[JNV] JNV speakers / JNV documentary - an appeal / Iran latest / Aldermaston and London demos

[Justice Not Vengeance]

1) Appeal for support for JNV documentary
2) JNV speakers - London / Nottingham
3) JNV at Aldermaston & London demos
4) Iran latest

1) APPEAL FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
FOR A JNV DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ISLAM

Dear friends

Currently there are very few tools or resources for groups wishing to
deal with issues around Islam, especially as it relates to the 'war on
terrorism'.

For the last three years, Justice Not Vengeance has been providing
briefings and workshops on this topic, and Milan Rai's book '7/7: The
London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War' grew out of JNV's response to
the 7/7 attacks.

Right now, we've decided to try to produce a short documentary about
majority views in Britain about Islam.

In 2005, we produced 'Counter Terror: Build Justice', a 20-minute DVD
about the war on terror. Now we are going to try to make something
similar, but this time with professional input, about the level of
fear and hostility there is in Britain to Islam and to  Muslims, and
the roots of these feelings.

The core message of the documentary is that the same standards should
be applied when we are discussing Islam as we apply when discussing
Christianity or Judaism.

All too often, violent or unacceptable behaviour coming from some
Muslims is treated as typical of the religion, while violent or
unacceptable behaviour coming from some Christians or Jewish people is
treated as untypical. Similarly, violent or unacceptable passages in
Islamic scripture are all too often treated as revealing the core of
the religion, while violent or unacceptable passages in the Christian
or Jewish scriptures are treated as peripheral or insignificant.

Why is this an important topic?

Because fear of, and hostility towards, Islam is one of the main
reasons why so many people acquiesce in the repressive and violent
actions Britain and the US undertake in the 'war on terror'.

Because fear of, and hostility towards, Islam is blocking us from
taking the steps we need to reduce the scale and intensity of
al-Qa'eda-type terrorism.

Because fear of, and hostility towards, Islam is reinforcing attitudes
in Muslim communities that strengthen the appeal of al-Qa'eda's
analysis of the world situation.

A professional filmmaker (who shoots short films for major firms as
well as community documentaries) has committed to the film, and Milan
Rai and Maya Anne Evans will be working on this project as their main
JNV work for this year.

APPEAL

We have set ourselves the target of raising =A32000 by the end of March,
as the first stage of fundraising, to assure us that we will be able
to make the documentary. We would be very grateful for any
contributions from JNV supporters towards this total.

If you are able to offer financial assistance, of whatever size, we'd
be grateful if you could send a cheque made out to 'Justice Not
Vengeance', to JNV, 29 Gensing Road, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex
TN38 0HE. PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS on the envelope, if not
on a note inside. If we have not reached our total by the end of the
month, we will return your cheque to you, uncashed and torn up.

If you would like to know more about the project, which is scheduled
to produce a film by September, which is Ramadan, please do not
hesitate to call us on 0845 458 9571 or 07980 748 555.

Best wishes

Maya Anne Evans
Emily Johns
Milan Rai

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2) JNV SPEAKERS

Wednesday 5 March
LONDON. 'We nearly won: how the anti-war movements nearly stopped the
invasion of Iraq' - with Milan Rai, 7pm. How close we came, where we
are now. Milan Rai is the coordinator of Justice Not Vengeance,
co-editor of Peace News, and he is the author of War Plan Iraq and
Regime Unchanged. Venue: Housmans, 5 Caledonian Road, King's Cross
London N1 9DX.  t: 020 7837 4473 e: shop@housmans.com www.housmans.com

Saturday 19 March
NOTTINGHAM. 'Civil liberties conference' with Maya Anne Evans, Defy
ID, and others. Nottingham Student Peace Movement, Nottingham
University, more details: tom.c.bennett@googlemail.com

Wednesday 26 March
LONDON. 'A decade of suffering: Iraq in wood engravings' - with Emily
Johns, 7pm. Emily Johns has illustrated posters, postcards and
newsletters for Voices in the Wilderness UK since 1998. She is also
the co-editor of Peace News and chair of Justice Not Vengeance. Venue:
Housmans, 5 Caledonian Road, King's Cross London N1 9DX.  t: 020 7837
4473  e: shop@housmans.com  www.housmans.com

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3) JNV AT ALDERMASTON & LONDON DEMOS

As you will all know, there is to be a national anti-war demonstration
called by Stop The War Coalition in London on Saturday 15 March (and
one in Glasgow at the same time):

Assemble 12 noon, Trafalgar Square, London
Assemble 11.30, Blythswood Square, Glasgow.

JNV will be distributing materials - and copies of Peace News, edited
by Emily Johns and Milan Rai - during the London demonstration.

Please help to distribute materials - you can collect JNV and Voices
in the Wilderness UK materials from the statue of Edith Cavell by St
Martin in the Field, north east corner of Trafalgar Square, from noon
onwards. (Peace News will also have a stall in Trafalgar Square
itself.)

JNV will also be distributing materials - and copies of Peace News -
during the Aldermaston demonstration. If you can help with this,
please email us or phone Mil on 07980 748 555.

The Bomb Stops Here - CND's 50th birthday protest: Atomic Weapons
Establishment Aldermaston, 12 noon, Easter Monday 24 March.
http://www.cnduk.org/aldermaston/
Find your nearest transport here:
http://tinyurl.com/23ooyy

-----------

4) IRAN LATEST

Iran was effectively cleared of nuclear wrong-doing by the US
intelligence community's consensus document, the National Intelligence
Estimate, in December.

Progress in the Iran-IAEA 'work plan' - a programme of inspections,
interviews and meetings to clear up questions about Iran's past
nuclear activities - has been good, and virtually all questions have
been resolved. According to the head of the IAEA (International Atomic
Energy Agency), Mohamed ElBaradei, only one topic remains - a number
of documents alleged to constitute proof of Iraq's attempts to
'weaponize' its nuclear power activities.

All this has led to a virtual statement from the State Department that
there will be no military attack on Iran before the election of a new
US President. The State Department has not been in control of policy
in the past, and so its position may be overcome by the neocons around
Vice-President Cheney, but this was an important indicator:

-- 'US sees Iran nuclear dispute going to 2009'  by Daniel Dombey in
Washington and Harvey Morris at the United Nations, the Financial
Times, 27 February 2008 --

'The senior US official responsible for handling the dispute over
Iran's nuclear programme has admitted that the Bush administration is
unlikely to resolve the issue, which until recently was seen as a
possible cause of military confrontation between Washington and
Tehran.

' "I think this is going to be a drama that plays out well into 2009
and beyond," Nicholas Burns, US undersecretary of state, told the
Council on Foreign Relations ahead of leaving office at the end of this mon=
th.

'His comments indicated the dwindling expectations in Washington of
either a US airstrike on Iran or an imminent breakthrough in
negotiations.'
FT <http://tinyurl.com/2zh5xd>

ElBaradei 22 February 2008 comments on IAEA-Iran progress:
<http://tinyurl.com/2x796f>

IAEA report 22 February 2008:
<http://tinyurl.com/2wg2g3>

More allegations of Iranian nuclear weapons programme past 2003:
<http://tinyurl.com/yugt74>

UN Security Council passes third round of sanctions on Iran,
but IAEA refuses to pass further sanctions
<http://tinyurl.com/yrsqkh>