Noor at David Smith MP’s Office: Accountability Starts Locally
- Gregory Andrews
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Today I placed Noor outside my local MP’s office, David Smith MP.
Noor is #SchoolgirlUnderBombs: a small figure with a single book. She exists because I can't stomach the weasel words Australia uses when it backs Trump and Israel’s military action in the Middle East: “We support it.” “We’re not involved.” “We can’t comment on the law.” Meanwhile, schoolgirls and other innocent civilians are dying under the bombs.
A local MP’s office might seem like an odd place to make a point about the Middle East. But this is precisely where responsibility becomes real. Foreign policy is carried out in our name. It is defended in our Parliament. It is shaped by the political culture our MPs help create: what they're willing to condemn, what they are willing to condone, and what they are willing to call “complicated” when children are being killed.
Support isn't neutral. Support is not a word that floats above consequences. Support is political cover. Support is permission. Support is the decision to align with the powerful and avert our eyes from the powerless.
Noor’s job is not to persuade with paragraphs. Her job is to collapse the distance between Canberra’s language and the human reality it helps normalise. A schoolgirl with a book should not be a symbol of war. Yet here we are.
If you want Noor in your town, I can send you a Noor poster. Take her to your local MP’s office, a minister’s office, an embassy or consulate, a weapons contractor, or any place where she can make a statement. Photograph her. Post her. Let her be seen.
Follow this link for information on how to get a Noor poster.
