[JNV] Information & Events

[JNV]

Dear All

The following email has information regarding

1) Milan Rai's adventures in North America as part of his Trans Atlantic book tour
2) A reminder to renew your passport before October
3) A night of conscience 28 June
4) Independence from America Party 4 July
5) Aldermaston women's peace camp and Block the Builders 8-10 July
6) NO MORE FALLUJAHS 28-29 Oct

Hope you find it interesting and useful

Best wishes
Maya Evans
JNV

***

1) Milan Rai is currently touring North America promoting his book and taking part in peace conferences.
He firstly joined a ZNet session on Vision and Strategy (ZSVS), and is now speaking from coast to coast in a tour organised by Voices for Creative Non-violence. He is also a participant in the World Peace Forum in Vancouver. He has been blogging his tour on UKWatch, the British equivalent of ZNet.

See <http://ukwatch.net:3000/articles/category/milan-rai>

Excerpt from a blog:

"This morning I departed from Portland, after attending the only Bible Study class I've ever been to in my adult life.
The community starts with a meeting at 7.20, which I was encouraged not to attend, and then Bible Study together, reading a couple of paragraphs and talking about them.
I came in from walking around the garden and was invited to join in. I listened as they read about Paul raising the dead and healing the paralyzed.
Folk talked about lost lives they had known of, and the puzzle of whether it would be right to pray always for people to be returned to life. The anger one person had felt at a priest praying over a dead baby for it to be returned to life.
Lots of complicated issues, and probably the final word for everyone was what someone said: the mystery of faith.
Then there was a reading from a new document from Michael Lerner's Spiritual Progressives. Which neatly sidestepped what to do about abortion.
Then Kelly Campbell and Barry Amundson of Peaceful Tomorrows showed up and took me to the train station and I shared the three hour journey to Seattle with Kelly and a fellow Peaceful Tomorrows person Andrea LeBlanc.
We had a very rich conversation over a whole host of questions and issues and experiences, and then in the last 30 seconds as we pulled into Seattle station Andrea asked me to tell her all that was in my book (about the London bombings).
'You waited the whole three hours to ask me in the final 30 seconds!' "


2) NO2ID is urging everyone to renew their passports before October to avoid extensive DNA material being put on record as preparation for the ID scheme.
ALL first-time passport applicants will have background checks and be interviewed by officials at one of the government's 69 new 'enrolment centres'? This will include your children as they reach 16. Before long it will include you too, when you renew your passport. And you will be fingerprinted as well.
Pay £51 for a 10-year passport while you can. The charge for ID registration and a record for life will be at least £93. 

The website www.renewforfreedom.org explains in more detail. There's a fact-sheet there that you can download and pass on to others.

See <http://www.no2id.net/> for info on the campaign and reasons to oppose ID cards

Also see JNV briefing <http://www.j-n-v.org/AW_briefings/JNV_briefing060.htm> on why ID cards will not stop terrorism.


3) A Night of Conscience Wed 28 June 7.30pm LONDON

 Malcolm Kendall-Smith, the British RAF office is in prison because he refused to return to Iraq on the grounds that it is an illegal war, see <http://tinyurl.com/mtdje>

On Wednesday 28 June, you can join many well-known contributors from
Film, stage, television and politics at a London benefit to express
Solidarity with Malcolm Kendall-Smith and to raise funds to help pay his
£20,000 legal costs.

Among those appearing are Comedians Mark Thomas and Mark Steel, composer
Michael Nyman, actress Janet Suzman, film director Ken Loach,
playwrights Caryl Churchill and David Edgar, musician Ed Harcourt and
fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

Introduced by Tony Benn at the St James Church 197 Piccadilly W1J 9LL
Tickets are £15. Full details and online booking are available on the
Stop the War website, here: http://tinyurl.com/z5vsx. If you want to
book by debit/credit card phone 020 7278 6694. To book by post send a
cheque made payable to 'Stop the War Coalition' to Stop the War
Coalition, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP Donations also welcomed


4) Independence from America Party 4 July FELTWELL

Gather outside US space communication base Feltwell (near USAF Lakenheath) at 6pm. Peacemakers' Ball, cabaret and fireworks c/o the Pentagon at 10pm (directions: turn left off 1065 onto B1112, past Lakenheath village and the back of base, then look for domes). Contact Mell on 01986 892723. 

*Under the new Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 such a gather will be considered illegal.

5) Aldermaston Women's peace camp and Block the Builders  8-10 July NEWBURY

Aldermaston Women's Peace Camp  Sat 8th -Mon 10th July
Established in 1985, the camp remains a symbol of resistance to nuclear madness - and British-manufactured weapons of mass destruction in particular. 
Since summer 2002, AWPC has become concerned that the British government is taking measures to put in place the facilities to build a new generation of nuclear weapons - a replacement for the current submarine-based Trident system.
See <http://www.aldermaston.net/campaigns/index.php> for more info or contact: info@aldermaston.net; ring 07969 739 812 

Block the Builders  Mon 10 July
For general, mixed blockading, please meet up on Sunday evening, 9 July, at 6pm at the Friends Meeting House in Newbury (map: http://tinyurl.com/beuyo) for a planning meeting on the action on Monday morning, and a meal. Please bring a sleeping bag and a mat. If anyone needs a proper bed for the night, this can be arranged for a small fee (£12-15). Please get in touch. There will be some collective transport from London, organised by London Region CND (call 0207 6072302). 

 
5) NO MORE FALLUJAHS Sat 28th-Sun 29th Oct  LONDON 
Weekend of nonviolent resistance to the occupation of Iraq on the 2nd anniversary of the Nov 04 US/UK massacre in Fallujah. Events include: 

Sat 28th Oct
Peace journey from the UK's military nerve centre in Northwood (nearest tube Northwood) 

Sun 29th Oct
An "unauthorised" 24 peace camp in Parliament Square to demand an end to the occupation on 29 Oct (meet 12 noon, Parliament Square). The camp will begin Maya Evans and Milan Rai reading the names of 100 Iraqis who have died as a result of the occupation - one year after their arrest for doing this in Oct 05. 

Please note: under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act participation in such an "unauthorised" demonstration is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £1000. 

Accommodation will be available on request on the evenings of 27 and 28 Oct. Org. by the Mass Action Group and supported by Iraq Occupation Focus, JNV and Voices UK. Contact 0845 458 2564 or e-mail voices@voicesuk.org. For more info see www.rememberfallujah.org.