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AP Peace Fellow Defends Traveler Rights, Arouses British Ire, June 12, 2007

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AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin 101
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June 12, 2007, Dale Farm (UK) and Washington, DC: Zach Scott, a 2007 Peace Fellow with The Advocacy Project (AP), has been criticized in the local British press for defending the rights of Irish Travelers who are facing possible eviction from the Dale Farm site in Southeast England.

The criticism was inspired by a June 6 profile of Mr Scott in the Basildon Echo, a local newspaper. More than 300 readers wrote in response to the article, and several expressed resentment that an American student would presume to criticize British authorities. Mr Scott is studying for a master's degree at Georgetown University.

"Zach can always invite them (the Travelers) to go back home with him," commented one reader. "Also, perhaps he could do something about the plight of the Native Americans while he is about it."

In similar vein, another reader suggested: "Perhaps we should send someone to New Orleans to help the black populace fight against the prejudice suffered against them by their own Washington-based government."

Contacted from Washington, Mr Scott said, "I do not believe it is anyone's right to decide how much of an ethnic minority can reside in one area." He added that there seems to be an unwillingness within the community to compromise, exacerbating the situation.

Dale Farm has been at the center of a national controversy in Britain since June 2005, when the Basildon Council decided to evict 86 Traveler families from 50 properties, even though most owned the land. The case then went to the British High Court, which suspended the eviction pending a hearing.

Eleven properties were found to have been omitted from the ruling, and the Council voted June 5 to evict them by July 6. Mr Scott spent his first few days collecting legal aid forms from the 14 families, for use in an appeal five days later. The Basildon Development Control Committee then upheld the Council's decision.

But members of the Dale Farm Housing Association, where Mr Scott is working, are optimistic that a judge can be found to bring the 11 families under the High Court injunction.

Mr Scott expressed sympathy for the Travelers in the Echo article, and he has since pointed out that half of the Travelers targeted for eviction are elderly or ill. The 14 families also include two deaf children, whose special schooling would be cut short.

Some of the response to Mr Scott has revealed deep prejudice against the Travelers. "How naive of Zachary," wrote one reader in the Echo. "I wonder if he will ever see the abuse they give to locals, the crimes they commit, the violence they impose on anybody they don't like the look of, the old people they trick into handing over money for driveways or roof work they never come back to."

Mr Scott was recruited under the AP program Fellows for Peace to help the Travelers develop a communications strategy and expand their local and international contacts. Like all AP Peace fellows, he is also blogging about his work.

In a recent blog, Mr Scott wrote "...people at Dale Farm are ready to stand their ground. Scaffolding at the entrance has been erected, and a gate has been built. If it comes down to eviction, it could get ugly fast. People have nowhere else to go."

Another recent Echo article reported on a protest by Travelers and their supporters, including Mr Scott, at a local theme park - Diggerland - which offers patrons the chance to drive bulldozers. The park is sponsored by a firm that supplies bulldozers used in past Dale Farm evictions, and the protest is seen as another sign of the growing desperation of the Travelers.

AP has issued several bulletins on the Dale Farm crisis since 2005, using information supplied by the Travelers. The Travelers have used the bulletins in their advocacy, which is one of the main goals of AP's online news service, AdvocacyNet.

• Read the Echo article and more reader comments
• Read more information about Dale Farm and the Travelers
• Read Zach Scott's blogs

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