Donate to BARAC refugee aid & solidarity

Since 2015 BARAC has been coordinating aid & solidarity convoys to refugees stuck in Northen France.

There's been a break in our regular distributions every few weeks, 1 of the reasons being the need to raise more funds to take essential items.

With your support we are ready to return shortly & we will be  taking food for the refugee kitchens.

The refugee camp in Dunkirk recently burned down which means people already displaced due to poverty, climate change, war & persecution, don't even have a place of temporary refuge so your support us much needed.

Please do what you can to support us, you can make donations via Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/BARACHumanitarian

Thanks for your ongoing support.

Defend the UCL Five: Statement initiated by BARAC UK & NUS Black Students Campaign

Defend the 

UCL Five 

Statement

Universities in the UK should be a safe space that provide for free expression and positive learning, but instead, University College London has embarked on a campaign to silence radical student voices challenging oppressive practice. 

In recent months, the university has embarked upon a targeted campaign of silencing student dissent and protests on campus through management intimidation, scare tactics and the threat of disciplinary action. 

On 27th October 2016, a group of UCL students came together to protest an intended talk by Hen Mazzig who was invited by UCL Friends of Israel to speak at an event on the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Hen Mazzig is a reservist in the Israeli military and was speaking about his activities enforcing the illegal military occupation of Palestine and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, considered a war crime under international law.  

The UCL students’ non-violent protest was made up of students from a range of diverse backgrounds and included chants calling for an end to violence against Palestinians and the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the waving of flags and traditional Dabke dancing.  

Protesting students persisted despite being verbally harassed by groups and individuals from outside the university such as Sussex Friends of Israel and individuals such as UCL alumnus Elliot Miller who was caught on video pushing a student. 

Individuals from this group shouted racist slurs against black students on the protest, such as "the Home Office should follow you up”, “get out of our country" and called announcing that "Islam is a violent religion".  

In the days following the meeting Mazzig repeatedly tried to depict our opposition to his event as the protest of “an angry Arab mob”. This amounts to the racial profiling of resident British UCL based students.  

They were then subjected to a malicious, politically motivated complaint. The response from UCL was to racially profile five students and serve them with notice of impending disciplinary action.  

All five are active in student politics, and all are either Muslim, Arab, Asian or Black. The five students together, have contributed to the fundraising of thousands of pounds going towards humanitarian aid in Africa and the Middle-East. They have helped to launch various campaigns such as Israel Apartheid week, Black Lives Matter and leadership and management programmes. 

These Black and minority ethnic students are currently being targeted and harassed by UCL management as a consequence. These actions by UCL management, we believe, constitute an intolerable restriction of the human rights of students seeking to express political opinions on issues of concern.  

Alarmingly the university has so far failed to investigate the racist slurs that UCL students were subjected too. This injustice is now further compounded by UCL racially profiling and adding and abetting the malicious smearing of students of colour, who were simply exercising their rights to free expression and lawful protest.  

Groups external to the university made malicious and vindictive accusations which were backed up by inaccurate depictions of the protest and had no objective supporting evidence.  

This raises serious concerns about the veracity of the original complaint and the subsequent impartiality of the investigation conducted by UCL management. 

This seems to be part of a wider campaign of suppressing student activism and protest on UCL campuses, and is echoed in "crackdowns" on other UCL student and staff protests.  

For example, a number of UCL students active in the Fossil Free campaign have also been issued a notice of disciplinary action. Fossil Free is a student led branch of the international campaign on campus to pressure the university into divesting from fossil fuel companies.  

This unnecessary, aggressive and authoritarian behaviour by UCL management is counterproductive, unfair and only serves to intimidate students who are already feeling intimidated and restricted in their ability to freely engage in democratic debate and political protest. 

The actions of UCL management flies in the face of the founding principles and academic philosophy on which UCL is based, a secular institution of free thinking, political and academic debate. 

We demand that UCL drops all the disciplinary procedures against the five students concerned, and enter into dialogue with a view to examining the culture of political persecution of Black and minority ethnic students on campus at UCL. 

We the undersigned urge you to:

Join our campaign to challenge UCL management's racial profiling and political intimidation of students it disagrees with.  

Support the five UCL students who were part of a peaceful protest against a meeting being addressed by Hen Mazzig, an Israeli military reservist, who have been subjected to a malicious complaint, resulting in UCL instigating disciplinary action after receiving a malicious complaint from Sussex Friends of Israel. 

We ask that you write to UCL Vice Provost of Operations; Rex Knight and the UCL Provost; Michael Arthur, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, expressing your concern about UCL management's actions and subsequent racial profiling and targeting of students on religious grounds.   

We ask that you join the Defend the UCL5 campaign by adding your name / organisation to this statement initiated by Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK and the NUS Black Students Campaign,  that you use the #DefendUCL5 hashtag to publicise.  Email barac.info@gmail.com to add your name to the statement and send messages of support.

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UKNUS Black Students Campaign

Sean Wallis, Vice President UCL UCU, UCU NEC member 


Zita Holbourne, PCS Union Acting Vice President & Co-Chair BARAC UK

Neil Rogall, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, UCL Graduate (1972)

Anne Cooper, Writer, Unite Community

Hassina Malik, Assistant Branch Secretary, Lambeth UNISON

Adie Mormech, Student at Manchester Met University GDL

Rob Ahmed. 1st Year Chemical Engineering Student at UCL.

Kate Byrne 

Abdel Mahmoud, UCL student

Donna Guthrie, Unite Branch LE127 Co-Equalities Officer (pc) & BARAC Women's Officer

 Faris Tamimi

Dr. Louis Bayman, University of Southampton

Tahmidur Rahman, 3rd Year Student of English at UCL 

Maria Gutierrez

Simone Webb

Jen Izaakson, Unison

Fatima Mahmoud

Elahe Amraie

Laila al-Khatib

Amanda Dilley

Lorraine Harding.

Felicity Premru

Simmi Dullay, Black Cultural Producer 

Margaret Kabasinde, retired 

Ayan Shegow

Diane Langford, Writer 

Annette Rochester

Nana Asante, Chairperson - Africans for Momentum / Africans for Jeremy Corbyn Values, Secretary - IDPAD Coalition UK

Mohammed Shafiq

Zaharan Sofi

Rhiannon Lockley, West Midlands Chair UCU (PC)

Nat Raha, University of Sussex and Edinburgh College of Art

Lee Jasper, Blaksox 

Refugees Welcome Here; March & Rallly 12th September & London 2 Calais Aid Convoy

Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC) UK, together with the group of organisations listed below,  has called a national day of action Refugees Welcome Here and we are participating in aid convoys to Calais.

Painting by Zita; Poet~Artist~Activist entitled 'A place of safety'

March to Downing Street 
Rally at Downing Street 2pm

National day of action, Called by Stand up to Racism, BARAC, Stop the War Coalition, Migrant Rights Network War on Want, Peoples Assembly Against Austerity, Movement Against Xenophobia, Unite Against Fascism, Love Music Hate Racism and Black Out London

***Please note we have changed the start time to 12pm and assembly point to Marble Arch as we were approached by the organiser of Solidarity With Refugees to work together and co-ordinate. We think it is sensible to have one event on Saturday 12 September. 

This event has been called in response to various reports of refugees fleeing war, persecution, torture and poverty losing their lives or struggling to find a safe haven. This includes the death of 200 refugees off the coast of Libya, around 70 refugees in a truck in Austria and ongoing reports of refugees drowning crossing the Mediterranean, stranded in Hungary and prohibited from moving around the EU, and those in Calais struggling to find sanctuary.

The government response to this has been disgraceful. Unlike Germany, Italy and Greece, Britain has not offered a safe haven for these people.

On Monday 14 September Home Secretary Theresa May will be meeting with EU leaders about the refugee crisis. We must learn the lessons of history and call on the government to take a humanitarian and compassionate response to refugees, and to meet its share of the responsibility for providing protection. Let's send a strong message: we say refugees are welcome here.

We are also calling for a national day of action on Saturday 12 September. Birmingham, Leicester and everywhere to the South of these should come to London. Scotland, Wales and everywhere to the North should organise local events.  Events could be vigils, unveiling a Refugees Welcome Here banner, launching a donation site for clothes and food. We want events anything from a vigil, to unveiling a "Refugees Welcome Here" banner at football matches or at places of worship and community centres, use your imagination!

Join us on Saturday 12 September 2015.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1629390697300657/

Painting by Zita; Poet~Artist~Activist, entitled 'Waiting' 

London 2 Calais

In addition to the demo, BARAC has affiliated to the London to  Calais  campaign which is sending aid convoys to the refugee camp in Calais which is known as The Jungle. 

On 19th of September there is a big solidarity event planned in Calais and BARAC will be joining the NOI taking food, clothes, toiletries and other essential items. 

London2Calais are working with L'Augberge de Migrants and Secours Catholique in Calais to distribute food and clothes. 

There are an estimated 4000 people living in the camp without adequate food, water, sanitation or shelter. 

How you can help:  

Donate on gofundme for 19th September.

Or donate items which can include food, water, medical supplies, toiletries, baby products, toys such as footballs, nappies, feminine hygiene products and mens casual clothes, jackets and shoes ( no womens or childrens clothes please as these are not currently needed) and books for the school and library at the camp in a variety of languages. 

You can drop these items to the NOI Mosque, Sunday all day, Monday, Wednesday or Friday evenings (6 pm - 9.30 pm). 1 to 5 Hinton Road, London SE24. 

Also if any BARAC members or supporters  have  cars or other vehicles  and can drive donations and people as part of the BARAC group please contact us barac.info@gmail.com.

http://www.gofundme.com/8w2h4hxw

For future aid convoys starting with October 3rd more information about London2Calais can be found here:

www.london2calais.com

and donations made here: 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/london2calais-october-refugee-solidarity-convoy#/story

FOUNDERS OF THE BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN AGAINST APARTHEID, SUPPORT THE BOYCOTT THE HUMAN ZOO CAMPAIGN

Co-Chair of BARAC, Lee Jasper with Nelson Mandela

Zita Holbourne, Co-Chair BARAC UK with Abdul Minty, Honorary Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) 1962 to 1995

 
 ACTSA is the successor organisation to the Anti-Apartheid Movement,  originally known as The Boycott Movement. I grew up in a family who supported the boycott campaign. As a student, participating in the Anti-Apartheid Movement was my grounding for becoming an anti-racist activist. So I am proud to have been elected to the ACTSA National Executive Council for a number of years now. This year we celebrate our 20th year as an organisation. Nelson Mandela welcomed ACTSA's formation by  saying "And so we warmly welcome the transformation of the Anti-Apartheid Movement to Action for Southern Africa."

BARAC officers celebrate  with South Africans in London 

When Nelson Mandela passed away last year I  had the great honour of performing a tribute poem, at his official UK memorial service at St Martin's in the Field and I wrote this tribute for The ACTSA website and The Voice Newspaper, entitled Honouring Nelson Mandela's Memory by Continuing His Legacy.

Zita Holbourne, Co-Chair of BARAC, at a tribute to Nelson Mandela, Trafalgar Square, London

So I think that it is fitting that in continuing Madiba's legacy, ACTSA has spoken out about the pain and damage that the Human Zoo known as Exhibt B, by Brett Bailey and hosted by The Barbican and The Vaults is causing to black communities in the UK. 

Here is a letter written by Director of ACTSA, Tony Dykes to Nicholas Kenyon Director of the Barbican.


Sir Nicholas Kenyon
Managing Director,
The Barbican
Silk St
London
EC2Y 8DS

16 September 2014

Dear Sir Nicholas Kenyon

Re: Exhibit B- Barbican staging of 23- 27 September 2014

Action for Southern Africa, ACTSA, the successor organisation to the Anti-Apartheid Movement adds its concerns to those being expressed by many individuals and organisations at the Barbican’s staging of the production Exhibit B. We urge the Barbican to listen and act on these concerns.

Many people - black and white, organisations of black people, and organisations active against racism in the UK, including trade unions, object to its staging - believing that whatever the intention of the production, it objectifies black people, it is voyeuristic, exploitative and demeaning.

2014 is the 20th anniversary of South Africa becoming a free and democratic country. The country is dealing with the legacy of apartheid and colonialism, including the doctrine of white supremacy. South Africa is trying to deal with this horrific past and its impact by challenging racism as it builds a democratic, non-racist and non-sexist state through significant processes of reflection, learning, engaging in dialogue and discussion including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Apartheid Museum and Robben Island. This is in contrast to a one-off show that depicts black people as objects, yet does not seem to have involved black people in the development of the concept and production and which many view as voyeuristic.

The Barbican itself does not seem to have thought that if it is to stage this production it should proactively engage with the black community in the UK, getting their views rather than simply stage a production and when there is criticism of this dismiss it as an attempt at censorship.

One of the key lessons from South Africa is that it is what you do but also how you do it and what is your motive for doing it that is important.

To challenge racism requires a sustained commitment, not a one-off production, and there needs to be the active involvement and engagement of those who continue to experience racism. To stage a production that is clearly offensive to many - who view it as a re-enactment of racism, demeaning and patronising and without apparently considering this could be the view - indicates a Barbican that is not sensitive to the views of black people, black organisations and those actively campaigning against racism.

ACTSA urges the Barbican to really listen and engage with those who object to its staging of Exhibit B.

Yours sincerely

Tony Dykes Director

London celebration of South Africa Women's Day 

Nelson Mandela said; 'For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others'

It's  about time that Brett Bailey and the decision makers at The Barbican, The Vaults and other organisations responsible for Exhibit B taking place in London, use their freedom and privilege to respect the right to freedom, dignity and equality of those who live with the legacy of historic racism and institutional racism every day. 

Join BARAC and the organisations that form the Boycott the Human Zoo Campaign in our mass picket of The Vaults from Tuesday to Saturday next week.