JOURNALISTS & OTHERS

“The thing you are scared to write, too nervous to write, not ‘ready’ to write, is waiting for you to write it” @JoelakaMaG

“The thing you are scared to Tweet, too nervous to Tweet, not ‘ready’ to Tweet, is waiting for you to Tweet it”

Find the courage💪🙏🏽 Image
“You call us courageous, but we’re only doing what we have to do. We have no more choice in doing what we do than the sun has choice to rise each day. Perhaps that’s what courage is.” (E.Warner)

I asked Eric, who put his body in harm’s way to stop an illegal war, about courage👇
In the pub, Eric told me another story of where he l’d witnessed courage

Singer & civil rights leader, Paul Robeson, knew there was a danger that day he’d be shot by fascists, but spoke to the crowd anyway...& the crowd gathered around him to protect him from sniper’s bullets.
I've had the privilege of of campaigning alongside many people who I regard as "courageous"

Not the courage of those men of war whose statues & epitaphs adorn our cities & history books, but that of those who had the courage to stand up for what is right
Courage to stand up for what's right no matter the consequences, isn't just the domain of the giants upon whose shoulders we stand

It's awaiting each of us, each day, in our relationships with one another & with our planet of which each of us is custodian
We’re responsible not only for what we say but what we fail to say by staying silent

Speaking out or stepping up often isn’t easy

Sometimes it is ‘political’ to hold your tongue

But courage breeds courage, both in your heart & in the hearts of others.

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More from @StefSimanowitz

11 May
1/. “Ten years after the #IstanbulConvention was signed, women are speaking today with one voice to demand that the Turkish authorities reverse a decision that will put the safety & even the lives of millions of women & girls in peril.” @AgnesCallamard amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
2/. “Since the announcement that #Turkey will quit the Istanbul Convention, women in Turkey & around the world are coming together. Rather than being cowed, women have been on the streets. Rather than being discouraged women have been galvanised” @amnesty
3/. Since the intention pull out of the #IstanbulConvention was announced, women have been protesting.

In Amsterdam, campaigners laid out 70 pairs of red shoes, each pair symbolising one of the 70 women killed as a result of domestic violence in Turkey since the start of 2021.
Read 11 tweets
10 May
1/. MAITLS: Surely you should step up & recognise that when you’re firing, children get killed

HOTOVELY: We were not firing [at] children we were firing at targets of a cruel terrorist organisation, radical Islamics who are trying to kill our children.
@maitlus & @TzipiHotovely
2/. #TzipiHotovely: You can see those youngsters piling those rocks & throwing them at the people praying at the Western Wall”

@maitlis: You really think the #AlAqsaMosque is a terrorist stronghold?

#Isreal’s hardline ambassador to the UK, on #Newsnight.
#Jerusalem #Palestine
3/. “The EU has said the potential evictions are illegal under international humanitarian law. The UN had said they could constitute a war crime under the Geneva Convention” @maitlis

“It’s a legal decision” @TzipiHotovely
#Newsnight #Israel #Palestine #AlAqsaMosque #Palestinian
Read 4 tweets
6 May
1/. Two hundred years ago, a slab of Purbeck stone was set deep into a hillside overlooking London

Called the Stone of Free Speech, it is a place where people have gathered whenever their rights were under threat

It is a reminder from history

Is it time to gather there again?
2/. “The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed.” (Hannah Arendt)

Self-censorship occurs when a journalist or editor makes a decision motivated by fear of the consequences.
3/. “Farewell to the arts, to eloquence.” (Mary Shelley)

We naturally at a time of pandemic turn to science for solutions, but art, literature & history can not only help us make sense of our current world & our responses to it, but can also help uncover truths & offer warnings.
Read 5 tweets
6 May
1/. #ClimateChange doesn’t respect borders

Our laws need to reflect this

Last year, European Court of Human Rights ordered 33 govts to respond to a claim by 6 children in a landmark #ClimateAction case

Today, @amnesty & other NGOs intervene in the case.
theguardian.com/environment/20…
2/. This crowd-funded case challenges the insularity of national legal systems

"The ECHR has also rejected an attempt by those govts to overturn its decision to fast-track an ambitious climate change action brought by six young Portuguese activists."
climatechangenews.com/2020/09/03/six…
3/. The #ClimateCrisis does not respect borders & our laws and policies must reflect this

"To ensure justice for people most affected by heatwaves, drought & fires, states must be required to tackle climate change & its impacts at home & abroad." @amnesty amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Read 4 tweets
4 May
1/. "They came expecting a verdict...hoping for justice"

Amnesty Turkey's ex-chair, #TanerKilic has been awaiting justice for almost 4yrs

We found out the verdict in his case could be given soon

If his conviction is confirmed he’ll be sent back to jail.
2/. “We’re responsible not only for what we say but what we fail to say by staying silent"

Absurdly, #TanerKilic has already spent more than a year behind bars

In 2018, @snowden was one of two million people who demanded his release
#FreeRightsDefenders
3/. “It feels like a bad dream from which I can’t to wake up”

I met Gulhnihal, #TanerKilic’s daughter, outside the Istanbul courtroom where her father was convicted - without evidence - of “membership of a terrorist organisation”

The nightmare continues.
Read 4 tweets
3 May
1/. Two hundred years ago, a slab of Purbeck stone was set deep into a hillside overlooking London

Called the Free Speech Stone, it is a place where people have gathered whenever their rights were under threat

On #WorldPressFreedomDay it is time to gather there again. #WPFD2021 Image
2/. #WorldPressFreedomDay is a day to remember journalists who've been harassed, intimidated, jailed or even killed

32 were killed in 2020

But it’s also a day to take strength

The truth is powerful

It’s why they fear it

It’s why they try to silence it
3/. “The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed.” (Hannah Arendt)

These are dark days for press freedom ALL around the globe.
#WorldPressFreedomDay Image
Read 18 tweets

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