IAWM Bulletin

26 November 2003

Latest IAWM bulletin

Well done to the hundreds of thousands of British anti-war protestors and those from Ireland who joined them! George W. and Tony Bliar are were well and truly BUSHED-OFF !
 
What a brilliant week in England  George Bush was unable to move freely around London. He was confined to shuttling between Buckingham Palace and Downing Street. The state procession was cancelled, there was no address to parliament, and he was not even able to drive down Sedgefield High Street for his £1 million pub lunch. Although the protestors were denied the route of the march initially, the Stop the War Coalition forced the police to back down. It was a victory for civil liberties that they were able to take to the streets and march where they wanted and when they wanted.
 
The toppling of Bush’s statue in Trafalgar Square was the high point of the march and was front-page news around the world. No one can be in any doubt that he met mass opposition in Britain or that millions in Britain still oppose the war and the continuing occupation. There were also tens of thousands marching outside London on the Wednesday, including large protests in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, Manchester and Newcastle.
 
We had a small but very vocal demonstration outside the US embassy in Dublin in solidarity with the protestors in Dublin.
 
Internal Exile for Shannon Protestor! Meanwhile in Shannon, the case of most of the protestors charged with blockading the road at the demonstration at Shannon on 21 June was adjourned. However, one defendant, a resident of Shannon town was fined €200 and ordered to absent himself from his home and Shannon Town whenever the Gardai inform him that a protest is happening at Shannon Airport. Is this Justice? Is it constitutional? Does the judiciary make up the rules as it goes along? The Stalinist tactic of internal exile is obviously finding more and more appeal with the Co. Clare judges.
 
Buses to Shannon: Advance booking is essential!!  – otherwise you could be left behind, if there is no room!!
 
From
Contact
Contact details
Departs at/from
Dublin
Aoife
087 795 5013
9 am Aston Quay (Virgin Megastore)
Cork
John
086 300 4573
10.30 am Opera House
Waterford
Roy
086-327 4015
 
West Cork
Dominic
clonakiltyagainstthewar@eircom.net
Book early!!  Numbers limited!!
 
Fundraising: Get your fundraiser organised now! Send details to info@irishantiwar.org and we will ensure that your event is highlighted in this bulletin and on the website.
 
Up-coming IAWM events
 
Wed, 26 November Public Meeting
“Future of Shannon,a U.S. military airbase?”
 
8 pm Smyths Pub, Fairview, Dublin hosted by Fairview Against War
Link to item in IAWM website
 
Fri, 28 November          Picket
NO WARLORD IN BELFAST
 
6.30 pm Students Union, Queen’s University Belfast
 
Iraq War British Commander in Belfast. Col. Tim ‘Wipe them out’ Collins will appear at QUB. Join the protest called by Belfast Anti War Movement supported by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign amongst others.
   Link to item in IAWM website
`
Sat, 6 December          U.S. TROOPS OUT OF SHANNON!
Blockade the Warport
 
Assemble  at 2 pm at Lidl Carpark in Shannon Town. More details on IAWM website
Buses will be organised from Dublin (contact Aoife at 087 795 5013), Cork ( for more details contact John at
086 300 4573),  Galway (details later),
All Anti War groups are requested to hold public meetings, if possible in the weeks coming up to this protest. The public meeting should be used to build for as large a protest at Shannon as possible. Posters and leaflets are available. Call Colm at 087 194 7100
 
 
Other up-coming events
 
Fri-Sun, 28-30 Nov. Marxism 2003
TCD, Dublin, Organised by SWP and TCD SWSS
 
Marxism 03 is one of the foremost events for discussion and debate on the Irish left. It brings together speakers from the Irish and international movements against war and neo-liberalism.
 
International speakers include Mike Davis (US author of City of Quartz); Alex Callinicos (Prof. of Politics at York), plus socialist speakers from the Middle East and Africa. Other speakers include Eamonn McCann (Author and Journalist), Ivana Bacik (Reid Prf. Of Law, TCD), Patricia McKenna (MEP, Green Party), Richard Boyd Barett (Chair IAWM), Nuria Mustafa (Iraqi exile), Ronit Lenotin (Campaign against Deportations), Andy Storey (AfrI) and many more.
 
Anti-War Meetings include:
Fri, 8pm             Another World is possible: The New Resistance to Global Capital and War
Middle East socialist, Alex Callinicos, Brid Smith, Mike Davis
Sat, 11:45 am            Blood and Oil: The real history of the Middle East
Dave Lordan
Sat, 7 pm            Can we defeat the US Empire?
Richard Boyd Barrett,  Middle East socialist
Sun, 11.45 am            Global permanent war: A new era of Imperialism?
Donal Mac Fhearraigh
Sun, 11.45 am            Radical Islam and the fight for justice in the Middle East
Nuria Mustafa, Richard Boyd Barrett
 
Tickets: €20 waged, €10 unwaged
Phone 01-872 2682 or send a cheque or postal order to Marxism 03 c/o P.O. Box 1648, Dublin 8 Link to item on IAWM website
 
International anti-war events
 
30 November Colin Powell visit to Maastricht
 
Colin Powell will be present at the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) summit in Maastricht on the 1st and 2nd of December 2003. The main agenda during this summit is the «War on Terrorism» as the threat to stability and security in the 21st century. Representatives from 55 nations in Europe, Central Asia, and North America will be participating, including the US secretary of foreign affairs, Colin Powell.
 
The platform Enmasse has organized a demonstration on Sunday 30th of November in Maastricht starting at 13.30h. We will gather at the «Koningsplein», and go on foot to «de Griend». For more information see www.enmasse.tk