[A] "Don't Shoot the Clowns": Book launch with Jo Wilding, eyewitness to the 2003 invasion and the April 2004 US siege of Fallujah. 7pm, Friday 6 October, Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DX (tube: Kings X)
[B] Nonviolent direct action workshop and legal briefing: Sunday 8 October, 11am - 4pm, Sunrise Room, Diorama 2, 3-7 Euston Centre, London NW1 3JG (tube: Great Portland Street).

**********************************************
[A] "DON'T SHOOT THE CLOWNS" BOOK LAUNCH WITH JO WILDING
7-9pm, Friday 6 October
Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DX (nearest tube: Kings X)

** Free Middle Eastern food, drinks, Iraqi music and an opportunity to meet at extraordinary anti-war activist **

Jo Wilding's new book "Don't Shoot the Clowns: Taking a Circus to the Children of Iraq" will be having its official launch tomorrow (Friday 6 Oct) at Housmans Bookshop in London.

Jo Wilding was in Baghdad during the 2003 invasion and in Fallujah during the April 2004 US siege (during which at least 600 Iraqi civilians were killed) and spent many months in occupued Iraq touring with her children's circus. "Don't Shoot the Clowns" is her account of living alongside ordinary Iraqis in extraordinary times.

"When I first heard that clowns were going to Iraq, my feeling was, "That's all they need." But reading Jo's blogs and watching the film A Letter to the Prime Minister, I suspended my prejudices. The therapeutic value of Circus2Iraq is beyond question; and Jo's involvement with the situation, and her ability to illuminate it for the outside world, offer us priceless access. She goes further than most in introducing us to the people our taxes are killing. But, to be more positive, she also shows us the courage, resourcefulness and cheerfulness of which human beings are capable. This book is not about missionary zeal, but about being human" - Jeremy Hardy

"Jo was the only one of us foreigners in Iraq who I was absolutely sure was doing something useful. She made thousands of children happy" - Naomi Klein

**********************************************
[B] NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION WORKSHOP AND LEGAL BRIEFING
Sunday 8 October, 11am - 4pm, Sunrise Room, Diorama 2, 3-7 Euston Centre, London NW1 3JG (tube: Great Portland Street).

October's "No More Fallujahs" month of action against war and occupation (see www.rememberfallujah.org) will culiminate in an "unauthorised" 24-hour peace camp in Parliament Square - an act of mass civil disobedience against the occupation of Iraq. This is a potentially arrestable action and if you are thinking of taking part we strongly recommend that you attend one of the two NVDA workshops and legal briefings that are taking place (the second will be taking place on 28 Oct - see www.rememberfallujah.org).

The workshop will be run by the wonderful Seeds for Change (www.seedsforchange.org.uk) and will cover a wide range of practical issues as well as the arrest process and legal issues surrounding participation in the camp.