America’s Shell Production Is Leaping,... Wed Apr 24, 2024 05:29 | Anti-Empire
Ukraine Keeps Snapping Up Chinese Drones Tue Apr 23, 2024 03:14 | Anti-Empire
Moscow Is Prosecuting the War on a Pathe... Mon Apr 22, 2024 12:26 | Anti-Empire
US Military Aid to Kiev Passes After Tru... Sun Apr 21, 2024 05:57 | Anti-Empire
The Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian M... Sat Apr 20, 2024 01:38 | Anti-Empire Anti-Empire >>
A Blog About Human Rights
UN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights
5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights
Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights
Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights
Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights Human Rights in Ireland >>
The Micromanagement of Speech in the Workplace is Out of Control Wed Apr 24, 2024 19:30 | Dr David McGrogan Forget hate speech laws, says Dr David McGrogan. Speech in the workplace is already micromanaged in intolerable ways by employment law ? and it's getting worse.
The post The Micromanagement of Speech in the Workplace is Out of Control appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Who Was Responsible for the ?Look Them in the Eyes? Campaign? Wed Apr 24, 2024 17:32 | Dr Gary Sidley We all remember the harrowing "Look them in the eyes" messaging campaign, aimed at terrifying the populace into compliance with Covid restrictions. Now, Dr. Gary Sidley exposes the people behind it.
The post Who Was Responsible for the “Look Them in the Eyes” Campaign? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The French State is Now Little More Than a Smuggling Gang Wed Apr 24, 2024 15:37 | Will Jones If the events of yesterday show anything it is that France doesn't want to stop the boats and the French state is now little more than a smuggling gang, says Patrick O'Flynn.
The post The French State is Now Little More Than a Smuggling Gang appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Wales to Drop Blanket 20mph Speed Limits Wed Apr 24, 2024 13:30 | Will Jones Wales's blanket 20mph speed limits will be dropped by September, the nation?s new Labour Transport Secretary has said, after it was conceded they should never have been brought in. Turns out, 20 isn't plenty.
The post Wales to Drop Blanket 20mph Speed Limits appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Smoking Gun in Wuhan: The German-Chinese Lab and the HIV Inserts Wed Apr 24, 2024 11:26 | Robert Kogon In January 2020, an Indian team caused shockwaves with a paper that found HIV inserts in SARS-CoV-2, prompting Luc Montagnier to declare the virus engineered. Robert Kogon offers evidence HIV work was being done in Wuhan.
The post The Smoking Gun in Wuhan: The German-Chinese Lab and the HIV Inserts appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Israel's complex relations with Iran, by Thierry Meyssan Wed Apr 24, 2024 05:25 | en
Iran's hypersonic missiles generate deterrence through terror, says Scott Ritter... Mon Apr 22, 2024 10:37 | en
When the West confuses Law and Politics Sat Apr 20, 2024 09:09 | en
The cost of war, by Manlio Dinucci Wed Apr 17, 2024 04:12 | en
Angela Merkel and François Hollande's crime against peace, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Apr 16, 2024 06:58 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Barcelona : Black ribbons (again)
international |
crime and justice |
feature
Sunday August 20, 2017 21:56 by iosaf mac diarmada 0034600341065
our collective grief's symbol was fresh then
These are my initial published thoughts on the terrorist attack I and my partner survived and endured 17th August 2017.
Fadó Fadó, long time ago, when many more readers came to this corner of the internet, I published a series of articles in reaction to a terrorist attack on Madrid, the 11th of March 2004. I promoted a simple design back then, to my surprise the idea found traction and was accepted by countless people. i had thought my suggestion was easy to reproduce and helped people express collective mourning, to show publicly their fellowship with a community in shock. My design was a black ribbon, one which was easy to knock up variations upon and print out. I admit the ribbon idea was based on my much younger years when I had worn a green ribbon in support of a complex idea back then : the inclusion of political prisoners in a tentative British Irish peace process. Am I turning some off the provenance? OH talk to me about my youth why not? The idea of a black ribbon took off the weekend of March 11th, 2004, whilst the then government of Spain falsely attributed an attack by Salafists in the ambit of Al Qaeda on Madrid by blaming the Basque armed seperatist group ETA. IT was a few days before a general election. An estimated 80,000 people took to the streets of Spain and the Spanish state and camped out in front of government offices and the offices of the ruling party demanding the truth... I was one... the ribbon was a moment in my life... I never wanted to see it used again In the last hours the city of my home where I have lived almost 20 years has been victim of a long anticipated terrorist attack. Even google now puts a black ribbon. I return to indymedia ireland to indulge POV reflections.
Related Links:
Barcelona Attack : Black Ribbons (again) |
Black Ribbons. (March 12th 2004)
Yesterday I received a phone call from my girlfriend, my wife, my partner. She shouted at me at first, "please this is important listen!". She told me that she had been caught up in a stampede of people running from the main artery street "las Ramblas" of Barcelona's old city. She told me she was safe in a Danish bar. She had remembered all the conversations that we had about what to do, should we, as we expected, be in the city when he suffered a typical terrorist attack associated with and claimed by so-called DAESH / ISIS.
She did not run with the crowd. She went to the wall of the street, she saw hundreds of others stampede and trip themselves up. She saw crying children seperated from the parents. A group of Italians were shouting that a van was being driven into people. She heard the Italian and walked sideways hugging the wall towards the nearest shop or bar which was open. This is what we had agreed to do. She was to stay in that bar for a further 7 hours within one of the police cordons placed within 15 minutes around the scene of a terrorist attack and the presumed escape route of the terrorist.
He is in a crack house in the Raval- At least that is the word on the street. Since he escaped into that neighbourhood, 5 people were shot dead as they attempted to carry out a second van driving assault in the Seaside resort town of Cambrils. In the early hours of this morning an explosion injured ten people, what was first attributed to a gas leak ifs now part of the terrorism investigation and is reported as being a bomb factory.
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain have suffered a concerted and organised attack. Low sophistication in terms of weaponry. Clearly they took advantage of the terrain. Many, myself included have long noted that 3 of our busiest pedestrianized or mostly pedestrianized streets lacked concrete bollards or any significant impediment to such an attack.
Today we begin our official days of mourning. Black Ribbons are ubiquitous, many businesses are closed, my wife/gf/partner was told not to go to work in the business zone of the city. Small mercy for her. She spent 7 hours in a Danish IPA bar, everyone there made friends, and they felt reassured that the Catalan police used their street as an operational base. I used all my charm and language skills and that quality I have ..the you recognise me, & you know I do alternative walking tours of this area and I am part of teh community. . The cops behaved with professionalism. They were obviously as shocked as anyone. I published on facebook the information I got from my partner. I tried to allay fears or panic in my post, I said it was "rumours". It took 25 minutes for the "rumours" to become international newswire headlines. Our phones began to ring..,
The hours that followed saw misinformation spread. I past through 3 police cordons trying to get to collect herself. The cops told me at the final cordon that if I tried to cross ramblas, I would be in a shoot to kill zone. I did not try to cross ramblas. At the point twitter told us as much as Sky News. There was a hostage situation in a restaurant. This of course later was denied on the Catalan police force´s oen twitter account.
There are so many lessons to learn..,
I would ask editors understanding and the privilege of returning to this text and expanding it.... or else I add to its information and write my analysis later on.... it is just that my phone is hopping again........... that is what happens when war comes to town and there is a mass murderer at loss less than a kilometer away, a young man who stole his own brother's driving licence to commit mass murder. He lived proximate enough to his big brother to feel unhappy. His family have been brought into protective custody. Terror has spread out like oozzed oil on foil.
But people have their mechanisms for collective response. They can photocopy black ribbons.
i had work a black armband at first then made lapel ribbon, we mocked up various images and they took off
i had never wanted to see it used in relation to my home. I considered Madrid close enough, I never expected my wife to be on site.
|
View Full Comment Text
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)