Some good news at long last. Just got a call from The Herald editor, Fr Lawrence Andrew.
The Herald has received the approval letter for its new annual publishing permit – without any condition! Nothing mentioned about the use of the word “Allah”; and no order for it to drop its Malay-language section.
The approval letter for the new permit was hand-delivered to The Herald’s office today, on a Sunday. Imagine, a government dept working on a Sunday. š
So that’s great news that good sense has prevailed. Better sense would be to abolish – for good! and for the good of the people – the requirement for publishers to apply for an annual publication permit. Yes, it’s time to scrap the Printing Presses and Publications Act.
Hopefully, such good sense will extend to other areas of public life.
Good sense is certainly a commodity in short supply around the world these days, as this disturbing development in the UK suggests:
Scott Maria Albrecht, Fr, Martin Newell and Sr. Susan Clarkson remain in custody at Watford Police station after being arrested at Northwood Military HQ at 9.00am this morning (28 Dec). Their anti-war witness involved the Northwood Headquarters sign being covered with red paint symbolising blood spilt in Iraq and Afghanistan by the daily grind of Northwood HQ. A respectful and dignified liturgy then unfolded as both soldiers/police and Catholic Workers listened to the names of the dead British military, Afghani and Iraq civilians, how old they were,when they died, when and how they died. The refrain āWe remember you!ā was sung after every name was read. Both resisters, military and soldiers acted with dignity throughout the proceedings.
At approx 5pm the Catholic Worker farmhouse containing London Catholic Workers Ciaron and Chris, three of the Albrecht children and a number of refugee guests was raided by 6 police officers. The plainclothes detectives, wearing anti-stab vests, appeared very sophisticated, highly educated etc. The search was extensive and concentrated on the master bedroom and study. The search was very thorough.
I attempted to engage two of the officers positioned in the kitchen in discussion pointing out that this seemed to bean exercise in overkill and waste of police resources in relation to minor charges of criminal damage. I suggested that surely they had enough evidence at the scene this morning to pursue their charges. After one officer offered examples of follow up investigations into the patterns of recividist shoplifters. I suggested this looked like a conspiracy fishing expedition. I got a reluctant nod from one of them.
The criminalisation of dissent, the misuse of conspiracy laws and the hyping up of nonviolent direct action into something sinister gathers apace in Britain. The war escalates in Iraq and Afghanistan and expands into Pakistan, Somalia, Lebanon. Civil liberties shrink and many who marched in 03 have disengaged. Where is this leading? We await the Maria Scott, Fr. Martin and Sr. Susan and the deliverance of us all from this madness.
Ciaron OāReilly
London Catholic Worker
16 De Beauvoir Rd,
De Beauvoir Town
London N1 5SU
ENGLAND
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The first Jesus and the third Jesus are the true Jesus.
The second Jesus was the invention of the Roman Empire.
Deepak Chopra’s new book “The Third Jesus” is a must read for all christians.
It shows that the philosophy of Jesus was closer to Hinduism and Bhuddism and has nothing to do with Roman Catholicism and all it’s off shoot protestant churches.
Nevermind, we’ll beat them at their own game. Why worry if we can’t use Allah? Let them stifle our rights because in Jesus Christ, justice will prevail. We will win our right to use “Allah”, but until then, for as long as our pagan pseudo-Muslim Government wants the rest of the world to believe that Muslims worship another God, we can just play along and use “Alaha” instead. After all, the language Jesus spoke was Aramaic and “Alaha/Alaho” is Syriac-Aramaic, which makes more sense, somehow. I have nothing against Muslims and their religion. Their belief is their business. But if… Read more »
‘Allah’ is copyrighted to Muslims, and has been has been banned by the Cabinet, for use by other religions. (see today’s The Star.)
So, now all those of other faiths, and all sensible Muslims too, boycott the BN in the next General Election, cast your vote for an opposition party.
[Every act of violence should be condemned. Close to 3,000 people died in 9/11, for instance. It was a despicable massacre, no one disputes that.] Ok, fair enough. But why is it that when the so-called ‘crimes’ of the of the invading Western soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are condemned, a balanced condemnation of the murder of these very same soldiers and also of innocent men, women and children by terrorists who want to see Iraq and Afghanistan descend into chaos so that they can spread their ideology is not there as well? If your position is to condemn all… Read more »
Thanks for the response. Let me reiterate, I am against all forms of violence whether state-sponsored terrorism or the flip-side of the coin, individual acts of terror. At the same time, it is vital to distinguish between the oppressor and the oppressed, the heavily armed occupation forces and the occupied people. I repeat, over 1,000,000 Iraqis have been killed due to the illegal US invasion and occupation – in addition to another 1,000,000 Iraqis earlier as a result of sanctions – while close to 3,000 Americans and others perished on 9/11 (which incidentally had nothing to do with Iraq) and… Read more »
Every act of violence should be condemned. Close to 3,000 people died in 9/11, for instance. It was a despicable massacre, no one disputes that. Often it is easy to spot individual acts of terror and violence. But while 9/11 and other acts of terror rightfully incur our wrath and righteous anger, why are we blind to state-sponsored terrorism – for example, the oppression and Occupation of entire nations such as Iraq and Palestinian territory – which fuels desperate acts of individual violence and terror? Sometimes, it is the imperial powers and/or their Arab clients that have spawned terror groups… Read more »
The ‘anti-war’ witness is nothing but an act of criminal vandalism against public property. For vandalising the sign with red paint, the vandals, for that is what they were, should be prosecuted to the full extant of the law. There is no excuse, in a democratic country, to engage in such subversive, criminal and illegal acts. The military is following the order given by the Ministry of Defence. Any protest should be delivered there, at the top of the chain of command, rather than engaging in destructive acts towards those doing their job defending the rights of such cowardly people.… Read more »
Well, it’s a great way to the start the new year – though of course the struggle for justice and peace must go on. Happy New Year to one and all!
It is indeed very good news that The Herald has received a new (unconditional) publishing permit for 2008.
I agree wholeheartedly that the archaic, draconian and oppressive Printing Presses and Publications Act be abolished.
May the New Year of 2008 bring free and fair elections, true democracy [with all the freedoms that go with it], less corruption and bribery, and very importantly a level playing field for all irrespective of race, creed, ethnicity and parentage.
Wishing a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful and Unfettered New Year of 2008, to all.
This is really good news on a Sunday afternoon. Thanks for keeping us updated!
phew! mighty glad to hear that. just 2 days ago read in malaysiakini permit will be granted with condition ro remove the BM section. luckily,. that’s not the case. good sense prevail after all. i will quickly go and blog about this good news since i had already mentioned th BM section might be pulled out.
Just as the early church was used to perpetuate the vested interests of the Roman empire so is it being used to perpetuate the vested interests of the American empire today.
After killing millions of innocent Iraqians, Britons and Americans in his war for oil, George Bush is given a special audience in the vatican by the Pope.
Jesus would have formed a whip of cords and chased him(Bush) out of the temple.
So, as a gesture of gratitude to the UMNO government, shall we encourage all the Catholics/Christians to vote for the BN in the coming election?
See, they have “big ears”; they listen, they are reasonable people, isn’t it?
Well, let’s wait and see when this issue will crop up again, I mean, after the general election!