Somehow, Tash and I came up with the same news story: Barton
Farm development. Sam instead didn’t bring any story, so for happy starters all
three of us went on to film the inquiry on Barton Farm. Yee, big crew. But in
times when production companies need to tight their belts, ITV news services are
being admitted to intensive therapy unit, and BBC is making news with firing their
people in the thousands, WINOL can hardly afford a crew of three.

Anyways, our first week, people said, was good for a first
week. As for anything else… that’s a different matter. It was chaotic. Our
computer crushed 3 times with a problem that even blond rastaman couldn’t sort.
“It’s just one of these days”…rastas all over the screen. Apparently, computers
- even MACs – have bad days as well. And innocent students like us, are better
off stepping away, and bite another Apple.

Both editors and the production team were all over us for
the best part of the day. “Yougottenminutes.Clear? Dismissed!” Thing is, I did
not really liked it when my hypertensive platoon commander used to bark like this
back then in Israel. Still don’t.

At the end we got a programme! GOOD. So it was a successful
first week.

The three of us got a nice story: 1 1/2 min nice shooting…but
where the building site is we still don’t know. Ah, the editing was pretty much
cut and paste. Well. Apple had a bad day… could we write it the closing titles?
No

This week Chris introduced our aims and
timetable. As always we need to try and be the best. We might start by trying
to make contact with 3 other Universities and Colleges around the UK, which
should strengthen our network and increase information access.

The main change from last term, Chris said,
is that WINOL will cover a vaster area – the Winchester area, and not only our
University Campus.

As news reporter my busiest days will be
from weekend to Wednesday morning. Then production team will go onto higher
gear until the show is on air and after a couple of pints on Wednesday night
(or trying to put the little one in bed on time, in my case) the circle will
start again.

Two main issues we need to remember: make
contacts and provide all packages on time every week!

If we get a Christmas card from our local
MP…well, that is good contact. If the Queen gives us a statement, that is great
contact! But for now, to have any contacts , to be able to produce a comment,
or to get an interview…that will do.

Out team leader are Julie as news editor
and Angus as tutor. Each of us has been assigned an area of interest: crime,
finance, education, comunity. I deal with health and healthcare.

And if we don’t have at least two good
ideas for Monday morning editorial meeting – better to disappear.

This week I got two ideas – Winchester’s
night shelter for the homeless is undergoing a major renovation.  The inquiry on Barton Farm’s building project
is ongoing at Winchester Guildhall, and Natasha and myself will be covering
that, so for the first week we will share the burden!

Good luck everybody.

NO FOR STUDENTS

First contact with Winchester city council
officers: when we requested to film the beginning of the inquiry we got a
resounding NO. “You are students, you might cause problems, and there is no
public interest in your job as you don’t go national or even local”.

Are We???

A week later, on may the 18^th, in the mist of the street protest, the Sri Lanka government proudly announced the end of the war.  Rumors emerged that the leader of the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan (LTTE) had been killed in action.

On the same day I met the spokesman of CTC, David Poopalapillai at the CTC Centre in Scarborough.

This is the report of that encounter.

SP – The Ministry of Public Safety of Canada has updated in November 2008 a memo: it speaks about the current illegal and coercive methods of fund rising within the Tamil community by organizations like the World Tamil Movement, which is also included in the list of the terrorist organizations….

DP – Sorry, on which website? Can I see it? Oh, yes. They say money have been collected, but not actively…

SP – No, actually, they do say “actively”, and even with threats…

DP – Anyways, what we say to the Canadian government is this: if anybody has broken the law, catch them and punish them, but so far no one here has been punished in front of the justice system of Canada.

At this point, unexpectedly, KN left the room and returned with a third representative who introduced herself as Majuda Selvarajah, Media Advisor. She took over the interview from now on.

SP – How can you convince the population of Canada that you are the object of an injustice, when your hands are not clean of blood?

DP – People are not on the streets for the LTTE, are there because the population is being slaughtered by the Sri Lanka army During WWI and during WWII hundreds of thousands of Canadians gave their lives for liberation in other parts of the world. Today young man and women are dying in Afghanistan, and for what? For that people’s welfare, future, freedom. We are asking for moral and political support, and these values are deeply rooted in Canadian history.

SP – Are you saying that for the freedom of Tamils all actions are acceptable?

MS – Canadian values understand the suffering of these masses, of the Tamils of Sri Lanka, and there is tremendous support from the Canadian public, even withstanding the criticism. And we are not asking for Canadian lives here, only for support.

SP – What will be your next step, now that the media say that Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead?

DP – During the first 35 years of the persecution we fought peacefully. The second phase was the armed struggle. I am not confirming his death yet, but if this is true, then the second phase is over. Now the Tamil’s struggle is going into phase three, a transnational, global struggle. Tamils Diaspora is all over the world and with the help of the international community, we will take the struggle to another level.

SP – Do you believe this will bring the struggle to the end?

DP – The international community and the Tamil Diaspora will take over…as it happened with the apartheid in South Africa.

SP – This morning, on “No to Sri Lanka” website, Dr Razzen Saly says that if the government will not meet your requests terrorism will go underground and ethnic conflict will continue to fester….

MS – “No to Sri Lanka”? Really? Oh yes…but not here in Canada, but in Sri-Lanka!

DP – Yes, not only this Razzeen Saly says it, so many experts say that. Until the root cause of the situation of Tamils in Sri lank has been addressed and the requests of the Tamils have been met in a proper way there is no end.

MS – Tamils in Sri Lanka are now under threat, live in climate of fear. The international community has to step in now, because this is going to keep getting worse.

SP – When do you think international media will be able to enter Sri Lanka?

DP – They should go right away! GOSL has declared the war is over…why hiding now? If the media can’t go in, there is something to hide!

MS – Why not even humanitarian aid, NGOs are allowed in? That is our larger concern. Political aspirations are important but above that, right now, the aid must be allowed because people have no water right now.

SP – How do you know this? Have you got any contact?

DP, MS – From our sources, and family members.

SP – By telephone?

DP – No…there absolutely no way ….but no matter how they block…we find a way.

SP – Thank you very much for your time

DP – Thank you.

Toronto, 24 May 2009

On 10^th of May a massive rally paralyzed Toronto city centre. The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), and organizations like “No to Sri Lanka”, with most of the Tamil Canadian community poured into the street to protest against the ongoing slaughter of Sri Lanka Tamils by the Sri Lanka government army.”Stop the genocide” echoed at every corner.A week later, on may the 18^th, in the mist of the street protest, the Sri Lanka government proudly announced the end of the war.  Rumors emerged that the leader of the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan (LTTE) had been killed in action.

On the same day I met the spokesman of CTC, David Poopalapillai at the CTC Centre in Scarborough.

This is the report of that encounter.

SP – President Rajapakse announced today the victory of the Sri Lanka army over the LTTE. The corpses of the main men in LTTE, including the leader Velupillai Prabhakaran are being identified as we speak. How do you feel today?

DP – They claim their victory over this military operation. But we, Tamil Canadians, Tamil Diaspora and the brothers and sisters in our homeland strongly feel that the war against Tamils is continuing, ferociously there. They are committing horrendous crimes against Tamil civilians, war crimes. But finally the war crimes have come to light.

SP – Does this mean that the Tamil’s war will continue?

DP – The war is against the Tamils! This is not the Tamil’s war. It is a struggle for equality, fairness, freedom, and justice. A struggle for homeland. This struggle will continue because there is no other answer.

SP – What about the announcement that the LTTE main men are dead?

DP – It is still unconfirmed. This news came through Sri Lankan media We are still waiting for independent verification from accredited media like BBC or CBC or other outside media.

SP – What is CTC?

DP – It is a Canadian organization. Though we are focusing on our homeland struggle right now, we also focus on what happens here. In that we are a typical Canadian organization. Our mandate is huge: we make sure that our voices are properly being heard in the political and media arena. We work to empower our community, to integrate it in the greater Canadian society.

SP – How do you keep in touch with Sri Lanka?

DP – Most of our members visited Sri Lanka during the Tsunami: medical doctors, educators and different professionals went there to offer their services. But since the war broke out in full gear, none of us has been able to visit the area. Last time we were there was in 2005-2006.

SP – What are your sources of information today?

DP – We are connected through the internet and our families. It’s a small area and Tamils have sizeable media based in that area.

SP – Are you in contact with politicians? Army officers?

DP – No, there are no Tamil army officers: 99% of the army in Sri Lanka is Sinhalese. However, there are some democratically elected Tamil civil servants; we keep in touch with them.

SP – Why did you decide to engage the public with these large rallies? How did you raise your community?

DP – Tamils citizens are a tightly connected group within the larger community. When injustice is committed against your own brothers and sisters in other parts of the world it is natural for the community to go on the street, it is solidarity. I will give you an example: during the Israeli- Gaza conflict last year a lot of Jews went on the streets. Some of the Jews here have no relatives in Israel they have been here for generations and still they went in the streets. Same deal!

SP – In any case, many of the protesters are women, children, elderly people.

DP – They strongly feel the community has been slaughtered in that part of the world; they want to stop the slaughter. We didn’t force them: everybody just went there, everybody chose to be there.

SP – LTTE is listed as terroristic organization in 31 countries, including Canada. What do you reply to this?

DP – Yes. All around the world, when it comes to liberation movements they have been branded as terrorists. Menachem Begin and Ben- Gurion, were branded as terrorists. Nelson Mandela was branded as a terrorist. I am not trying to bring everybody in the same basket but I tell you this: have the Tigers done mistakes in the past? Of course! But the Tamil community looks at them as those who have been fighting for them- for their brothers and sisters. They have done mistakes but it’s very unfortunate the present world has branded them as terrorists.

SP – LTTE is held responsible for the killing of India’s Prime Minister and the President of Sri Lanka. This organization has killed many Sri Lanka citizens. But there have been at least two occasions to sit at the table and negotiate a solution…

DP – Yes, and they did sit at the table…. When they signed the cease- fire in 2002, LTTE actually came up with a document called:” Interim Self Government Authority” (ISGA). The Government of Canada was asked to pass it on to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to start the talks, but it refused. So, whose fault is that?

Then when the Tsunami happened, the Government took the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) – which was supposed to ensure that delivery of the rescue funds remained fair – to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court “killed it”. The truth is that GOSL considers Tamils as second class citizens.

SP – It has been alleged that donations from Tamil overseas communities have been fueling LTTE’s military actions.

DP –.That was old days…since 2006 when the Canadian Government banned LTTE fund rising has been discontinued, is finished! Tamil Canadians are law-abiding citizens, and we don’t think they need to break the law. If anybody is doing it now, why the Police don’t investigate and take appropriate measures?

SP – So, how does LTTE keep fighting?

DP – LTTE has a system in its own country. They rule a mini-state: they collect taxes from their people. And also they claim that through battle LTTE got control over very high quality weapons of the Sri Lanka military, Soldiers of the regular army often abandoned their camp, in the thousands ran for their lives. All these tanks and heavy weapons were taken by LTTE.

Monday 11 0ct 2010.

This week a grandmother to two who has sexually assaulted a five-month-old baby while allowing her paedophile boyfriend to take obscene photographs, will be sentenced at Winchester crown court.

Tracy Dawber, 44 from Southport, is accused of letting Colin Blanchard take the images as she sat the baby on her lap. In this high profile high court case, the prosecution has filed six charges in total against Mrs Dawber: one for sexual assault on a child under the age of 13, and five charges on permitting indecent images to be taken.

Dawber has already admitted it was her holding the baby portrayed but denies all accounts regarding sexual assault and permission to take the photos.

Although Dawber told police she could not remember the pictures being taken, Mr Simon Morgan prosecutor, tried to convince the jury that the defendant was certainly able to see the phone being used, as the photos were taken at short distance from Ms Dawber’s lap on August 20, 2008.

Jaqueline Butterwick, an image analyst witnessing for the prosecution, demonstrated that the use of the Nokia mobile phone containing the photo incriminated could not be misinterpreted as it always flashed and emitted a shutter sound when it took pictures.

Winchester crown court was told IT businessman Blanchard, 40 from Rochdale, had admitted the offences.

During the hearing Mr Morgan said Mrs Dawber and Mr Blanchard had met in 2007, had a sexual relationship and she had become “deeply involved” with Blanchard’s “unacceptable activities”. A former business partner and family friend of Blanchard’s, Noman Ahmed gave his testimony by video call. Mr Ahmed told the court that he had known Mr Blanchard for 10 years. In 2007 he was shocked to find by mistake lurid pornographic and paedophilic material on Mr Blanchard email account. After short consideration with his wife had decided to report about it to the police. Mr Ahmed report resulted in one of the largest and most disturbing paedophilic cases of the last decade in the UK.

Dawber  strongly denies the charges. The case is continuing.

The conclusions of this committee had a direct and visible effect on the next Israeli war in Gaza, where the IDF’s censorship was felt to be too strict by many international reporting media and agencies, but not by the strategic echelon in the IDF.
Surely Mannon and Wagthorn speak the words of principle: in principle censorship is disgraceful regardless of the country perpretrating it.
I am sure they would have surey commented on the complete shut down of Arab’s newspapers accused with an HSATA of fomenting the riots in Palestine in 1929. They also would have been surely protesting against the 1933 Mandatory Press Ordinance which regulated the content of news press in British Palestine. The ordinance was intented to be an effective control device on Jewish and Arab press, and was used to suppress manifestations of protest against the British Mandate: “the Minister of Interior may reject advertising content that may endanger public safety as well as false reports or false rumors, which he believes are sufficient to trigger panic or despair”.