News
World Against War International Demonstration
Troops Out of Iraq and Afgnaistan
Don't Attack Iran
End the Seige of Gaza
DEMONSTRATE SAT 15 MARCH
ASSEMBLE 11.30 CHARING CROSS STATION
Assemble at 11.30am outside Charing Cross Station main enterance, Strand (just West of Trafelgar Square) for the World Against War Demonstration this Saturday 15th March which is assmbleing in Trafalgar Square itself at 12 noon.
Thousands defy ban to march on Parliament
The demonstration on Monday was a tremendous success and a big victory for our movement. It was attended by at least 5,000 people, a hugely impressive turnout for a weekday. Coaches came from far and wide and the number of students on the march was particularly impressive. Many colleges brought their biggest delegations since the Febuary 15 2003.
The size and spirit of the march reflected the deep public disgust at the government's continued support for Bush's wars. It also showed the determination of the movement. A feeder march of students from SOAS, Kings, LSE and Scotland were received with cheers as they approached the square, chanting ‘defy the ban, we will march’.
The police's attempt to ban the march, no doubt at the insistence of government ministers, served only to increase the turnout. The scale of the response and the tremendous public stand taken by Tony Benn, Walter Wolfgang, Brian Eno and others made it impossible for the police to stop us on the day. And so a disturbing assault on our civil liberties was overturned and the views of the anti war majority were delivered to parliament.
As usual, School Students Against War had one of the biggest contingents on the demonstration with 60 people. 30 of which came from a new group in Cambridge. This reflects school students anger over these wars and shows that we are still willing to take action as all of the school students had to take a day off school to attend the demonstration.
Click Here to see videos and images from the demonstration >>>
School Students Picket Kids Connections
School Students Against the War (SSAW) organised a picket yesterday (Thursday 2 August 2007) outside the offices of Kids Connections (114-118
Parkway, Camden Town, London NW1), an agency employed by the Ministry of
Defence to write 40 lesson plans for use in UK schools this September and
entitled the ‘Defence Dynamics Project’. These plans are a blatant
propaganda exercise aimed at justifying the invasion and occupation of
Iraq.
Included in their ‘Fact Sheet’ about Iraq is the following: “Over 150
healthcare facilities completed and many more are in progress. 20
hospitals rehabilitated. 750 nurses trained in maternal and child health
services. Immunisation programme re-started in 2003.”
The real facts are to be found in the report released this week by the NGO
Coordination Committee in Iraq (made up of 80 international NGO’s, 200
Iraqi NGO’s and supported by OXFAM) which states: “4 million Iraqis are
‘food-insecure’ and in dire need of humanitarian assistance. More than 2
million people are displaced inside Iraq and over 2 million have fled
abroad, the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. Child
malnutrition has risen from 19% before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28%
now. Of 180 hospitals countrywide – 90% lack key resources including basic
medical and surgical supplies.”
Twenty school students picketed the agency's head quarters and had a huge impact. Kids connections is now refusing to comment on the Defense Dynamics Project and is referring all enquires to the MOD. School Students Against the War planned to hand in a letter to Kids Connections (signed by SSAW, Tony Benn and Lindsey German) demanding that they cut their links with the MOD and terminate the Defence Dynamics Project immediately. On the day, Kids Connections refused to come and meet with the students and would not accept the letter despite them previously saying they welcome feedback.
This campaign is has been launched in conjunction with School Students Against the War's Military out of our schools campaign. Largely due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 10,000 soldiers leave the armed forces every year and the military is facing a recruitment crisis, with more people leaving than joining. For this reason, the military have stepped up their campaign to recruit in schools. School Students Against War have started a campaign to stop the military recruiting in our schools and will be organising actions around the country and working with school students, teachers, parents and trade unions.
Click Here to read The New Statesman article >>>
Click Here to read The UN Observer article >>>
Click Here to read the Socialist Worker article >>>
Click Here to read the Camden new Journal article >>>
Soldiers quitting overstretched armed forces, MPs warn
Press Association
Tuesday July 3, 2007
Disgruntled British soldiers are leaving the armed forces in droves - fed up with repeated tours on the front line, MPs warned today.
Staffing shortages have hit nearly 6,000, meaning that there are not enough servicemen and women to meet the demands placed on them by military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, an influential MPs' committee said.
Frequent overseas deployments, heavier workloads and the difficulty of combining service with family life were among the reasons why numbers leaving some parts of the armed forces early have reached a 10-year peak, warned the House of Commons public accounts committee.
More Than 5000 People March Outside Labour Leadership Conference
Blair has become one of the most hated political figures in history because of the terrible wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has been forced to resign early because of his huge unpopularity and the continued strength of the anti-war movement.
Gorden Brown, the person who has funded the illegal wars since the start, was crowned leader of the Labour party and Prime Minister yesterday in a special Labour leadership conference in Manchester where yet again the anti-war movement was out in force with more than 5000 people marching on the streets of Manchester representing 86% of the population in Britain.
They had 3 simple messages to the new Prime Minister:
- Get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan
- Don't attack Iran
- Break with US foreign policy
The petition, signed by thousands of people across the country, was handed in to the conference by the leaders of the Stop the War Coalition and Military Families Against The War. (
Click Here to Watch)
School Students Against War had a huge delegation of 70 school students with more joining along the march and had the largest and most lively contingent on the march.
This demonstration was a huge success and sent a warning to Gorden Brown that if he doesn't listen to our demands he will be forced out just as Blair was.
25 June 07
Troops Out of Our Schools Campaign Launched
On the 24 May London School Students Against War held their launch meeting for the Troops Out of our Schools - Troops Out of Iraq campaign. This was attended by 40 School Students representing 10 different schools from around London.
The campaign has been set up to stop the military recruiting from our schools which has been on the increase since the disaster of the Iraq war as has the number of serving men and women leaving the armed forces.
George Solomou, who spoke at the meeting, refused to continue serving when Britain invaded Iraq. He highlighted the reality of being a soldier: poor pay, bullying from commanding officers and "being trained to kill - the most unnatural thing a human can do to another human."
Chris Nineham from the Stop the War Coalition (pictured above), while outlining the tragic situation in Iraq and the success of the anti-war movement in contributing to Blair's downfall, stressed the importance of building bases
in our schools in order to create massive resistance to the military in schools.
The meeting was successful as there was a real sense of the students taking the campaign forward by building strong groups in their schools, petitioning their schools with signatures from the students, teachers, parents and trade unionists in their area and organising demonstrations when the armed forces come into their schools.
SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION HERE
Tony Blair goes this week...His wars continue
Tony Blair's resignation follows one of the bloodiest months for British and American troops since the illegal Iraq invasion four years ago. Thousands of Iraqi civilians continue to be killed every month.
The British electorate has consistently opposed Blair's war policies. His party's disastrous election results on May 5 showed the political consequences, with only 27% of voters supporting Labour. Blair's successor will become prime minister at the end of June. Whoever that is should be left in do doubt that the war in Iraq must end now
U.S. Walls Off Baghdad Neighborhood
21 MARCH 2007
In Baghdad this week, U.S. and Iraqi officials defended plans to build a barrier around a Sunni enclave, supposidly to protect its inhabitants from surrounding Shiite areas, while residents expressed concern it would isolate the community.
The U.S. military has said that the wall being built in Baghdad was meant to secure the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah, which "has been trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation."
The area, located on the eastern side of the Tigris River, would be completely gated, with entrances and exits manned by Iraqi soldiers, according to the military.
The wall will be 12 feet high, about 2 feet thick and topped with coils of barbed wire. The military earlier said it would run three miles.
Residents and local officials in the neighborhood complained that they had not been consulted in advance about the barrier, and many were skeptical of the further divisions it would cause.
"This will make the whole district a prison. This is collective punishment on the residents of Azamiyah," said Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a 41-year-old engineer who lives in the area. "They are going to punish all of us because of a few terrorists here and there."
"I don't think this wall will solve the city's serious security problems," Ahmed Abdul-Sattar, a 35-year-old government worker, told the Associated Press. "It will only increase the separation between our people, which has been made so much worse by the war."
