April

Anti War Demonstration In Leeds... Importance: High

Hi all antiwar activists with apologies if you get this more than once

Following the change of plan the last time LCAW were organising a regional demo (national STW called for it to be a London one in the end) we have decided to organise a regional demo on Saturday 26th June starting in Leeds city centre at 12 Noon.

The route has not been planned yet but we will be going round the city centre and ending with a rally.

The reason for the demo is that on 30th June the US and the coalition of the willing (not many of them left) are supposed to hand Iraq back to the Iraq people ( whilst keeping over 120,000 troops plus the mercenaries employed by Blackwater and others. The whole handover is a sham compounded by the appointment of the butcher Negroponte to replace the 'delightful' Bremer.

Take to the streets of Leeds with the slogans END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ TROOPS HOME NOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE

By then the EUROPEAN ELECTIONS will have taken place and with a little effort in voting for GENUINE antiwar politicians Mr Bliar will be on the run. Now is the time to keep the pressure on.

If you haven't seen it this is what 52 former Ambassadors and High Commisssioners have said about BLIAR.

"The conduct of the war in Iraq has made it clear that there was no effective plan for the post-Saddam settlement. All those with experience of the area predicted that the occupation of Iraq by coalition forces would meet stubborn resistance, as has proved to be the case. To describe the resistance as led by terrorists, fanatics and foreigners is neither convincing nor helpful" followed by

" The international community has now been confronted with the announcement of ArielSharon and George Bush of new policies which are one sided and illegal and which will cost yet more Israeli and Palestinian blood. Our dismay at this backward step is heightened by the fact that you (BLIAR) yourself seem to have endorsed it.Abandoning the principles which for nearly four decades have guided internationalefforts torestore peace in the Holy Land"

They have also called Dubya's middle east policy "one sided and illegal"

LCAW look forward to welcoming all those who want peace on 26th June.

Demonstrate For Peace And Justice With Chruch Picket in Sacramento, on Sunday, April 25, 2004

Opposition in Europe to the Apartheid Wall

Dear Friends -

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign has launched a petition for presentation to the Irish Government, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union.

We want the Irish Government to come off the fence and mobilise opposition in Europe to the Apartheid Wall which Israel is constructing on the West Bank. This is urgent as we need all signatures in by END APRIL.

Could you please publicise our petition on your network? The petition can be accessed directly at URL :
http://www.petitiononline.com/WBWall01/petition.html

or by clicking the link (Campaign 2) on our website : www.supportpalestine.org

Thank you.

Caitlin ni Chonaill
Secretary
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Belfast.

A Protest Against the Sharon Policy in Front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta, Today, April 19

WILL YOU JOIN US TO LEAFLET ON TAX DAY?

Because of the crisis in Iraq and the attention that Richard Clarke testimony is getting here, this is a critical time for us to reach out to those beginning to question the priorities and policies of our government. Next week we have two good opportunities to make our voices heard.

The first being the emergency: Monday rally at 5 Points 4:30 to 6 pm.

On Thursday, April 15th, please join the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition's campaign to let Atlantans know where their income tax money really goes.

We will leaflet

from 4:45 pm to 6 pm

at 5 Points downtown (Peachtree/Marietta intersection)

and the Decatur Marta Station (Church/Sycamore intersection).

Your presence for any length of time will make a real contribution! Leafleting is a great opportunity to make contact with people who want change but often have no connection with a network. It is always an encouraging experience! We will also have posters if you feel more comfortable communicating in that way (or bring your own poster). For the second year on the day tax forms are due, we will distribute hundreds of flyers showing that half of the 2005 federal budget will go to the military while education and health care are shortchanged. We use the excellent research of War Resisters League, National Priorities Project, and WAND for our leaflets which also make clear the unacceptable human and monetary cost of war in Iraq, its impact on Georgians, and how we can take action for change. Please email me if you are planning to join us at 5 Points or Decatur so we can have plenty of flyers printed.

For justice and peace,

Ann (Mauney) annmauney555@aol.com

EMERGENCY IRAQ PROTESTS:
NATIONALLY-COORDINATED DAYS OF ACTION
Friday, April 9 ? Monday, April 12

ORGANIZED BY International ANSWER

http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/a10/index.html

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MONDAY APRIL 12 4:30-6:30 PM

5 POINTS (PEACHTREE AND MARIETTA), DOWNTOWN ATLANTA
(rain date is Wed. Ap. 14)

For more information, call 770-989-2536

PLEASE PARTICIPATE AND PASS THE WORD AROUND.

Bring signs, banners...

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Doctor reveals Falluja's horror toll

Friday 09 April 2004, 19:43 Makka Time, 16:43 GMT

At least 450 (later 600) Iraqis have been killed and more than 1000 others wounded in fighting in the city of Falluja this week, says a doctor who runs the city's main hospital.

Dr Rafi Hayad, the director of the main hospital supplied the figures to the Reuters news agency. The agency has given no explanation of how Hayad reached his figures or how they vary with other revealed casualty tolls...

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/35D16627-E268-4ACE-B0E0-553C6624058D.htm

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EMERGENCY CALL FOR SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE

April 8 2004

Eman Ahmed Khammas

Director, International Occupation Watch Center

Occupied Baghdad

To the peoples of the world and their representatives at the United Nations:

The Iraqi people call for international solidarity as they resist attacks by US-led Occupation Forces. It is clear that these attacks are designed to terrorize entire populations of Iraqi towns and neighborhoods.

According to reports, in Falluja alone, over three hundred (later 600) Iraqis have been killed and hundreds more injured since attacks began on Sunday, April 4. There is fighting in Baghdad, particularly in the neighborhoods of Sadr, Adaamiya, Shula, Yarmok, and the cities and towns of Falluja, Ramadi, Basrah, Nasiriya, Kerbala, Amarah, Kut, Kufa, Najaf, Diwaniya, Balad, and Baquba. Residences, hospitals, mosques and ambulances trying to transport the injured are being bombed and fired at by Occupation Forces? guns and tanks.

Falluja and Adaamiya are currently under siege, surrounded by Occupation Forces, in contravention of the Geneva Convention that prohibits holding civilian communities under siege. Hospitals do not have access to sufficient medical aid, essential medicine and equipment or blood supplies. In Falluja, the hospitals have been surrounded by soldiers forcing doctors to establish field hospitals in private homes. Blood donors are not allowed to enter; consequently, mosques in both Baghdad and Falluja are collecting blood for the injured. Water and electricity have been cut off for the past several days.

In Sadr City US helicopters have fired rockets into residential areas destroying homes. Although no curfew has officially been imposed, US soldiers have made a practice of aiming tank fire on cars they find moving through the streets after dark. On Tuesday night alone, at least 6 people were killed in this way. US forces continue to occupy and surround all the police stations and the Sadr municipal offices.

While these attacks have escalated sharply over the past week, they are in no way a new phenomenon in occupied Iraq. The indiscriminate killing of civilians and the refusal to provide people with security, electricity and decent medical infrastructure have characterized the ?freedom? that Occupation Authorities have brought to Iraq.

We call on the international community, civil society and the anti-war/anti-occupation movements to respond to this US-led war of terror with tangible displays of solidarity and support for Iraqi people facing this gruesome manifestation of the occupation.

Please take to the streets to demand an end to the US-led aggression. Organize protests around the world and demand: an immediate end to this massacre; an immediate end to the siege of Iraqi cities and neighborhoods; immediate access to humanitarian and medical aid organizations seeking to provide assistance to Iraqi people who are living under attack; and an end to the occupation of our nation.

Cities in which demonstrations have already been organized include Milan, Montreal, Tokyo, Istanbul, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York City.

To contact the International Occupation Watch Center in Baghdad,

please call 001 914 360-9079 or 001 914 360-9080. You can also email

eman@occupationwatch.org