Blag

This morning I visit Isbit Abd Rabu for the second time. I visited here one year ago with a group of MEPs after the Israeli offensive. I was horrified and shocked by what I saw then, as I wrote in my blog at that time. I am anxious to see what has changed in the lives of the people here since then.

We talk to a man whose extended family lost 13 houses and whose son was killed in the air attacks. "Our children don't have clothes, decent education, or food. ", he says

He talks of how this area was a most beautiful area before the bombardments. Now there are destroyed houses and a destroyed mosque and nearby the factories, fields and olive groves have been destroyed also.

A woman tells us that the main thing people need now is to rebuild their houses. Because so many people lost their homes it is now also very difficult to find somewhere to rent.

I am very disappointed at the lack of progress in rebuilding and reconstruction. Much of the rubble has been cleared but there is little evidence of progress otherwise.

All the talk of donor conferences and reconstruction is pointless if people do not see change on the ground even after one year. Part of the process of recovery from such trauma is the physical re-building. Here the international community has not made that happen, and people here feel abandoned.
Hopes have been raised only to be dashed again.

Some attempts are being made by local people but rebuilding is very difficult without the necessary materials and these are blocked by the siege.

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After less than four hours sleep we set off from Cairo to make the long journey through the Sinai desert to get to the crossing point into Gaza.

We stop on the way and there are more introductions. - some national parliamentarians from Greece, from Poland and from Switzerland.

Majed Al-Zeer of the Palestinian Return Centre tells us he was born in Bethlehem but has not been back to Palestine since 1967.

Rafah is partly on the Egyptian side and partly in Gaza. People cannot go from one to the other without prior permission and this depend on the decision of the Egyptian government.

Even this VIP delegation has waited 2 months for permission to enter Gaza through Rafah.

Now we have arrived and we have been told in advance that crossing at Rafah should go smoothly and that there should be no long delays in getting into Gaza. It takes an hour and a half and then the delegation enters.

As we go in Omar Faris who has accompanied the Polish parliamentarians that he is a Palestinian who has never set foot in Palestine before. It is an emotional moment for him. He was born in a tent on the Golan Heights between Palestine and Jordan and lived in other countries since then.

The delegation is received by the deputy speaker in Gaza. At the press conference he says he hopes the visit by the European Parliament will be followed by a visit by the Arab League.

Gerard Kaufmann talks of the suffering of people in Gaza. He says. The oppressed people of Gaza must have their voice in the world.
'We shall report back to our parliament and our government on what we see and what we learn on this visit. We will be your voice but we will not replace your voice' he says.
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On the plane now from Cairo to Brussels with several MEPs including Nessa Childers and Aidan O Sullivan from Nessa's office.
Further up the plane I see German MEP Helmut Scholz and Portugese MEP Marisa Matias, while Borris Zala MEP from Slovakia sits across the aisle from us. He speculates about what the situation will be like on the ground in Gaza.

British MEP Richard Howitt reminds us that other delegations in recent times have expected to get into Gaza but haven't managed at the last minute. "We're not in until we're in" he says. How right he is.

This morning in Brussels we had a meeting of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Palestine where the chair Proinsias de Rossa gave an account of that delegation's visit to Palestine in December and the u-turn by the Israeli government which had given them visas and then told them at the last minute that they would not be able to enter Gaza.

They spoke of the very serious situation on the West Bank with expulsions of Palestinians and the continued building of settlements.

There is some discussion about the present talk of re-starting negotiations and the Palestinian representative in his presentation to the delegation members spoke of the importance of halting all settlement building.

Israeli statements about not sharing Jerusalem is also an issue for people at the meeting and there is some welcome for the EU Council statement of 8 December that the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including Jerusalem other than those agreed by the parties.

I gave the meeting some information about our European parliamentarians delegation to Gaza this week and promise to give an account of our visit on our return.

It is now 10.30 at night. We have arrived at Cairo airport and met up with delegates coming off the other flights. Among those on the flight from Heath row are Jeremy Corbyn, Claire Short and the leader of the delegation Gerald Kaufmann. There is a great buzz as people meet old friends and acquaintances. The logistics of moving a group this size from place to place will be quite something.

There are some very impressive buildings on the journey in from the airport but they pass by in a haze. Cairo speed limits or the lack of them are quite something also.

Tonight we soak up the atmosphere of Cairo and of meeting the other delegation members
Tomorrow morning first thing we leave for Gaza.

The NGO square inside the Bella Centre was previously full of colourful and mostly youthful displays or protests to remind the politicians of what is at stake here. Now it is a much more barren space as the security tightens and NGOs are left outside.

Even before today there were problems and many NGOs and climate affected communities came to Copenhagen but couldn't get as far as the talks. So we've has demonstrations outside with a rigorous reaction from Danish police - pushing, shoving and blocking.

Inside, security has gone mad, with badges checked every 100 metres on the way in and MEPs, officials and other participants pushed roughly aside as Gordon Brown, Nicholas Sarkozy or Angela Merkel walk by. Heaven help us once President Obama arrives!!

However, the big question inside is what kind of deal is now possible.

115 world leaders will not want to go home without a deal. That could be an effective pressure to seal the deal but it could also provide temptation to go for a 'green wash' on nothing of value.

I wish the NG0s were still here - or as far as some are concerned, here in the first place.

Among negotiators there is a problem of trust with developing countries worried about any suggestion of a deal that doesn't have the legally binding emissions reductions targets for developed countries that Kyoto has.

The most vulnerable countries who did least to cause climate change but will suffer most as a result want credible and ambitious reduction targets in this deal.

Those who have seen developed countries pledge the same money over and over again also want to be sure that financing in this deal is real as well as adequate.

On the other hand there is a certain amount of filibustering going on by others who don't urgently require a deal.

Will there be a deal? A comprehensive legally binding treaty will not be signed now.

Can there be a politically binding deal with a date for having the elements put into a legally binding deal? There can be and there must be.

The pieces are mostly there if the political will is there to put them on the table.

So will those who hold the pieces put them on the table? Will they put enough on the table or try to put less than they need to and just annoy everyone else?

Get ready for announcements as countries jockey not to be the losers in the blame game.

Now is the time to tell political leaders to make the deal, and to put the cards they are holding on the table.

Now is the time to tell rich countries we don't want the same money re-packaged and announced again

Now is the time to tell them that square brackets are sooooo last year.

Now is the time to ask them if they moved so decisively to save the banks do they not think the climate needs saving?

The young protesters inside are gone, but on our way in each day on the metro we pass a lorry bearing the logo ' Politicians talk: leaders act'.

Connie Hedegaard has been replaced by Lars Rasmussen as chair COP 15 for high level segment. She will continue be a special representative and to conduct informal consultations on behalf of the Danish COP Presidency.

Almost a scuffle now with many parties trying to get into the plenary. Countries have already protested to the chair about delegation members who have had difficulty getting in.

Inside the plenary, South Africa, on behalf of G77 and China has proposed that the text from the Kyoto working group be referred back to that working group for further technical work for a period of one day.

The new chair Lars Rasmussen emphasises to the plenary that discussion on the way to proceed is suspended for the speeches of the world leaders and that there will be a COP meeting at 1pm where all concerns raised about AWG-KP and LCA can be addressed and discussion on this can continue.

China, Brazil, South Africa, India and others raising points of order, so the high level segment has not yet begun.

UPDATE:

The High level segment with speeches by Heads of State has now started.

After impasse today, an informal consultation started on Kyoto.

Now, in plenary, putting fwd Ministerial informal consultation on LCA - developing country emissions reductions, developed country emissions reductions, financing, trade issues, aviation and maritime bunker fuels, market mechanisms.

Selecting areas where roadblocks reached in technical areas and Ministers focus in on the difficult points within those areas

e.g in developing country emissions -information on actions taken without international support.

Still far too much in square brackets. Have to try to break this down.

Need the ambitious deal - so had to have this process of informal consultations at the political level. Now need the political will to move forward

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the high level segment of the UN Climate talks begins, with Heads of State expected by Friday.

Apart from the lack of clear and ambitious figures on emissions reductions and on financing, agreement is also lacking on the shape or form of the deal.

Without a continuation of Kyoto, the bulk of the developing countries won't sign up to a deal. The US refuses point bank to re-join Kyoto and the EU and others would have difficullty with being tied to legally - binding commitments under the Kyotol Protocol if the US doesn't rejoin and makes no legally binding commitments under the other track.

The world needs to know what real emissions reductions will be made and to know that the necessary financing will be made available to fund the actions to tackle climate change and its effects.

A possible shape is looming with targets under Kyoto for those who are a party to it and the same targets also in another track which contains commitments from the US.

One thing is certain. There needs to be a legally binding outcome on both tracks.

Emerging economies like China and India also have to engage but it makes no sense to expect them to be put on the same level of effort as the main industrialised countries.
This is not the time to try and change the language of Bali.

Tomorrow (Wed) Connie Hedgaard will have to work out how to bring the process forward after the two documents - one from each track, are presented to her.

Meanwhile, in the alternative venue, the klimaforum, Monsanto have been given the infamous 'angry mermaid award.'

It's a small world. Travelling through London to Copenhagen I sit beside young Anton Frederickson from Vancouver who is Canadian Scout Ambassador to the Climate Talks. He has missed some of it because of school but is more than willing to make up for lost time. He tells me he doesn't know much about the topic but then in conversation shows that he knows a lot more than he thinks. He spots the Premier of British Columbia on the same plane and heads off to say hello.

When we collect our baggage he meets up with others from the scout movement and I head off to get the metro into the centre of Copenhagen.

In the metro station I meet up with John Gilliland who tells me of two very interesting sessions, one on agriculture and one on forestry. The most telling point is how passionate the US Secretary of State for Agriculture has been about tackling the climate issue. He came at 1.30pm to make his presentation but then stayed right though to 6.30pm engaging with the others - "for his grandchildren" he says. . A sign of the times? Hopefully!

Copenhagen has laid on shuttle buses, and free bicycles as well as the metro and the S-train; a good example of sustainable transport.
Apparently our European Parliament delegation will be biking towards the Bella Centre for the conference on Tuesday, so watch out for that one.

Obama arrives Friday apparently, so the advice is travel by metro, S-train or bicycle 'cause the roads will be blocked!

As for the UN Negotiations, the negotiating documents have far too many square brackets (undecided issues) at present. It will take political will as well as hard work to get them sorted by the end of the week.

I first met Senator Teddy Kennedy early in October 1994 in Boston. The IRA cessation was over a month old. I was in the USA for a fortnight long coast to coast visit – a frenetic city a day whirlwind tour. We started in Boston and Teddy was there to greet us at the airport. From our first meeting I was very taken by him. He had played a very crucial role in the build up to the cessation, in particular by supporting a visa for me. Then as the painstaking work of constructing a peace process continued in Ireland and as it created the possibility and opportunity of an IRA cessation he also intervened to support an immediate visa for the late Joe Cahill.

Teddy’s sister Jean Kennedy Smith, US Ambassador to Ireland, played a pivotal role in the last minute tick tacking between Sinn Féin through Fr Alex Reid, the Taoiseach Albert Reynolds and her brother the Senator. The Cahill visa issue went down to the wire. Sinn Fein had our own contacts with the White House and I had made the case that a visa for Joe Cahill would be proof that the USA supported an alternative way for republicans to pursue our objectives.

The Taoiseach was also lobbying the White House. But as is now a matter of public record President Clinton was being offered conflicting advice by his own system. It is my view that Senator Kennedys direct appeal was crucial. So also was the encouraging role of his sister Jean. Joe’s visit to the USA, even as news of the IRA cessation was being announced, showed the Irish Republican base in the States as well as in Ireland, that there was another way forward.

Teddy’s role in getting the Joe Cahill visa was always a source of much humour for the Senator. Apparently the State Department came back with Joe’s record. Aside from numerous terms of imprisonment and a deportation from the USA he was also sentenced to death in the 1940’s for the killing of an RUC officer. He and others escaped the hangman’s noose but one of their group, Joe’s friend Tom Williams, was hanged in Belfast prison.

‘I never said he was an altar boy’ the Senator recalled telling the US authorities.

He himself was firmly against political violence. He was a long standing supporter of John Hume. The Irish government’s role in the USA in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s was very divisive and badly advised, more concerned with anti-IRA propaganda than genuine work for peace or national reconciliation in Ireland. Or for the rights of Irish citizens, particularly in the north of Ireland or Britain.

For his part Senator Kennedy never allowed this to prevent him from being an advocate for citizens rights. And when called on to stand up for a real peace process Teddy Kennedy stood up.

Later at other critical phases in the process particularly when the IRA cessation broke down almost two years later in 1996, on the back of John Major’s government and the unionists refusing to talk to republicans the Senator stayed steady. In 1997 he made a keynote speech calling on the British government to set a date for Sinn Féin’s entry into talks. For this he was roundly abused by London.

In the end of course he was vindicated.

My thanks to him for being a good friend to Ireland. And to Britain also as it turned out. And for lots of good work on many causes including rights for illegials in the USA.

Teddy was a good American. His work in the US Senate is the stuff of legend. He was a genuine and powerful voice for disadvantaged people in his own country for almost five decades. My condolences to his wife Vicky and family, and to Jean. My sympathy also to his colleagues in the Senate and Congress. And to the American people who have lost a champion.

The Falls area of west Belfast was a very different place in 1969. Then there was a multitude of small back to back red brick houses in row after row of narrow streets. Like many other parts of Belfast they had been constructed in the shadow of the Linen Mills. They housed the workers who slaved under the worst of conditions for the most meagre of wages.

Most of those who worked in the Mills were women and children, mostly girls. They started work at 6.30 each morning and worked until 6 pm each night. On Saturday they worked until 12 noon.

The quality of life was very bad. Wages were low, disease was widespread, the diet was very poor and the death rate was high.

The growth of the city in the 19th century had witnessed an explosion of population with many Catholics traveling in from rural areas, some as far away as the west of Ireland, seeking employment. They were generally to be found employed in the unskilled jobs as navies and general labourers or working in the foundries.

But Belfast was a unionist dominated city. And this meant that when it came to naming the streets in which the workers lived the planners turned to the British Empire for inspiration. Consequently, names like Sevastopol or Odessa from the Crimea War found their way onto the Falls Road. Balkan Street, Balaclava Street were there also. And in and around Clonard names drawn from the Indian sub continent like Bombay and Kashmir found their place.

The summer of 1969 was a very tense period. The Unionist regime at Stormont was resisting any meaningful reforms. Ian Paisley was leading counter demonstrations to Civil Rights marches. And several Catholics, Samuel Devenny in Derry, Francis McCloskey in Dungiven and Patrick Corry in Fermanagh had already died as a result of injuries received in beatings from the RUC.

Civil rights marches had been banned from town centres for over a year and beaten off the streets. But in Derry the Apprentice Boys, one of the marching orders, were to march through the City centre and along the walls looking down into the Bogside.

At the edge of the Bogside, young nationalists clashed with loyalists, and the RUC launched baton charges. Fighting side by side with the loyalists, the RUC brought up armoured cars and, for the first time in Ireland, CS gas. For forty-eight hours the mainly teenage defenders of the Bogside used stones, bottles and petrol bombs against the constant baton charges of hundreds of RUC and loyalists. Exploiting high rise flats with great effect, they lobbed petrol bombs at their attackers and succeeded in keeping them at bay.

In Belfast tension was at fever pitch. There was an emergency meeting of the Civil Rights Association on August 13th which I attended. From it came an appeal for solidarity demonstrations across the north against the events in Derry.

I went from that meeting to one in Divis Flats which I chaired. It was agreed we would march to the RUC barracks at Hasting Street and then to Springfield Road. As we assembled in front of Divis Flats our mood was defiant. We sang ‘We shall overcome’ amid chants of ‘SS/RUC’ and carried placards saying ‘The people of the Falls support the people of Derry’. The RUC attacked the march and this led to heavy rioting in Divis Street.

On the late evening of the 14th I remember leaving Springhill for to the Falls. There the situation was one of bedlam. A loyalist mob, including many members of the B Specials, armed with rifles, revolvers and sub-machine guns had gathered on the Shankill Road and moved along the streets leading to the Falls. They petrol bombed Catholic houses that lay on their route, beating up their occupants and shooting at fleeing residents.

This loyalist mob invaded the Falls, and as it reached the Falls Road itself, it started to attack St Comgall's school. The IRA opened fire and a loyalist gunman was killed.

Now the RUC, coming in behind the loyalist civilians and B Specials, opened up with heavy calibre Browning machine-guns from Shorland armoured cars. They directed their firing into the narrow streets and into Divis flats itself, where they killed a nine-year-old boy Patrick Rooney and a young local man, Herbert McCabe, home on leave from the British army.

Within a remarkably short space of time, the streets off the Falls Road, and the Falls itself, had been turned into a war zone. The IRA's armed intervention throughout Belfast was an extremely limited one. The real defence of the area was conducted by young people with petrol bombs and stones and bricks, though the IRA actions in the Falls and in Ardoyne were crucially important in halting the loyalist mobs at decisive times.

However, Bombay Street, Dover Street, and Percy Street were burned out and fighting continued all night in Conway Street. And in Ardoyne scores of homes were attacked and many destroyed in Hooker Street and Brookfield Street.

As dawn arose on the morning of 15 August, it did so over a scene of absolute devastation. Six people were dead, five Catholics and one Protestant; about I5O had been wounded by gunfire and hundreds of Catholic homes had been gutted. The Unionist Regime had also responded by introducing internment and 24 men from across the north had been arrested – all nationalists or republicans.

A pall of smoke rose over the Falls. The old familiar streetscape was shattered. The environment that I grew up in was gone.

The self¬-contained, enclosed village atmosphere of the area and its peaceful sense of security had been brutally torn apart, leaving our close¬knit community battered and bleeding The everyday world in which we lived our childhood had been destroyed. None of us knew what it presaged for the years ahead but we did know that things had changed utterly.