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STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER
No. 1070 06 January 2009
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
T: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
1) THE GAZA KILLING FIELDS: DEMONSTRATE 10 JANUARY
2) SHOES FOR THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS
3) LONDON RALLY: THURSDAY 8 JANUARY
4) ALL SCOTLAND DEMONSTRATION 10 JANUARY
5) PLEASE DONATE TO OUR GAZA EMERGENCY FUND
6) CAN YOU HELP STEWARD ON SATURDAY?
7) VOLUNTEERS NEEDED AT THE STOP THE WAR OFFICE
8) HAROLD PINTER AND ADRIAN MITCHELL
9) COUNTERING ISRAEL'S LIE MACHINE
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1) THE GAZA KILLING FIELDS: DEMONSTRATE 10 JANUARY
NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 10 JANUARY
STOP THE MASSACRE : ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA
ASSEMBLE 12.30PM SPEAKERS CORNER,HYDE PARK
(Nearest tube Marble Arch) Rally & speakers in Hyde park
MARCH TO ISRAELI EMBASSY High St Kensington, London W8
Anyone with a shred of humanity who watches the video we
feature below will do all they can to join the national
demonstration in London this Saturday 10 January, and will
encourage everyone they know to be there too.
In the video a Norwegian doctor working in a Gaza hospital
he calls "Dante's Inferno, hell", describes how Palestinians
- particularly the children, who are 50 percent of the
population - are dying and suffering horrific injuries for
the crime of being civilians living in Gaza. "They cannot
flee as other populations can in war time because Israel has
them trapped in a cage," he says.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE http://www.stopwar.org.uk/ OR HERE
http://tinyurl.com/9d572c
Over 600 Palestinians have been killed and over 3000
injured. The numbers are rising sharply following the ground
invasion. If Britain with a population of 60 million was
Gaza, the proportionate number of deaths would be 24,000,
with over 120,000 injured.
Israel has also systematically destroyed Gaza's
infrastructure. Two thirds of the people have no electricity
and 750,000 have no running water. Hospitals are running on
emergency generators, which are expected to fail at any
moment. There is a desperate shortage of essential medical
supplies. Many people are on the brink of starvation because
the United Nations, on which 80 percent of the population
depends for emergency food, has run out of many supplies and
because it is too unsafe to transport what is still
available.
As the Norwegian doctor in the Gaza hospital says, "This
cannot go on. It is an all out war against the civilian
population." Please do all you can to communicate the same
message as widely as possible and help make Saturday's
demonstration the largest ever mounted for Palestine in this
country.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
* Get publicity materials from the Stop the War office
(postcards) or website (leaflet to download and copy).
Distribute them among your friends, family, neighbours, work
colleagues, fellow students etc. Encourage them to join the
demonstration and spread the word among their own contacts.
Order postcards: Telephone 020 7278 6694
Download leaflet: http://tinyurl.com/6svbt7
* There are local Stop the War groups across the country who
will be doing all they can this week to mobilise the widest
possible support for the demonstration. If you would like to
help, contact the Stop the War office to see if there is a
group in your area.
* Donate to the Stop the War Emergency Gaza Fund:
http://tinyurl.com/3dhzpn
NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 10 JANUARY
STOP THE MASSACRE : ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA
ASSEMBLE 12.30PM SPEAKERS CORNER,HYDE PARK
(Nearest tube Marble Arch) Rally & speakers in Hyde park
MARCH TO ISRAELI EMBASSY High St Kensington, London W8
COACHES FROM OUTSIDE LONDON
Towns and cities across Britain are organising coaches to
bring protestors to London. Details are on the Stop the War
website: http://preview.tinyurl.com/8r8s8y
If you are organising a coach for your area please email the
details to the national Stop the War office:
office@stopwar.org.uk
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2) SHOES FOR THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS
In the spirit of Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi, who
used his shoes to protest over George Bush's war crimes,
hundreds of shoes were left at Downing Street during last
week's demonstration in London. It was a news event that
captured headlines across the world's media.
We will repeat the symbolic protest this week by delivering
shoes to the Israeli Embassy, the destination of our march.
Please bring as many pairs of old shoes as you can, so, like
Muntadar al-Zaidi, we can say, "This is for the widows and
orphans and all those killed."
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3) LONDON RALLY: THURSDAY 8 JANUARY
WITH TONY BENN, TARIQ ALI AND GEORGE GALLOWAY MP
RALLY: STOP THE GAZA MASSACRE
THURSDAY 8 JANUARY 7.30 PM
FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE
EUSTON RD, LONDON NW1 2BJ
Map: http://tinyurl.com/7r9ez5. Nearest tube: Euston.
SPEAKERS: Tariq Ali , Tony Benn, George Galloway MP, Lindsey
German (Stop the War), Sally Hunt (UCU), Hugh Lanning,
Jeremy Corbyn MP, British Muslim Initiative speaker,
Palestinian speaker.
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4) ALL SCOTLAND DEMONSTRATION 10 JANUARY
STOP THE MASSACRE: ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA
DEMONSTRATION IN EDINBURGH
SATURDAY 10 JANUARY 2009
ASSEMBLE 12:30PM EAST MARKET STREET
Behind Edinburgh Waverley train station
MARCH THROUGH CITY CENTRE TO US CONSULATE
Bring in-date medicine for Gaza, and spare shoes.
Supported by Stop the War Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh,
Pauline McNeil MSP, Sandra White MSP, Muslim Association of
Britain, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Glasgow
Palestine Human Rights Campaign, Lebanese Community
Scotland, Scottish Afghan Society, Scottish Islamic
Foundation
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5) PLEASE DONATE TO OUR GAZA EMERGENCY FUND
Stop the War has no rich benefactors. We depend entirely on
donations and membership subscriptions to fund our tiny
office and all our antiwar activities through the year. When
a major campaign arises, such as the Israeli atrocities in
Gaza, we need to raise large amounts of extra funding to
cover the costs of national demonstrations, rallies,
leaflets, placards, banners etc.
The response to our Emergency Gaza Fund has been tremendous
but we still need more funding if we are to make our Gaza
campaign as effective as possible. Please donate as
generously as you can. There are three ways to donate:
* ONLINE: http://tinyurl.com/3dhzpn
* BY POST: Cheques made to "Stop the War Coalition". Send to
27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP
* BY CREDIT/DEBIT CARD: Telephone 020 7278 6694
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6) CAN YOU HELP STEWARD ON SATURDAY?
We anticipate a very big demonstration on Saturday and we
need more volunteers to help us steward the day. If you can
help please contact Shirley by phone or text on 07958 745802
or call the national office on 020 7278 6694.
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7) VOLUNTEERS NEEDED AT THE STOP THE WAR OFFICE
We need volunteers in our national office over the next
three days, as we prepare for the Saturday's demonstration.
Our office is at Kings Cross in London. If you have any time
and would like to help, telephone 020 7278 6694 or email
your contact details to office@stopwar.org.uk.
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8) HAROLD PINTER AND ADRIAN MITCHELL
Harold Pinter and Adrian Mitchell, two writers who spoke
many times at Stop the War events and who were stalwarts of
the peace movement for many decades , have died in the last
month. They will be sorely missed.
* Harold Pinter poems on war: http://tinyurl.com/9qz84f
* Adrian Mitchell poem on war: http://tinyurl.com/a5hw6a
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9) COUNTERING ISRAEL'S LIE MACHINE
Many of our supporters have contacted Stop the War to ask
what can be done to counteract the seemingly endless stream
of Israeli propaganda, most of which absurdly presents
Israel - the fourth largest military power in the world - as
in some way the victim of the mass slaughter we are
witnessing it inflict on Gaza.
Thankfully we don't have to rely on the mainstream media to
discover the reality behind Israel's lie machine. Here are
some of the articles Stop the War has found invaluable over
the past two weeks:
The Gaza Bloodbath
By Mike Whitney: http://tinyurl.com/77s9q3
Understanding the Gaza Catastrophe
By Richard Falk, UN representative in the Palestinian
territories: http://tinyurl.com/8oxdt6
Stealing Gaza
By Brian Eno: http://tinyurl.com/9fxufb
Why Israel went to war in Gaza
By Chris McGreal: http://tinyurl.com/77qjd8
Israel's Attempted Endgame in Gaza
By Jennifer Loewenstein: http://tinyurl.com/7db4mn
Thoughts of an Israeli ex-soldier:
http://tinyurl.com/9d5xg5
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NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION: SATURDAY 10 JANUARY
STOP THE MASSACRE : ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA
ASSEMBLE 12.30PM SPEAKERS CORNER, HYDE PARK
Rally & speakers in Hyde park
MARCH TO ISRAELI EMBASSY
High St Kensington, London W8
Nearest tube Marble Arch
