Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.08.2011, Blaðsíða 12

Kraum of the crop
A shop dedicated to the best of icelandic design.
OPENING HOURS
Week days 9:00 - 20:00
Saturday 10:00 - 17:00
Sunday 12:00 - 17:00
Kraum is in the oldest house
in Reykjavík. Aðalstræti 10,
p. 517 7797, kraum.is
12
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2011
London's | Burning
So some of our readers might have noticed that the Pro-EU camp keeps
sending us these opinion pieces about why they want to join the EU. Nothing
wrong with that, but the EU-haters out there can rest assured that if they
send us articles expressing their beliefs, we will run those too.
Riots and looting have spread
across London City over the last
few days, with copycats spilling
over into Birmingham, Liverpool
and Bristol on Monday night. What
began as a peaceful vigil outside
the Tottenham Police station for the
police shooting of Mark Duggan
has descended into anarchy that
has not been seen in the U.K. since
Thatcher’s ‘80s. The Grapevine has
been catching up with Icelanders
caught up in the violence.
Anna Hildur Hildibrandsdóttir was in Is-
lington on Monday having a meeting at
a pub when the landlord suddenly an-
nounced that he was closing.
What did you see happen?
I didn’t see anything, but I decided to
hurry up and get a bus before public
transport was closed.
Did you see a police presence?
During the meeting I saw eight ar-
moured vehicles heading towards
Hackney.
Did you feel unsafe?
No, but I was here during the IRA
bombings in the 1990s and knew that
I didn’t want to get stuck at a tube sta-
tion.
Do you think social media has
played a part in the events?
I’m not sure whether that or the na-
tional media is more to blame; word
spreads fast either way.
What do you think of the people in-
volved in this?
A lot of the news that you see makes
you think these are just thugs. But there
is clearly an underlying frustration that
is breaking out and our society is not
able to control this. It is also obviously
a mixture; some of these kids are just
getting an adrenaline rush out of kick-
ing in a window.
Do you think the police did the right
thing?
I think they did what they could, but
they were clearly outnumbered.
Hafdís Arnardóttir is based in Islington,
but works in central London. As she was
attempting to come home from work
on Monday, the train stations began
to close down and she had to stay at a
friend’s house. I spoke to her on Monday
night as the worst of the looting and vio-
lence takes place.
What have you seen happen in your
area?
I’ve been trying to stay as far away
from it as I possibly can, but there were
hooded youngsters running around the
Victoria line yesterday. We have locked
ourselves in my friend’s flat now, but
there is smoke all around and we can
hear explosions.
Have you seen a police presence?
No sadly not. They are arriving late and
not staying long. It seems like they can’t
handle this. It’s the third day in a row
now and it just keeps getting worse.
Do you feel like it’s unsafe to go
outside?
I’m very scared and I’ve gotten very
scary messages from many friends. I’ve
never felt unsafe in this city, but now I
just feel like crying.
What do you think of the people in-
volved in this?
I find it all very sad and scary. They
seem to be from the age of 12 to 17 and
you can’t help but wonder where are
the parents?
What do you think can be done to
end this?
I’m not sure, but they need more help.
They should have brought in the army.
Do you think the constant media
coverage has made it worse?
I think the media is having a difficult
time keeping up with everything be-
cause it’s spreading so fast. The worst
thing is the social networking sites
where people are lying about things
that are happening and confusing
people.
They are calling it the BBM riots
(Blackberry Messenger). What
role do you think social media has
played?
I think it has helped both the rioters and
the people trying to prevent it or stop it,
but it seems to be randomly happening
in every area of London now and out-
side the city.
Would you like to comment any fur-
ther?
It all just seems like a movie. You don’t
believe this kind of stuff happens until
you see it with your own eyes and even
then it seems unreal. The most ridicu-
lous story I have heard is kids breaking
into Footlocker (a shoe shop) and tak-
ing the time to try on the shoes to find
the right size! I just hope they manage
to calm it down soon and not too many
people have been hurt.
When I went out at 1:00 AM to check
out the action in my local area, which
boasts a wide variety of charity shops,
a Tesco’s 24 hour supermarket and
a McDonalds, I was confronted with
small pockets of young people walking
through the high street. Unsurprisingly,
they were coming from the direction of
the local council estate. When I drove
back down the road, they were break-
ing into a TV shop and casually walking
away with their haul.
What seems clear is that the police
are visibly not in control, whether that
is because they are outdated in their
methods, the kids were too clever or
they are understaffed and underfund-
ed (why does it seem most likely they
will say this?) Social media has, as in
Búsáhaldabyltingin [Iceland’s Pots and
Pans Revolution], been a key factor in
taking the police by surprise. Unlike
other recent social unrest around the
world, the rioting in London seemed to
be most utterly gratuitous. Clearly this
was born out of a wider social problem
and general attitude amongst a genera-
tion of children that have few prospects
and little to lose. Many questions are
being shooed away by angry and fright-
ened Londoners today. Was this an at-
tack on capitalism, a demonstration of
disenchantment amongst our youth?
Why was it laughter rather than angry
shouting that could be heard echoing
across London for the past three days?
What is so special about the clothes
from JD sports*?
Welcome to the Olympics.
*JD Sports is a shop that sells sports clothes
or chav gear. For more information about
chavs check www.urbandictionary.com
Icelanders On The Anarchy In The U.K.
Words
Álfrún Gísladóttir
Photo
Christian Lendl
007 is pissed off with Ice-
land—that’s right, James
Bond, with his license to kill.
In his capacity as ‘goodwill
ambassador’ of the US National Resourc-
es Defense Council, Pierce Brosnan has
publicly requested President Obama im-
pose stern sanctions and “make Iceland
pay a steep price for its inhumane and
illegal slaughter of whales.”
This statement comes just a few days
after the US Department of Commerce
declared Iceland to be in violation of the
International Whaling Commission
(IWC) global commercial whaling ban
and the Obama administration decided
to cite Iceland under a US law, which,
according to the Associate Press (AP),
“allows the president to act against for-
eign nationals or countries who flout in-
ternational animal conservations rules.”
President Obama has 60 days to decide.
As a general rule “threat of sanctions
is enough to make targeted countries
change their policies.”
As stated in the International Busi-
ness Times, “If Obama were to take ac-
tion, this would be the first time trade
sanctions would be imposed on another
nation for this reason, setting a conser-
vation precedent that nearly every nation
would heartily welcome.” The fact that
Pierce Brosnan is encouraging Obama
to do just that seems to imply that Hol-
lywood’s thinkers and left-wingers are
firmly behind the move.
“Iceland has increased its self-allo-
cated fin whale quota to 150 animals per
year, three times what the IWC consid-
ers sustainable for the species’ survival,”
AP notes. AP also goes on to point out
that “in recent years the IWC has been
beset with allegations of corruption…”
Nuff said.
Just a week earlier, the IWC met in
the Channel Islands, but after a four-
day session, pro-whaling nations led by
Japan, but including Iceland, walked out
on a vote on the creation of a whaling
sanctuary in the South Atlantic. Quoted
in The Australian, head of Monaco’s del-
egation, Frederic Briand said: “You can
only conclude that this commission—
which, despite a moratorium, does not
have a mandate to stop the large-scale
hunting still going on—is generally dys-
functional.”
The Independent ran with a piece on
July 27 with the title: “In Iceland, hunt-
ers and watchers battle over whales.”
They spoke with Hördur Sigurbjarnar-
son, of Húsavík’s North Sailing tour
company, who said, “Whaling is bad
for business…And it’s useless…there’s
no market for whale meat.” Apparently,
during the main season, Hördur takes
out over 30,000 tourists to whale watch.
“You get more revenue out of watching
the whales than out of hunting them,”
he told the Independent.
News | Iceland in the International
Eye: August
Revoked: License to Kill
Continues on page 40