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This file was generated from mozaz.txt on Mon Jan 24 16:42:46 GMT 2011

Mozaz (Mark Wallis). D Jan 2011. Aged 45. H1N1 virus aka Swine flu. Went to Iraq in 1991 . I met him in Sheffield in 1980s.

Mozaz was keen to defend working class housing after New Labour policies lead to mass demolitions of tower blocks.

Mozaz introduced me to Gillian Creasy while we were walking past the old forge ponds in Rivelin Valley. Subsequently I joined the Sheffield Green Party.

Several times he persuaded me to go to election meetings, even those with Tory candidates.

Mozaz was later to be seen with a good camera at anti-war rallies and other such demonstrations. He was too much of an anarchist to be of any use to the sort of middle class pseudo leftist camaigning groups who end up running a load of zombies, easily lead on to silly actions by infiltrated secret policemen.

Mozaz enjoyed walking around the reservoirs in the Upper Don Valley. Moor Hall was his favourite.

I remember one walk through these woods with Mozaz, Andy and a couple of Iranian marxists.

During the SARS epidemic I remember having a discussion with Mozaz about the potential ecological impact of a high mortality virus. Would this allay Global Warming ? Would it necessarily be so catastrophic ? We seemed to agree not so much. H1N1 got Mozaz.

Mozaz was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, and he had also campaigned against racism and islamophobia even before certain other spokespeople.

Mozaz contributed very much to the 'campaigning workshops' held at the former 'Yorkshire Artspace' on Matilda Street. He helped me in a very practical way be letting me have a key to the space despite the fact that I was not one of the veggie, 'save the planet', 'combat combustion' types.

I remember one fundraising event at the Matilda where they were going to sponsor demonstrators to go to Iceland and disrupt a planned aluminium smelting scheme. Candlelit vegetarian dinner.

More to Mozaz taste were the band sessions in the cellars. I tried to take some photos with my analogue camera. His superior digital camera took much better photos. Despite this the old camera had captured Mozaz holding a burning American flag during a demonstration against the Blair-Clinton policy of random lookin airstrikes in Iraq.

I was with Mozaz, and a former flate mate of his, Gumby, when officials arrived to close down the Matilda Space in 2007. No one really had a taste for pitched battles against these bailiffs.

Mozaz enjoyed exploring derelict buildings for good photos. One time we went into some abandonded flats which seemed like something from an apocalyptic movie. Some flats were full of usable furniture. There was a coffin in one of the rooms on a high floor. I opened it but there was no corpse inside.

The last time I saw Mozaz was around the time of the 2010 general election. To us it was just the replacement of one tory government by another.