"the pathetic excuse of humanitarian aid"

On January 28th, we had the chance to have a telephone talk with Camilla Chalmers, from the Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (Haitian Platform in Defence of an Alternative Development, PAPDA), in Port-au-Prince. Here we transcribe the questions and answers we could exchange in spite of the natural difficulties of communication in these circumstances. We believe his opinions represent a contribution to understand what’s really going on in Haiti, they contradict the official version of the media and give us a very precise notion of the type of solidarity that the Haitian people need –and that we should not fail to give.

Related Links:
The forest behind the trees: what’s behind the US occupation of Haiti? | Wikipedia on Haiti | Code Noir | Namoi Klein – My date with Aristide | Haiti's children die in UN crossfire | An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide | Al Jazerra Haiti coverage | What Future for Haiti? - An Interview with Patrick Elie by Reed Lindsey | Taking us to democracy like cattle to a killing house - Patrick Elie | Haiti's Catch-22 - An interview with Patrick Elie | Interview with Aristide's lawyer, Miami-based Ira Kurzban | Will Criminal Gangs Take Control in Haiti's Chaos? | Fear of the poor is hampering Haiti rescue | Haiti's streets 'safer than before earthquake | US troop landings delay Haiti aid | Why the U.S. Owes Haiti Billions | The Rescue Operation's Priorities in Haiti | US accused of 'occupying' Haiti as troops flood in | Haiti - a history of intervention, occupation and resistance | Strong aftershock hits Haiti | Naomi Klien's document | has the world failed Haiti? (video) | US aid relative to other countries | The Incapacitation of Haiti | Against the grain main site | Haiti - a beginners guide (indy link)

Give These People Food and Medicine, not troops

Anyone judging from the huge numbers of troops mobilised to Haiti could reasonably believe that this is a country in the middle of a brutal civil war instead of a nation hit by a deadly earthquake. While the Media has been feeding constantly news of murder, mayhem, and gangsters supposedly in control of Haitian streets, together with calls for a “strong arm” and “security” to make possible the delivery of relief, the reality seems to be quite another. Medical and Food assistance has been largely delayed by a cobweb of inefficiency, bureaucracy and negligence and not for “security” issues. In the meantime, hungry and thirsty Haitians have been largely looking for their beloved ones under the rubble with their bare hands. Very few doctors and relief agencies have dared to go to the streets of Port-au-Prince, where precious assistance –currently stockpiling in the airport- is much needed.

Related Links:
Wikipedia on Haiti | Code Noir | Namoi Klein – My date with Aristide | Haiti's children die in UN crossfire | An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide | Al Jazerra Haiti coverage | What Future for Haiti? - An Interview with Patrick Elie by Reed Lindsey | Taking us to democracy like cattle to a killing house - Patrick Elie | Haiti's Catch-22 - An interview with Patrick Elie | Interview with Aristide's lawyer, Miami-based Ira Kurzban | Will Criminal Gangs Take Control in Haiti's Chaos? | Fear of the poor is hampering Haiti rescue | Haiti's streets 'safer than before earthquake | US troop landings delay Haiti aid | Why the U.S. Owes Haiti Billions | The Rescue Operation's Priorities in Haiti | US accused of 'occupying' Haiti as troops flood in | Haiti - a history of intervention, occupation and resistance | Strong aftershock hits Haiti | Naomi Klien's document | has the world failed Haiti? (video) | US aid relative to other countries | The Incapacitation of Haiti | Against the grain main site | Haiti - a beginners guide (indy link)

Another Gig for Haiti - Thursday 28 Jan @ 8pm [Le Cirk, 32 Dame Street, D2, (€2 entrance)]

LASC meeting on Haiti, Thursday 28 Jan @ 7.00 [Seomra Spraoi, 10 Belvidere Court, Dublin 1]

Haiti: Solidarity Not Occupation (meeting / speakers) Cork Tuesday 02 Feb @ 8pm [Solidarity books, 43 Douglas st].

LASC meeting on Haiti in Galway on Feb 2 @ 7.00 [bridge mills, Galway]

Aid, not Occupation

As predictions for the death toll from the Haitian earthquakes rise over 200,000, ABC News have reported that planes carrying medical equipment and relief supplies are having to compete with soldiers for the valuable slots at Port-au-Prince airport which was taken over by the US military after the quake. Since the start of the great anti-slavery republican insurrection nearly 220 years ago, Haiti has been presented as a dangerous place incapable of running its own affairs and requiring foreign intervention. Yet the reality is its people were the first enslaved population to deliver themselves from slavery and also carried out what was only the third successful republican insurrection on the planet. The threat of this good example was rewarded with centuries of invasion, blackmail, the robbery of Haiti's natural resources and the impoverishment of its people. This articles summarizes that history of intervention and the resistance to it in order to put into context what is happening in Haiti after the quake

Podcast: "The Haitian Revolution"



Direct download in mp3 format (48.39mb)
Strong aftershock hits Haiti | Naomi Klien's document | has the world failed Haiti? (video) | US aid relative to other countries | The Incapacitation of Haiti | Against the grain main site

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) has received word from the Irish participants on the Viva Palestina aid convoy that they crossed the border at Rafah and arrived in Gaza shortly after 7pm (Irish time). This is exactly one month after the convoy set off on its journey and despite concerted efforts by Egypt to obstruct its progress.

Related Links: Viva Palestina on Twitter | Al Jazeera report | Al Jazeera video report | Press TV report | Ireland to Gaza Facebook Page | Official Viva Palestina webpage | 'Viva Palestina Cork’ Facebook page | IPSC webpage |
Indy Links: Convoy attacked by police | Israeli kidnap kids in Bil'in | 520 activists broke down the gate at the port in El-Arish | Riot police surround activists at El-Arish | Egyptians confiscate activists passports | Convoy just hours away from breaking siege | "Defending hope in Gaza" exhibition | Interview with Derry to Gaza team |

Huge crowd welcomes Gaza convoy in Amman, Jordan

Following several months of fundraising, four teams from across Ireland departed on Saturday, 5 December, to travel 4,000 miles across land to Gaza in Palestine to deliver ambulances and humanitarian aid to the besieged people of that tiny region. Concerned Irish citizens from Cork, Derry, Dublin, Galway and Tyrone are bringing two ambulances, a mini-bus, and a truck filled with over 10 tonnes of humanitarian aid.

IPSC webpage | Latest news from Jordan | Ireland to Gaza Facebook Page | Official Viva Palestina webpage | 'Viva Palestina Cork’ Facebook page | Stranded in Jordan | Willie O'Dea gives his support | Noam Chomsky and Proinsias De Rossa give their support | Egyptian government efforts to hinder march | Youtube footage of convoy entering Turkey

Contact details for the Egyptian Embassy in Dublin are: +353-1-6606718 / +353-1-6606566 / consular@embegyptireland.ie

Contact details for the Egyptian Embassy in London are: 0044-20-7499-3304 / eg.emb_london@mfa.gov.eg”

Cork convoy participants with George Galloway MP in Jordan 0.05 Mb Galloway addresses the crowd in Amman 0.08 Mb