Brian Haw : The 'Most Inspiring Political Figure of 2006 ?"

galway | anti-war / imperialism | news report Monday January 22, 2007 03:24 by TD - Cosantoiri Siochana

Haw : Thorn in the side of Blair and the War Machine ?

At 7pm, 10th February (repeated on 13 Feb) Channel 4 will host its 9th annual Political Awards, "in association with the Hansard Society, before an invited audience of Members of Parliament, Peers and journalists" for the 'Most Inspiring Political Figure of the Year' . Brian Haw is one of the nominees and indymedia readers are requested to vote for him at : [email protected]

Voting closes 2nd February.

During the criminal trial of the Ploughshares, Brian manned the solidarity front line

In a witches brew of saints and bastards, sheep and goats - Aishah Azmi, Tony Blair, David Cameron, General Sir Richard Dannatt and the Archbishop of York; Dr John Sentamu are the other nominees - Channel 4 is giving us an invitation we can't refuse; to seperate and judge 'em and if there's anyone to contend with Brian Haw on this list it's Aishah Azmi and Dr. Sentamu? :

"School assistant Azmi sparked a UK national debate on multiculturalism by fighting to keep her veil on in the classroom. The young Muslim said it was her Islamic duty to wear the black veil, which covered her face except for a narrow slit at the eyes, while in the presence of male colleagues. The mother-of-one stood up to her employers at the Church of England primary school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, when they told her to lift the veil. The Local Education Authority and the school's head master said the veil stopped Azmi from teaching properly - and some children at the 90 per cent Muslim school found it "scary". The stand-off led to Azmi's suspension from the school in February, when she said: "I have not come this far just to fight for myself. There are so many women who wear the veil and love to teach. "It (the veil) gives me a lot of self respect and self dignity. I can express anything I like, how I like, without any chance of distortion. I don't think it's divisive, especially when Britain prides itself on being multi-cultural. To not let people wear it excludes young Muslim girls. My outlook is everybody is equal." The row ended in an employment tribunal, when Azmi was sacked by Kirklees Council. The hearing concluded "pupils were not able to understand her fully with the veil on". Azmi's stance became a focal point for debate - with Britain forced to decide whether tolerance or uniformity was the best route to religious harmony. Cardiff-born Azmi faced great criticism for not complying with the school's rules - from those who believe that when working in a UK school, you should comply by British conventions" (Ch. 4 website)

Trevor contemptible Phillips, the head of Britain's race relations watchdog, was one such sceptic of her fight, he said: "She (Azmi) would be doing everybody, including herself, a great favour were she to decide either that she were to comply with the requirements for teaching in the classroom or to decide she didn't want to do that job." Meanwhile, Leader of the House of Commons Jack Straw said the veil was a "visible statement of separation and of difference" and that he asked women visiting his surgery to consider removing it. Azmi, whose appearance before the tribunal marked a test case for the new religious discrimination regulations, has vowed to continue her fight for the right to wear the veil.

The Archibishop of York "lent a Christian voice to the protests against the continuing imprisonment of muslim terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay ... even offering his home telephone number as a hot-line for tip-offs after the murder of two black girls in Birmingham".

Since June 2, 2001, Brian Haw has been manning his own, one-man vigil in front of parliament, in protest against the Iraq war. He remains at his spot on the pavement day and night, sleeping a few hours a night under a tarpaulin, washing in a bucket and getting his nose broken a number of times by headbangers. He started the vigil to protest against the suffering of Iraqis under the UN sanctions regime, and the air raids mounted by Coalition air forces. Since then, the protest has expanded to take in the War on Terror, and Western military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As he puts it himself on his website, "I want to go back to my own kids and look them in the face again knowing that I've done all I can to try and save the children of Iraq and other countries who are dying because of my government's unjust, amoral, fear - and money - driven policies.” Haw, it is generally agreed, had become such a thorn in the side to Blair and his pro-war colleagues that a special amendment was passed to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) that applied directly to him. It's in Section 132 - the removal of a man's right to demonstrate without permission within one kilometre of Parliament Square.

Last month Brian was on trial, charged, under SOCPA with failing to comply with the conditions that the police imposed on his protest in May, the trial has been adjourned until 10am today, 22 January, at City of Westminster Magistrates Court, Horseferry Road, London, while the judge considers the arguments that Brian's lawyers put forward that there is no case to answer.

According to Laura Cumming in yesterdays UK Observer : "Brian Haw's vivid stand against the Iraq war was ended by legislation banning him from Parliament Square. In recreating his demo as art, Mark Wallinger has made protesters - and lawbreakers - of us all ... that is the first thing to say about State Britain. It allows you to look closely at the overlooked by bringing a barely visible, if very famous, street protest into a museum of art where the anguished expressiveness of its appeal to public conscience turns out to be very nearly overwhelming" - on 15th Jan (until 27 Aug) Tate Britain in London unveiled a major art commission: State Britain by renowned artist Mark Wallinger.

Let's bear witness to Brian and Laura Cumming's acknowledgement of where he's coming from : "And an awesome sight one should have seen before had not this war memorial, this shrine, this one-man protest against Iraq, created and maintained by the former merchant seaman Brian Haw, been obscured by barriers and rushing traffic for six long years on the polluted turf of Parliament Square". let's work towards making him the "Most Inspiring Political Figure of the Year' ?.

Besides the email one can also vote for him by phoning (UK) 09011 27 27 05 or text AWARD HAW
to 83188.

Brian with Cindy Sheehan (11.12.2005)