Greens defend Norman Kember
25th Mar 2006
"Kember had more right to be in Iraq, than the British military do."
The Green Party has today defended Christian peace activist Norman Kember from critics who have said he was "naive", from Sir Mike Jackson's accusation of ingratitude and from the Government. The Greens are particularly outraged by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urging people planning to undertake humanitarian work in Iraq to think again.
Dr Rupert Read - a Norwich City Councillor and Quaker activist comments:
The Army's attacks on Norman Kember are outrageous, especially given the repeated assertion by the Christian Peacemakers group that they have "expressed great gratitude". But this row is not really about whether the Army has been sufficiently thanked or not, but the underlying principle of Norman Kember's right to be in Iraq, which is under attack by the army and now the Government".
"Now Jack Straw has waded-in, urging people not to go to Iraq, that can only amount to an attack on freedom".
"What Kember has tried to do in Iraq is essentially civilised, and involving great potential self-sacrifice. What the Government has tried to do in Iraq is essentially uncivilised and involving great arrogance and selfishness."
BLAIR MUST CLARIFY
Dr Read has called on Tony Blair to step in and clarify that - contrary to Jack Straw's implication - Norman Kember and others have a perfect right to go to Iraq, and have the right not to be interfered with by the military, even if it is perceived to be "for their own good".
Read commented: "Tony Blair should be acclaiming the courage of Norman Kember as well as the troops who rescued him. Norman Kember never asked to be rescued by force; his reason for being there rested on his belief that the British military should not be in Iraq in the first place, and should not be achieving things by force. Kember's is a shining example of someone - Ghandi-like - willing to put their life on the line to not only do something they believe in, but do it in the WAY they believe in: the way of non-violence. Kember had more right to be in Iraq than the British military, and any suggestion otherwise by the Government or Army is just compounding their arrogance in waging an illegal and immoral war.
"The Government reveal their ignorance of Kember's mission: there is nothing moral or victorious in Norman Kember being rescued by force, because his rescue involved no moral decisions by his captors, or building of bridges. By contrast, Kember's internment had been a spur to dialogue between Britain's Christian and Muslim communities: the government has arrogantly spoiled all that. The government's insistence on overriding with force the language of dialogue, mercy and sacrifice that Kember has tried to speak with the people of Iraq, can never achieve lasting understanding and peace."
"Kember's way - not the Government's - is the right way, and if we truly believe in freedom and self-determination, we must defend that."
