Features

The buildings, which we have come to know as “the theatre”, are among the earliest ever built in Dalston Lane and are listed by Hackney Council as having special character and interest.

Despite this, they want to demolish them. The reason? A state-of-the-art underground station is planned for next door. Property speculation in the area has rocketed, and it will continue to increase as construction of the station approaches. Add to this the London Olympics - to be celebrated down the…

The one-day strategy conference, organised by Barbed Wire Britain (BWB), an Oxford based network advocating an end to refugee and migrant detention, was held on 14 October at London's Human Rights Action Centre (Amnesty International UK). The event was well attended, and morning plenary session heard activists speak strongly on recent successes, and lessons learned from the ongoing campaigns.

Topical areas included lessons learnt from detainees' struggles,the children in detention…

Frances Laing talks to Joan Meredith, founder member of Trident Ploughshares, following her arrest at Faslane 365 in October.

Frances: Why did you join the opening Faslane 365 blockade?

Joan: I remembered Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was 1945. I was 15 years old - the announcement on the radio that the bomb had been dropped and then the awful thing was seeing it on the Pathe Gazette news - utter devastation and the tales of horror - how people had finished up…

Speaking in 1994 on the likely global conflict trends for the next 30 years, Professor Paul Rogers of the Bradford Peace Studies Department was astute to recognise the relationship between environmental resources, climate change and conflict. He wrote: “... It is probable that environmental conflict will escalate. This may be local or regional, on issues such as food, land, or water, and global on issues such as energy and mineral resources and transnational pollution. The Gulf War was an…

Stupid, repressive laws require creative and surreal responses. On 22 September, more than 100 “lone protesters” gathered simultaneously in London's Parliament Square in response to the ongoing criminalisation of protest within 1km of the Houses of Parliament - under provisions contained in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. In a bid to overwhelm the Metropolitan Police with paperwork, those involved had all applied - and received permission - for their individual protests. The…

On 8 November 2004, the US -- with British assistance -- launched a massive assault against the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Hundreds of civilians were killed, tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes, and white phosphorus -- a substance that burns down to the bone -- used as a weapon.

“I cannot forgive the American crimes when they bombed my town. An entire family made up of 18 members, which used to live nearby, was killed.” Fallujah teacher Ishraq Shakir…

In August 2002, the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston outlined a raft of new facilities it wanted to build over the coming years. Amongst more benign projects like greening the site and providing better facilities for its employees, the nuclear bomb factory's plans included a massive laser, and hydrodynamics and explosives facilities.

Fast-forward four years and, after a bitter struggle by anti-nuclear campaigners, work on the first of the most contentious facilities - the…

The campaign to stop the next generation of nuclear weapons has received a lot of support - in particular from faith communities. From the Vatican to the local Friends Meeting House, calls to prevent Trident replacement can be heard, and many are choosing to turn their faith into action.

Every month outside the gates of AWE Aldermaston, worshippers hold a multi-faith vigil to remember those affected by acts of aggression and to renew their commitment to non-violently campaigning…

Hard on the heels of the great victory at the TUC -- an overwhelming vote in support of an RMT resolution against replacing Trident -- the issue has, however, been kept off the agenda at the Labour Party Conference.

This is another sad reflection of how out of touch the current government is with public opinion; 59% oppose Trident replacement, yet the party of government won't allow a debate on the issue. On the eve of the conference, tens of thousands of people marched through…

I was in Kathmandu on the eve of the final show down this April between the king and the huge and inspiring pro-democracy movement. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to be.

The next day was starting to look more and more ominous. The leaders of the movement had called for a massive protest. They said they expected two million people to come from miles around and march on the palace to demand the end of royal rule. Some said they would storm the palace and throw the king out by force, but…

Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy: Regularly updated information and briefings available at http://www.acronym.org.uk/uk/index.htm. Call 020 7503 8857 for printed briefing. Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp(aign): Latest updates on developments at Aldermaston available at http://www.aldermaston.net/tng. Latest update September 2006, plus further news and info online. Call 07969 739 812 for…

Having been involved in anti-nuclear campaigns and actions for the past 20 years, it's with something of a heavy heart that I write this critique of Faslane365. I kind of got dragged in at the last minute because two possible contributors fled the country when they realised the deadline was approaching -- cowards!

There are two personal reasons for feeling a certain weight of treachery for writing this: firstly I really would like to see some genuine grassroots mass social movement…

One form of control commonly used by the Israeli military is to carry out night-time raids on people's homes, dragging away family members - often for little or no reason. When there is suspicion that this is going to happen, perhaps because the same families are repeatedly targeted, internationals sometimes stay in the house - their presence can often offer some protection.

In Balata Refugee Camp, east of Nablus, I stayed overnight in a family home where the father had been arrested…

The events in the Middle East during July and August resulted in a flurry of activity back here in Britain, with people from Brighton to Glasgow taking action to “bring the war home”. The heavy-handed tactics of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) were widely derided as “disproportionate”, and many people were compelled to do more than just march. Some of these actions even got covered in the mainstream press, most notably the Trident Ploughshares “citizens' inspections” at Prestwick Airport…

Last week, I made my first trip to South Lebanon since the war began. Having travelled a fifth of the world, and been present during “wars” in Iraq, Palestine, and New York, I can honestly say that I have never seen such complete devastation in my entire life. The only thing that even comes close are the pictures I've seen from World War II. Much of South Lebanon simply lies in ruin.

This wasn't a war against Hezbollah, with some collateral damage on the side. This was a war against…

I was told, as this current conflict began, that we - the opposition - are more than we were 25 years ago, during the previous invasion of Lebanon. Thousands went to the streets to try to stop this war. Anarchists and communists, Jews and Arabs, the older generation of war resisters and the newest generation, most of which weren't even born when the previous war took place.

This was a battle of women trying to stop this war. It was women who organised the…

Greenpeace reported in mid August that they had delivered more than 75 tons of essential medical supplies to Lebanon by sea, following a joint operation between the international environmental campaign group and Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Three voyages were made by the Rainbow Warrior between Larnaca in Cyprus and Beirut. The humanitarian cargos consisted of relief equipment, including medical equipment, dialysis material, drugs, hygiene kits and fuel.

Greenpeace are also…

As campaigners gathered at US military sites on 3 and 4 July to call for British “Independence from America”, others were digesting a Defence Select Committee report, released on 30 June, which called on the government to address - amongst other things - the independence of Britain's nuclear weapons programme, in any public debate on the replacement of Trident.

The fifty-page committee report is the result of the Defence Select Committee's inquiry, held earlier this year. The week of…

There was a mood of celebration - and also relief - on the well attended Critical Mass cycle ride in central London on 30 June, following a High Court ruling a few days earlier that a police attempt to declare the event “unlawful” should have “had the benefit of sounder legal advice”.
Participants in the Central London ride last September - when they met on the South Bank at 6pm on the last Friday of the month as usual - were handed letters by the police saying that the event was not…

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing Syed Aamir Raza once again. Aamir used to work for Nestle, the world's largest food company and the target of an international boycott because of its aggressive marketing of baby milk.

Aamir had been a Medical Delegate for Nestle in Pakistan, responsible for a circuit of 200 doctors to whom he presented company products. He was good at his job, congratulated for hitting sales targets and earning his bonuses. Then one day while he was visiting…