The Raytheon 9 are an inspiration. I just got a phone call from my friend Les who's trying to get a plane ticket to get to Belfast for the Raytheon 9 trial. Les hasn't been to Northern Ireland since he did three tours with the British military. He says is it is so exciting that socialists and republicans are experimenting with nonviolent direct action and he wants to be there to support them at the trial. He says that this would be a great way for him to return to Northern Ireland - confront his past and celebrate a future with a community in resistance to war.

Related Links: www.raytheon9.org Indy.ie coverage Raytheon 9 Pamphlet

The five day hunger strike by three sacked airport shop stewards, Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer was suspended at 5.30 this afternoon after the workers received a letter from the union solicitors guaranteeing that their demands would be met.

Related Links: Previous Indy coverage

Hunger Strike Update- Gordon McNeill Taken to City Hospital

Hunger striker Gordon McNeill has been rushed to City Hospital for treatment. An ambulance was called to the scene at Transport House due to a deterioration in his condition. Gordon is on his fourth day without food and his second day without water. Also on hunger strike are Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer. The former airport shop stewards have taken the action to demand talks with the leadership of Unite/TGWU, who have refused to meet with the workers.

For more information, contact Chris Bowyer on 07764850945, Madan Gupta on 07810290938 or Gary Mulcahy on 07743282321.

Related Links: Union official accused Previous Indy coverage UNITE's Belfast Office DearUNITE.com

This morning, Thursday 27 April peace activists from the Belfast-based Justice Not Terror Coalition staged a ‘die-in’ and blockade at the main gate of Thales Air Defence, Alanbrooke Road, Castlereagh.

‘This symbolic and totally non-violent action effectively blockaded and closed down the main entrance to the Thales war profiteers site in Belfast for a period of time. We re-enacted an everyday scene from the streets of Baghdad, Samarra, Fallujah and other Iraqi towns and cities under US and UK military occupation’, said JNTC member Ann Patterson.

‘War profiteers Thales in Belfast specialise in short-range missiles for the British government’s war efforts. Arms traders such as Thales concentrate on strategies to make a killing from armed conflicts. We are calling on the decision makers in Thales to start using the expertise and skills of their workers in socially useful ways rather than manufacturing weapons of death and destruction’, said Mark Chapman.

Over two hundred residents from the Beechmount - Falls Road area mobilised last night in protest at the recent racist attack on the home of four Lithuanians. Addressing the crowd Sara Boyce {ARN steering group and West Belfast ARN} stated that:

'Only last week, a German magazine claimed Belfast was the most racist city in the world. What happened here at the weekend does little to dispel this claim. Ethic minorities throughout Belfast are being routinely victimised, whether it is through having their homes attacked or being called names when walking the streets'.

Local Sinn Fein Councillor Tom Hartley called on the local community not to allow a gang of thugs to destroy its good name:

'We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Lithuanians forced from their homes and show them that what happened is despised by the wider community. People of all ethnic minorities are welcome in West Belfast. This area is not a cold house for anyone. The group that carried out the attack are not just racist - they have also continually attacked members of their own community.'

Continue reading about the work of the Anti-Racist Network and about their upcoming 'Love Music Hate Racism' March 6th concert in Belfast at the 'feature continued' link below.