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Also, it is not always safe for people to sign a petition. If you do not have the social, political, cultural and economic resources to protect yourself from highly litigious corporations and repressive laws (e.g., UK anti-terrorism legislation). It is not always easy to speak up against a powerful interest group, especially when it involves making your identity known to them when your identity is low status to them. It is not beyond us to come up with some rules and regs of how we express our collective voice and our collective will and there are ways of using ICT to allow people to vote anonymously for or against or abstain from a statement being made anonymously. First step is to decide whether we want a collective voice. Second step is to decide how we identify it (e.g., via consensus or majority rule). Third step is to decide how we use it. It is and was important for a statement of support to get sent to organisations in Gaza, before they had all their bits blown off. p Paul Duckett Senior Lecturer Community Psychology Department of Psychology and Speech Pathology Manchester Metropolitan University I am out fo the office on study leave from 2nd - 7th June (inclusive). During this time I cannot be contacted by phone, but can be contacted by e-mail. However, I will have limited e-mail access and there may therefore be a delay until I can reply. I am out of the office on annual leave from 7th Jul to 22nd Aug (inclusive). During this time I cannot be contacted and cannot respond to e-mails or phone messages. My email inbox will be closed so any e-mails sent to me during this period will be automatically deleted without being read. Here is the ubiquitous university disclaimer to remind you of how litigious and neo-liberal a world some of us live in! "Before acting on this email or opening any attachments you should read the Manchester Metropolitan University’s email disclaimer available on its website http://www.mmu.ac.uk/emaildisclaimer UK" >>> miriam hollis <[log in to unmask]> 21/01/2009 11:37 >>> Yes David, There are many petitions. The one that you indicate is so that scientists and academics show their solidarity with the people of Gaza, and the disapproval of the Israeli Governments actions. What many people seem to be seeking on this list is a show of solidarity from our profession. A petition from our profession would allow those of us who believe that our profession should speak out collectively as a voice for social change, and to acknowledge that not all mental health is neurological ,but environmental or social in its onset, can do so. It seems that collective announcements from this list, as a voice for Community Psychologists acknowledging that the actions of a state are wilfully creating significant psychological problems ( not to mention that the state is responsible for wholesale deaths, homelessness, illnesses and injuries which medical practitioners at the site are not able to administer to, plus ongoing ill health as a direct result of deprivation of food, clean drinking water and medicines) is difficult. Maybe we need to go back to the beginning, and state the terms of the list. I can get academic debate in all manner of forums. I work with people who have been tortured, who have witnessed the violent deaths of their loved ones and strangers, I work with children who have been tortured, and for whom it takes years to get acknowledgement that they must be believed. Even amongst the most vulnerable in the indigenous community of the UK, these people are denied everything - a group like no other. Some of their suffering comes from the outrageous drive of our own Government to silence and dismiss them, to deny them all their human rights. A substantial amount of their suffering comes from what has happened to them and what they have witnessed. I am not willing to be silent about what I see and experience here. I am not willing to navigate a discourse about saying outloud: "I object!" As a psychotherapist for social change, as a psychotherapist who has status and whose voice might count in some small way I am saying "I see, I hear, and I object," As the blogger from the International Solidarity Movement said from Gaza during the bombing, someone who chose to witness, the people need to know that we object. Miriam Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:53:35 +0000From: [log in to unmask] Dear Miriam and all You asked whether reformulating the draft statement as a petition was possible. Here is a link to an existing petition you and others might like to know about if you don't already. http://www.petitiononline.com/I75SD92/petition.html David _________________________________________________________________ Imagine a life without walls. See the possibilities http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/122465943/direct/01/ ___________________________________ COMMUNITYPSYCHUK - The discussion list for community psychology in the UK. To unsubscribe or to change your details visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK For any problems or queries, contact the list moderators: Rebekah Pratt ([log in to unmask]) or Grant Jeffrey ([log in to unmask]) ___________________________________ COMMUNITYPSYCHUK - The discussion list for community psychology in the UK. To unsubscribe or to change your details visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK For any problems or queries, contact the list moderators: Rebekah Pratt ([log in to unmask]) or Grant Jeffrey ([log in to unmask])