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By Linn Washington, Jr.
London -– Hearing hard-core Republicans applaud the use of the death penalty during a recent televised forum for GOP presidential candidates incensed Sara Callaway, an African-American living in London for the past 25-years.
“It was like a declaration of war against all of us committed to justice,” said Callaway, one of over two hundred people who gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in London’s upscale Mayfair section for a silent, candle-lit vigil protesting the execution of U.S. death row inmate Troy Davis.
STOP THE WAR COALITION Newsletter No.1219 20 September 2011 Email office@stopwar.org.uk Tel: 020 7801 2768 Web: http://stopwar.org.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition IN THIS NEWSLETTER: 1) TWEETS NOT WAR: LEARNING FROM THE ARAB SPRING 2) 10,000 WATCH COST OF WAR FILM: ARE YOU ONE OF THEM? 3) PLEDGES FOR 8 OCTOBER POURING IN 4) ANDREW MURRAY STANDING DOWN AS StWC CHAIR ************************************* 1) TWEETS NOT WAR: LEARNING FROM THE ARAB SPRING
By Ron Ridenour
It was with joy that I watched television coverage of election day, September 15. According to all the nine political parties running, and the mass media, there were no wars in the world and Denmark no longer was involved in three wars—Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya--alongside the USA.
In fact, all through the three-week long election campaign, none of the parties spoke of war, or of that most fundamental of moral questions a society must ask: do we kill other people who do not attack us?
STOP THE WAR COALITION
Newsletter No.1217
6 September 2011
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) 9/11 ANNIVERSARY: STATEMENT BY STOP THE WAR COALITION
2) TONY BENN: WHY I'LL BE IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE ON 8 OCTOBER
3) LIBYA, NATO AND THE ARAB SPRING: PUBLIC MEETING
4) BREAKING THE SILENCE AGAINST 10 YEARS OF WAR
5) LONDON ACTIVISTS MEETING: 8 SEPTEMBER
6) EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON AUSTERITY AND CUTS: 1 OCTOBER
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STOP THE WAR COALITION
Newsletter No.1216
19 August 2011
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) MESSAGE FROM AFGHANISTAN: END THE WAR NOW
2) THE UK RIOTS AND UNJUSTIFIED WARS
3) WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW: PLEASE DONATE
4) THE REMARKABLE HETTY BOWER
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1) MESSAGE FROM AFGHANISTAN: END THE WAR NOW
The attack on British Council office in Kabul has forced to the
The overarching challenge in the world today is: how do we advance the institutions and practices capable of enacting a desirable quality of life for a burgeoning global population of 6.5 billion people? And how do we accomplish that in a way that does not burn up the planet in a Venus atmosphere of our own creation? That is a tall order to fill, yet it is the defining task of the 21st century.
RootsAction is calling for a bold jobs plan to address poverty.
Three Days Before Wall Went Up, CIA Expected East Germany Would Take "Harsher Measures" to Solve Refugee Crisis
Disturbed By Lack of Warning, JFK Asked Intelligence Advisers to Review CIA Performance
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 354
STOP THE WAR COALITION
Newsletter No.1215
12 August 2011
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) WHAT LINKS THE UK RIOTS TO THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN?
2) HUGE RISE IN WAR DEATHS IN AFGHANISTAN AND LIBYA
3) BIGGEST TRADE UNIONS PLEDGE TO JOIN ANTIWAR ASSEMBLY
4) WRITE TO MICHAEL LYONS JAILED FOR SAYING NO TO WAR
5) LOCAL DAY OF ANTI-WAR ACTION: 20 AUGUST
6) UPCOMING NATIONAL EVENTS
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1) WHAT LINKS THE UK RIOTS TO THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN?
It in no way justifies or excuses the rioting witnessed in London
this week to say that some forms of thuggery, theft and
criminality seem more worthy of condemnation than others.
It's hard to imagine that David Cameron would condemn the
devastation and mass slaughter visited on Afghanistan and Iraq
over the past decade -- or the bombing of Libya -- as "sickening
violence".
Many of the same MPs who voted along with the majority in
Parliament for the war that reduced much of Iraq to ruins and
killed a million Iraqis, take to the moral high ground when
alienated youths from our ghettoes of deprivation commit their
mini-version of "shock and awe".
By Linn Washington Jr.
Tony Blair is to face scathing criticism from the official inquiry into the Iraq War for the role he played in leading Britain into one of its biggest foreign policy fiascos in modern history.
The Mail on Sunday has been told that the former Prime Minister will be held to account on four main failings:
The damning verdict of the Chilcot Inquiry comes eight years after Tony Blair went to war against Saddam Hussein with George Bush
Well-placed sources say the reputations of Mr Blair and key allies will suffer major damage when the report by Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq War inquiry is published this autumn.
Mr Blair, former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and ex-Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell are all expected to be criticised.
All those taken to task by Chilcot’s five-strong panel of experts will receive notice in the next few weeks of the inquiry’s conclusions.
STOP THE WAR COALITION Newsletter No.1214 28 July 2011 Email office@stopwar.org.uk Tel: 020 7801 2768 Web: http://stopwar.org.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition IN THIS NEWSLETTER: 1) REASONS TO SIGN THE ANTIWAR ASSEMBLY PLEDGE 2) LIBYA: ANOTHER FAILING WAR 3) AFTER THE NORWAY ATROCITY, WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP 4) BILLY BRAGG'S SONGS OF THE WEEK ******************************** 1) REASONS TO SIGN THE ANTIWAR ASSEMBLY PLEDGE Singer and political activist Billy Bragg, Lillian Lyons, wife of Michael Lyons, the soldier who is currently in prison for
The murder spree in Norway was apparently the work of a Norwegian, not a group of foreigners, and for various other reasons the comparison is not exact. Nonetheless, it's tempting to wonder how many people would still be alive today if George W. Bush or Rudy Giuliani had spoken after the 9-11 attacks as Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg just did.
You'll recall that Bush immediately spoke of a "war against terrorism," claimed to have been attacked for being a beacon of freedom, announced that we were all filled with anger, and decreed that we would make no distinction between terrorists and "those who harbored them." "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" he promised.
Now take a 60-second tour of an alternative universe by substituting "the United States" for "Norway" in Stoltenberg's remarks:
Just like they do with the McVeigh's and the Austin pilot types, they'll turn this criminal terrorist into a hero and he knows that!
Reason he didn't kill himself and surrendered with no fight as he used the destructive bombing, to divert police resources and forces knowing the country was on holiday and on friday workers leave early, as the diversion to his main goal the slaughter of innocent youngsters!
Amid all the hype of the Murdoch saga, it is fascinating to see how the mighty rise and fall.
All eyes have been drawn to the shaming of the billionaire media mogul and the craven way in which leading politicians have seamlessly switched from fawning over Rupert Murdoch one moment and then attacking him for his newspapers' appalling methods of investigation the next.
But while it can be delectable to revel in schadenfreude, let's just remember a few things.
What was it about the relationship with Murdoch that made Tony Blair feel it was appropriate to take a phone call from a newspaper proprietor just hours prior to the most momentous decision a prime minister can make: ordering the country's armed forces to war?
When Rupert Murdoch appears before the parliamentary committee on 19 July 2011, here are ten questions the MPs certainly will not ask about the relationhip he had with Tony Blair during the run up to the Iraq war, when Murdoch was, in the words of Blair's former press officer Lance Price, "the third most powerful figure in the Labour government", after Blair himself and Gordon Brown.
The French boat "Dignité/Karama" (Dignity) left the Greek island Kastellorizo around 8:30PM local time on Saturday July 16, 2011, heading south. The ten passengers onboard view themselves as representatives of the whole Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human. The rest of the Flotilla's ships have been detained in different Greek ports, through bureaucratic obstruction, sabotage, sudden restrictions and withdrawals of flags.
The Dignité, sailing under a French flag, left Corsica on June 25th, and has, over the past weeks, been in Greek waters. It has now left- so far without being followed by the Greek coast guard or Navy.
By David Marty
On May 15th, thousands of people answered a call to "take the streets" against neoliberal economic measures that were being implemented in Spain in the aftermath of the financial crisis. To everyone's surprise, including organizers and participants[i], 125,000 people "took the streets" filling popular city squares across Spain. In a matter of days, the "indignant" – as they came to be known - went from making a point to making a camp, and from running the camp to working towards a revolution.
Four weeks later, on June 19th, a second march gathered over 250,000 people, once again exceeding all expectations and, more importantly, doubling the attendance of the first action. An impressive figure, indeed. However, by that time, 15-M was no longer just the date of a protest, but also the name of a very organized movement with immediate demands as well as long-term political ambitions. The movement now has its own institutions, its own proposals and its own history. It even has its own newspaper, its own artwork and even a 4-sign language. This is a movement that frightens a select few because it creates hope for many.
By Ann Wright
This morning at 10am, the shore electricity was cut off to the Audacity of Hope, the US Boat to Gaza , that has been impounded at the US Embassy/Greek Coast Guard dock, near Piraeus, Greece, just outside of Athens.
Its over 100 degrees and a Russian grain ship loading grain is spewing grain and dust over the entire.area-it is miserable! Six women that are staying onboard to protect the boat' four are over 60 years old.
The Greek Coast Guard is probably caught in the middle--they are probably ready to release us, but the political part of the government wants to keep us in port to suck up to the Israeli government even more!.
Call the Greek Embassy in Washington and .the Greek consulates around the Country and the State Department-Kim Richter Write a text message 202-647-8308
Embassy of Greece
2217 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20008
Tel. 202.939.1300
Fax. 202.939.1324
Office Hours:
Consulate General - New York
69 East 79th Street
STOP THE WAR COALITION
Newsletter No.1212
8 July 2011
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) SIGN THE PLEDGE FOR THE ANTIWAR MASS ASSEMBLY
2) RUPERT MURDOCH: GOTCHA!
3) PROTEST AGAINST THE BOMBING OF LIBYA
4) PUBLIC MEETING IN PARLIAMENT WITH TARIQ ALI
5) SUPPORT OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY APPEAL
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1) SIGN THE PLEDGE FOR THE ANTI-WAR MASS ASSEMBLY
A special website has been set up for pledges to be in Trafalgar
Square at a mass anti-war assembly on Saturday 8 October, the
tenth anniversary of the war in Afghanistan and the 'war on
terror', and -- not coincidentally -- the foundation of Stop the
War Coalition. (http://www.antiwarassembly.org)
Join John Pilger, Tony Benn, Ahdaf Soueif, Brian Eno, Caroline
STOP THE WAR COALITION
Newsletter No.1211
29 June 2011
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stopthewarcoalition
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) WHY STOP THE WAR IS JOINING THE PENSION PROTESTS
2) COALITION OF RESISTANCE CONFERENCE 9 JULY
3) PLEDGE TO BE IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE ON 8 OCTOBER
4) JIMMY CLIFF SINGS STOP THE WAR AT GLASTONBURY
5) STOP THE WAR DOCUMENTARY FILM: HAVE YOU FOOTAGE?
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1) WHY STOP THE WAR IS JOINING THE PENSION PROTESTS
Tomorrow hundreds of thousands of civil servants, teachers and
lecturers will be striking and demonstrating against attacks on
their pensions.
This action is part of the growing campaign against the
government's austerity programme which is being imposed at a time
when the government is increasing its expenditure on wars in
Afghanistan and Libya.
By Karen Malpede
Theater Three Collaborative, meaning me and my partner, George Bartenieff, who stars as Handel, the mogul who profiteers off our wars, in my new play, received a grant from Theater Communications Group to attend the New Plays and Theater Forms conference in Pristina, Kosovo. We had the good fortune of being able to arrive three days before the conference began so that we could work for a full week with five Kosovar actors and George on a workshop of "Another Life" which will be presented in New York, Sept. 8, 10 and 11 as part of the Art of Justice: 9/11 Performance Series at John Jay College. What follows are notes about our week in Kosovo, and a subsequent 5-day holiday in Istanbul.
Kosovo: Driving in from the airport, we pass a large golden statue of a giant Bill Clinton, his huge right hand raised in a sort of victory salute. Remember, Clinton’s bombing of Serbia in 1999, at the end of the Balkan wars is the reason this tiny country exists. Hence, here, America is loved. The Kosovar Albanians were the red Indians of the former-Yugoslavia, forbidden to speak Albanian, prejudiced against, and, finally, before the bombing began, were being ethnically cleaned. Today, Kosovo is a U.N. protectorate with a parliament that governs and an economy, the use the Euro, that is being fostered and fed by foreign investment.
The unemployment rate is 40%, mainly among the elderly; men sit on the side of the road selling what they have, knock-offs of this and that or hand carved rakes, wooden spoons, also fancy cradles. There is a food and hardware market. A hundred stores sell cheap yet fancy wedding gowns. There is in general a macho atmosphere on the streets. Though educated women are out and about and working. The government is corrupt and run on cronyism, although I can’t tell you who is in and who is out.
In contrast to the elderly, the young and intelligent appear to be thriving. The city is pretty and climbs several hills with older houses, the beautiful gardens of flowers and vegetables, cherry and other fruit trees. Just outside of town new suburbs, on flat, undeveloped land are springing up—big cement block houses; some starkly modern, others of more traditional design.
Our host, Jeton Neziraj, a playwright, lives here in a new suburb in a new home of the most modern design; he also runs the National Theater. His current play in rehearsal has been co-written with a Serbian woman from Belgrade and tells the stories of the two sides in the war. It is being performed in Belgrade this month. Another play, "The Demolition of the Eiffel Tower" will be staged this fall by the prestigious Mess Festival in Sarajevo, Bosnia, but before that the same Bosnian production will open in New York alongside my play "Another Life" at the 9/11 Performance Series. Jeton is the person who cast my play with English-speaking Kosovar actors for our week-long workshop.
Jeton is committed to engaging in dialoging with Serbian writers and theater-makers. He is co-editor of two anthologies : From Kosovo with Love and From Serbia with Love, containing writings from both countries.
A few Serbian artists were at the conference including a talented woman also in her thirties or early forties who took refuge in the Netherlands but who also works in Serbia. She could not go direct by bus from Kosovo to Serbia as at the boarder she would have been refused entrance from the "non-existent country" and so had to travel 10 hours through Macedonia to enter Serbia from a recognized state. In Kosovo, the question seems to be: shall we merge with Albania or stick it out alone. Debate on both sides. In general, and with limited knowledge, I think the Kosovar Albanians benefited mightily by former-Yugoslav former-cosmopolitanism, though I realize they were also mightily persecuted.
By Medea Benjamin
The 50 passengers and crew on the U.S. boat to Gaza have converged in Athens, Greece, ready to head out to sea to join an international fleet of ships that will challenge the Israeli-imposed naval blockade of Gaza. But on Thursday, June 23, when the boat was scheduled to leave its port outside Athens and move closer to an international meeting point, the boat’s owner was suddenly served with a complaint by an unknown individual that the boat was not seaworthy. The captain, convinced that the complaint was bogus, was nevertheless told by Greek authorities that he could not set sail until they did a thorough inspection.
By George Galloway
Morning Star via Stop The War Coalition
Stop the War Coalition demonstration: London, October 2009
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, --
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
Wilfred Owen
Anthem For Doomed Youth
