Letters
The Guardian, Friday 19 June 2009
A pity that John Vidal, in his account of indigenous resistance to oilcompanies (‘We are fighting for our lives and our dignity‘, 13 June) did not pick up on your excellent article “Fuelling the fury” (G2, 10 June) about Shell’s gas project at Rossport in Ireland. If he had, he would have discovered a drastic escalation of violence there on the very day “Fuelling the Fury” was published.
A local fisherman, Pat O’Donnell, had his boat hijacked out at sea by armed and masked men and sunk. He had long been protesting against Shell’s pipe-laying operations as destructive to his offshore livelihood; it now looks as though someone has decided that his livelihood should in any event be destroyed, to ensure he’ll be incapable of further maritime protest. Shell has denied any involvement of its employees in this act of piracy, but it appears someone else may have intervened.
Margaretta D’Arcy and John Arden
Galway, Ireland
If readers want to support indigenous peoples’ struggle to defend their lands, they can lobby their MP to sign early day motion 1299, urging the UK government to sign the only international law for tribal and indigenous peoples, International Labour Organisation convention 169. It will become the world’s benchmark when more governments agree to it. The UK has refused to ratify ILO 169 on the basis that there are no tribal peoples in this country. But this ignores the impact of British companies and development projects on the lives of tribal peoples across the world, as so graphically portrayed in your article. (More information: www.survival-international.org/campaigns/law).
Fiona Watson
Survival International
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
