HARINGEY LABOUR IN DISARRAY OVER THE DEFECTION OF CLLR BRIAN HALEY

The defection, two days ago, of senior Cabinet member Cllr Brian Haley to the Liberal Democrats spells disaster for the future of Labour in Haringey. And Rightly so! Labour has been in power for nearly 40 years but has failed to address problems with deprivation, poverty and failing services. Residents in Haringey now have to put up with officially the worst Council in London (after the recent Audit Commission report).The defection of such a senior Labour councillor like Cllr Haley (with others in the Labour Group also looking to move) means that the end is finally near for Labour in Haringey. Yet, true to form, Labour's spin machine spews out untruths and attempts deflection tactics by suggesting that about 18 months ago, I applied to join Labour. THIS IS COMPLETELY UNTRUE.

I thought that I would list some of the reasons why I never have and never will apply to be a Labour candidate.

(1) The war in Iraq. (This illegal and immoral war) which has led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people, was started by a Labour Government that deceived the public and applied pressure on civil servants to amend information to suit the case for war. Senior Labour politicians simply followed the line by Blair to make the case for war whilst the agenda was always access to Iraq's resources, regime change and a subservience to Bush, with a bit of legacy protection thrown in for Blair's ego.

(2) The erosion of civil liberties through the proposal of ID cards, increased surveillance powers and section 44 stops, which disproportionately impact on Black and Minority people and which does very little to actually catch terrorists. This cannot be and is not healthy for those who are marginalised and on the fringes of our society.

(3) The growing stark differences between the rich and poor in our society today with a growing underclass who have less social, economic and health opportunities. Yet, Labour and its local supporters continue to promote the disgraceful line that the Party stands for social justice.

(4) The sheer bureaucracy in administration and extra taxes that have been introduced under this Government. The stealth taxes are crippling in many instances and allied with the financial crisis which was caused, (in part), by the lack of scrutiny of lenders like banks has meant that families right across the country are suffering. This was under Labour's watch.The list goes on. Yet, in the dying throes of groups like Haringey Labour, they attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of local residents. Residents who, I am sure, will vote out this failed dinosaur, called Haringey Labour.

The time for change in Haringey has come. The time for a Liberal Democrat future is here.

RELIGIOUS SITES MUST BE PROTECTED AND RELIGIOUS RIGHTS ARE BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS

Having worked on supporting better Jewish and Muslim relations for the last 7 years, I can honestly say that I have felt despair over the last week. Once again the Al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock mosque compounds in Jerusalem have been drawn into the politics of those who want to make it a Muslim and Jewish conflict, something that is so readily accepted within Europe and the US and which is so far from the truth of what I hear on the ground in the region. The conflict should not be seen through the prism of a Muslim and Jewish conflict and those on either side who push this, push a very dangerous line by using religion in what is a conflict of resources.

Just before any reader attempts to blame any one faith, I must say that no particular religious community in the City is clean of this charge. There is instigation and counter-reaction and so the cycle continues, but the last 10 years have seen the increased use of faith and it’s symbolism within Jerusalem which is a very worrying trend. All religious sites deserve the respect and the protection of their sanctity within the City. Has it not been said that whoever has charge of this Holy City has the weight of the world on their shoulders and the added responsibility of global peace? Has it also not been said that each decision on faith related sites in the City needs a lifetime of thoughts before any action is taken? Yet, what we see today can ignite a regional crisis and before we blame another faith community, should we not ask ourselves the question, “Is my faith about peace and the protection of life and belief?” I think this is the core question that people of faith ask themselves at some point in their life and this question is very relevant in the context of what is happening in Jerusalem.

Yet, whatever the future holds, Muslim and Jewish communities in Jerusalem will have to learn to live with one another. Today, respect and understanding towards each other are sadly missing and power dynamics play heavily on activities and the way that each community views each other. What I hope is that religious sites are not drawn into the conflict and that politicians do not use them. The last person that did that, a certain Ariel Sharon, started the Second Intifada and both communities I know are tired of the violence. Furthermore, Jerusalem needs no more violence, oppression and blood and the life of a Palestinian Muslim or Christian Jerusalemite should be viewed with the same value as the life of a Jewish Jerusalemite. Their differences in faith do not mean that one person’s life is more superior to another for every faith believes in the sanctity of all life.

I for one will always defend the right of any faith to practice and to practice in safety and security. No faith group should practice their faith at the detriment of another. For example in Arab countries in my opinion, the loss of Jewish communities through fear to Israel was a loss that affected them financially and socially and that is why the loss of Muslims and the Islamic identity in Jerusalem will be a loss for the City in the future. Jerusalem is a city for all of the three Abrahamic faiths and I for one will defend the rights of all three faiths to practice to the hilt. Whoever uses religion to cause divisions and to drive wedges in the history of the City should ask themselves; is this what God really wants? I for one, think not.

Mughal India and the Link Between Muslims and Jews: A Forgotten Story

In 1858, the last great Mughal ruler of India was violently sent into exile into Burma where he eventually died in exile in 1862. A liberal, cultured and deeply cohesive community in Delhi which was nurtured by Bahadur Shah Zafar, (the last Mughal of the line of the Timur (Tamerlaine) line which had been in India for over 320 years), was fractured. The fabric of Indo-Islamic civilisation which had been stitched together by the Mughals so that Hindu and Muslim rights were protected, was violently torn apart by the England based East India Trading Company.

Yet what was the cause of this violent ejection that saw over 40 children of the King butchered and murdered with no mercy being shown by soldiers of the East India Trading Company? These mercenaries ripped the heart out of India and they supported the first rapacious multi-national corporation that went onto govern and hold whole countries to ransom.

The eventual annihilation of Mughal India was based on a number of steps, some of which included the aggressive and heavily xenophobic attitude of Victorian Evangelists whose work in India tilted relationships between Europeans and Indians so that neither culture or race interacted anymore on an equal basis. It also led to the end of the era of the ‘White Mughals’ who preceded them and who were far more understanding and empathetic in their relations. (These were English men and women who became part of the Mughal tradition and who learnt Urdu and married local women). Furthermore, to add to these strained relations, the introduction of greased cartridges to lubricate the round shot fired from new Enfield rifles introduced around 1856 meant that Hindu and Muslim sepoys would have to bite open these cartridges that were made of cow and pig fat. For Hindus and Muslims, this meant a direct threat to their identity and faith and rebellion after rebellion in Northern India broke out with these sepoys rallying to Bahadur Shah Zafar as to the true ruler of India. Their arrival in Delhi, the seat of Mughal India, would mean that on their defeat, the British enacted a brutal vengeance that led to the destruction of Delhi and to the end of Mughal rule in India. It also meant the killings of hundreds of thousands of Indians by direct or indirect punishment.

Yet, Mughal rule in India was not only about maintaining the fragility of the stitched fabric which symbolised Hindu and Muslim co-existence in India. It also covered Jewish communities since Jews from Persia and Afghanistan became courtiers of the Mughal emperors within Agra and Delhi. These courtiers became deeply influential as was, for example, the influence of a naked Sufi poet who was an Armenian Jew. Sa’id Sarmad became an adviser and spiritual guide to the son of the Great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh become more and more enthralled with Sa’id Sarmad, (also known as Muhammad Sa’id). It is said that numerous elements may have played a part in the eventual demise and death of Sa’id. These could have included his anti-authoritarian reactions, his nudity, his close links with Dara Shikoh and thereby his ability to possibly influence Mughal India, or his love for a Hindu man named Abhai Chand with whom he spent many years. Finally, his own spiritual journey which led him to believe that there was no God, may have led to his ultimate demise and his death in the mid 1600’s. Yet, this is only one example of the interaction and interfaces between Mughal India and Jews and such stories are seldom told. The story of Muhammad Sa’id or Sa’id Sarmad may have ended in tragedy, yet at its foundations lay the open engagement between Muslims and Jews and how many more stories such as these have been lost? I for one know one thing. Judging by the beautiful works and poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar, my ancestor, the acrimonious relations we see today between Jews and Muslims would never have been part of the social narrative.