War Is A Crime .org

STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 1029
03 December 2007
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
T: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) WORLDWIDE PEACE PROTESTS PLANNED FOR MARCH 2008
2) DECLARATION OF WORLD AGAINST WAR CONFERENCE
3) RHYTHMS OF PEACE CONCERT: A GREAT SUCCESS

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1) WORLDWIDE PEACE PROTESTS PLANNED FOR MARCH 2008
Over 1,200 delegates from the anti war movement across the
world came to London for the World Against War International
Peace Conference on 1 December. The conference ended with a
declaration announcing plans for worldwide protests in March
2008, on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, calling
for all foreign troops to be removed from Iraq and Afghanistan
and opposition to any attack on Iran (see declaration below).

Delegates from 26 countries addressed the conference, reported
on developments in their regions and discussed strategy for
the movement. Countries represented were Canada, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland,
Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Netherlands,
Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Somalia, South Korea,
Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United States and the United
Kingdom, which had around 1000 delegates from all corners of
the country.

Videos of all the speeches at the conference are now available
on the Stop the War website (http://www.stopwar.org.uk/).

There was a unanimous commitment by all participants to
organise worldwide demonstrations between 15-22 March 2008 and
this declaration was re-affirmed at an organising meeting for
international delegates on the day following the World Against
War conference.

All Stop the War Coalition local groups and affiliated
organisations are urged to start planning now for building the
largest possible turnout for the British WORLD AGAINST WAR
demonstration, which will take place on 15 March 2008.

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2) DECLARATION OF WORLD AGAINST WAR CONFERENCE
Agreed unanimously by 1200 delegates from 26 countries
attending the World Against War Conference on Saturday 1
December 2007.

This conference of delegates from peace, anti-war,
anti-imperialist and liberation movements across the world
declares its opposition to the "endless war" prosecuted by the
US government against states, peoples and movements in all
parts of our planet.

We oppose the interference of the US and its allies in
sovereign states, and assert the right of all peoples to
self-determination. We support all people fighting for peace
and against imperialism.

In particular, we demand:

* An immediate end to the illegal military occupation of Iraq,
which has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced
millions of people, a withdrawal of all foreign troops and the
full transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people and their
representatives.
* A halt to all preparations for an attack against Iran, and a
commitment to solve any issues through exclusively diplomatic
means.
* A withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, allowing
the Afghan people to determine their own future.
* Justice for the Palestinian people, and an end to Israeli
aggression throughout the Middle East.
* An end to plans for US missile defence, and that all states
actively pursue nuclear deterrence.

We affirm the solidarity of all those fighting for peace,
social justice and self-determination worldwide, and commit
ourselves to strengthening our unity and developing new forms
of co-operation.

We therefore designate the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq
as a worldwide day of action in support of the demands NO
ATTACK on IRAN and TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ/ and AFGHANISTAN and
call on all national anti-war movements to hold mass protests
and demonstrations on that day.

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3) RHYTHMS OF PEACE CONCERT: A GREAT SUCCESS
On the eve of the World Against War Peace Conference,
musicians and singers, actors and comedians, politicians and
authors, activists and artists, performed at the highly
successful Rhythms of Peace fundraising concert for Stop the
War Coalition in St James' Church in Piccadilly.

The performers were introduced by Andrew Murray, national
chair of Stop the War, and began with Eugene Skeef drumming
the audience into the church and giving a recital on the
berimbau, a musical instrument derived from a bow and arrow.

Novelists Ahdaf Soueif and Haifa Zangana read from their
novels. Journalist John Pilger received a very warm welcome
and read an extract about the Vietnam war from one of his
books.

The acting profession was represented magnificently by Julie
Christie reading poems by Palestinians, David Soul,
accompanied by guitarist Hugh Burns, singing his own anti-war
song, Timothy West and Prunella Scales, whose contributions
included passages from Shakespeare, and Janet Suzman, who
stood in for Michael Kustow to read his angry poem about the
2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon

Mezzo soprano Janet Shell, accompanied by composer Keith
Burstein, sang writer Ben Okri's words to Ben himself, who
joined the audience. Dave Randall from Faithless performed
with his new group Slovo, in which the young rapper Bobby
Whiskers got a tremendous reception.

There were contributions from Stop the War president Tony
Benn, Stop the War officers Lindsey German and John Rees,
Jeremy Corbyn MP and CND chair Kate Hudson. The evening ended
uproariously with US comedian Dave Lippman as CIA singing
agent George Shrub (from the Committee to Intervene Anywhere).

Eugene Skeef drummed the audience out of the church past
artist Gerry Judah's 'Motherland' painting, a final reminder
that art is a vital and necessary ally of the anti-war
movement.

Stop the War gives its warmest thanks to all the performers
who made the concert such a memorable evening and to the
audience which filled St James' Church and enabled us to raise
the ever important funds we need to sustain our anti-war
activities, as the warmongers plan for even more mass
slaughter and destruction.