BRISTOL Stop-The-War SPECIAL : 1st May 2004
Bristol STW | 01.05.2004 22:58 | Social Struggles
Hello. The main monthly newsletter will be out on the 12th May, and will be our first fully Regional newsletter. You do not need to be affiliated to STW to be publicised by Bristol STW, so please *do* send us details of your anti-war and related events.
Please send us details of your regional events.
(See Section 1)
If you know anyone who would like to receive our newsletters, they need to send an email, with 'subscribe' in the header, to: sub (at) sequence.plus.com
GEORGE BUSH SENIOR In London! : Tue 18th May
Bristol Transport Will Be Available.
(See Section 4).
1) Bristol STW..... Evolution Of The Newsletter
2) Fairford 5 Trials : Hearings End, Appeal Begins
3) Palestine Rally : 'The Wall Must Fall' : 15th May
4) DEMO: George Bush Senior In London! : 18th May
1) EVOLUTION OF BRISTOL-STOP-THE-WAR NEWS
Hello. We began the year with the aim of further widening and deepening the circulation of anti-war news, through the main Bristol STW Newsletter, and as we approach the first half of the year, we continue to deepen our roots and contacts. The Bristol STW Newsletter is here to publicise your events and actions, we make no claims over the events of others, and we will publicise your events on your terms. Please do make use of our networks, as they already belong to you.
The UK Chief of Defence Staff has said the 'war on terror' might last half a century, and in response to that we need the networks for the long haul with the aim and capacity to cut the war short, and to then make it stop. There will be many ways of doing this, and our imaginations remain the greatest gift we have, but unless we communicate effectively we will remain limited.
The Bristol STW Newsletter is one way of improving our ability to communicate, and we now hope we can bring something of our success in improving communications within Bristol to the Regional level. We do have our own flaws, possibly many, but through the haze of our own shortcomings we hope we can help provide a clear path towards the networks we now need. Thank you.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS OF PUBLICISING YOUR REGIONAL EVENTS.
a) Email us privately to be included in the main monthly newsletter, which is now distributed to over 2000 people. Email: sub (at) sequence.plus.com
b) In case you miss the monthly listing, please make sure you always use our public message board too. Anyone can email us or visit our message board.
Email: bristol-stop-the-war-coalition (at) yahoogroups.com
Visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-stop-the-war-coalition
c) For general enquiries please email: bristolstopwar (at) hotmail.com
d) By Post: BSTW c/o Greenleaf Books. Box 45. 82 Colston St. Bristol BS1 5BB
OTHER BRISTOL & SOUTHWEST FORUMS YOU CAN USE.
a) For regional (& Welsh) events, which are not anti-war related, you can also use the independent Bristol Activists message board, but you do need to join to post.
To join send a blank email to:
bristol-activists-subscribe (at) yahoogroups.com
Once you have joined email: bristol-activists (at) yahoogroups.com
Visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-activists/
b) BRISTOL INDYMEDIA is an open publishing forum, which means you can freely submit your own articles. It currently has around 600 hits per day, and growing, so it's a good way of publicising news or events overlooked by the mainstream media. Please only submit articles of relevance to the Southwest (and Cardiff surrounding area).
Bristol Indymedia: http://bristol.indymedia.org
2) IRAQ WAR ON TRIAL : FAIRFORD FIVE TO APPEAL
Main Link: http://www.fairfordpeacewatch.com/iraqwarontrial.html
"The people of Bristol hadn't expected such a large diverse vibrant colourful & supportive turnout to escort the Fairford Five Defendants to the court. At around 8:30am on Monday 26th April around 100 people turned up to show solidarity and friendship in a dignified procession to court..."
Related News: http://freespace.virgin.net/swindon.stopwar/fairford.htm
PRESS RELEASE: "A five-day hearing in the case of activists charged with conspiracy & damage to military equipment at Fairford Air Base before the war on Iraq ended today (30.04.04) at Bristol Crown Court. The main question before the hearing was whether the matter of the legality of the war could be examined by the UK courts, as part of the defence in a criminal trial.
Three groups of defendants - Paul Milling & Margaret Jones, Philip Pritchard & Toby Olditch, and Josh Richards, all say they have "lawful excuse" for their actions, because the war on Iraq was itself a crime. For the defence, Vaughan Lowe, Tony Jennings QC, Hugo Charlton & James Lewis QC have argued that their clients believed they were acting to prevent destruction & death in an illegal war.
Mr. Justice Grigson stated yesterday, "The hearing must proceed on the basis I will rule that the legality of the war is simply not justiciable in these courts." In this provisional ruling, the judge accepted the prosecution's case that British government foreign and military policy cannot be examined as part of a defence in English courts.
Speaking on behalf of Jones, Milling & Richards, Mr. James Lewis QC argued that the judge's ruling makes it impossible for his clients to have fair trials. Lawyers for Pritchard and Olditch are also expected to appeal. The judge's full written opinion is likely to be given within the next three weeks, with a 'fast-track' appeal by the defence following immediately.
On the first day of the Bristol hearing, the judge agreed to allow unrestricted reporting of the Fairford Five cases by the press, as this is in accord with all five defendants' wishes, & deemed unlikely to prejudice the conduct of the trials. Milling & Jones said, when they were bailed after a week on remand last Spring, 'We have nothing to be ashamed of. The criminals are in Whitehall & the White House.'"
FOR MORE REPORTS: http://bristol.indymedia.org
3) 'THE WALL MUST FALL' : NATIONAL RALLY : SAT 15th MAY
Leaflets, posters & stickers available from the PSC office on 020 7700 6192 or Email: info (at) palestinecampaign.org Web: http://www.palestinecampaign.org
DATE: Sat 15th May. TIME: 1:30pm Onwards. PLACE: Trafalgar Square, Central London. Called by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.
SPEAKERS: 1:30-3:30pm: Jamal Jumaa - Director Stop the Wall Campaign ~ Afif Safieh ~ Jeremy Corbyn MP ~ Richard Burden MP ~ Jenny Tonge MP ~ Caroline Lucas MEP ~ Jocelyn Hurndall ~ Keith Sonnet, UNISON ~ Jeremy Hardy & others.
DEMO & HUMAN WALL @3.30pm : Demonstration to Downing Street. A symbolic human wall will be formed and demolished - but we need your help to do this!
BRISTOL CAR POOL: There is no organised transport at present from Bristol, so please form a spontaneous Car Pool! They really can be made to work!. Just turn up at the meeting point with a car if you have spaces, or turn up for a lift if you need one, along with money for petrol, and preferably a mobile contact between you.
MEETING POINT: By the Taxi Rank, outside the Hippodrome, St. Augustines Parade, Bristol City Centre. @9:00-9:30am. MAP BELOW:
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?gride=358590&gridn=172858&title
If no-one shows, or you can't get a space, please still make your way up by private coach.
BRISTOL COACHES: Cannon St, off Marlborough St, Broadmead. MAP BELOW:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=358973&Y=173519&A=Y&Z=1
For Info On Coaches In Your Area Please Phone The PSC : 020 7700 6192
BACKGROUND: Israel is constructing a massive apartheid wall to try to further isolate the Palestinians. "The people who are building this obstacle want it to stand for eternity. Among Israeli Leftist there are also some who believe that the wall has created an 'irreversible' situation. Not me. Because I remember other 'irreversible' situations. And other 'eternities', too.
Our Wall is frequently being compared to the Berlin Wall. Visually & politically, this is a reasonable comparison. Also because he 'Berlin Wall' was not only an urban monstrosity, it was part of the German section of the Iron Curtain, cutting all of Germany into two & extending from the Baltic Sea in the north to the border of Czechoslovakia in the south - almost a thousand km, approximately the same as the planned length of Sharons monster."
Full Story: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/features.asp?d=y&id=341
SUPPORTED BY: Association of Palestinian Community, Arabmediawatch, Al Awda, UNISON, MAB, Stop The War Coalition, JustPeaceUK, Trade Union Friends of Palestine, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Pax Christi, and others.
4) DEMONSTRATE : BUSH SENIOR IN LONDON! : TUE 18th MAY
Give George Bush Senior the Reception He Deserves!
Keep an eye on Bristol Activists for more info:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-activists/
DATE: Tue 18th May. TIME: 4:30-6:30pm. PLACE: Landmark Hotel, 222 Marylebone Rd, London NW1 (nearest tube Marylebone Rd, Bakerloo Line).
BACKGROUND: George Bush Senior, architect of the 1st Gulf war, is coming to London to raise money for his sons re-election campaign. He will be the main guest at a dinner party hosted by Republicans Abroad on Tue 18th of May. Tickets are $1000 each! Let's give George Bush Senior the reception he deserves, & a night the guests will wish they had not paid $1000 each to attend.
BRISTOL TRANSPORT: There will be organised transport to this event, but we really do need you to get in touch to let us know you will be coming. Contacting us isn't a commitment to come, but it helps us to not waste precious funds on surplus coaches, which are very expensive. So please, please give get in touch and give us an email or phone number we can to contact you on, and we will contact you with pick-up points & times (about 12:30pm), and cost of tickets (probably £12 / £6) once we have them.
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH: Tel. 0117 3730099 Email: sub (at) sequence.plus.com
OUTLINE OF THE WAR CRIMES OF GEORGE BUSH SENIOR.
George Bush Senior is a War Criminal According to his former Attorney General, Ramsey Clarke. More info on Ramsey Clarke: http://www.iacenter.org/rcun.htm
"During the bombing campaign of Jan 17 - Feb 28, 1991 U.S aircraft flew 110,000 aerial sorties against Iraq, averaging one every 30 seconds, dropping 88,500 tons of explosives, the equivalent of 7 l/2 Hiroshima bombs.
This was by far the most intensive bombardment in history. It killed tens of thousands of people, injuring many more. Medicines & medical supplies were exhausted. It devastated water systems from reservoir, pumping station, pipeline, filtration plant to kitchen faucet as well as urban sewage & sanitation systems nationwide. Food production, processing, storage, distribution, & marketing facilities were widely destroyed. Poultry was nearly wiped out by loss of electricity & lack of grain. Animal herds were decimated. Fertilizer & insecticide plants and storage structures were destroyed. Communications systems, telephone, radio, TV, were shattered. Transportation was badly battered. Vital industries were attacked everywhere. Electric power was knocked out across the nation in the first 24 hours of the assault. Petroleum production, refining, storage & distribution from well to service station were attacked across the nation.
The combined effect of this vast destruction of essential goods, services & industries with the most comprehensive economic sanctions of modern times, first imposed on Hiroshima Day, Aug 6 1990, has caused more than a million & a half deaths." Ramsey Clarke: Report to UN Security Council, 26th January 2000.
Read The Full Report: http://www.iacenter.org/rc12600.htm
"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." Arundhati Roy.
SAY YES 2 PEACE ... SAY YES 2 PEACE ... SAY YES 2 PEACE
Bristol STW