The other day I asked why Jersey politicians and JEP weren’t screaming bloody murder about the abuse scandal and years of cover-up. Well, yesterday we got an answer in Sir Philip Bailhache’s Liberation Day speech! - Liberation Day celebrates the 1945 end of Nazi occupation of the island.
The entire speech can be found at the BBC - these are some excerpts from the speech:
I am sure that many of those who were here in May 1945 will remember the old saying that one of the first casualties of war is the truth. This year we have learnt that even in peacetime, once a media bandwagon starts rolling, it is difficult to distinguish what is true from what is fictitious. Liberation Day is as good a time as any to take stock and to shake ourselves free of the misinformation to which the child abuse inquiry has given rise. It is extraordinary how quickly it all happened. It all started with the discovery of a fragment of a child’s skull and a sniffer dog who showed interest in six different sites.
Wait a second, Phil! Aren’t you the guy who blocked a Syvret report in response to Frank Walker’s attempt to have him dismissed and also shut down his Christmas speech that was to give voice to the abuse victims? Seems to me; Phil attempts to silence anyone trying to get the truth out. Yep, lets “distinguish what is true from what is fictitious.”
A cover-up by government was suggested, and there was incredulity that local people had not noticed these sinister events. Unjustified smears about wholesale collaboration during the occupation led to suggestions that the Island was full of dark secrets and that ours was a community that cared nothing for vulnerable children.
Ummm, Phil? Do the names Jennings, Skinner, Spencer and your own brother, William mean anything to you?
There are as yet no bodies, no evidence of any murder, and no evidence of cover-ups by government. Hardly any of this has been beamed across the world. Yet many journalists continue to write about the Island’s so called child abuse scandal. All child abuse, wherever it happens, is scandalous, but it is the unjustified and remorseless denigration of Jersey and her people that is the real scandal. The truth is that we do not yet know what happened at Haut de la Garenne or in other places.
Hey Phil, weren’t you the one who appointed a convicted sex offender to the police force? When child abuse was occurring at Victoria College, weren’t you on the Board of the college?
Oh, and just to help you out a little Phil, how about all the abuse victims who have come forward with similar stories as to what went on at Haut de la Garenne?
Phil, did you not see BBC Panorama? Have you not heard about Blanche Pierre and the McGuires?
I do not believe that Jersey is an uncaring society. On the contrary, there is a strong political will to protect the poor and vulnerable in the community and to correct any mistakes of the past.
Phil, I ain’t even going to touch that one!
Phil’s little speech appears to be more about the image of Jersey and pointedly ignores and insults the victims.
Quit the disingenuous whining Phil...
Saturday, May 10, 2008
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2 comments:
Yes, Phil Bailhache and Frank Walker do not get the irony here at all. Along with the shameless Jersey Evening Post, there is this stunning lack of internal awareness of how their words play to people everywhere else.
Wouldn't you say that Bailhache, Walker, and the JEP have done more to further speculation about past collaberation with the Nazis than anything published in the free press off-island?
The ruling elite seem to think it is not absurd to turn a celebration of delivery from one totalitarian regime into an attack upon free speech and government transparency.
Unbelievable. They seem to almost be begging Jersey citizens to be even less concerned with looking at their government's scandalously unresolved problems. What is just more sickening is their own level of self pity in the face of the violent abuse of innocent children.
You can almost hear Frank Walker and Phil Bailhache saying, through their editorial proxies at the Jersey Evening Post, "Never mind all that. It is time to just be proud of how things are in lovely Jersey. Move along now, Folks! There is nothing here to see."
- K.C.
Donchais
For justice to ever be served, it probably will require more outside help for those like Stuart and others who support the Jersey abuse survivors. Blogs like this one are a vital part of that.
Since Jersey's is not a governmental elite given to any normal type of political self-reflection, it is not likely to ever self correct.
Instead of asking themselves why the outside press is reporting such critical things about Jersey's system, the establishment rulers arrogantly denounce the entire international press as being unfair.
They do apparently realize and fear, however, that unlike almost any other criminal investigations in the international news, this one might depend almost entirely upon outside public interest and scrutiny for bringing the truth to light.
If ever there was a story of a few brave people like Stuart making the historic difference with help from some vocal supporters via the web, this might be it.
There will never be any justice brought from within the finance industry establishment which rules the island. We all know the local press is simply it's shameless mouthpiece, pitifully incapable of journalistic scrutiny.
The Jersey elite apparently already seek to entice a certain hack writer who comes wherever summoned to "debunk" stories of child abuse in abundant cooperation with very powerful people. He writes books of the type only the Jersey Evening Post might admire.
Sadly, there really are really no Jersey organizations with much influence for the greater good, even including the religeous institutions.
That leaves public outrage and the spotlight of tenacious outside investigative journalists as the only hope.
Please keep attention upon this investigation. It just might serve in ways that will matter more than you know.
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