One of the downsides to being a wildly successful blogger is that many people are after you to promote their causes, figuring that your fame will bring much attention to their projects.
Or so I've heard. It must be very annoying.
I did get an email yesterday from one Susan Coulton asking me to endorse this:
‘Unite Against Terror’ StatementInvitation to bloggers to sign and Sign and link
Please consider signing and informing your readers about the statement ‘Unite Against Terror’.
Written by bloggers in the UK after 7/7 posted on Friday it has attracted hundreds of signatories from UK USA Europe Iraq and the Middle East.
Terrorist attacks against Londoners on July 7th killed at least 54 people. The suicide bombers who struck in Netanya Israel on July 12 ended five lives including two 16 year old girls. And on July 13 in Iraq suicide bombers slaughtered 24 children. We stand in solidarity with all these strangers hand holding hand from London to Netanya to Baghdad: communities united against terror.
. . .
We invite you to sign this statement as a small first step to building a global movement of citizens against terrorism.
Initial signatories include:
Alan Johnson (Labour Friends of Iraq personal capacity) Ali Fadhil (Iraq); Adele Geras (author); Peter Tatchell; Jane Ashworth (Labour Friends of Iraq pesonal capaciity); Anthony Julius; Alex Gordon (UK National Union of Rail Maritime & Transport Workers RMT - personal capacity); Omar (Iraq the Model Iraq Pro-Democracy Party); Professor Norman Geras (normblog); Dr. Elizabeth Stewart (The Open University England); Jeff Weintraub (USA); Cllr David Boothroyd (Westminster City Council UK); Syed W Ahmed (Islamic Center of Chicago); Ami Isseroff (Israel MidEastWeb for Coexistence); David Green (Oxford University Labour Club and Delyn Constituency Labour Party; Micheline Ishay (Director International Human Rights Program University of Denver personal capacity);Osama Al-Moosawi (Iraq); Shalom Lappin (King's College London UK) Brian Brivati (Professor of Modern History Kingston University London personal capacity); Pierre-André Taguieff (France CNRS Research Director); Cynthia Epstein (graduate center CUNY USA); Christopher Hitchens; Eric Lee; Stephen Bronner; Adrian Cohen and hundreds of others.
Well, I have my doubts about the efficacy of signing petitions against terror -- but if Christopher Hitchens and Norm Geras are willing to sign it, then so am I. Or at least my pseudonym is.
I'm not sure what the jihadi will make of it.
"This 'gnotalex' . . . maybe . . . he is you, Ahmed!"
"No, maybe he is . . . you, Osama!" (Gunfire ensues.)
Yeah, we'll go with that theory.
If you want to sign the petition, or to find out more about it, here's the webpage.