From info at j-n-v.org Mon Jul 30 08:28:39 2007 From: info at j-n-v.org (Justice Not Vengeance) Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:28:39 +0100 Subject: [JNV] Urgent Appeal for Children Against War Message-ID: Children Against War activist trip to Jordan to help Iraqi child refugees speak out for peace An appeal for support 1) Sonia's appeal 2) How to help 3) Sonia's article in Peace News (July-August) 4) Kathy Kelly's article from Jordan (24 July) ***** Dear friends For the past five years we have been privileged to support and assist an extraordinary young peace activist by the name of Sonia, who formed Children Against The War at the age of 7. Two of us, as editors of Peace News, feel very fortunate to have Sonia as the editor of the PN Youth Page. Yesterday Justice Not Vengeance and Voices in the Wilderness UK received the following appeal from Sonia, who is now 12, asking for our support for another Children Against The War initiative, which we think is very exciting. Please read Sonia's appeal, and read on to discover how you can support her. (We are trying to raise 807 pounds.) Please do also forward this appeal to whoever you think might be inspired by Sonia's example. Best wishes Maya Anne Evans Emily Johns Milan Rai Justice Not Vengeance ***** 1) SONIA'S APPEAL My name is Sonia, I am 12 years old. At the age of 7 I founded Children Against the War; I have organised many demos and vigils regarding the war in Iraq and especially how it was destroying my generations lives. I have written to Mr Blair and Mr Bush many times. I have organised candle light vigils on my birthday and other days to remember children who are suffering and those who have been killed because of the war in Iraq. When I was ten, I was invited to go to New York. I spoke at the demonstration at Colombia University. I interviewed the students and a proffesor who attended, the demonstration was about ending the occupation. I was also invited by War Resisters League as a main guest speaker at a one day workshop called Peace Training for Kids. During this trip, I made a film called Speaking Out for Peace in New York, which included interviews. At the moment I am campaigning for the Iraqi children living in Jordan, and neighbouring Countries as refugees.I have written and delivered a speech about this, it has been published in Peace News [see below]. I would like to go to Jordan, to make a documentary - giving voice to Iraqi children, I feel very strongly that Iraqi children should be allowed to speak out. I feel Iraqi children have a right to tell children of Great Britian and United States what's happening to them. My Family funded for my trip to New York and to make a film about Speaking for Peace. They can't afford to fund me to go to Jordan. I feel this is a very important project. I am appealing for your help, could you please donate money towards my project. Thank you! Sonia ***** 2) HOW TO HELP Sonia will be guided in Amman by her friend Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who is in Jordan for the summer, supporting Iraqi refugees. The outcome of the trip will be a video edited by Sonia (she has experience in this and will have adult assistance), which will be printed to DVD and distributed by Justice Not Vengeance. We think this initiative can be a real inspiration to young people and adults in the anti-war movement around the world. If you agree with us, please give as generously as you can to enable Sonia to make this trip, and send us any ideas you may have about how to spread the message of Sonia's delegation. Please make cheques out to "Justice Not Vengeance" - and marked 'Children against war' on the back - and send to us at 29 Gensing Road, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex TN38 0HE. If you prefer to transfer money electronically, please send your donation to: Justice Not Vengeance, A/C 78520921 Nationwide Building Society, 40 London Road, St Leonards-on-Sea East Sussex TN37 6AN Sort code 07-00-55 In either case, we would be very grateful if you could notify us by email of the amount you are pledging at "info at j-n-v. org", so that we don't have to wait for the post to let Sonia know how her appeal is doing. Any excess will be donated to relief for Iraqi refugee families in Jordan. ***** BUDGET: Fundraising target 807 pounds Sonia has consulted with Kathy Kelly and phoned Royal Jordanian Airlines, and the budget for the trip breaks down as follows: Flight for Sonia: 546 (including insurance and visas) Flight for Sonia's adult companion: 546 (including insurance and visas) Double hotel room for three nights: 36 Food, travel, telephone in Amman: 80 Extra camcorder battery, tripod and miniDV tapes: 100 Total cost: 1308 pounds We have already received a pledge of 500, leaving us to raise 807 - ideally by Friday 3 August. In order to fit in with Sonia's school holidays, and to give time for editing her footage, Sonia intends to be in Jordan 16-19 August, and should book her ticket this weekend in order to be sure of getting the seats she needs. ***** 3) SONIA'S ARTICLE IN PEACE NEWS This is the speech Sonia gave at an interfaith event in London in June, which was published in the last issue of Peace News: My name is Sonia, I am 12 years old and I am a Muslim. 5 years ago I formed a group called Children Against the War. When I was eight years old, I wrote a letter to Mr Bush and Mr Blair pleading for them not to start a war in Iraq because it would destroy Children' lives. Today I feel angry and sad because the war has caused nothing but misery for Iraqi children. Thousands and thousands of children have lost their lives; Thousands have fled to neighbouring countries with their families and are homeless. These children can't go to school, don't have toys to play with and do not feel safe. Children have a right to feel safe and to be educated. I would like to quote President John Kennedy: 'Our problems are man-made; therefore they may be solved by man. No Problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.' Today I would like to ask Mr Bush and Mr Blair to help the Iraqi children and their families living as refugees in Jordan and Syria. Children Against the War are campaigning for the Iraqi children. Adults please support children against the war. Thank you ***** 4) "Attuned to Tom and Jerry" by Kathy Kelly July 24, 2007 Last week, Umm Daoud, (her name means "Mother of Daoud"), met me and three friends at a bridge that crosses into her neighborhood. It was just after sundown; the streets were darkening as she guided us toward the narrow path which leads to her home. She and her five children live in a humble two room apartment in a crowded "low-rent" area of Amman. As guests, my friends and I sat on a makeshift piece of furniture, an old door placed atop two crates and covered by a thin mat. She and her children sat on the floor. Apart from a television and a small table, the living room had no other furniture. The television remained "on" while Samil, her youngest son, seemed completely absorbed in a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon. "Tom and Jerry" antics are a favorite in almost every home I visit here. Spanning multiple generations and regions, the duo's popularity seems to reflect benign values. "Sometimes Tom wins and sometimes Jerry, and sometimes they both win, especially if they team up against an enemy," a young Iraqi woman told me. "You love them both. It's a bit like fights between brothers and sisters." Incalculably less benign are the "real life" chase scenes Umm Daoud's family has endured. When I first met them, five months ago, Abu Daoud, the father, told me that he had been a prosperous goldsmith in Baghdad. "We had two houses and two cars," said Umm Daoud. "Now, I have two brothers killed, and all this suffering, and no way to take care of my children." Abu Daoud told us that two years ago, Daoud, his teenage eldest child, was kidnapped for ransom in Baghdad. Fearful for their son's life and wanting to save him from torture, the family sold all that they had, gained his release, and swiftly escaped with him into Jordan. Abu Daoud came to Amman and moved his family into their current home, hopeful that he might eventually find work. But for an "illegal" resident in Jordan, among hundreds of thousands of others who've fled Iraq, there was no work. He sought help from the few groups doling out rations of food and assistance with rent. Young boys would taunt him, calling him an old man and an "Iraqi terrorist", while adults would threaten to report him to the authorities as an "illegal" - but still he had to keep seeking work. Three months ago, Abu Daoud learned that his cousin, in Iraq, had received a death threat. The cousin tried to flee Baghdad, but was unable to do so swiftly enough. When his body was found, it was chopped into pieces. This news further traumatized Abu Daoud. Engulfed by pain and misery, he became abusive toward his wife and children. Fights erupted between them. Two months ago, Abu Daoud disappeared. His wife believes he fled because he couldn't bear facing them, each day, with his feelings of anxiety and guilt. Umm Daoud's eyes fill with smoldering fury as she spills out feelings of frustration, mistrust, and humiliation. Neighbors in adjoining homes practice a very conservative form of Islam. Even though Umm Daoud is a Sabean, she fears being judged harshly by them and opts to cover her head whenever she leaves the house. When her husband left her, some of these neighbors said this was a punishment she deserved. She'd like to live elsewhere, beyond their threats and curses, but she can't afford the rent anywhere else. Two of the daughters are diabetic, needing weekly insulin injections, but Umm Daoud can afford neither the medicine nor the lab work to track their illness. Now, one of her daughter's eyesight is failing. Untreated insulin can lead to full blindness. Umm Daoud has to hide all of this from her neighbors. They may be here for a long time, and if the neighbors find out that the girls are diabetic, she fears it could destroy their future. Would it be difficult to find suitors for them? I'm not sure. Looking at these beautiful young women, it seems unlikely, but blindness is a frightening condition, --who am I to guess? Umm Daoud herself needs medical attention for a kidney ailment, but her daughters' untreated medical crisis takes up all her attention. Caritas, a charity organization in Amman, offers free medical checkups for Iraqis, but no medications. Through registering with the UNHCR, the family became eligible for a "salary" of 60 Jordanian Dinar per month. This barely covers rent. A light fixture in the room where they all sleep is broken, but they can't afford to fix it, nor can they manage a simple plumbing job to repair a faucet that steadily, noisily leaks. They are too terrified to invite a repair man into the home because the daughters are vulnerable and could be exploited. If a man took advantage of them, they would have no recourse for protection because anyone could accuse them of being illegal residents, causing them to be deported back to Iraq. Umm Daoud has already been stung by the humiliation of being so vulnerable. Once, in Amman, a gang stole a sum of money from her. She reported it to the police. In the investigation, someone accused her of being a prostitute and the police department dropped the case. One note of good news gladdened Umm Daoud and her daughters. Daoud, the older son, excels in soccer and recently qualified for an Iraqi team invited to compete in Seoul, South Korea. For Daoud, a victim of torture when he was kidnapped, playing soccer has been part of recovery. He's in control on the field and the sport has been an important form of therapy. Numerous Iraqis in the "illegal" community pooled money for Daoud's trip. Toward the end of our visit, Daoud called from Seoul. The family was jubilant, except for little Samil, watching his Tom and Jerry cartoon with his back turned to the family. From where I sat, I could see his face. He showed no emotion whatsoever and never took his eyes off the TV screen. I remembered the playful ten-year old I'd first met, in January of 2007, a little boy whose eyes were alight and animated, who loved climbing onto his father's lap. The family seems to understand his need to withdraw. Before leaving, Noah Merrill, who, with his wife, Natalie, has worked hard to design a project called "Direct Aid Initiative," (see www.electroniciraq.net), suggested that they could help cover some of the family's medical expenses. He assured Umm Daoud that this would be an act of friendship, not charity. "Of course it's not charity!" she said, flinging her hands upward in exasperation. "You already have our oil!" She cocked her head slightly, a smile on her face. "You are perhaps living well with our oil," she said, as we all nodded our heads, "so this is not a charity." Such humor, as if this whole nightmare of the war and its complications were just brothers and sisters fighting, and she could wryly forgive. The UNHCR has appealed for $121 million dollars to assist Iraqis who've been displaced from their homes, 2.2 million of whom are internally displaced inside Iraq and close to two million more who have sought shelter in neighboring countries. UN documents appeal to people's charitable instincts, but UN workers know full well just how politicized the discussions have become. The U.S. could direct the amount of money spent on just six hours of the war in Iraq and fully meet the UNHCR request to assist millions of people who have barely survived this U.S. "war of choice." This week, the U.S. government will continue deliberating over how much money to earmark for particular defense expenditures. They will serve the insatiable demands of the largest lobby on Capitol Hill, the defense lobby, which is asking for a total of $648.8 billion dollars. Even Senator Kennedy, one of the few Senators advocating measures to benefit Iraqi refugees, recommends allotting $100 million in the 2008 defense budget for a new General Electric fighter engine. (The Boston Globe recently reported that the Air Force said it didn't even need the item.) Democratic candidates claim they are interested in ending the Iraq war. They claim concern for Iraqi victims. I believe these claims. Yet by obediently funding the war machine, most of them play predictable, scripted roles in a dull and murderous war without end. The victors are always the same, the bloated and menacing producers of weapons, - General Dynamics, Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed, General Electric, - the fat cats whose menacing force always wins. The losers can watch their children become crippled, starved, maimed or dead. Period. Yesterday, Umm Daoud and her daughters paid me a visit. Samil chose to stay behind. He didn't want to miss an episode of Tom and Jerry. Kathy Kelly (kathy at vcnv. org) is a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org) From info at j-n-v.org Fri Aug 3 09:08:11 2007 From: info at j-n-v.org (Justice Not Vengeance) Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2007 09:08:11 +0100 Subject: [JNV] Jordan delegation and Guantanamo solidarity Message-ID: Dear friends We are very happy to report that in the space of just a few days, due to your generosity, JNV has raised over =A32000 in pledges for the Children Against War delegation to Jordan. This means that Sonia will be able to purchase her tickets today, and that, when the pledges arrive, she will be able to take over =A3500 in your donations to support Iraqi refugee families now living in Jordan in desperate circumstances. If you would like to increase this amount, please do continue sending cheques/transferring money to Justice Not Vengeance. (If it is helpful, the JNV account is categorized as a 'BusinessInvestor' account at Nationwide.) Sonia will not be departing (with her adult companion) before 14 August, so pledges can be registered with us until then (though please post cheques at least two days before this!). In Jordan, Sonia will be guided by the very wonderful Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Kathy's latest article is on the VCNV website: http://vcnv.org/dancing-in-darkness Thank you for all your support for the Children Against War delegation. It is much appreciated. Below are some appeals for solidarity circulated in the last few days by Voices in the Wilderness UK. Best wishes Maya Anne Evans Emily Johns Milan Rai Justice Not Vengeance ******* [B] TAKE ACTION FOR BRITISH RESIDENTS IN GUANTANAMO: AHMED BELBACHA The London Guantanamo Campaign writes: British resident in Guantanamo Bay Ahmed Belbacha faces being returned to Algeria at any time where he is likely to face danger from the government or religious extremists. Lawyers in the US are trying to prevent his return to Algeria. Please write to the US authorities to not return him to Algeria and to the British authorities to urge them to allow him to return here, as he lived in the UK for over two and a half years. Take action for Ahmed Belbacha now! PLEASE WRITE TO THE US AMBASSADOR TO THE UK TO URGE THAT AHMED BELBACHA NOT BE DEPORTED TO ALGERIA: His Excellency Mr Robert Tuttle, Embassy of the United States, 24 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE. Website: http://www.usembassy.org.uk (marked for the attention of the Ambassador) Remind them that: * Ahmed Belbacha faces serious dangers if sent back to Algeria, both from the Algerian government and Islamic extremists * Diplomatic assurances from Algeria are worthless, given its past history of abuse of human rights * The United States cannot deliver people from Guant=E1namo to torture and abuse =96 that only makes the problem of Guant=E1namo worse. PLEASE ALSO WRITE TO THE BRITISH HOME AND FOREIGN SECRETARIES to demand that they allow Ahmed Belbacha to return to the UK, which is a viable alternative for him: Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP Home Secretary The Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1 9AT Fax: 020 7219 4815 Email: smithjj@parliament.uk Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP Foreign Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles St, London SW1A 2AH Remind them that: * Ahmed Belbacha lived in the UK peacefully for 2 =BD years. * He has been cleared for release by the Americans and there are no charges against him. He is not deemed to pose a threat. * The British government can take action to help a resident. A precedent lies in the return of Bisher Al-Rawi in March 2007. Ahmed Belbacha faces imminent danger to his life if returned to Algeria. BACKGROUND * Ahmed Belbacha, a 36 year old Algerian lived in the UK for two and a half years from 1999 to 2001. He lived in Bournemouth and worked in hotels where he won awards and praise for his work, including a large tip and handwritten note from former deputy prime minister, John Prescott. * Ahmed is a talented footballer and played professionally in Algeria. * In 2001, he left the UK to visit Afghanistan for six months and had a return ticket to the UK. * He disappeared there and his family had no news from him for over two years until 2004 when the Red Cross wrote to inform them that he was in Guant=E1namo Bay. * In February 2007, he was cleared for release from Guant=E1namo Bay by the Pentagon and deemed to pose no threat at all. * In July 2007, the Algerian authorities said that it was prepared to take back 7 of its nationals held in Guant=E1namo Bay, including Ahmed Belbacha. If returned to Algeria, he faces either being jailed and tortured by the Algerian government or being released and facing threats to his life from Islamists. If returned to Algeria, Ahmed's life will be in grave danger. * He currently faces the prospect of being returned to Algeria any day. Lawyers for Ahmed are trying to block his return to Algeria. Take action! Time is running out for Ahmed Belbacha: ********************************************************************** [C] TAKE ACTION FOR BRITISH RESIDENTS IN GUANTANAMO: JAMIL EL-BANNA Last week, a high court judge told Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, that she had until August 9 to say whether Jamil el-Banna, a British resident and political refugee incarcerated in Guant=E1namo Bay, will be allowed to return to the UK. If she fails to do so, Jamil will be sent back to Jordan where he is faces the possibility of further incarceration and abuse. He has a wife and five British children in the UK. However, the British authorities refuse to allow him back, claiming that he has forfeited his "indefinite leave to remain" by staying abroad for more than two years. PLEASE WRITE TO THE HOME SECRETARY, JACQUI SMITH, and ask her to take immediate action to ensure that Jamil El-Banna is returned to the UK NOW: Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP Home Secretary The Home Office, Marsham Street?London SW1P 4DF Remind her that: * Jamil has been found innocent by the American authorities and is not deemed to be a threat to anyone and is now free to leave Guant=E1namo Bay; * The UK has a moral and legal obligation towards Jamil under international conventions having accepted him as a refugee; * Jamil has a wife and five children, who are British nationals, living in the UK; * If the British government does not act IMMEDIATELY to bring Jamil back to the UK, he will be returned to Jordan where he will face further illegal detention and torture; * Furthermore, a precedent lies in the return of Bisher El-Rawi in March 2007. The British government can take action. BACKGROUND * Jamil El-Banna, a 45 year old Jordanian national, has lived in the UK with his wife since 1994. The couple were granted refugee status in 1997. * He was kidnapped at Banjul Airport in Gambia in November 2002 along with his friend, Iraqi Bisher El-Rawi. They had travelled there on a business trip. * After being interrogated for a month in Gambia, the pair were taken to Afghanistan where they were tortured in the notorious "Dark Prison". During this time, their families had no idea of where they were. * In February 2003, they were taken to Guant=E1namo Bay. * In November 2005, British lawyers for the pair and a third British resident in Guant=E1namo Bay, Libyan Omar Deghayes, launched a judicial review of the home secretary's refusal to make representations on behalf of these men to return them to the UK, in particular given their refugee status in this country and subsequent duties incumbent on the UK government under the UN Convention on Refugees. * In 2006, telegram evidence emerged of the British government's knowledge and involvement in Jamil and Bisher's kidnap and "rendition". * A year after representations were commenced on behalf of Bisher El-Rawi by the British government, he was released and returned to the UK in March 2007. The British government has refused to make any such representations for Jamil. * In April 2007, Jamil was cleared of all charges by the Pentagon and is free to leave Guant=E1namo Bay as soon as he has a country to return to. As a refugee, returning to Jordan would mean he is almost certain to face further detention and inhumane treatment, although Jordan has agreed to accept him. * The British government is still refusing to act on Jamil's behalf, in spite of its international obligations towards him as a refugee. * Lawyers for Jamil started an emergency judicial review of the Home Secretary's inaction in June 2007 which will be heard in July 2007. * Jamil was in the process of applying for British citizenship when he travelled to the Gambia. From info at j-n-v.org Thu Aug 16 10:06:50 2007 From: info at j-n-v.org (Justice Not Vengeance) Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:06:50 +0100 Subject: [JNV] Sonia departs / Marcus jailed / Nuclear comment Message-ID: 1) Sonia departs - with thanks 2) Please write to jailed peace activist (by email or by post) 3) A response to the US nuclear threats debate Dear friends We hope you find this email useful. We continue to be inspired by Sonia's example, and by the extraordinary Climate Camp at Heathrow (http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/) which we are either attending at the time of writing, or intending to visit, before the camp ends on Tuesday. Best wishes Maya Anne Evans Emily Johns Milan Rai Justice Not Vengeance ***** 1) SONIA THANKS HER SUPPORTERS / BRITISH MUSLIM GIRL SETS OFF TO FILM IRAQI REFUGEE CHILDREN IN JORDAN Today, Thursday 16 August, the 12-year-old founder of Children Against War, Sonia Azad is setting off for Jordan with an adult companion for three days interviewing Iraqi children (and adults) who have been forced to flee their country because of the conditions created by the US/UK invasion and occupation. Sonia, who is a Muslim, intends to attend Friday prayers tomorrow in Amman, interview refugees at home and at school, and return on Monday, when she will begin editing her film. Justice Not Vengeance is honoured to have been able to assist Sonia in fundraising, and will be giving further support in editing, producing and distributing Sonia's film (intended to be 20 minutes long). If you have any suggestions on how to spread her message further, please do contact us by email (info AT j-n-v.org) or by phone (0845 458 9571). Sonia, who has been very busy preparing for her trip, has written this letter of gratitude for us to pass on to everyone who has given her support: Dear Friends, I would like to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you for suppoting me and donating money so generously towards my project 'Giving a voice to Iraq's refugee children.' Due to your generosity, I am able to take over =A31000 for the families living in Jordan as refugees in desperate conditions. I look forward to meeting and filming the children. I will finish this documentay before I return to school. I assure you I will do my best to carry out this project. Once again heartfelt thank You! Peace and Love Sonia Xx Children Against the War You can email Sonia via: children_against_war AT hotmail.com ***** 2) MARCUS IN JAIL - PLEASE WRITE BY POST OR EMAIL A peace activist who inspected aircraft at Prestwick airport in Scotland in August 2006 in order to expose the refueling of US arms supply planes to Israel during the invasion of Lebanon has been jailed. Trident Ploughshares expects him to be released on Friday 24 August. Letters (especially colourful picture postcards) are very welcome before then (the sooner the better!). Below is Marcus's address, and a report from a court witness: Marcus Armstrong HMP Kilmarnock Bowhouse KILMARNOCK KA1 5AA (emails sent to prisoners@tridentploughshares.org will also be forwarded on= to him) >>Report on Marcus' case and trial: During August 2006 US airforce planes, and planes chartered by them, were stopping to refuel at Prestwick airport while delivering munitions to the Israeli army. These bombs were then being used in the indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon and Lebanese civilians. Protestors gathered at Prestwick. Their aim was to raise awareness among the population locally and worldwide and to try to stop the flights. Information in the press and public channels was incomplete and contradictory. Some of the issues under discussion were Prestwick is a civilian airport unsuitable for such military activity There was much secrecy surrounding the flights. Why? Munitions passing through our peaceful part of Ayrshire were killing innocent civilians elsewhere. Shannon airport had already refused permission. Why was it granted at Prestwick? On 3 nights in early August some of the protestors broke into Prestwick and to carry out a citizens inspection of the planes to establish whether the flights were actually carrying munitions. 8 of these protestors were tried at Ayr sheriff court last week. Evidence against them was incomplete. After the first 5 days of the trail 7 were released. Today (14 August) was the last day of the trial. The last protestor, Marcus Armstrong, stood accused of breaking into the airfield and boarding a plane. Marcus bravely conducted his own defence. He didn't to deny the action but defended his motives. It was, he said, his responsibility, right and duty to try to protect the innocent civilians for whom the munitions were destined. He was trying to do this by gathering information, raising awareness and perhaps he would be able to disrupt the flights. Its a difficult thing for a civilian to defend himself in a court of law. Marcus remained calm and focussed. At the end of the day the sheriff found him guilty and fined him =A3750. (The maximum for this offence is =A35,000) Marcus maintains that his action was not a criminal offence. He refused to pay the fine and has chosen the alternative, [immediate] imprisonment. The term of imprisonment is 28 days, though he is likely to serve only half of this. *** 3) US Nuclear threats - a response by US activist/author Joseph Gerson This response was written for Peace News and will shortly be on the Peace News website http://wwww.peacenews.info US Nuclear threats - a response by US activist/author Joseph Gerson This response was written for Peace News and will shortly be on the Peace News website http://wwww.peacenews.info The nuclear madness of Clinton and Obama Joseph Gerson I was in Hiroshima, participating in the World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, when the latest barrage of nuclear madness flailed out from the US presidential campaign trail. Almost inured to Bush's romance of ruthlessness and believing that almost anything else can only be an improvement, people from nations across the world were shocked and angered by the statements on nuclear policy made by Democratic Party Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It remains to be seen how badly Barack Obama's self-inflicted wounds will be. First he played cowboy sheriff and G.W. Bush - threatening unilateral military attacks against a sovereign and already fragile nation - Pakistan, but attempted to soften the blow by pledging not use nuclear weapons against Al Qaeda. Someone was planning to hit south Waziristan with nuclear weapons? He then further demonstrated incompetence and ignorance by saying that he would not use nuclear weapons against civilians. Nuclear weapons can be used without inflicting Hell on earth and taking countless civilian lives? Has he not heard of fall-out or considered the fact that the US tactical (as opposed to "counter-value" strategic) nuclear weapons include many Hiroshima-size A-bombs? Hillary Clinton then went on to confirm what many long suspected: that in its approach to the world, the US's terrorizing first strike nuclear weapons are always on the table, saying: "I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons." That means that US presidents should never remove the nuclear threat when dealing with other nations. This is consistent with other statements she has made on her presidential campaign trail. Last February, as she was leaving the New Hampshire high school where she had just formally launched her campaign with a carefully-staged event, a young peace activist caught her going out the door. She asked Senator Clinton: "When you say that all options must be on the table with Iran, do you really mean that we should be threatening all of that country's women and children with genocide?" The Senator's chilling response was: "I meant what I said." The Obama and Clinton statements - like President Bush's nuclear threats and campaign to post-modernize the US nuclear arsenal and vastly expand the US nuclear weapons production infrastructure - violate commitments the US has made in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and they stand in stark defiance of the International Court of Justices' advisory ruling on the use and threatened use of nuclear weapons. They also reflect the banality of evil. Regardless of what their personal beliefs about the existence and actual use of nuclear weapons may be, to rise to the pinnacle of power of a nuclear-enforced empire, they and other aspiring politicians have found it necessary to demonstrate that they are tough enough to defend the empire with nuclear weapons. You can't build or maintain an empire without terrorizing people across the planet. However, like symbolic politics, engaging in the banality of evil results in true evil. Statements and threats create expectations. When their bluffs are called George Bush and future US presidents may believe it necessary to back up their words by carrying out their threats. Since the nuclear annihilations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, during international crises, confrontations and wars, every US president has prepared and threatened to initiate nuclear attacks -- primarily to maintain US hegemony in East Asia and the Middle East - most recently during the run up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. In several cases: The Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1976 "Ax Incident" in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and Bill Clinton's 1994 nuclear threat against North Korea, the world came perilously close to nuclear catastrophe. These US threats and the refusal of the US and other declared nuclear powers to fulfill their Article VI Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty commitment to negotiate the complete elimination of their nuclear arsenals are the primary forces driving nuclear weapons proliferation, which in turn, further increased the dangers of nuclear war. As Mohamed El Baradei of the International Atomic Energy Commission and Nobel Laureate Joseph Rotblat frequently reminded us, because no nation will long tolerate an equal imbalance of terror, the only way to prevent proliferation is to end nuclear "hypocrisy" and move to abolish all nuclear weapons. Understandably other nations want to redress this imbalance - most by demanding implementation of Article VI of the NPT. Some, however, having given up on the NPT, have sought or seek their own deterrent nuclear arsenals: India, Pakistan, North Korea, and now possibly Iran. To staunch nuclear madness in Washington, Iran's apparent nuclear weapons programme, and the possibility of nuclear weapons proliferation across the Middle East and elsewhere, political candidates and the rest of us should be singing a different tune: The US and other nuclear powers must honor their "irrevocable" commitment to implement Article VI of the NPT, beginning with credible steps to fulfill the 13 steps agreed at the 2000 NPT Review Conference. Ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiating a Fissile Materials Cut Off Treaty would be a start. The US must also cease turning a blind eye toward Israel's provocative and genocidal nuclear arsenal and actively join the campaign for the creation of a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East as called for in the 1995 NPT Review Conference and by Arab nations since then. These are hardly radical notions. Even the war criminal Henry Kissinger, Reagan Secretary of State George Shultz, and Clinton Secretary of Defense William Perry have concluded that the embrace of the nuclear double standard is a losing strategy and have called for the US to honor its Article 6 abolition commitments. Another world is truly possible. >> Joseph Gerson is author of "Empire and the Bomb: How the US Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World" and Director of Programs of the American Friends Service Committee's New England Regional Office. >> From info at j-n-v.org Thu Aug 23 00:40:27 2007 From: info at j-n-v.org (Milan Rai) Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:40:27 +0100 Subject: [JNV] milan rai jailed Message-ID: Hello JNV folks Mil was sent to Wandsworth jail yesterday for organising the 'Naming the Dead actions' organised by JNV. I'm forwarding the press release. Although he was sentanced to a month, the time to serve seems to be getting shorter and shorter and he will probably be out by the beginning of next week. All the best Emily PRESS RELEASE Justice Not Vengeance [1] 07973 484 202 AUTHOR JAILED FOR "UNAUTHORISED" ANTI-WAR PROTESTS. The first person to be convicted of organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament Square was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment yesterday for refusing to pay his fines. On 25 October 2005, author [2] and editor [3] Milan Rai (42) was arrested opposite Downing Street with vegan chef Maya Evans, after the pair read out the names of Iraqis and British service personnel who had been killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Mr Rai was subsequently convicted of organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament, fined =A3350 and ordered to pay =A3150 in costs [4]. In May 2007 the pair were convicted again, this time for organising and participating in an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament, namely the "No More Fallujahs" weekend of nonviolent resistance marking the 2nd anniversary of the US/UK onslaught on the Iraqi city of Fallujah [5]. A= t least 550 women and children are believed to have been killed during the latter attack [6], during which US forces used white phosphorus - a substance that burns down to the bone on contact with human flesh - as a weapon [7]. At his second trial Mr Rai was fined =A3100. On both occasions Mr Rai had declared that he would refuse to pay his fines on grounds of conscience. In June, Mr Rai was awarded Catholic peace group Pax Christi's biannual Peace Award [8]. Contact 07973 484 202 NOTES [1] Justice Not Vengeance (JNV) is an anti-war group campaigning for a peaceful resolution of international conflicts, based on justice and equality. See www.j-n-v.org [2] Mr Rai is the author of the following books: 'Chomsky's Politics' (Verso, 1995), 'War Plan Iraq' (Verso, 2002), 'Regime Unchanged' (Pluto, 2003) and '7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War' (Pluto, 2006). [3] Mr Rai is the editor of Peace News, the UK's oldest peace movement newspaper. See www.peacenews.info. [4] Under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (April 2005) organising an "unauthorised" demonstration within 1km of Parliament is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for up to 51 weeks and a =A32500 fine. Participating in such a demonstration is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to =A31000. See www.parliamentprotest.org.uk [5] See www.rememberfallujah.org [6] See 'Death toll in Fallujah rising, doctors say', IRIN, 4 January 2005, http://tinyurl.com/2b6m49 [7] See 'U.S. official admits phosphorus used as weapon in Iraq', CBC News, 16 November 2005, http://tinyurl.com/25p39a [8] See http://tinyurl.com/yo3mt7