EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Dear Friends,

We are receiving many responses to our enquiries about actions against the war on Iraq. They continue to arrive. Some we have sent for translation.

It is clear that actions against the war are taking place in many countries. We summarise below the information we have received so far. We are posting this on the web (www.russfound.org). Do please keep us informed of developments. Where possible, please identify sources for further information (particularly web site addresses and e- mails).

Please note that the Cordoba dialogue of peace and human rights movements from Europe and West Asia will now take place in November, rather than on October 28/29, as previously announced. This is because of acute pressure on accommodation in the city at the end of October. The Mayor's office has proposed new dates of 25/26 November.

The European Social Forum (see www.fse-esf.org ), which meets in Florence from 7 to 10 November, will therefore take place before the Cordoba meeting.

With every good wish

Yours sincerely,

Ken Coates

Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation

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September 21

ITALY

We are having a first national encounter to launch a mobilization on the 21 of September in Rome. Please let us know of initiatives elsewhere in Europe. from Paola Manduca [ ]

FRANCE

Peace One Day

Activities in many French cities (see www.mvtpaix.org )

September 23

BELGIUM

Beginning at 12.15pm at CNCD (quai du commerce 9 à 1000 Bruxelles) there will be meeting about the situation in Iraq and what can be done in Belgium to prevent a new war on the country. Further information from Arnaud Ghys at CNAPD ( )

September 24

FINLAND

There will be a demonstration in Helsinki against the aggression planned by the US. The Finnish peace committee demands that the Finnish government takes a clear position toward the plans of U.S. to invade Iraq. Finland should declare, that we will stay out of military campaign even if the Security Counsel of UN will give a mandate for it. From  

September 28

LONDON

The 'Don't Attack Iraq/Freedom for Palestine' demonstration in London on Saturday 28 September is jointly organised by the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain, and supported by CND. It will assemble at Embankment and at 1pm will march to a giant rally at Hyde Park.

More information from the web ( www.stopwar.org.uk ). Messages of support to  

DUBLIN

The 'Don't Attack Iraq' demonstration takes place at 3pm on Saturday 28 September at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin. from Aoife Ni Fhearghail - Irish Anti-War Movement address: Inchicore phone: 087 7955013  

September 29

MADRID

The demonstration gathers at 12 o'clock on Sunday 29 September. It has been called by many social, political and trade union organisations. From Clara Sastre Responsable Dpto. Solidaridad OSPAAAL-Solidaridad  

ENGLAND

Saturday 12 October 12 midday to 4pm

Stop "Star Wars", Stop the War against Iraq

At Menwith Hill US Base near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, in the north of England. Menwith Hill is central to US communications, surveillance and Star Wars architecture. Organised by the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (CAAB) in support of the International Week of Protest called by the Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. (see www.caab.org.uk )

SCOTLAND

October 19

There will be a big demonstration in Glasgow. We are also organising a Scottish no war pledge by Members of the Scottish Parliament. from Hugh Kerr:  

REPORTS

GERMANY

from Willi van Ooyen (e-mail:   //

http://www.ostermarsch.info )

We are going on with different actions against the coming war about Iraq. The Wilhelmsburger Appell has more than 30.000 supporters. There are also our initiatives with the German Trade Unions. The German elections are on Sunday 22 September.

From Angelika Schneider, German branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation ( ) Our opposition to the threatened war has taken the following forms: - our peace-worker, Clemens Ronnefeldt, has been analysing the conflict between the western countries and Iraq ever since the Gulf War, continually writing and speaking on the background, US and Nato strategies, etc. - Support for a national rally last Saturday organised by Attac and the trade union youth groups, where opposition to Bush's policies was one of the major thrusts. - We are planning to send a delegation to Iraq under the aegis of the International Fellowship, hopefully in co-ordination with delegates from other IFOR branches.

SWEDEN

We are forming a coalition for peace in the Middle East,
No war in Iraq,
No sanctions.

Have a peace conference to solve the problems in the Middle-East, about the weapons of mass destruction, the Palestinian and Kurdish problems.

In peace,

Ingrid Ternert

Women For Peace, Gothenburg,  

TURKEY

A World Without War is Possible

Istanbul meeting calls for an end to Bush's War Madness An international syposium organised by the No to War Platform in Istanbul was attended by more than 300 trade unionists, human rights activists, Kurdish peace activists, students and representatives of many non-governmental organisations. The two-day event held on 14-15 September was addressed by speakers from Palestine, Israel, Greece and England, as well as local activists. On the first day, Eqtami Mihiar of the Palestinian Workers Union, Sergio Yahni of the Alternative Information Centre in Jerusalem, Yannis Sifakakis of the Genoa 2001 Campaign in Greece, Andrew Burgin of the Stop the War Coalition in Britain and Senol Karakas of the local No to War Platform discussed "How We Can Stop Bush's War". The speakers, and many of the audience who took part in the discussion which followed, stressed that this is a war for oil and an attempt to establish US hegemony both in the region and more broadly. The discussions ranged over the economic relations and contradictions between the US and the countries of the Middle East, the history of Iraq-US relations and the hypocrisy of the US position against a country which it supported and armed only ten years ago, the Palestinian Intifada and the likelihood that Israel will use the war against Iraq to impose a 'final solution' to its Palestinian problem. Everyone agreed that war would be an unmitigated disaster for ordinary people in all the countries of the Middle East, already stricken by IMF-imposed economic programmes and deep economic crisis. All speakers stressed the need for close co-operation between the anti-war movements in the region, for preventing the local governments from taking part in Bush's war and thus isolating the Bush administration. All agreed that we can stop this war. On the second day, Sebnem Korur Fincanci (Chairwoman of the Istanbul Chamber of Doctors), Sevgi Gögçe (Women's Secretary of the Public Sector Trade Unions Confederation, KESK), Hüsnü Öndül (Chair of the Human Rights Association), Ahmet Mercan (Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Organisation, Mazlum-Der) and Müyesser Günes (of the Mothers of Peace, an organisation of Kurdish women whose sons have died in the fighting) discussed "The Middle East: Turkey's Position in the War". Fincanci pointed out that Turkey spends only 2.9% of its budget on health, that schools which have fallen into disrepair remain closed because of lack of funds, while billions of dollars are spent on AWACS planes and a tank modernisation project which has been awarded to Israel. The speakers stressed that Turkey, with its military bases and its army of nearly one million, is a crucial ally of the US, and that it is therefore all the more important to force the government into a position where it cannot support the attack on Iraq. Opinion polls show that 80-90% of the population are opposed to any Turkish involvement in an attack on a neighbouring country with which Turkey has no bone to pick. The evening ended with a concert by the popular Grup Yorum. The No to War Platform's next big public event will be a No to War concert in October. The Platform's next co-ordinating meeting will discuss the possibility of calling an anti-war demonstration in late November.

UNITED STATES

Most immediately, we're trying to flood Congress with calls, faxes, etc. calling for inspections not war. Several people managed to disrupt Rumsfeld's Congressinal testimony yesterday. Here in New England we're preparing to protest Bush's visits to Boston and Manchester (New Hampshire) in early October. There's a demo in New York that weekend, on the 6th, and the ANSWER coalition has called a national demonstration in Washington on October 26. Many will be organising demonstrations at home as an alternative. We're also in the process of organising a major conference here on October 11 & 12. from Joseph Gerson, American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org) A REQUEST from the United States from David Portorti of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.

I am co-director of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, the group of family members of Sept. 11 victims who are opposed to war as a response to terrorism. I've just completed a "No More Victims" tour in conjunction with Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee, in which we brought together representatives from Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Japan and the US to discuss their experience of war.

As we begin to discuss our plans for the immediate future, I wanted to remind you (and your network) of our group's interest in speaking in European countries with a stake in impending war, particularly in Iraq. One of our number speaks German, and would be interested in travel there; I spent part of my Sept. 11 speaking with the BBC and ARD (as well as a newspaper in the Netherlands), and got a great number of supportive emails from all of those places.

Please keep us informed of upcoming conferences or opportunities where our presence might do some good, or at least open up some conversation. We would of course have to procure funding, but this is easier when given a specific purpose for being there.

Best regards,

David Potorti

Co-Director, Eastern U.S. Coordinator
September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
P.O. Box 4035
Cary, North Carolina 27519

www.peacefultomorrows.org