wpjf blog

Judith Sambrook refused to complete her census form in protest at the involvement of weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin in processing census data. She has been charged and will appear at Wrexham Magistrates Court on 11th November at 10.30am, which happens to be Remembrance Day. Judith, a single parent from Shrewsbury who is on dialysis three days a week, plans to continue her resistance by refusing to pay any fine imposed and is prepared to go to prison if necessary.

Read on for details of demo and vigil:

ASSEMBLE 10am OUTSIDE WREXHAM MAGISTRATES COURT on FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER.

- against war, weapons manufacturers and the arms trade, and against Lockheed Martin in particular
- in solidarity with Judith and all census refusers
- to condemn the criminalisation of conscientious census objectors

As this is also Remembrance Day, we will hold a silent vigil at 11am at the war memorial, which is just 50 yards from the court.

Please join us for the morning if you possibly can. Contact us if you need accommodation the night before.

LOCATION AND TRAVEL

Address: Bodhyfryd, Wrexham LL12 7BP.

Transport: 5 minutes walk from bus station, 10 minutes walk from either train station. Car parking right outside, access from Chester Street (swimming pool car park). Direct train services from Chester, Deeside and the Wirral, North Wales coast, Shrewsbury and Birmingham. Wrexham is 12 miles from Chester, 30 miles from Liverpool and 40 miles from Shrewsbury.

MORE ABOUT LOCKHEED MARTIN

Lockheed Martin manufactures F-16 fighter jets, as used by Israel to murder civilians in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead in 2009.
Amnesty on Lockheed Martin and Operation Cast Lead

Lockheed Martin developed and manufactured Britain’s Trident nuclear missiles and has a £5.3 billion contract with the UK government to design and build new and illegal weapons of mass destruction at Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Report of Trident Ploughshares action against Lockheed Martin (read the footnotes for a summary of Lockheed Martin’s Trident credentials)

Lockheed Martin has developed the ‘Aegis Combat System’. The US is pressurising South Korea to site Aegis-fitted destroyers at a planned naval base on Jeju Island, South Korea, a Unesco-designated ecological area, in a move which will fuel the arms race in the region and will be seen by China as extremely provocative. Local peace activists and others have been resisting this development for years, with many detained for occupying the proposed base.
Report | Save Jeju Island

Lockheed Martin also manufactures cluster bombs, sells arms to Bahrain and makes surveillance drones used by the UK in Afghanistan.

The Census connection: Report 1 | Report 2.

More on Lockheed Martin’s nefarious activities: Corporate Watch Report | Canadian take on the issues.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

or to arrange accommodation on the night of 10 November:

email: Wrexham Peace & Justice Forum.

By Tracey Jones

The dictionary defines peace as a state of freedom from war and civil disturbance, quiet, calm, free from anxiety, a state of harmony between people. Although the 20th Century Peace Movement began between the World Wars with the creation of the League of Nations, it was not until the 24th October 1945 that 51 States ratified the United Nations Charter with a view to putting an end to war. This was not limited to intervening in existing conflicts to secure peace, but proactive social developments and human rights in order to secure stability and lasting peace.

In 2000 the United Nations declared its intention to establish a Culture of Peace, compared to the prevalent Culture of Violence which is based on verbal abuse, impatience, aggression, intolerance, selfish ambition and indifference. Peacebuilding to establish a culture of peace, is about creating understanding and tolerance not just between individuals but groups, communities and nations, by creating new structures of co-operation. ’Peacebuilding creates and maintains beneficial conditions for sustainable (life enhancing) social, economic, political and spiritual development of all peoples.’[1]

Secretary General Kofi Annan in his Millennium Report called states to work together to eliminate the nuclear risk. He acknowledged that all states spent too much money on arms and that for some States this was the main part of their budget compared to other sectors such as education and food.[2] In the report he acknowledges there are a number of factors that had to be addressed in order to foster peace. There is great wealth in the World, but that it is unequally distributed, especially between Northern and Southern Countries. Poverty and illiteracy can cause resentment and misunderstanding leading to conflict between individuals and factions. The possession and exploitation of natural resources by a minority can also cause conflict and power struggles within a nation.

The UN currently estimates that 11.5 million people in parts of Africa are suffering from the food crisis. [3] Back in 2006 the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation cited political problems such as civil war, refugees and those returning to their home countries as more significant than drought in causing a food crisis.[4] The BBC points to several factors which have contributed to the lack of food, including a lack of investment in rural areas where food is produced. Politically these areas have little influence and therefore lack the power to encourage change. They also point to the history of Africa which has seen 186 coups and 26 major wars in the past 50 years, resulting in 16 million refugees. Farmers also need a climate of certainty and stability in which to grow their crops. Conflict can bring abuse and the further spread of HIV/Aids. As women form the basis of the agricultural labour if a family member becomes sick this can reduce the food production by 60%. The population of Africa, despite deaths from sickness and natural causes, has doubled from 1975 to 2005, resulting in further demands for food production.

Along with adequate food it is necessary to have clean drinking water. It is estimated 300 million people do not have access to clean drinking water and the World Health Organisation estimate that 80% of all sickness in the world is due to unsafe water and poor hygiene.[5] Global population growth is cancelling out many of the statistical improvements as a billion people gained improved sanitation from 1990 to 2002, but the population not covered only went down by 100 million. Inadequate water storage at home can also lead to diseases such as denge fever.

In 2010 one in every eight children died before the age of five. Immunisation has a large impact on child survival and prevents 2.5 million deaths per year. If the coverage and range of diseases covered were expanded it is estimated 2 million more could be saved.[6] Vaccines can help children stay healthier and so help families break out of the cycle of poverty, less sickness means less expensive medical care, thus allowing parents to spend more on food and education.

67 million children are out of school and 796 million adults are not able to read and write. Great strides have been made since 2006 to improve access to primary schools, but there is a wide gap between enrolment and completion, especially from children from poorer backgrounds.[7]

Food, water, health and education all promote the stability of a nation and create a basis for peace in our lifetime. The 21st is a day of reflection and hope that one day we will live in a state of freedom from war and civil disturbance. A place free from anxiety, quiet, calm, and in a state of harmony between people.

Notes

1. http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/peacebuilding_101.html
2. http://www.unac.org/peacecp/factsheet/role.html
3. http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/horn-of-africa-food-security-crisis-a-quick-round-up-of-facts-3084.html
4.http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4662232.stm (31/1/2006)
5. http://www.waterforafrica.org.uk/go/more-information/water-and-sanitation-facts/
6. http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/201010120982.html
7. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/

SUNDAY 20 MARCH 2011, 12.15pm

Vigil in Wrexham to remember the people of Japan and the people of Iraq, to show solidarity with accused whistle-blower Bradley Manning and to call for the Government to abandon plans for new nuclear power stations in Britain.

CND, Kick Nuclear, Friends of the Earth and others have called for vigils to be held on Sunday 20 March to remember the people in and around Fukushima who are now facing a nuclear emergency on top of the suffering already caused by the earthquake and tsunami, and to call for the government to abandon plans for new nuclear power stations in Britain.

The disaster that has befallen the nuclear installation at Fukushima could just as easily have happened at any water cooled nuclear power plant, irrespective of tsunami or earthquake. If the power system pumping the water fails for any reason, a nuclear disaster is going to follow.

Nuclear power only provides about 4% of our total energy needs in Britain and we are already spending many billions of pounds dealing with existing nuclear waste, for which there is no safe means of disposal. There is no reliable mechanism for ensuring that the plutonium produced by these plants doesn’t get diverted into military use. Nuclear power stations were only developed in the first instance to provide a source of plutonium for military use, with power generation merely a useful by-product. Each nuclear power plant is a disaster waiting to happen, wherever it is. We don’t need any more of them and call for existing plants to be decommissioned.

We invite anyone who wishes to express their sympathy and concern for the Japanese people at this difficult time and/or to urge our own government to think again about the wisdom of building a new generation of nuclear power stations to join us for a vigil on Sunday 20 March, at 12.15pm in Queens Square, Wrexham.

At the same time, we will be remembering the young US soldier with Welsh connections, Bradley Manning, who is being held by the US on suspicion of blowing the whistle on war crimes carried out in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables that expose the murky underworld of international relations. It is likely that recently leaked documents showing existing concerns about the safety of Japan’s nuclear power plants came from this batch of cables. Free Bradley Manning!

This weekend is also the eighth anniversary of the US and UK-led invasion of Iraq, which has led to so much bloodshed and suffering for the Iraqi people and for the servicemen killed, maimed or traumatised in the conflict, and their families. We remember them all. Depleted uranium, a by-product of the nuclear power industry, has been turned into weaponry which has poisoned Iraq forever. The Iraq war, Bradley Manning and nuclear disaster are all inextricably linked in the web of deceit and folly which characterises modern warfare.

VIGIL FOR BRADLEY MANNING

19-20 March is an international weekend of solidarity for Bradley Manning, a young US military intelligence analyst with dual British/US citizenship who spent some of his teenage years in Wales where his mother still lives. He has been held by the US for 10 months in tortuous conditions without trial, accused of leaking documents that reveal the truth about US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables that expose the murky underworld of international relations. It is likely that recently leaked documents showing concerns about the safety of Japan’s nuclear power plants came from this batch of leaked documents.

The most notorious footage from the leaks is the ‘Collateral Murder’ video of a US helicopter attack on unarmed civilians in Iraq. The attack killed about 12 men including two Reuters journalists and severely injured two young children who were in a van driven to the aid of one of the wounded. The attack was covered up by the US military until the footage released via WikiLeaks revealed exactly what had happened.

The soldiers who carried out this attack have not been arrested, charged or tried, while Bradley Manning has been held for nearly a year and is being tortured on suspicion of merely exposing these war crimes and others. Charges brought against him recently include one which could carry the death penalty. The message to others wanting to speak out against injustices they have seen is clear: Do so on peril of life imprisonment or death.

Exposing war crimes is not a crime. While campaigning for the Presidency, Barack Obama said (but now seems to have forgotten): ‘Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal.’ He has gone on to prosecute more whistleblowers than any other US president in history.

Join us in calling for charges to be dropped against Bradley Manning and for his immediate release. Please write a short message to Bradley. We will forward all messages to his supporters in the US to be passed on to him in jail. Solidarity with political prisoners is vital and we believe that Bradley Manning will be strengthened by knowing that people in Wales support him and are calling for his release. Alternatively, the address to write to him yourself is on the flyer below.

Free Film Screening in Wrexham
Originally uploaded by Vertigogen.

Come and find out about a campaign to stop arms manufacturers from carrying on their trade in death and destruction.

WMTS, 1 Salop Road, Wrexham.

Anti-racist, anti-fascist march and rally in Wrexham

Wrexham Trades Union Council organised an anti-racist, anti-fascist march and rally in Wrexham on Saturday 12 April as part of the Hope Not Hate fortnight.

This week four BNP community councillors were returned unopposed in the local elections in Wrexham county. With Gordon Brown saying things like ‘British jobs for British workers’, with the Daily Mail and most of the rest of the mainstream media promoting bigotry and hate, and with a draconian and punitive immigration policy which treats victims of torture and other asylum seekers as criminals and locks them up in detention centres under appalling conditions, the BNP is seeing more and more of its views ‘legitimised’ in the mainstream, to the point where it felt able to have an election stall in the middle of Wrexham.  After the event, a group of the marchers went back into town to counter-campaign.  Our ‘End Fascism Now’ banner was held up in front of the stall and hundreds of anti-BNP leaflets were given out to passers-by.

Hopefully, this will not be an isolated event, but will mark the start of an active anti-racist movement in Wrexham.

Cycling to Aldermaston for ‘The Bomb Stops Here’ CND Demo

It’s nearly a couple of years since I cycled from Parliament Square in central London to a demo at Aldermaston.  It turned out to be further than I’d anticipated, mainly because the map I’d very stupidly assumed was 4 miles to an inch was, in fact, 8 miles, so everything was twice as far as it looked.  That, combined with a relentless headwind which made the virtually level route feel like a steep hill all the way, and my cycling mate Karl’s borrowed bike, which proved to have only one usable gear and very poor brakes, made what should have been a pleasant summer’s ride into a waking nightmare.  After about eight hours we had completely exhausted our energy resources and resorted to sleeping in a field in bivi-bags about 6 miles from Aldermaston. This bit was not as bad as it sounds. After two nights under tarps in Parliament Square, with tubes rumbling under us and sirens wailing all night and being attacked by drunk revellers, sleeping in a peaceful field was pure bliss.  Day dawned dewless, clear and calm, but by the time we’d re-packed and cycled the last few miles, the demo was all but done. This time round I was determined not to make the same mistakes.

Read on… 

There was a demonstration outside the Shell garage on the A541 Mold Road in Wrexham on Saturday 23 Feb as part of the international ‘Hands Off Iraqi Oil’ day of solidarity action. Despite small numbers, we managed to make ourselves very visible thanks to the conveniently placed pedestrian crossing.

Members of Wrexham Peace & Justice Forum and Wrexham Women for Peace took part in a solidarity action in support of the people and oil workers of Iraq, who are fighting to keep Iraqi oil under national control in the face of pressure to accept a new ‘oil law’.  If this law is passed, it will allow foreign companies such as Shell, BP and Exxon to control Iraq’s oil production, guaranteeing massive profits for western oil companies and leaving Iraqi oil workers in poverty.

Protesters put up banners and placards at the Shell petrol station on Mold Road, Wrexham on Saturday and handed out leaflets.  The aim of the demonstration was to raise awareness of these issues and to show solidarity with the people of Iraq.

Genny Bove of WPJF and Wrexham Women for Peace said:

"We deplore the British government’s efforts to push this oil law through for the benefit of western oil interests and at the expense of the needs of the Iraqi people who have already suffered so much.  After years of sanctions which harmed ordinary Iraqis and led to the deaths of half a million Iraqi children, the British government supported the 2003 invasion which has led to up to a million more deaths. We cannot stand by now while Iraq’s most valuable economic resource is sold off.  The banners we displayed on Saturday - ‘Iraq for the Iraqis’ and ‘No Profit from War’ sum up our feelings."

From the Hands Off Iraqi Oil website -

STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE

For the Iraqi people, the ongoing war and occupation have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, relentless insecurity and crippling poverty. But for foreign oil companies, the desperate situation in Iraq is an opportunity to make massive profits at the expense of the Iraqi people.

In February 2007 the Iraqi cabinet approved an oil law which, if passed into law, would allow the likes of Shell, BP and Exxon to take over control of most of Iraq’s oil reserves, depriving ordinary Iraqis of scores of billions of dollars. Shell and BP, with the help of the UK Government have been actively pushing for this law and these contracts since 2003.

One year on, despite five US administration- and IMF- imposed deadlines, the law is still being contested at every level of Iraqi society. However, a 18th February deadline for international oil companies to register to compete for tenders to help develop Iraq’s oil  http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/26507) represents a first official foot in the door.

We need to keep the pressure up here in the UK and support the Iraqi people in their ongoing fight.

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions is at the forefront of grassroots campaigning against the privatisation of Iraq’s oil industry and has threatened strike action should the law go ahead. Oil experts, lawyers, academics, trade unionists, and students are rejecting the occupation-imposed oil law and the economic occupation it serves.

Who should decide the future of Iraq’s economy and resources? The people of Iraq, or Shell and BP? 

ANOTHER DEMONSTRATION AT HOOLE TOTAL PETROL STATION IN CHESTER

Wrexham Women for Peace and supporters returned to Hoole TOTAL petrol station in Chester on Saturday 26 January, to build support in Chester for the Boycott TOTAL campaign, which is calling for people to buy their petrol elsewhere until TOTAL stops supporting the violent and oppressive military regime in Burma.

With more people, banners and placards than last time and a beautifully sunny morning, most members of the group positioned themselves over the road and opposite the petrol station which is on a bit of a blind bend. From here, approaching motorists had plenty of time to take in the messages before they reached the garage; even better, we were in the warm sun. The rest of us handed out leaflets to passers-by on the other side of the road and to motorists on the garage forecourt. After we’d been asked several times by a very polite and embarrassed TOTAL employee to stay off the forecourt, a lone policeman turned up in a car, but didn’t even trouble to get out and put on his helmet to talk to us.

Our new ‘Beep 4 Burma’ banner had the desired effect, and soon the air was filled with the cheery, and occasionally startling, sound of tooting horns. Using the pedestrian crossing to, er, cross (and re-cross) with our banner also worked well.

Many motorists changed their minds and drove right on after indicating for the petrol station; others drove in and straight out; some filled up and vowed never to return; just a few refused to take the leaflets. This is a petrol station that regularly has queues for petrol on a Saturday morning. Trade for the morning was no more than a trickle, with the forecourt completely empty for long periods.

After the demo, one of the participants said: "By taking a stand I felt I could contribute to raising awareness of Total’s investment in Burma. It was so empowering to see an empty forecourt and and realise that the people of Chester were no longer willing to give their money to a company that funds the Burmese junta."

In a rare piece of direct action by the authorities - supporting our efforts to encourage people to buy their petrol elsewhere - all motor traffic is going to be diverted well away from Hoole TOTAL garage from next week while the railway bridge is being repaired, so we might need to find another local TOTAL petrol station to visit. Suggestions on a postcard, please.

Want to find out what’s going on in Wrexham for animals, people and the environment?

Get yerselves down to the Vic on February 9

Wrexham Veggies, along with a load of other campaigning groups in the Wrexham area, is holding an

• Find out about the benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets
• Sample our vegan refreshments
• Browse at stalls run by local groups working on: animal rights and animal sanctuaries; vegetarianism; peace and justice; alternative news; local campaigns; environmental issues
• Help yourself to anything you like from the free shop - shoplifters will NOT be prosecuted! - or bring along something you no longer need to donate to the shop
• See what’s going on; meet like-minded people; get involved!

If this event is successful, we plan to make it a regular thing.

So come along on the 9th - bring your friends and family - tell everyone you know.

More information from Wrexham Veggies: info@wrexhamveg.org Tel: 07904 375178

Website: www.wrexhamveg.org