Spring – Snowdrops in St James’s Churchyard, Swimbridge
Last Monday was Holocaust Memorial Day and, like many others, I listened on the radio to heart-rending testimonies broadcast from the Auschwitz death camp.
They were followed by short updates from Gaza. I was not alone in feeling that the Holocaust visited upon millions of innocent Jews and other victims by Hitler’s Nazis has an appalling after-echo in the present, when we are witnessing the first live-streamed genocide in history. I am aware that some think it outrageous to refer to Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
However, on 26 January last year the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favour of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in Gaza. The court ordered Israel to take steps to prevent genocide and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Last April some 600 British lawyers, including four former Supreme Court justices, signed a letter to our then Prime Minister, asking him to stop arms sales to Israel and referring to ‘a plausible risk of genocide’. We saw no lessening of the Israeli onslaught after the ICJ’s judgement.
At the Royal Courts of Justice
My wife and I travelled to London on Thursday – with a dozen other valiant protesters from North Devon – to join thousands of demonstrators outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.
Appeals were being heard in cases involving JustStopOil activists. We wanted to make two points: first, that judges should allow juries their traditional right to acquit defendants as a matter of conscience and, second, that judges should allow activists to explain their motivation – which is to prevent catastrophic climate change.
On the train to London I sent Dr Patrick Hart, mentioned in an earlier Blog and now in Chelmsford Prison, an email and a book.
I love the honourable and intelligent people, from all walks of life, who are willing to sacrifice their own liberty by standing up – or in this case case, sitting down – for the rights of others. No arrests were made.
Speedwatch in Landkey
I coordinate the Swimbridge and Landkey Community Speedwatch, set up in autumn 2023. We turn out for sessions once a week at different sites around the villages, usually between 8am and 9am in the winter months.
Our Speedgun records speeds and as a group we note the time, the make of car, colour and registration. Speedwatch is about raising awareness of the dangers of reckless driving, rather than punishment. Speeding drivers receive a letter from the police, which is usually enough. A second infringement prompts another letter and a warning that a third may lead to action by the police. In the last two weeks two more volunteers have joined our group.
Ama Bolton, left, and Annie Fisher
North Devon Poetry Stanza
On Saturday morning the North Devon Poetry Stanza (a chapter of the national Poetry Society) met at St Anne’s Arts Centre, Barnstaple. We heard two distinguished and engaging poets from Somerset – Annie Fisher of Fire River Poets and Ama Bolton of Fountain Poets. Members also read poems in open mic sessions.
It was a splendid occasion. A highlight was Annie’s vivid poem about the Shoebill stork in Exmoor Zoo, the only one in the UK. I mentioned it to a friend who came to tea on Sunday afternoon and she startled me by saying she knows the bird, that its name is Doris, and that she has taken her grandson to Exmoor Zoo three times because he adores being with animals.
The poem I read was prompted by seeing, on Friday’s sunny afternoon, my first frog of the year. It was in a small pond in our garden and it was calling powerfully:
How to describe this sound –
certainly not a croak.
Deep – though not bullfrog-deep –
rhythmic, fast.
That’s it – a techno beat –
ready to dance?
Thanks for reading. Look out for future blogs.
Mark