World Civility and Stratford Marsh – On Saturday February 18th 2006 I photographed one of many persevering with protests all over the world which adopted the publication by a Danish journal of cartoons that includes photographs of the Prophet Mohammad in Trafalgar Sq., then took the underground and DLR to Pudding Mill Lane station on Stratford Marsh to take extra footage of the world which was to be demolished for the London Olympics.
Proclamation for World Civility – Trafalgar Sq.
Muslim protesters packed Trafalgar Sq. for a protest by the Muslim Motion Committee over the publication of the cartoons which they regard as blasphemous, but in addition to publicise a ‘proclamation of worldwide civility‘. The important thing factors of this have been the popularity of human dignity as a basic proper, the necessity to good manners and etiquette in critical debate, a want to keep away from irresponsible behaviour and to underline the importance of mutual respect for a harmonious co-existence.
The protest in London was saved in good order by stewards who remonstrated with a number of the demonstrators who have been indirectly not behaving as they thought they need to, and in addition moved photographers away from them and another teams. However different protests all over the world have been a lot much less restrained and information businesses that very same day reported rioting exterior the Italian consulate in Benghazi, Libya during which not less than 10 folks have been killed in addition to the storming and burning of Christian church buildings in northern Nigeria with not less than 16 deaths.
“As I identified in my report in 2006, human dignity was recognised as very important in “the preamble to the Common Declaration Of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations Normal Meeting Decision 217 of 10 December 1948. That declaration additionally accommodates a variety of vital safeguards resembling ‘the correct to freedom of opinion and expression‘ and states ‘within the train of his rights and freedoms, everybody shall be topic solely to such limitations as are decided by legislation solely for the aim of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of assembly the simply necessities of morality, public order and the final welfare in a democratic society.’”
There are nonetheless many international locations all over the world the place the ideas of human rights in that declaration will not be noticed, together with in lots of within the Muslim world.
Manners and etiquette are clearly very totally different in numerous societies and totally different religions definitely have very totally different views, significantly over blasphemy and apostasy. Within the west we now prioritise freedom of speech and look again in horror on the Spanish Inquisition and trails for heresy and blasphemy, though in England and Wales, the ‘blasphemy’ and ‘blasphemous libel’ legal guidelines have been solely abolished in 2008, and in Scotland in 2021, whereas they’re nonetheless in pressure in Northern Eire.
The final conviction for blasphemy in England and Wales was in 1977 when the editor of Homosexual Information obtained a suspended jail sentence after publishing the poem ‘The Love That Dares to Converse Its Title’ by James Kirkup, and in Scotland it was greater than a century earlier when a bookseller was jailed for 15 months in 1843, although till 1825 it had been punishable by dying.
Whereas we might discover a number of the cartoons that have been printed offensive, it clearly doesn’t justify the irresponsible behaviour and felony actions of some Muslim mobs protesting towards them.
Away from the stewards as I wandered by means of the group I used to be usually welcomed by the protesters, with many urging me to take their footage. I left because the speeches, most of which I couldn’t perceive as few spoke in English, have been ending and folks have been on the brink of march,
I’d first photographed Stratford Marsh again within the early Eighties as a part of a wider mission on the River Lea, as soon as a big and vital industrial space in London, however like most of British business falling into decline, accelerated by the insurance policies of the Thatcher authorities decided to rework Britain away from manufacturing and into companies.
Stratford Marsh was then filled with largely small companies using native folks and lots of nonetheless remained in 2006, although already blighted each by authorities insurance policies and the tax breaks given to the close by Docklands space. Now Olympic blight had set in with the entire space to be remodelled, and there have been additionally areas which might be demolished for Crossrail.
As I wrote again then and I believe my footage present:
It’s nonetheless an intriguing space, the place a number of yards can take you from wilderness to industrial wasteland, from dereliction to busy workshops (although most have been closed on a Saturday afternoon.) Components are visibly closing down, with obligatory buy orders hanging on lamposts, some footpaths closed and factories demolished.
There was one small signal of a sort of regeneration. the weird lock between the Bow Again Rivers and Waterworks River at Baker Street, for a few years derelict, ultimately appears to have been changed.
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 18th, 2024 at 08:50 am and is filed below LondonPhotos, My Personal Work, Political Points. You’ll be able to observe any responses to this entry by means of the RSS 2.0 feed.
