Aberystwyth Women in Black Photo: Keith Morris
From a Machynlleth production of the Vagina Monologues, via flash-mob dancing in Lampeter, Carmarthen, Swansea and Cardiff, to Women in Black’s silent vigil in Aberystwyth, Wales was very much part of One Billion Rising. Two women die by the hands of their partners every week in the UK, say Women’s Aid, with one incident of domestic violence reported to the police every minute.
No wonder Aberystwyth Women in Black’s silent vigil…
The vigil recalled when two million people spoke up — and those in power in Westminster turned a deaf ear.
At the Cardiff vigil, Jill Gough, national secretary of CND Cymru, said: ‘Wales was in uproar in the weeks leading up to that demonstration. The phone rang continuously…. It did feel as if the whole world was on the streets for peace on 15 February’.
Adam Johannes of Cardiff Stop the War remembered: ‘I will never forget the hope we all felt that…
Combe Haven Defenders, the Hastings anti-roads group trying to stop the building of the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (see PN 2554), have moved their focus from the actual site of the road-building (in East Sussex) to a demand for transparency from the department for transport (in London).
The DfT were forced by a freedom of information request to release their (unenthusiastic) recommendations on the Link Road, but the document was redacted, with sections blacked…
Gaza’s Ark is a new project to refurbish a boat in Gaza’s port, then fill it with Palestinian goods, and set sail to export them in defiance of the Israeli blockade.
David Heap, spokesperson for Gaza’s Ark in Canada and Europe, told Peace News in late February, that the project, run by Palestinians and international solidarity activists, aims ‘to continue to challenge the inhuman, immoral blockade and to stand with the people of Gaza very concretely in their…
The women were deceived into having long-term intimate relationships with undercover police officers who were infiltrating activist groups.
One of the women, who had a relationship with undercover officer Mark Kennedy, exposed by Nottingham activists in October 2010 (see PN 2528), told the house of commons home affairs select committee on 5 February: ‘We are talking about degrading and inhumane treatment. I think what happened to us has been akin to…
A petition by the parents of one of the activists gained 50,000 signatures online in its first week, and a call has gone out to shut down the annual EDF Talk Power Conference on 1 May.
Two chimneys at the West Burton gas-fired power station were occupied last October by 16 ‘No Dash for Gas’ campaigners to protest at the government’s plan to build up to 40 new gas-fired power stations (see PN 2552-2553).
On 20 February, 21 ‘No Dash for Gas’ activists…
London’s Freedom Bookshop was ‘seriously damaged’ by the fire (along with the building’s wiring), despite metal shutters that were fitted after attacks by fascists in 1993.
A wide range of organisations and individuals have offered support for (and donated books to) the anarchist bookshop, which was not insured.
Anarchist workers’ co-op Sabcat have produced a special 100% organic cotton Freedom Benefit T-shirt, featuring the 1970s masthead from Freedom,…
Our main interest was whether there was a knowledge gap between the generations who lived through the last phase of significant military conflict in the north of Ireland (the 1970s and 1980s) and those who came afterwards.
The result was: yes and no.
The one respondent under 25 (an 18-year-old) had no knowledge of the conflict at all (but sufficient cynicism to get a respectable 14 points out of a possible maximum of 35).
Much to our surprise, the next lowest-scoring…
Peace News author Ian Sinclair (far left) wove his magic in Peterborough on 26 February, talking to a goodly crowd of 23 (at the first public meeting held by the peace group for two years) about his new book about the 15 February 2003 anti-war demo: The march that shook Blair. Afterwards, Ian was interviewed by Peterborough Community Radio. Peace News Press launched the book on 15 February in Friends House, London, hosted by Quaker Peace and Social Witness, with a panel…
Stepping down from his role as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, general John Allen declared: ‘Afghan forces defending Afghan people, and enabling the government of this country to serve its citizens. This is victory, this is what winning looks like, and we should not shrink from using these words.’
However, fresh reports of atrocities by Afghans linked to US special forces – and moves by the Afghan government to rein in both – have thrown a stark…
On 1 January, several thousand kilos of food was delivered to the Chamne Babrak refugee camp in Kabul. £1,150 for the aid came from the PN Kabul winter appeal; Maya Evans raised over £2,000 on her speaking tour last year.
Another two hundred families have joined the Chamne Barak camp, fleeing rocket attacks by the Pakistani army in Nangahar province on the border.
‘Your generosity has made a huge difference to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in…
CND Cymru urges supporters and all who care about peace and justice in the world to put the date of the next Academi Heddwch Cymru/Wales Peace Institute conference in their diaries: 10am – 4.30pm, 23 March (Y Morlan, Aberystwyth).
Chaired by Mererid Hopwood and Stephen Thomas, speakers will include Jill Evans MEP, Dr. Robin Gwyndaf (vice-president of Cymdeithas y Cymod) and professor Jenny Pearce of the department of peace studies in Bradford University.
Over 1,500…
On 11 December 2012, as MPs in London prepared to debate British involvement in drone warfare, Wrexham Peace & Justice Forum (WPJF) held an information stall about drones – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hundreds of leaflets were handed out to passing shoppers, workers and Yale College students.
Two leaflets focused on Welsh concerns over drones, which are being developed and tested at Parc Aberporth. The airspace above 40,000 people living in 500 square miles of West Wales…
The crowd reportedly threw bottles of water and stones at the soldiers, who responded with live fire. According to Reuters, some shooting occurred after protestors set a military vehicle on fire, but it is not clear whether this happened after protestors had already been killed.
The killing (by US soldiers) of 15 unarmed demonstrators in Fallujah in April 2003 is believed by many commentators to have been the spark that started the armed Sunni insurgency against the US occupation…
On 14 January, a London group of Trident Ploughshares handed out hundreds of leaflets in Regent Street, London. The Muriel Lesters affinity group were informing passers-by of the nearby headquarters of the world’s largest arms manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. Lockheed has one-third ownership of Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment, the UK’s nuclear warhead factory, as well as a share of the Faslane Trident nuclear submarine base in Scotland, and the Coulport Trident nuclear warhead depot…
Manning, who was arrested after allegedly providing Wikileaks with classified US military information, has been confined for nearly 1,000 days awaiting trial for what could turn out to be a life sentence in military custody. He has been banned from providing evidence for all but a few of the motivations for his actions.
Lind also ruled that Manning could not put forward evidence to support his claim that the Wikileaks revelations had little or no impact on US national security.
…On 10 January, over 300 Palestinians set up camp in an Israeli-occupied area north-east of Jerusalem known as ‘E1’. The Israeli government recently authorised the expansion of a large Jewish settlement in E1, which will cut Palestinian East Jerusalem off from the West Bank and make a two-state solution impossible.
The purpose of the Bab al-Shams (‘gate of the sun’) occupation was to create ‘facts on the ground’ by founding a Palestinian settlement on privately-owned Palestinian…
On 19 December, four anti-nuclear power campaigners pleaded guilty to obstructing traffic at Hinkley Point in Somerset, in late November. Two days after their action, on 26 November, protestors blockaded the entrance to another planned nuclear power station site, Sizewell in Suffolk.
According to the department of energy and climate change, there are seven operational nuclear power plants throughout England, Wales, and Scotland, with at least eight ‘confirmed new sites’.
…
The protestors that day suffered ‘kettling’ (mass detention), charges by police horses and baton attacks. Alfie required emergency brain surgery after being struck by a police baton.
Like many others, Zak and Alfie were arrested and charged with serious public order offences. Some cases have resulted in prison sentences, including one of 12 months for a student for merely waving a placard stick. However, where students pleaded not guilty and described police brutality on the day,…
In mid-January, Daniel Hunter and Erika Thorne of the US ‘direct education’ group Training for Change led a powerful 10-day ‘training for trainers’ in Margate for 16 social action trainers and facilitators, including PN staff.
The event was organised by Quaker group Turning the Tide.
We’ll be publishing more about this workshop in a future issue.
