JustPeace #1

By
Keith Locke
-
:
Go to the

JustPeace Campaign Page

A Green bulletin of news, action and analysis on local and global peace and justice issues

Welcome to the first issue of JustPeace, a Green bulletin of news, action, and analysis on local and global peace and justice issues.

JustPeace is a digest of what the Greens and other peace-with-justice activists are doing and saying locally and globally, with contacts and suggestions for you to participate as well. It will concentrate on ”what’s hot” in peace news, action and analysis, and direct you to other bulletins and to relevant websites for more details.

Best wishes for a peaceful and happy holiday season to you all — and to the world.

Hot News

  • the Counter-Terrorism bill came back to Parliament on 17.12.02 — Keith Locke objects to the computer spying provisions that deny a person’s right not to incriminate themselves. Read

    Keith’s Press Release

    .
  • hired guns for butter? Rod Donald speaks out against Helen Clark begging for a free trade deal with United States and compromising New Zealand’s anti-nuclear, peace- maker policies. Read

    Rod’s Press Release

    .

Hot Action

Locally

  • Peace actions around New Zealand are posted weekly on the Peace Movement Aotearoa

    site

    and on the Taking Control e-list (


    cafca

    [at]

    chch [dot] planet [dot] org [dot] nz


    (email cafca)


    to subscribe to Taking Control).
  • At present there are weekly anti-war vigils in Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch.

    (Wellington, every Thursday, 5-6 p.m., the Cenotaph; Nelson, every Friday, 4-6 p.m., centre strip by the BP station on Haven Rd; Christchurch, every Friday, 5 p.m., USAF base, Harewood — meet at Airport roundabout by the totem pole.)
  • From January 16, 2003 there will be days of action to commemorate the last Iraq/US war and oppose the next one — details in JustPeace # 2, or check the Peace Movement Aotearoa

    diary of activities

    .
  • Meanwhile — don’t forget to WRITE to the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Phil Goff, and your local newspaper, pointing out what is wrong and stupid about supporting an American-led attack on Iraq in any shape or form. NZ should completely dissociate itself from the US, British and Australian plans for attack. For ideas on what to say check out the press releases and speeches on the Green website or any of the sites given below.

Globally

  • First, some words of encouragement on global anti-war action from

    NOAM CHOMSKY:

    “Compared with the Vietnam War movement, this movement is just incomparably ahead now. People talk about the Vietnam War movement, but they forget or don’t know what it was actually like. The war in Vietnam started in 1962, publicly, with a public attack on South Vietnam – air force, chemical warfare, concentration camps, the whole business. No protest… the protest that did build up four or five years later was mostly about the bombing of the North, which was terrible but was a sideshow. The main attack was against South Vietnam and there was never any serious protest against that.

    “This time there’s protest before the war has even got started. I can’t think of an example in the entire history of Europe, including the United States, when there was ever protest of any substantial level before a war. Here you’ve got massive protest before war’s even started. It’s a tremendous tribute to changes in popular culture that have taken place in Western countries in the last 30 or 40 years. It’s just phenomenal.” [The full interview is on the

    SchNEWS site

    , 18.12.02].

Australia

UK

  • A mass lobby of parliament is planned for Tuesday 21 January 2003, and a national demonstration for Saturday 15 February 2003. Full details of this and much more on

    www.no-war-on-iraq-org.uk

    and

    www.stopwar.org.uk

    The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is mounting a legal challenge against the war — details on the

    CND website

    .

USA

  • a national march on Washington is planned for 18 January 2003, with a joint action in San Francisco. Details of this and other actions can be found on the

    International Answer site

    and coverage of anti-war news and views on

    No War On Iraq

    – a clearinghouse of information, news and opinions for people and organizations opposed to a war on Iraq.

Canada

  • a coalition of peace groups is putting together a team of volunteer international weapons inspectors to go to the US in the new year. They are recruiting through their

    Rooting Out Evil site

    .

Hot Analysis

The website of the Transnational Institute is a great source of informed/researched comment on global issues. Check out the items listed below at the URLS given.

Building Arguments Against the War

  • The anti-war movement is growing, and so far it has been successful in at least postponing a US military strike against Iraq. The European Social Forum, held in Florence, Italy last November, ended with 1 million people marching for peace. The US has witnessed anti-war demonstrations almost on a weekly basis. But what are the arguments supporting this peace movement? Below you can find a list of resources that address these questions.
  • This week the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN) provides you with Talking Points and Key Facts regarding

    oil’s role in the Iraq Crisis (PDF 25KB)
  • In an interview conducted by CBC Radio’s Michael Enwright, TNI Fellow Bennis presents the

    case against the war

    .
  • The argument over what action to take against Saddam Hussein is driven by the rhetoric of war. But can peaceful, legal action against Iraq’s ruthless dictator be effective? The long campaign to bring Pinochet to justice offers an encouraging precedent. Read TNI Fellow John Cavanagh’s

    John Cavanagh’s response to Peter David

    in Open Democracy.
  • In

    ‘The Bush Vision and the Culture of Power’

    , TNI Fellow Saul Landau harshly criticizes George Bush and US foreign policy after 11 September. He also makes a call for Americans to speak out against the dangerous situation to which their government is bringing them.

JustPeace is produced by Christine Dann, Tim Hannah, and Keith Locke, MP.

The next issue will be out on January 17, 2003.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR