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Month: April 2012

Dispatches from Toulouse: A reflection on the Merah attacks

Written by Jonathan Rowe on . Posted in Opinion.

Today the sun shines on Toulouse, shedding light upon a city which was darkened by more than the weather a few weeks ago. I find myself standing in the wake of two vicious of acts of terrorism, seven deaths and a 32 hour-long siege, not something I was expecting when parting for a year of studying abroad in France.

Mohamed Merah, 23, a French man of Algerian decent who had already been identified for monitoring by French Intelligence agents due to suspect terrorist activity including association with a Jihadist Salafist organization, successfully carried out 3 shootings, one of which included the deaths of two Jewish school children.

The following search for the killer was alleged to be France’s largest ever manhunt. Hundreds of armed police covered the south of France in a huge effort to find Merah, as well as armed police guarding Jewish and Muslim schools throughout the southern region. This campaign lead quickly to Merah’s location, although ultimately it succeeded by the discovery of an IP address registered to an apartment in the Croix Daurade area of Toulouse.

A stand-off between French RAID troops and Merah lasted over 24 hours and included various exchanges of gun fire, injuring two French police officers. During the night of the 21st March, whilst barricaded in his bathroom, Merah contacted news channel France24 claiming that he was responsible for the attacks, his motives being to redress the deaths of Palestinian children and retaliate against the French Army’s involvement in Afghanistan.

Towards the 32nd hour of the siege a final exchange of gunfire took place resulting in the death of Mohamed Merah. After jumping from a window still shooting, he was found dead on the ground from a bullet to the head.

With the presidential elections arriving shortly in May, candidates were quick to comment on the situation. The current president of the republic Nicholas Sarkozy was quoted calling him a ‘monster’ stating it was necessary to kill Merah because they ‘have had enough dead as it is’. Francois Hollande, the Socialist party candidate said that “the campaign against terrorism must continue without let-up”, whilst centrist Francois Bayrou said Merah’s acts were an indication of a ruptured French society where “stigmatisation” of cultures was growing as public figures exploited emotions to gain electoral votes.

The most striking aspect of the whole saga is not the unanswered questions that remain (how and where did Merah purchase military grade weapons ? Why if the French Intelligence agency were monitoring him did it take so long for them to find him? Why was there no apparent effort to take Merah alive?) but the utter indifference. This is not an indifference to the obviously tragic deaths of both soldiers and children; but an emotional indifference to violence. The young population of Toulouse when questioned, seem totally unaffected by the events of last week. Many said they ‘had not been scared at all’ very few had changed any part of their daily lives, even those living a mere five minute walk from the site of the shootings.

Toulouse is not a city unknown to violence, only in 2001 it experienced a huge explosion at the AZF chemical factory killing 29, leaving 2,500 serious wounded. Have these events led to a generation desensitized to violence? It is hard to say. Toulouse is not the only city to have ever been subject to terrorist attack or anthropogenic disaster. It is arguable that most young people living in far more dangerous communities than those of Toulouse would claim the same indifference to violence. I live on the opposite side of the river, around a fifteen minute metro journey from where the school shooting took place. At the time, I felt as far away from it all as you will feel reading this in Manchester.

Perhaps all that speculation about film, television and video games is true? Either way, I’ve got to get back to Call of Duty, those Nazi Zombies aren’t going to kill themselves.

Live: Breton @ Islington Mill

Written by Jonathon Lewis on . Posted in Music.

Breton
Islington Mill
29th March
4 ½ stars

Salford is in the grips of a crisis. If it wasn’t already bad enough with the arrival of all those London types at Media City, clogging up the roads of the North West with their Ocado deliveries and pushing up the price of previously unaffordable quay-side housing to new unaffordable levels, Salford has a new threat to deal with. Hipsters.

Tonight, Islington Mill is teeming with oversize backpacks, vintage clothing and, worst of all, Hollyoaks cast members. A lone gunman’s dream you might say, but with a free bar courtesy of Dr. Martens who are filming an advert here, my feelings towards the demographic around me are ambivalent at best and I settle down to a pint. The night wears on, the air’s thick with ‘yah’s and ‘for sure’s and eventually the filming, and free drink, comes to an end, resulting in an exodus of people from the Mill and a half empty room for Breton to play to. More fool those who left.

Half laptop experimentation, half guitar band, Breton sound like the lovechild of Tom Vek and Foals. With angular rhythms and a whole palette of fresh and exciting sounds, they deliver a set full diversity and packed with plenty of up-tempo tunes to boot. ‘Sandpaper’ is filled to the brim with dirty synth sounds and restrained vocals, while ‘15x’ is insanely danceable with a coolly delivered drumbeat propelling the song along. Even in their more downbeat, reflective moments such as ‘The Well’, Breton still manage to engage your attention and feet, the set never once dropping off or flat lining.

For the few who stayed at Islington mill, a real treat was had tonight, getting the chance to see a band up close that is on the rise and for whom the big time is calling.

Breton – Pacemaker

Galloway’s victory holds lessons for Labour

Written by Andrew Williams on . Posted in Opinion.

“This, the most sensational victory in British by-election history”, George Galloway began as he commanded the podium following a triumphant result in Bradford West in the early hours of Friday morning, “represents the Bradford Spring”. Grossly inflated metaphor aside – his return to Parliament is hardly likely to herald a revolutionary overthrow of the ‘tyrannical’ Coalition government as Respect sweep to power in 2015 – Galloway was right to lionise his victory as a significant political moment, even if he was typically self-important to do so himself.

Despite the best efforts of a wounded, defeated Labour Party to convince us otherwise, this was more than a mere political sideshow. Winning a former Labour stronghold with a majority of over 10,000 is no freak result; there was something meaningful about the West Yorkshire electorate’s “total rejection of the three major parties” in favour of a radical alternative. George Galloway, the man forever etched in the memory of millions for his immortal inquiry “would you like me to be the cat?” is back, having used up another of his nine lives.

Despite his somewhat eccentric personal life, his alleged dealings with a certain Iraqi dictator and a brand of social illiberalism which I find myself entirely at odds with, I have something of a soft spot for ‘Gorgeous’ George. Galloway was, for better or for worse, a key player in awakening my own political consciousness. His twice-weekly, three hour long political discussion radio show on talkSPORT became a must-listen during my mid-to-late-teens, as he riled listeners with his firebrand denouncement of mainstream party politics and, of course, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq for which he believes Tony Blair should face a war crimes tribunal.

Vital to an understanding of what makes George Galloway tick is that he revels in the status of Labour Party pariah. Though he was eventually expelled from the party, in truth his heart left Labour the moment Tony Blair scrapped Clause 4 in 1995. Galloway considers Blairites to be traitors to the Labour tradition; on a recent edition of Question Time, for instance, he accused Times columnist David Aaronovitch of playing the role of “a servant to the Blair government”, chastising him for his transformation from avowed Marxist to writing for a Murdoch newspaper. Aaronovitch’s droll response? “I was a communist, but you were still to the left of me, George”.

This is the key facet of Galloway’s appeal. His vehement opposition to the culture of New Labour is not only the reason why he was once again elected to Parliament in Bradford West, but it further illustrates the significance of his presence on the green benches of the Commons. Commentators have long argued that Labour has in recent years resorted to scrapping with the Tories over mere millimetres of centre ground, but in the weeks following what Galloway described as a “cataclysmic” Budget authored by an “omnishabolic” Coalition government, Labour has gained traction in setting out its stall ever-so-slightly further to the left. Already, it is paying political dividends.

This is not to say that Labour should look to tack to the left in the coming months and years –it is widely accepted that you simply cannot win an election from beyond the centre-left in British politics. But Galloway will act as a rabid dog tugging at the trouser leg of those in the Labour Party who are afraid to take the bold decisions necessary to reinvigorate support for the party. “Until Labour becomes Labour again”, he says, “until they can find the vocabulary, and express the values that made Labour great… I was in Labour for 36 years, because I believed in Labour, and I want to sway people to believe in Labour again”.

To some, George Galloway is an anathema; to many, he will always be the man who made a fool of himself on Celebrity Big Brother. To others, he is an entertaining half hour on YouTube (search for ‘George Galloway savages Sky News’ or ‘George Galloway vs. The US Senate’ if you’re looking for a break from writing your dissertation). But to those of us who wonder whether Ed Miliband will ever return the Labour Party to government, Galloway’s understanding of what it really is to be on the left of British politics is genuinely important. Labour need people like Galloway to remind them that if they look deep into their souls, they are not so similar to the Tories, after all.

TRC seek new bassist

Written by Solomon Radley on . Posted in Music.

London based hardcore outfit TRC have revealed that they are currently on the hunt for a new bass player.

The band, who have been nominated for best UK band at the 2012 Metal Hammer Golden God Awards, are appealing for potential candidates to email in with their applications.

When asked about the line-up change, guitarist Charlie Wilson said that although the band are close with their old bass player, as they are with all their past members, “he lives in Leeds and that put a strain on band activities.”

He added that, “We first and foremost want someone who can play the bass to the level we play our instruments. We don’t want a failed guitar player that jumped to bass ‘cause it was easier – we want someone that lives and breathes the bass like we do with our instruments. They also have to look the part.”

Applicants should also live in, or be able to commute frequently to, London.

If you think you’ve got what it takes email [email protected] with a short CV including a picture, details of any previous band/touring experience, an equipment list and if possible a video of you playing a TRC track from the Bright Lights album.

TRC – Go Hard or Go Home Official Video