I no longer go to the Indonesian hospital. What foolishness it is, to speak of hospitals in a place where life is no longer preserved but merely postponed. Once, I believed, oh, how bitterly I believed, that the presence of a doctor among the dying was a sacred thing, a last stand against the void. But here, where the void has taken residence in the very walls, what can sanctity do? 

The hospital is surrounded now. Not by men, not by soldiers even, but by machines. Drones, humming above like metallic locusts, devoid of soul or pity. They know neither suffering nor mercy, they are the purest expression of obedience without conscience. They circle the building like vultures circling a carcass not yet dead enough. 

Two days ago, the ceiling collapsed. A nurse had just spoken the word “hope.” Then came the blast, and the word hung in the air a moment too long before crumbling with the plaster. ICU monitors, those fragile gods of modern faith, shattered on the floor. One machine let out a long, wheezing beep as it died. It was the sound of resignation. I think I wept, but I cannot recall if it was with my eyes or only in my mind. 

And this morning, yes, this morning, as if dawn itself had become ashamed, a drone struck the intensive care unit. It came like a decision already made. There was no warning, no negotiation, no fate to plead with. Just fire. 

Patients ran. Doctors ran. The hallway became a river of chaos, but silent, terrifyingly silent. One man dragged his son by the shoulders, blood smearing behind them like a signature of some unseen pact. Another woman collapsed, not from injury but from the sheer weight of choosing which of her children to carry. 

Two patients were taken away in an ambulance, if that word still means anything. The rest had already passed into that cold stillness we now mistake for peace. 

We still work at the clinic, though I no longer know if it's from duty or habit, or some grotesque need to perform life while surrounded by death. We whisper. We disinfect. We bind wounds that will open again. The scalpel, once a tool of healing, now feels like an accomplice.

 At home, the walls speak in cracks. The roof sags under the pressure of memory. The air smells like dust and grief. My mother tapes the broken windows each day with the care of a priest dressing a corpse. My father rations rice with the reverence of a man offering communion. 

But outside, outside, it never stops. The bombing continues with the faithfulness of a priest at prayer. It does not pause. It does not tire. It beats like a heart possessed by something inhuman.

 And now, the streets. No, not streets, corridors of exile. Rows of tents like gravestones made of fabric. Children play in the ashes, unaware that they are survivors of a war not yet finished. The army says, Evacuate. To where? They do not say. Only: Leave. Disappear. Unbecome. 

Famine grows near. But even hunger, with its gnawing cruelty, is familiar. Hunger is intimate. It is ours. What is worse, what is unbearable, is the silence that follows the blast. The silence in which you call a name and no one answers. The silence where meaning once lived. 

This is not a war. It is annihilation dressed in the costume of procedure. It is a logic without soul, a godless arithmetic of bodies and coordinates.

 And still, still, some whisper that God watches. I do not know. Sometimes I think He has turned His face away, not out of indifference, but out of shame.

 But if you are reading this, if your eyes have reached these words like a boat reaching a shore you thought unreachable, then for the love of all things holy and damned:

 Do not look away. To look away is to become part of it. To forget is to bury us before we are dead. To remain silent is to drive the final nail.

On a different note, we are happy to have welcomed members of the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association (IRPWA) for a meeting on the role of European security services in the violating of the civil rights of Irish political prisoners. Together with Catalan and Spanish colleagues, it was a great chance to discuss the widespread of state harassment against dissenting voices.

Link to watch the recording of our powerful event: We Were There: Testimonies of returning PALMED doctors on the health crisis in Gaza

We also talk about Cuba and the US blockade against the island.

While it's difficult to talk about anything other than the genocide being perpetrated against the Palestinians, we take some time to discuss the Commission's recommendation to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia.

Lastly, if you're interested in hosting an event with Mansoor Adayfi in Ireland between the end of November and January, please get in contact with Nicolas: nicolas.jeanne@europarl.europa.eu

And our last speaker is Moazzam Begg, former Guantánamo Bay detainee, who shares some of the horrors he witnessed and explains the prisoners' deep pain and trauma from being cut off from their families for years.

Alka Pradhan, Human Rights Counsel at the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions,  explains the US’s use of Guantánamo as a legal black hole. She also emphasises the urgent crisis in medical care affecting the men still in Guantánamo, an aging detainee population quickly deteriorating after years of torture and harsh conditions.

Our second guest is Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. After a historic technical visit to Guantánamo, her report concludes that detainees have sustained “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law."

The second guest is Valerie Lucznikowska, from September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Having lost her nephew in 9/11, she shares with us her drive to turn grief into action for peace. An incredibly moving and brave testimony.

This series is a unique opportunity to learn about the horror and lawlessness of this detention facility from those who experienced it. You’ll hear from former detainees, US military and civilian lawyers, the UN rapporteur, 9/11 families and other international experts and firsthand witnesses.

The event aimed to call for the closure of the detention camp and seek the urgent involvement of EU countries in searching for viable relocation options for the 16 men who have been approved for release, never convicted of any crime, but who have nowhere to go. Guantánamo is a terrible crime scene that the EU can help bring to an end, once and for all.

This first episode features Mansoor Adayfi, former Guantánamo detainee and author of the book "Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo"; together with James Yee, former Muslim chaplain at Guantánamo, wrongly accused of espionage and placed in solitary confinement.

Long live Palestine, long live Gaza!

Fins aviat!

You can click here to read the article Clare mentions about Zelensky.

European Council on Foreign Relations, essays on neutrality and European defence: https://ecfr.eu/publication/ambiguous-alliance-neutrality-opt-outs-and-european-defence/ 

Study on EU Border Regime: Profiteering from Dehumanisation and Mythologised Technologies: https://left.eu/content/uploads/2021/11/EU-Border-Regime-Profiteering-from-Dehumanisation-and-Mythologised-Technologies_.pdf 

They also discuss the COP in Glasgow and the depressing reluctance of rich countries to take meaningful action on the climate

Finally, Covid never went away but it’s back in full swing- they discuss how governments are handling it and the need for room for debate around the vaccine pass.
 

Clare fills us in about the report she just launched in Bulgaria and her visit there; Mick tells us about his trip to Nicaragua during the recent elections; Finally Clare has just been to Chios island in Greece where she met asylum seekers imprisoned on charges of people smuggling. She tells us the stories of the people she met in the prison there and the gross mistreatment of migrants by Greece, called “Europe’s shield” by EU Commission president Von der Leyen- is this what she meant?

Read the report on rule of law in Bulgaria, Spain and France here: https://claredaly.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BindingtheGuardian.pdf

Following on from that we discuss Taiwan and the lambasting Mick got last week for a video he put out on Taiwan and the One China policy. The One China policy is something accepted by the UN and the Irish government, yet somehow stating that now gets you described as a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party…

We discuss rising energy prices and gas shortages as we come into the winter- how did we get here, and what comes next? Also on the agenda- EU relations with the Sahel, China, and Ethiopia, and the killing of protesters in Lebanon this week.

They also talk about tax havens, the Pandora Papers and the EU’s hypocrisy in blacklisting certain Global South countries as tax havens while countries within the Union… including our own…. continue to engage in similar practices.

They look at the International Criminal Court’s decision to pursue the Taliban for war crimes committed in Afghanistan- fair enough, but why the refusal to look at the crimes of the US or Afghan armies?

Finally Mick fills us in on recent developments in Tigray, Ethiopia.

They’re also talking about the attempted arrest of Catalan MEP Carles Puigdemont, a visit to Brussels by a group of Irish people affected by the mica building blocks scandal, last week’s elections in Russia and Germany, the persecution of journalist Algirdas Paleckis in Lithuania, and finally, how best to tackle methane emissions.

We’re talking hypocrisy, fortress Europe and “Great European Values”.

The episode wasn’t published at the time but we’re releasing it now because it’s a powerful conversation about how it feels to see climate change in action, very close to home.

The recent media barrage has misinterpreted Clare and Mick’s critique of the warmongering anti-China, anti-Russia rhetoric as towing the line pushed by those governments. In this episode they set the record straight - they’re not pro-China or pro-Russia, they are against the EU using Russia and China as bogeymen to justify militarisation.

They’re also discussing the shrinking space for dissenting opinions and the dangerous tendency to label any view outside of the dominant pro-US one as “fake news”.

Finally there's some talk about issues closer to home and the recent Disclosures Tribunal report on Garda whistleblower Nick Keogh.

They talk about foreign policy- particularly Syria and Iraq, the EU and recent attacks on the MEP's foreign policy positions in the Irish press. 

First up is the EU Climate Law, the not-so-ambitious EU plan for reaching climate neutrality by 2050 which goes to a final vote this week. Mick explains why approving the law as it is amounts to a commitment to climate catastrophe.

Then we’re talking bees- small creatures with a huge impact on EU food systems. There are big decisions to be made in the European Council next week on protecting the EU bee population and Mick and Damien are here to fill us in on that.

Last of all we’re talking about rail, specifically the Southeast on Track campaign to reopen the Wexford/Rosslare - Waterford Rail Link which was shut down during austerity. There are some proposals to turn it into a greenway, but getting rid of a viable rail line is anything but green…

Then there are some updates from Brussels- They're talking about unmanned arial mobility- drones for postal deliveries and air taxis, Europol- the trans-European police force and the beefing up of its powers, how the environment often gets neglected in EU trade deals and the environmental impact of the military sector.

Clare, Mick and Sina talk about the Irish parliament’s recent actions on Palestine, Ireland’s strange position as both historical underdog and member of the EU imperial core, and whether politics has the potential to be brought closer to the people.

We’ve got an entire episode dedicated to Éire - its role in the EU and how EU membership has shaped it. We talk about defence policy, the eurozone, the groups Irish MEPs belong to in the European Parliament and the Irish people who are making waves in Brussels.

They’re also talking us through the recent events in Belarus and the EU’s reaction to them, EU PESCO projects on military mobility and ever closer EU-NATO cooperation, and Afghanistan where the US is finally doing what it should have done years ago and getting out.

Finally there’s some talk about recent developments in the Environment committee- what did and did not get included in the recent biodiversity strategy and updates on methane emissions.

This week was also plenary in the Europe Parliament- meaning votes on legislation- Clare and Mick take us through some updates on the TRIPS waiver, the Digital Green Certificate, counterfeit currency, climate change impacts in the Global South, data protection and access to environmental justice.

Finally we discuss the horrors unfolding in Palestine and Gaza- Israel is killing Palestinian children and there’s no real criticism coming from the EU.

Clare and Mick are taking us through these latest developments before resuming their EU member state tour in France. Oh la la!

This week Clare and Mick are diving into the issue and talking us through the Digital Green Certificate- what is it? how will it affect people in the EU? and should we be concerned?

On the podcast they discuss the Douma whistleblower testimonies and the need for the OPCW to meet with the dissenters. They’re also chatting about French MEP Nathalie Loiseau's reactions to their questions on the Douma report and the attention this all got in the Irish media.

Finally, there’s football… Mick talks about the cancelled Super League and we learn about how governments use football teams as “sportswashing.”

Clare and Mick were in Ecuador observing the elections.

In this episode they report back, giving us the lowdown on the political reality in Ecuador, the electoral process and the outlook for the country going forward.

Clare and Mick spent the past week in Iraq, meeting key decision makers on the ground, listening to them and learning more about the challenges that the country faces.

Here’s the real story of that visit, straight from the horse’s mouth

See more of Justin’s work including his Anti Empire Podcast on his website https://podur.org/

They’re also talking about vaccine passports and EU exports of banned pesticides to third countries, before touching down in sunny Lisbon and chatting about Portugal’s role in the European Parliament.

Also on the agenda: vaccines (what else?), the trend towards in camera (private) European Parliament meetings, and US foreign policy under Biden who, despite his positive reception by many in Europe, looks set to be more belligerent than Trump.

*correction: in the episode Mick mentions a football match between Germany and Austria in 1982, which was fixed to deliberately exclude a third team from qualifying. The team that they were trying to prevent qualifying was Algeria, not Tunisia.

That’s not all Mick and Clare are sounding off about, they’re also talking about the European Parliament decision to waive the political immunity of three Catalan MEPs, the conflict in Syria ten years on, and the way the EU picks and chooses which human rights violations matter, and which ones don’t… It’s hypocrisy unbounded.

We’re also jumping back into the tour of the EU member states with a deep dive into Poland. There’s been a lot of discussion of Poland’s rule of law (or lack of it) and the existence of LGBTI exclusion zones in Poland recently. So what are Mick and Clare’s impressions of the Poles in the Parliament? And who’s been spreading misinformation to the Polish public about crisp sandwiches?

Then back on the EU tour where the next pitstop is… Estonia. Mick and Clare take us on a tour of this little Baltic country and its Members of the European Parliament who are leading the charge on anti-Russian sentiment...

Then on to discussions of China, new EU sanctions on Venezuela, and the carbon “bootprint” of the military sector

They talk EU military spending and the European Parliament’s total obsession with Russia and the Navalny saga, which is getting more airtime than the serious humanitarian crises happening elsewhere. There are some positive developments in the Parliament’s stance on the conflict in Yemen. But other issues continue to fly under the radar: what about the the EU land-grab happening in Ukraine? And why is the EU not doing more to address Abiy Ahmed's war crimes in Tigray, Ethiopia?

Report on Penal Reformand Sentencing (May 2018)

Report on Direct Provision and the International Protection Application Process (December 2019)