The biennial Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEi), one of the largest arms fairs in the world, has once again been met with protests in East London, where it has been held since 1999.
The recently announced decision by publishing company Reed Elsevier to pull out of organising the event has rightly given anti-arms trade activists cause to celebrate. But judging by the unusually low turnout at this year's “Day of Action Against DSEi” on 11 September, it would seem…
In a ruling that surprised and thrilled defendants and supporters, after a day-long trial on 14 September, a Horseferry Road magistrate dismissed charges against five protesters under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) arising from the 2006 “No More Fallujahs” Parliament Square peace camp (see PN 2480-81).
The charges against Genny Bove, Rob Clohensy, Steve Barnes and Brian Barlow were not supported by the evidence, the magistrate found. David King's charges were…
In February, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Western Islands Council) approved plans for a giant “wind factory” with 181 super-size 140meter-high turbines on the north west of the Isle of Lewis.
With another planned 57 turbines on the island, this would mean a 40-mile stretch of wind turbines across the island, making it the largest wind farm in Europe.
The top-left-hand corner of the British Isles might seem like an ideal spot in which to tuck away such a wind farm. But for…
On 22 September, from noon till midnight, the Galeri in Caernarfon hosts Gwyl Heddwch Cymr (the All Wales Peace Festival).
Nick Wheeler of the University of Wales Aberystwyth speaks on “Building Trust Between Enemies in a Nuclear Age”, Jo Berry and Patrick Magee talk about their own journey of reconciliation after the 1984 Brighton bombing, and Mabon ap Gwynfor address peace activism in Wales.
There are workshops on climate change, human trafficking, mediation, nuclear…
This National Eisteddfod of Wales took place in Flintshire from 4 to 11 August. As usual, among the hundreds of stands was Pabell Heddwch - the Peace Tent.
Inside were displays, information, petitions and workshops from CND Cymru, the Welsh Centre for International Affairs and others.
Cymdeithas y Cymod, the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales, launched its new website www.cymdeithasycymod.org.uk.
Hiroshima Day, which…
On 8 June two women from mid- Wales were arrested at a cocktail party. Drunk and disorderly? How very dare you!
The party was to celebrate 22 years of the Women's Peace Camp at the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment.
The MoD are, however, evidently not happy about the attention the peace camp and its sister campaign Block the Builders have focused on the nuclear weapons factory. Recent actions called for an end to expansion of the base in preparation for Trident…
On 26 July, Shambo, a temple bull from Skanda Vale Hindu community near Carmarthen, was taken for slaughter by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), after testing positive for tuberculosis.
Sanjay Mistry from the Hindu Forum of Britain explains that the case was not a clash between western scientific and eastern mystical worlds.
The slaughter of Shambo high- lights a number of ethical dilemmas around nonviolence, veganism and animal rights as…
On 25 July, 12 people from Japan joined around 100 others to take part in the ongoing Faslane 365 Blockade.
Ten of the Japanese were arrested, including Masahiko Moriguchi, who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki when he was seven.
Masahiko said, “As one who experienced the A-bomb, I wanted to see this nuclear base with my own eyes and personally take part in this action to halt the nuclear weapons.”
On 5 August, five protestors were arrested for obstructing a…
An opinion poll released in August found that Iraqis oppose plans to open the country's oil fields to foreign investment - by a factor of two to one.
The poll, conducted by US- based Custom Strategic Research, found that there are no ethnic, sectarian or geographical groups that prefer foreign companies.
Oil democracyThe poll also found that most Iraqis feel kept in the dark about future oil plans. Only 4% of respondents felt the information they'd been given about the oil…
Gordon Brown is succeeding with his first great spin campaign, appearing to distance himself from the aggressive policies of his predecessor while at the same time escalating his two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
YouGov found in early August that 73% of respondents think the new prime minister is not as close to US president George W. Bush as Tony Blair was, and 57% think Brown has got the relationship with the US “about right”.
At the same time, according to the Sunday…
There was a lot of good news to do with the Climate Camp, including the fact that BAA tried to get an injunction which could have applied to five million people anywhere near Heathrow, and instead got an order against three individuals - who were legally entitled to go to Climate Camp because it was outside the area described in the order!
On 5 August, 26 detainees escaped from Campsfield detention centre near Oxford. (At the time of going to press, 10 have still not been captured.) It…On 14 August, Marcus Armstrong, a 46-year-old anti-war protester who entered the cockpit of a US Air Force plane at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, a year ago was imprisoned for 28 days for “entering a restricted zone” and “trespassing” in a military aircraft.
Weapons inspectorsMarcus entered Prestwick with seven other Trident Ploughshares “weapons inspectors” to investigate claims that the airport was being used to refuel US aircraft supplying arms for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon…
Braving adverse weather conditions, more than 370 Christians gathered in Swanwick, Derbyshire for the annual National Network of Justice and Peace conference, “Called to be Peacemakers - Who Me?”
For the first time the conference was organised ecumenically in partnership with the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Pax Christi.
Young and old, newcomers and seasoned conference goers took part in a full programme that offered stimulating talks, workshops on peacemaking, liturgy…
September will see the DSEi arms fair return to London in a year that has seen political and commercial support falling away from the UK arms trade.
DSEi's current owners Reed Elsevier - best known as publishers - announced in June that they would sell their arms fairs by the end of 2007.
The news followed a campaign co-ordinated by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) which included Reed's own writers and shareholders. Commentators have now predicted a reduction in…
Anti-arms trade campaigners are celebrating a historic victory following the prime minister's announcement that he will close the infamous Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO), a unit of the Ministry of Defence that promotes sales for private arms companies.
DESO has long been seen as a channel through which arms dealers exercise excessive influence over government.
The news follows decades of activism against DESO, with a particularly high-profile campaign in the last…
Until the May elections, the existence of a presence in the Scottish parliament of both a united left party and the greens (with six and four seats respectively) had been presented by commentators as evidence of a deep-rooted rad icalism amongst significant sections of the Scottish populace.
Whilst a particularly nasty split in the Scottish Socialist Party contributed to the loss of all their seats in May 2007, and, quite separately, the Green Party's representation halved, the…
The Welsh International Sector Network, which works for peace, justice and global citizenship, funded 8 people to attend the anti-G8 demonstrations in Germany. WISeN Coordinator James Maiden ponders his experience:
“Some of the people we funded helped Oxfam International pull off a successful media stunt. This involved the now famous `Big Heads' - fantastic caricatures of the G8. At a specially constructed card table the Big Heads played with a campaigner from Ghana. “The message was…
At 25, Bethan Jenkins may be our youngest Assembly Member but she is a seasoned peace and justice activist. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, her activism began when she joined with her parents in the anti apartheid movement.
At university in Aberystwyth, Bethan was elected President of the Guild of Students and was energetic in the network of “town and gown” groups opposing the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Committed to citizen activism and sceptical of party politics, she was so…
There have been several cases recently under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) mostly connected with last October's “No More Fallujahs” Parliament Square peace camp.
On 18 May, Milan Rai and I were convicted in the same trial of both organising and participating in unauthorised demonstrations near Parliament. We were fined #100 each, with no court costs. Ten other defendants from “No More Fallujahs” went to court on 23 May, just for “participating in an unauthorised…
On 26 June, riots broke out in Tehran after the government announced petrol rationing. Iran does not have the refineries to produce its own petrol, and is facing a major financial crisis as domestic energy demand starts to overtake growth in oil production. Meanwhile negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme drag on.
