Stop the War , Iraqi Oil Union Leader Hasan Juma and Ibrahim Mousawi - resistance personified

Sandwiched with the Philatelists and Prayers, Stop the War had their Manchester Roadshow for the World against War Demo in London on March 15th in the Mount Street Friend's Meeting House this afternoon.

It was disappointing that only 120 odd people turned out (and that's not the GMP headcount) to hear Hassan Juma, President, Iraqi Oil Workers Union and the charismatic Ibrahim Mousawi the editor of Al Intiqad,موقع الإنتقاد الإخباري (Criticism) Hezbollah's newspaper.

Hassan is a big man, in many ways, used to addressng meetings in Basra he waved the microphone away leaving that for his interpreter to catch up with him.

The opposition to the Oil Laws has been impressive, with men like Hassan involved it is easy to see how the US placemen like Maliki are frightened to make a decision. Sharahstani the Oil Minister has even now agreed that the Supply Agreements the US oil majors want are not what is wanted.

Today Shahristani said Iraq was close to finishing negotiations with several oil majors for two-year technical support contracts that hopefully would be signed in March. Those majors include Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil Corp, Total and Chevron Corp., he said. He hoped the technical support contracts would add 500,000 barrels per day of oil to Iraq's output in a year.

Iraq's oil sector could need as much as $75 billion (U.S.) in investment.The extraction and service contracts should add 1.5 million bpd to output once they were in place, Shahristani says. Without this investment nothing will happen ... naturally the majors want to translate these "technical" agreemetns to marketing arrangement that will tie up pumping and profits for years to come.

Whilst the Iraq's oil sector could need as much as $75 billion (U.S.) in investment.The extraction and service contracts should add 1.5 million bpd to output once they were in place, Shahristani added.

Whilst the hated Oil Law stays stalled in Parliament - (Hassan says Maliki has threatened to remove agreement from Parliament) The service and extraction contracts seen by the West and the majors as a stop-gap until a crucial oil law is passed, and will not provide the long-term involvement big oil companies crave.

Meanwhile in Calgary yesterday, Addax Petroleum Corp. said it had signed a deal with the Kurdistan regional government in Iraq that amends a production-sharing contract with Genel Enerji to bring the Taq Taq project (including Taq Taq field and the Kewa Chirmila prospect) into line with the region's oil and gas law, including royalties, cost recovery and profit sharing.(Press release)

The arrival of Ibrahim Mousawi in the UK has been heralded by an extraordinary Zionist claque who want to treat him as though he were some noisome bacillus, who would spread his message amongst our youth.

Rabbi Wollenberg, the orthodox rabbi of the Cardiff Jewish community, criticised the decision to allow him to speak at the university (another stop on the Roadshow on Monday) and said it would distract from the Stop The War coalition’s peaceful aims.... it is difficult to stumble across an Orthodox Rabbi at a Stop the War event .. and probably impossible.

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan said: “We don’t want people preaching the politics of hate to be allowed into our county. We are trying to stop him coming to the UK and he certainly shouldn’t be allowed to speak in Cardiff.”

In Cambridge the Jewish Chronicle are thrilled to report that "Jewish students at Cambridge University have scuppered a meeting due to be held there on Sunday (at Corpus Christi College) , one of whose main speakers was the editor of a journal linked to Hizbollah."

Of course the anti-anti-semite crew were to th fore including our dear old friend and pensioner Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville Baronesss Neville -Jones ... afterhaving a cup of tea and some halva with the Board of Deputies she said "Mousawi's presence is not conducive to the public good," and that he might "preach hate" if he were allowed in.

Henry Grunwald, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews as point man to lead the attack left his meeting with her to sell the same story to the Zionist media in London and Jerusalem.

True to form The Jerusalem Post ran a headline which blared 'Hezbollah television station editor's entry into Britain angers Jewish leaders' and the Jewish Chronicle and Forward followed suit with the Jewish Chronicle of 11/16/07 headlining 'Ban Hezbollah man from UK!'

Zionist Conservative Party Chairman David Cameron, always under the kosh from Tel Aviv asked at PMQ's if Gordon Brown would deny Mousawi entry to Britain, apparently because he did "not trust the 'Arabists' in the Home Office to do a proper job". "Are you aware that the Irish government recently refused entry to Ibrahim Mousawi, head of Hezbollah's viciously anti-Semitic TV station, Al-Manar?" (which he isn't) , Cameron ticked off Gordon ." Just what approach will Her Majesty's government take when Mr. Mousawi attempts to enter the UK to speak at a conference?" Cameron demanded. Brown demurred and looked uncomfortable.

Ibrahim Mousawi was very good. A sharp, keen , gaze, a studied measured delivery.He certainly knew his audience. He spoke in English, clearly and forcefully. He gets full marks for being eloquent and firing up the crowd without saying anything inflammatory that's going to make the newspapers tomorrow.

He spent a great deal of time explaining how he wasn't anti-semitic, a needless and useless distinction. This defence, falls into the trap laid by the Zionists, if you are not with us you are against us. Hezbollah arenot terrorists, they are a resistance movement - faced with this we have to sit and watch whilst our Zionist claquers sit idly whilst the IDF bomb South Lebanon for 33 days. We arrested 2 soldiers (the IDF arrest but they say Hezbollah "kidnap" ) so what do they do ? Bomb the civilian airport in Beirut....

However, warmed up he pointed out that of the inhabitants of the Middle East, only one country had a stockpile of 250 nuclear weapons (who knows how manythey have ? - one set off will be enough) - I work with words he said ... WE don't occupy stolen land, WE don't steal water ...

His controlled delivery held everyone, especially the beautiful Palestinian girls who hung on his every word. Their eyes glistened and they strained to hear his every word and clustered round him like a rock star.

Would that we had such orators in the UK, people who can stir the crowd, unify their thoughts and provide what, as he called Hezbollah ... we are not the people, they are the shaft, we are the steel point. Some steel, some point. You can view him speaking in London on December 1st 2007 here

London 2 weeks time - be there. Details

Couldn't spot the Special Branch officer , although there was one young guy very handy taking room shots from too many angles. His picture is in Lord Patel's files.