G8 Edinburgh Day 4b - Naming Of The Dead, Shaming Of The Responsible

Sometimes power doesn’t come with large numbers, sometimes actions alone are the most powerful. The anti-war march this evening was a more select band than had been the day before at the MPH march. A few thousand politically aware and active with more singing and chanting. We made our way from the bottom of the Mount up Calton Hill, a beautiful spot and there the dead on both sides were read out in lists by the well-known and the not so well-known.

The victims names and often their ages even sometimes the way they died, it was a poignant reminder to us all that the powers that be would have us detached from this war, have it all going on far away where we don’t need to think about it. To hear children read the names of Iraqi children their own age was very powerful indeed almost too much, but that’s how it should be, these children have often left relatives behind altho’ sometimes you hear on the list a series of names clearly of the same family where perhaps all of them have been wiped out.

Earlier in the day I had been to the Respect public meeting in town & I met George Galloway for the first time, as the meeting was a fairly close-knit affair, so that was another handshake to cross off my list anyway (just Chomsky to go!). I bought his book and he signed it for me. Colin Fox was also at the meeting, he the new spokesperson for the Scottish Socialists who have recently been fined a weeks wages and all parliamentary privileges including the wages of their staff for a protest in the parliamentary chamber. I think it was either George or John Rees who said if Colin had been supporting hunting the fox rather than called fox he could have made a protest in parliament and got off scot free! I think there were around 150 people at the meeting and because I came in late and had my camera with me I was asked where I wanted to be to take pictures. I assured them that I wanted to stay and they showed me right to the front. Of course I did want to take photos but the power of mine is maybe a little less than they might have thought by the calibre of camera I have with me. Present at the meeting were Rose Gentil who’s son Duncan died in Iraq and Heidi Giuliani whose son Carlo was killed at the G8 protests in 2001. Rose Gentil was later on Calton Hill reading out a list of British servicemen killed in Iraq, a list during which she paused almost in disbelief or just emotion when she reached her son’s name. Again it was a timely reminder of the many ramifications of this war to all concerned, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers are killed indiscriminately.