Antwerp as diamond city

Antwerp is a diamond city and that means that we have a rather large Indian population, the majority of which lives near the more leafy areas around town and a huge Jewish community living in town, right there where I live too.

The Jewish community celebrates their Pesach or Easter between April 22 and April 20. This celebration entails a more than thorough spring cleaning before the passover. The house has to be thoroughly cleaned so that all that is dirty, or contains yeast or that can ferment has to be thrown out of the house. The city of Antwerp organises an extra household-garbage collection in the neighbourhood. I am glad that inclusiveness is working this way. Yet also other communities, like the Moroccan community have their own customs like following the Ramadan. This means no eating during the day, only after sunset and before sunrise one can eat. Mutton with couscous is one of their delicious dishes. Yet the sheep have to be slaughtered in a ritual way, slitting their throat. Often this leads to controversy, or even protests. People feel that electrocuting the sheep is more humane...  Strange concept.

Letter from and to Cooper

Dear Annmarie. I've thought of you so much in the days since you left Chloride. Hoping your short stay in NYC was exciting and you were able to have some good visits with old friends. This morning I'm waking up to the news that Brussels is on 'lock-down'? This is all so terrible. I hope you were able to land safely and then get transportation to Antwerp with no problems. I imagine you and Doggy Dog have been exhausted.

I also read your blog and read your words of weariness about Chloride. I understand completely. I feel that way myself this morning. Don't worry. We of course hope to see you next year but no promises by any of us.

I didn't mean this to be so somber. I wanted to write and welcome you home. Tell you how much your visit meant to us and wishing you all the love and joyousness you deserve. For you are indeed one of the 'good people.' One of those whose spirit and sense of outrage at wrong-doing and your energy to try to make this world a better place, never seems to flag.

Lots of love to you. Get in touch when you can. Now, settle in, rest up and give Doggy Dog a big treat! O:-) Coop

Dear Coop. The travel was all right and I did actually get a lift to Maya.
But what is really worse is the militarized language many so called reasonable people are using. I shared on Facebook a letter by David Van Reybrouck, whom I respect, a letter against the warmongering rhetoric of President Hollande of France. Using such language pushes people away, creates distance, mistrust and makes it hard to find cohesion within our society. We need to stay on the path of non-violence, of being there for other people, being helpful. Many will deem me naive, but that is not the fact. I feel, we women and yes also men, can try to find a way to work and think and live together with respect for each other without prejudice or fear. Tolerance is a virtue in a world of many shades and nuances and ways of living a good life. I wonder how long a person can look the other way in the face of racism, homophobia and right-wing politics. The science day (an all day event Maya was involved in) has been canceled because of the lock down of Brussels. Maya and Bram have lost a friend in the Paris attack: a young woman eating out on the fatal night.
Doggy Dog is doing fine. She is already used to the new schedule of her days. What to say more? Take care my friends and be safe.

Krakow PEN-congress: day one

Krakow is beautiful with the inner city being part of Unesco's cultural heritage. Rightfully so, with it's joyful atmosphere and interesting vistas.That is the ambiente in which the PEN-congress takes place. The lead question in Timothy Garton Ash's address was: How to secure free speech in this totally transformed world? We have all become neighbors, we live in a global village with neighbors we might like or not like. Yet we also live in cosmopolis where the local has become global. Thus we should not try to regulate issues of free speech through national laws and we certainly should not try to regulate it through more and more laws. Hate speech should not be forbidden until it becomes dangerous and people could get hurt or killed. That is a delicate tilting point. China proves almost on a daily basis that the Internet is not free and private powers are at work like Google and Facebook deciding what can and cannot be posted, actually exercising 'private censorship' - except in Russia, China and Iran where there is state censorship. Yet we are empowered by the Internet, posting and publishing, keeping a blog... Yet we, all the people are not 'able' to do so: they may have no food and no roof, they may be illiterate or have no access to the net and thus freedom of speech becomes a fiction. We should not be intimidated by threats because than the dictators win, and what is the heckler's freedom, or the assassin freedom. And concerning religious freedom we should respect the believer but not the content of the belief.

Embracing difference and diversity we need to speak openly and learn to live together with civility. Inherited taboo's should be dismantled, the limiting laws set up as a protection  of the sensitivities of certain groups should be abolished because then always more laws will be made. Through self-realization and finding the truth we will also find true democracy. Find the person behind the burka or the keppel. As writers we can show the lives of others to our readers and thus help embrace diversity with sympathy, imagination and caring. And yes for many authors the question still remains (for instance in Zimbabwe what is the freedom after speech...

Cordon sanitaire

In Belgium the cordon sanitaire is a protective measure, much like in agriculture: drawing a sanitary circle when there is an infectious animal disease on a farm, so nobody can enter or exit a certain area around that farm in order to avoid the accidental spreading of the disease and causing a pandemic of  hoof and mouth disease. It is however a political phrase since the beginning of the extreme right, racist (in my opinion) Vlaams blok (Flemish Block), later renamed ‘Vlaams belang’ (Flemish Interest) a political agreement among all parties not to govern with them. Recently two things happened: Nationalist Flemish NVA, a right wing party, grew immensely and is part of the ruling class in several towns and villages. Sadly, this was kind of expected. The Vlaams belang people, looking after their personal interest decided in big numbers to switch to the Flemish nationalists. So in a small town ‘Denderleeuw’ there is now a coalition between the latter party and the Christian democrats. Not having a majority, they however needed the support of the Flemish interest people in the council, thus in fact, for the very first time breaking the ‘cordon sanitaire’. Yet in my opinion, with over 40 former Flemish Interest people on the NVA list the program has been radicalized and former Vlaams Blok members are now in a comfort zone, where the other parties execute their original program. I am a firm believer in freedom of expression as a democratic right and as a human right. Yet I also believe in being critical and lighting candles in the darkness coming down over Flanders and am glad that the President of Flemish Parliament Mr Peeters, shares my unease.

Living on the edge of the Jewish quarter

Living on the inner edge of the Jewish quarter I have a choice when  I go shopping: to the right or straight ahead I'll see the people in their diverse religious attire. Fedora like hats on top of the head, white shirt all in black with the curls along the ears flying while cycling on the boardwalk. Yarmulke's and the fringe of their ceremonial scarfs peeping out from under the coat, while some where long white stockings and large fur hats, which when it rains are covered in a specially designed plastic bag. The women I saw this morning wore all a different color of wig: black or blond, light or dark brown. All wore comfortable flat shoes. The difference between richer and poorer Jews is immediately visible. The poorer women can't afford a good wig, so they wear scarves, either hiding all their hair or a scarf with an attached fringe of hair sticking out.
Since there are also a lot of Polish Jews there are also some good polish shops where you find kefir, other wise only found in the health shop or in the Pakistan shop. I also notice that some peope go to synagogue each morning and on special occasions they'll have palm leaves wrapped in plastic under their arm.

Going left however, I enter the general mainly European stream of peoples, with North Africans and black Africans being part of the mix just as Turkish and oriental people. A friend once called me on the fact that when one is at a local police station and does not speak the local language that one has to bring an interpreter. She was totally offended by this and thought the city should have the interpreters on call. So I got curious and asked how many languages were present in the small old jail, where people who have been picked up wait for their first meeting with the judge. The answer was a to me staggering amount of 76 languages. So the menu is from kosher to halal, from bio dynamic to straightforward meat, potatoes and veggies... All in walking distance. Wonderful.
What I don't understand is that the protests against the scarfs Muslim women wear and the acceptance of the same principle in a different execution in the Jewish community. In both cases the hair of women is supposed to for private viewing only.

Syrian poet and blogger jailed again - WIPC

The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International and Pen Flanders fears for the safety of poet and blogger Dia’a Al-Abdullah, who was arrested on 13 February 2012 from his home in Asswaida by the Air Forces secret services after writing an open letter to the Syrian President. Al-Abdullah remains detained incommunicado at an unknown location, and is considered to be at serious risk of torture and ill-treatment. Concerns for his welfare are acute.

According to PEN’s information, Dia’a Al-Abdullah was arrested on 13 February 2012 when security forces raided his house after he published on his Facebook page an open letter entitled As A Syrian Citizen I Announce in which he demanded that the President step down in order to prevent further bloodshed.

Al-Abdullah was previously detained and interrogated for his writing on 29 June 2011. He was held incommunicado until his release on 13 January 2012. After his release, Al-Abdullah reported that he was subjected to severe torture during his detention.

Al-Abdullah was also arrested in 1999 and held for one year without trial or charge after publishing collection of poems.

A sample of his poetry follows, which was written during his previous imprisonment in 2011 http://deyaalabdalla.maktoobblog.com/recent-posts:

The crypt

Violence is
the means of people:

The jailor kills me with a sword
I answer with a word,
and he sets my pages alight

Oh God
I burn the cigarettes of these days
in my cell
My heart is the fifth wall;
I set it alight

Eid is coming
And it will bring
Only bad tobacco to smoke,
so I leave it aside

You promised
my heart would be made only for love;
now I am so enraged
– save me,
cover my heart with tenderness
Make it strong,
Offer him a touch
… a laugh …

The world has passed beneath me
And this place is the most terrible of all
I have begun to embrace
the sun of exhaustion

So, this is my homeland;
I became its enemy
by speaking out

Speaking out brings pain –
but how can we not?

My homeland,
if it were not for you
I would not be so brave,

and so:
they will not break me

My homeland,
I touch your hands
from behind bars

This child is a prisoner now,
and my mother screams:
Will no one bring down this oppressor?

I am strong
I scream
My mother

Translated from the Arabic by Ghias Aljundi , with Mitchell Albert


Background
Anti-government protests were sparked in mid-March 2011 and have since spread across the country. Mass arrests have taken place and security officers have responded to the continuing protests with excessive force, using tear gas and live bullets to disperse demonstrators, and bombarding opposition stronghold areas with mortar bombs and rockets. Thousands of civilians have been killed and many more wounded.  Protestors continue to demand political reform and to call upon President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Syrian authorities continue to suppress these protests with force, often indiscriminately, despite promises to end the violence.

With the internet and media already severely curtailed in recent years, the Syrian authorities have imposed even greater restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly in reaction to recent events. Most foreign reporters and correspondents have been asked to leave the country and access to any independent media is denied. 

Please send a letter inquiring about his wellbeing to  the Syrian Embassy in your country.
Pen Flanders

ANC: 100 years

Today 100 years ago the African National Congress saw the light. Today the festivities take place for 100 years of selfless struggle. As an interpreter I have been once or twice the voice of Nelson Mandela after he was released from Robben Island. When South Africa was freed from Apartheid, it became member of the ACP and had at their first attendance the meeting in Cape Town and were given a most moving and enlightening tour of Robben Island by a former prisoner who became a minister in the first Mandela government. It was non-violence which won freedom. was one of his messages and that the embargo gave support to the resistance because even when suffering they knew it was  because people supported their struggle. At the opening of the ACP Meeting the African Anthem was played, well known by all who had worked for the abolishment of Apartheid and this is what I saw:

Sikeleli Africa

At the first notes

just two white people jumped up

one with his left fist in the air

she with her hand on

her heart

All peoples standing

the light skinned

rose

a few notes later –

The huge hall filled with

respect

I like to think

the white people were

slow

not recognizing the music in their

soul

or just older and stiffer and

slower

I like to think

Nkosi Sikeleli Africa

is the hope that touches us

all -           

 

Hugo van Montfrans

I had a friend, Hugo van Montfrans, he passed away many years ago, about 20. He was Dutch and would correct me constantly when I made a mistake in speaking. that came in hndy  much later professionally. Thanks for that. Once he gave me a set of six cups, now the last one has been chipped and I have been thinking of him. When I met him he worked at Madame Arthur in Antwerp, performing as Olivette, making paper wigs and weird dresses for his shows. He also made some nice, strange dresses for myself and my daughter. he also was a puppeteer and an artist working in white wool and lace on cotton. Hugo also wrote and played in a film by Fellini: 8 1/2 I think it was. So the last cup is on its way out, but not the memories.

John Sinclair

John Sinclair performs on tour with a band. The band plays according to the lyrics spoken. A lot of the poetry is influenced by Jazz, so we were treated with Monk, a bit of Coltrane, good old blues... and the words which flowed. The band prepares and then plays a set of songs, lyrics by Ken Post. After the break, after a moment of stillness and concentration, poet-activist, icon of American sub-culture performs. A love poem with a twist, a poem about being on the road and in jail with the beau of his mother and making money because the prison guards loved their performance and brought them out every night to another club.

Strong
moving
to the point
surprising
love
and struggle
freedom
and all that...
Here you see the band, Lenny on the sax had his work cut out for him.

A fun night, without any of the tediousness of officialdom.
Honest en open jazzy poetry.
If  you have a chance to see John Sinclair perform, do go and listen.
It will warm the cockles of your heart.
Read the history of his struggle for the freedom to get high.

Small park, architects and artists

 A small park, a bunch of kids, architects and artists nice weather and a convivial atmosphere in a troubled neighborhood in Brussels. The park had been closed for a long while and was opended on Friday. Immediately a flurry activities took place. Kids made excellent mint thé, two cups for 1€, sold their mom's delicious cookies 4 for 1€, artist devised activities...

The kids were asked to write down what their wish was and the in a photomaton their picture was taken while holding the message. They played, enjoyed themselves, no screaming, no fights.

A meeting was held. The about twenty year olds, many out of a job, implore the people to keep the small park open so that their younger brothers don't have to grow up on the streets. They would like a guardian of the peace to keep an eye on the park, they would like fun and stimulating activities, so that in playing their siblings would learn certain necessary skills/

Artists presented some of their projects like a robot-drummer. Fun. It would be nice to have a bunch of them playing together somewhere in a public  space.

The locals build this climbing tower for the kids to play on with scrapped pallets. I was impressed by the task the guardians of the peace fulfill. They are not part of the police, they are responsible to the federal minister of the interior. They are mediators, are a presence in the neighborhood and seem well trusted. They have quite a task in this neighborhood with an impressive mix of nationalities or ethnicities: all kinds of North Africans, black African, Pakistanis and Indians. Some of the kids were three lingual speaking French and Dutch and the language of heir parents. Belgium is a strange country an the countries of the Arab spring look it how it works. There is no government since over a year, there are three official languages and the distinction North/South going through the country. The people who come and visit want to know why there is no civil war, how the Belgians do this... I think it is because people and groups keep talking to each other. Communication and exchange, sometimes heated, but it is understood to be a way of learning to respect the other and to eventually work together. All this can be learned in a small park in Kuregem/Cureghem. The local people have the key to the park for  four months, there is hope for a gentler way of living together thanks to these small scale projects.

world wide reading

This is a call for a world wide reading launched by the berlin literatur festival

We ask all of you to read this poem and to let us know through a comment where the poem was read.

Thanks for all you do for Freedom of Expression and the writers in prison because of their writings..

You Wait for Me with Dust

- for my wife, who waits every day

by Liu Xiaobo

.

nothing remains in your name, nothing

but to wait for me, together with the dust of our home 

those layers 

amassed, overflowing, in every corner 

you're unwilling to pull apart the curtains

and let the light disturb their stillness

over the bookshelf, the handwritten label is covered in dust

on the carpet the pattern inhales the dust

when you are writing a letter to me 

and love that the nib’s tipped with dust

my eyes are stabbed with pain

you sit there all day long 

not daring to move 

for fear that your footsteps will trample the dust 

you try to control your breathing 

using silence to write a story. 

At times like this 

the suffocating dust offers the only loyalty

your vision, breath and time

permeate the dust 

in the depth of your soul 

the tomb inch by inch is 

piled up from the feet

reaching the chest 

reaching the throat

you know that the tomb 

is your best resting place 

waiting for me there 

with no source of fear or alarm 

this is why you prefer dust

in the dark, in calm suffocation 

waiting, waiting for me 

you wait for me with dust

refusing the sunlight and movement of air 

just let the dust bury you altogether 

just let yourself fall asleep in the dust

until I return

and you come awake 

wiping the dust from your skin and your soul.

What a miracle – back from the dead. 

April 9th 1999

Breda

PVV photo:
© sms:foto duisburg/rhein 2011
Pre-election Breda gave two pictures that give hope: The PVV flyer thrown away in disgust by a citizen who obviously doesn't agree with the 'gedoogbeleid'.  This extreme anti -immigrant and anti-Islam party 'tolerates' the present government in Holland, a government which doesn't have a majority and needs that party on board for all legislative initiatives. It is a situation the extreme right wing factions of Dutch society just love. The other poster is guide about the points of view about the current  'gedoogbeleid' concerning soft drugs. In recognized coffee shops each person above 18 years old can buy in all safety 5 grams of weed or hash. Also in the USA the discussion about legalization of soft drugs is no longer inadmissible.

Book burning and censorship

Appalled at what is happening in my country, I want to reiterate that freedom of expression is absolute especially when we don't agree with what is being said

Here follows the letter of PEN President John Ralston Saul:
In response to the threatened burning of copies of the Koran in the United States on September 11, 2010, the president of International PEN, John Ralston Saul, has issued the following statement:

There is only one religion of book burning. Whatever the book—a text from any religion, a novel, a philosophical treatise, a poem—those who cast it into the flames stand arm-in-arm with Goebbels on a square in Berlin worshipping at the altar of hatred. Such hatred can always invoke as justification some earlier offence, real or imagined. The specific acts of individuals are then distended into a revengeful condemnation of whole cultures or religions or peoples.

PEN stands for unlimited freedom of expression. But we also believe in restraint, not as self-censorship but as the expression of that true complexity of human relationships which great literature invokes. We pledge to do our utmost to "dispel race, class and national hatreds." And the burning of books is a profoundly contemptuous display of hatred.

We believe that the destiny of literature is to bring people together. The broad condemnation by Americans and people around the world of the threat to burn religious books is a reminder that the role of freedom of expression is not to divide, but to unite people.

Creativity and politics

The Minneapolis-based retailer Target just gave over $150,000 to buy ads supporting state Rep. Tom Emmer, a far-right and anti gay Republican candidate for governor. This makes Target one of the very first companies to take advantage of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate cash in elections.

Target must think customers won't care. They're wrong: We do care, and we need to let them know that we want Target -- and all corporations -- out of our elections. Can you join me in sending a message to Target's CEO at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/state/target/?r_by=22714-6437728-OdpJe_x&rc=paste

Passaporta

The Passa Porta literature festival is still ongoing in Brussels. The Writers in Prison Committee Flanders and the Writers for Peace performed to remember their colleagues who live in less tolerant regimes.



Dejan Anastasijevic is a journalist from Serbia and knows that there is no longer a free press.

Kamran Mir Hazar is an Afghan blogger who got into real trouble by speaking out about the corruption in Barzai's government.




Faraj Bayrakdar from Syria had a long time ago written a poem and the words 'bread' and 'flower' were used in that text. Two different secret services wanted him to explain what he meant (imagine a secret service knowing the meaning of a metaphor!)
He spend many years in jail and now lives in exile. So does Chenjerai Hove from Zimbabwe. Both poets spoke their poetry beautifully.

Here you see Hilde Keteleer, president of the WIPC Flanders listening to Marleen Decree reading the Dutch translation of a poem by Faraj.
I reminded the world of the plight of Leonard Peltier and added: Further more I am of the opinion that the Nato had to be abolished...

Braveheart

In my daughters words after the facts: I came home on an overfull train and saw a small seat behind the buggy of a Jewish family with four kids. The lady made some formula for the tiny baby and I messed with my papers. Upon arrival at my stop we all got out of train. Two young guys followed us and shouted: 'Judenhunde'! I was shaken and had a surge of adrenaline. I turned around barely a few centimeter from them and said: what did you say, now you have to deal with this blonde. Look in my beautiful blue eyes. Nobody intervened, nobody said anything although there were a lot of people and all had heard it. Then the train was leaving and the guys (one sporting a Were Di badge) went back on the train. The family walked slow with the kids in tow and so I met up with them. The Lady said 'thank you' and I apologized for the unconscionable attitude of these guys. That poor family. It was the first time I heard a thing like that, but i wonder how often had they to hear things like that. I didn't know that was still possible...

I am proud of my daughter's reaction and wonder about the risks of fearlessness. She did the right thing!

Religious beliefs

Being a member of the ACLU, I get informed about their activities and once again, I am deeply convinced about the importance of their work. In order to protect A.A. a five year old American Indian. The Needville Independent School Districtin Texas punished him for practicing and expressing his families religious beliefs and heritage by wearing his hair in two long breads. The school rules prescribe short hair. A.A. Is suspended in isolation in school because his family refused that he stuff his long hair in the back of his shirt at school. This would cause the child discomfort and shame about his culture and heritage. Courts have held that the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution protect students' rights to dress in conformation with their religious beliefs. Texas' Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) provides additional protections. After so many centuries, we still haven'tt got it right. The child has been subjected to this treatment since September 3. Parents should not have to choose between public education and their heritage as American Indians. Remember: They were here first!

60 years of Universal declaration of human rights

This 60 year old Universal declaration of human rights "has become the yardstick by which we measure respect for what we know,, or should know, as right and wrong". Ban Ki-moon.



A New York artist staged this procession to commemorate this anniversary. Eleanor Roosevelt was instrumental in promoting the original idea.



And yes torture is unacceptable.











Wherever and whenever, for whatever reason.

Roma

It is one Rom, the people are Roma, just as the Sinti they are are gypsies. There are 10 million Roma, living all over Europa. They are as the Sami a people without state. The Sami are spread over 4 countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia. The Roma have to content with a lot of intolerance towards them even when they are citizens of the country they are living in, having the nationality of the state in which they live like Poland, Italy, Rumania, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro.
It has been proposed in Italy that if a person from a non EU country comits a crime that if that person is illegal or irrgular his/her punishment would be aggragavted because the illegality would constitute an aggravating circumstance. That seems wrong. We are all equal and the law should be just and the same for all.

The new camp

Here life is squeaky clean. The Rom gypsies are healthier, their feet are dry, the kids have a table and light and can do their homework.



There are house searches at night between 2 and 3. The kids wake up, are scared and cranky.



When asked whether they were happy the women acknowledged their better conditions but said they were like 'birds in a cage'. At midnight the gate is closed, if they need to go out early the have to ring and will be let out.



Cameras are every where. What is the balance between clean and free?