A red or white poppy?

This time last year the commemorations around the centenary of the beginning of the First World War got me in quite a jam over how I felt about the red poppy. I have proudly purchased a red poppy every year that I can remember. I can remember one year pinning a red poppy to my primary school sweater and then keeping it in my pencil case come the end of November, where it stayed until the next November.

What really jarred with me last year was the idea of commemorating the start of the First World War. If we were going to go all out and have intensified national ceromonies I thought, wouldn’t it be better if we commemorated the end of the First World War? At least at the time the soldiers sent to fight in that war believed they were going to fight ‘the war to end all wars’. Because of that belief, seeing the end of the First World War must have been glorious; the end of all wars!

We now know that this was not the end of all wars. Even recently through Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 14 years we have had to watch our brothers and sisters come home in boxes. And what of the countless civilians lives that have been lost to war? Civilians now greatly outnumber the amount of soldiers who are killed in war.

Furthermore over this summer we have had the devastating affects of war made very apparent by the largest refugee crisis that we have seen since the Second World War; a direct result of the conflict in Syria (as already covered by this blog). The horrors in Syria have displaced half of the entire population of the country.

David Cameron and the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond along with many other politicians and high profile public figures will spend the next month or so boldly wearing a red poppy. They will at the same time continue to advocate and push for more bombing in Syria.

Last month our government welcomed one of the world’s biggest arms fairs to London as part of the government’s current campaign to boost its position as the world’s second largest distributer of arms. Attending the arms fair last month were authoritarian regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Azerbaijan .

Yet members of that government will still be seen ‘respectfully’ wearing their red poppies.

It is a complete affront to anyone who has lost a loved one through war and conflict, civilian or soldier.

When we wear a red poppy we say ‘we will remember them’. I fail to understand how you can ‘remember them’ if you advocate for war and deal in arms.

It seems to me that the red poppy and remembrance has been hijacked. Our grief and our sense of loss for the fallen have been exploited. Each Remembrance Day we are shown greater displays of military parades, marching bands and rousing poems of heartache. Guns fire. Silence falls. We remember them.

But we are not prompted to consider in our silence; why wasn’t the First World War ‘the war to end all wars’? Why are people still dying as a result of armed conflict? Why are we still packing off our sisters, brother, mother, fathers never to be seen again?

This is why, alongside my red poppy, I will be wearing a white poppy. I have read explanations of how the white is a symbol for peace, a statement that says ‘never again’. But actually, I believe that most people that wear a red poppy, as I have always done, wear a red poppy for exactly those reasons anyway.  Wearing a red poppy means remembrance and peace.

For me, wearing a white poppy is a tiny flame of defiance that says to our world leaders ‘I know what you have done’. Wearing a white poppy will hopefully prompt people to ask ‘why are you wearing a white poppy?’ and I will be able to explain what I have written here. It is important that we raise the profile of peace during Remembrance because that is the only way we can truly say ‘we will remember them’. The only way we will stop having casualties of war is to stop having wars.

I will wear my red poppy too out of respect for so many of those who draw comfort from seeing them pinned to people’s chest, who wish to remember those that they have loved and lost. I will wear it in remembrance for all of those killed in war and conflict.

I will wear my white poppy for peace. I will remember the words of Harry Patch, who was the last fighting Tommy;

"I felt then, as I feel now, that the politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass murder." 

You can buy white poppies from http://stopwar.org.uk/shop/white-poppy-2

Remember that when you buy a red poppy that money goes towards supporting veterans and I would compel you, whatever colour poppy you decide to wear, to donate to the British Legion http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/story-behind-the-poppy-8?utm_expid=51730890-7.iYtKnQpLTO6fjUnTZeHP_w.7&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F

Red and White poppy

The reasons for wearing a red poppy for remembrance are reasonably well known - but the white poppy is much, much less common.

The later are for peace without violence - it came about in 1926, just a few years after the red poppy came to be used in Britain. A member of the No More War Movement suggested that the British Legion should be asked to imprint 'No More War' in the centre of the red poppies and failing this pacifists should make their own flowers. In 1933 the Co-operative Women's Guild produced the first white poppies to be worn on Armistice Day (later called Remembrance Day). The Guild stressed that the white poppy was not intended as an insult to those who died in the First World War - a war in which many of the women lost husbands, brothers, sons and lovers.

The White Poppy symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing strangers. From economic reliance on arm sales (Britain is the world second largest arms exporter) to maintaining manifestly useless nuclear weapons Britain contributes significantly to international instability. The outcome of the recent military adventures highlights their ineffectiveness in today's complex world.

Now 85 years after the end of the ‘war to end all war’ we still have a long way to go to put an end to a social institution which in the last decade alone killed over 10 million children. I choose to wear both red and white poppies - although I accept there are some difficulties with red poppies for some people - in Northern Ireland, for example, it became regarded as a Protestant Loyalist symbol because of its connection with British patriotism. And a growing number of people have been concerned about the poppy's association with military power and the justification of war.

I, and I suspect most people, do not see the red poppy as a justification for war but I do think we need care and to be alert - I hope that by wearing both red and white poppies that makes it quite clear what I think!

Read more about red and white poppies here.

Poppies, Iraq and refugees

The BBC phoned just as I was going away to family for a couple of days - they wanted an interview me as to why I wear both red and white poppies - they had picked up a previous blog item (see label below for more info) - unfortunately I missed the chance but did pass it onto someone else.

I have to say I find opposition to white poppies very strange - a minority seem to misunderstand them -one letter in the The Citizen even said: “wear your poppy with pride unless it’s the white variety usually sold in Stroud town centre – then wear it with shame.” The writer should know better - John Marjoram wrote a reply - see it here. I have discussed this issue before on this blog so wont repeat here otherthan to say that the White Poppy symbolises the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflicts than killing strangers.

However Remembrance Day did get me thinking about Iraq - an issue I've not touched on for a while - it is still going on - it did seem extraordinary that no one mentioned Iraq - no one even mentioned the fallen of that country - I am only today catching up on emails and came across this link of a Pilger article on this subject. It is worth a read to remind us of the pain and horror of what is happening in that country.

One shocking fact is the number of refugees - as many as 5 million have now fled their homes but half of those are unable to leave the country - see article here. Those who cannot find refuge with relatives or friends are forced to live in temporary camps which have sprung up across the country. Accurate figures are extremely difficult to come by, but according to the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), two million people are now displaced within Iraq, while UNHCR indicates that another two million are refugees outside the country. Neighboring countries are increasingly closing their borders to Iraqis, suggesting that the number of displaced seeking shelter within the country is unlikely to fall in the weeks to come.

Why no media coverage of refugees?

You would think this would be big news but it seems that it is barely been mentioned - a suggestion in an email to me is that we should write to the news media and ask why:

(1) They are not reporting on the huge refugee crisis in Iraq. The Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS), claim that two million people are now displaced within Iraq, while UNHCR indicates that another two million are refugees outside the country.
(2) there has been no in depth reporting/ investigation on the number of Iraqis that have died as a result of the illegal Anglo-American invasion. The Lancet published research by the John Hopkins University and al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad which calculated 655,000 Iraqi death. The British research polling agency, Opinion Research Business, has extrapolated a figure of 1.2 million deaths in Iraq.

You can either phone, write a letter, or send a email to the media outlet concerned:

BBC complaints
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/

ITV complaints and comments
http://www.itv.com/ContactUs/wheretofindus/default.html

Channel 4 Comments
Click here

Sky News Feedback
http://news.sky.com/skynews/contactus

Channel Five Feedback
http://www.five.tv/aboutfive/contact/general/

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day today - on BBC Radio 4 this morning I heard Jonathan Bartley being interviewed - he made some thought-provoking points that chimed with my thinking - see his article here. As someone who wears both white and red poppies (see here) I have met disgust and even anger at wearing the white poppy - this is to completely misunderstand what it is about.....the trouble also is, as Jonathan Bartley points out, Remembrance Sunday shows only too clearly that double standards are alive and well - indeed remembrance sits uncomfortably with some of the church’s own teachings and beliefs, not to mention the positions it has taken on recent conflicts.

Here is some of what he writes: "If we accept the Remembrance Day rhetoric, that soldiers laid down their lives to give us the liberties we enjoy today, then surely that must include the freedom to choose how we remember the dead, and say what we believe? Indeed, it does a disservice to their memory not to allow such choice and conscience to be expressed. Remembrance Sunday needs to experience the liberation to which it pays lip service. The church should be the freedom fighter to bring it. But in the absence of a few more Runcies, the tyranny of partial remembrance looks set to continue its reign for a while yet."

The Christian tradition insists that all are equal in the sight of God. True remembrance requires that the dead on all sides are brought to mind. At 11 today I didn't get a proper chance to show respect but have made time since then - it has been very moving to hear the various tributes in the media today and indeed this last week.