to attend a reunion of ex-Guantanamo prisoners, was instead extradited to…
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at then-US president George W. Bush in December was sentenced to three years in prison on 12 March.
Muntazer al-Zaidi pleaded “not guilty” to the charges and could have received up to 15 years in prison. He said his reaction represented the attitude of the Iraqi people at the time.
Bush was holding a good-bye trip in Iraq when al-Zaidi shouted the president was “a dog” and flung his shoes at the president, saying they were a “…
The Free Gaza Movement is, at the time of going to press, preparing to break the Israeli siege on Gaza again. They hope to send a cargo ship (with building supplies and medical equipment), and a passenger boat (with at least 50 passengers), and are appealing for funds to enable this to happen. Whether or not they succeed in acquiring additional boats, they will be des Spirit of Humanity, which was turned back by Israeli gunboats in January, intends to depart for Gaza in mid-March.
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The nine activists who decommissioned the EDO arms factory in Brighton in January, in protest against the supply of British arms to Israel and the assault on Gaza, are now facing the much vaguer charge of “conspiracy to cause criminal damage” as well as the charge of criminal damage itself, following a court hearing on 16 February.
The charge of burglary was dropped against all nine. Because of this change, the three activists who were arrested outside the factory, and who caused…
Parliament Square peace protestor Maria Gallastegui fasted for 30 days to protest against the escalating military assault and in solidarity with the people of Gaza .
Her liquid-only hunger strike, which began on 12 January, ended after 30 days when friends and family became concerned about Maria’s health. She has had no lasting health effects.
How do you make yourself heard in the political climate we are in? “People just don’t take any notice,” Gallastegui said. “You want to…
Twelve British companies produce components, many of them essential, for the F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters that attacked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip last month, according to the Stop Arming Israel website.
Several of these UK-based companies produce critical parts used in the Apache aircraft. Among these are Agusta Westland in Yeovil and Redmayne in Hampshire (“Jesus nuts”), Senior Aerospace Baxter Woodhouse & Taylor (air duct systems) and Meggitt Avionics (air…
Two of the nine activists arrested for “decommissioning” hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment at the EDO/MBM arms manufacturer in Brighton on 17 January were still being held by police at the time of going to press.
The remaining seven are out on bail, but on strict conditions: they are not allowed to return to their homes in Bristol and Brighton until their trial dates, they cannot communicate with one another and they cannot protest at EDO/MBM.
Though only…
