Anti-War Ireland bulletin, 7/5/04

national | anti-war / imperialism | news report Friday May 07, 2004 06:42 by Anti-War Ireland info at antiwarireland dot org 087 1258325

ANTI-WAR IRELAND bulletin, 7 May 2004.

Convenor: Fintan Lane (087 1258325)

PROs/Spokespersons: Caoimhe Butterly (087 2134160) and Tim Hourigan (087 9777703)

Anti-War Ireland is a broad-based and inclusive national alliance of anti-war groups. It is explicitly anti-racist and anti-sexist.

CONTENTS:

1. Introduction

2. Open-air meeting and leafleting in support of Mary Kelly in Ennis, County Clare, 12.30pm onwards, Saturday, 8th May. Organised by Anti-War Ireland.

3. AmBush2004 organising meeting in Limerick, 2pm, Saturday, 8th May.

4. Anti-war picket at Baldonnel aerodrome, 3pm, Sunday, 9th May. Organised by the IAWM.

5. ‘No Prescriptions for Profit’ demonstration at EU Health Ministers’ Summit in Cork, 10am, Tuesday, 11th May. Initiated and supported by the Cork Anti-War Campaign/Anti-War Ireland.

6. Anti-war picket of US Secretary for Health in Cork, 10am, Wednesday, 12th May. Organised by the Cork Anti-War Campaign and Anti-War Ireland.

7. Anti-War Ireland organising meeting in Dublin, 2pm-5pm, Saturday, 15th May. For details phone Fintan at 087 1258325, or email info@antiwarireland.org

8. Anti-War Ireland websites


1. INTRODUCTION

Over the past few weeks the brutal nature of the US occupation of Iraq has become increasingly clear, and concurrently the image, carefully nurtured by the Bush administration, of a grateful and supportive Iraqi people has fallen to pieces. Iraqi resistance has grown and a poll of 3,500 Iraqis, conducted jointly by the pro-occupation CNN and USA Today, at the beginning of May showed that only 19% view US troops as ‘liberators’, while 71% see them as ‘occupiers’. Media spin cannot obscure the harsh realities of imperialist invasion and occupation for those on the ground.

Those harsh realities include the mass killing of ordinary men, women and children during the ongoing siege of Fallujah. It is now estimated that roughly 800 people have been killed – the equivalent of four Madrid bombings – yet the US war machine trundles on. Thousands of innocent people have died in Iraq since the invasion in March of last year and we are still told that this act of aggression was carried out with the well-being of the Iraqi people in mind. Hundreds of coalition troops have also died and these men and women, mostly from working class backgrounds, are equally victims of the belligerent foreign policy of the Bush administration.

In recent days we have seen just how seriously the Bremer regime in Iraq takes its talk of ‘human rights’ and ‘democracy’ with the publication of truly appalling photographs of US and UK soldiers torturing, sexually assaulting, and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. There couldn’t be a clearer indication of how US rule operates in occupied Iraq – this is a country held by force of arms and by the use of wholesale terror.

The appalling nature of this present US administration has also been highlighted by George W. Bush’s recent declaration of support for Israeli land-grabbing in Palestine. The US continues to back the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine and the savage oppression of the Palestinian people. Bush is a warmonger and a clear and present danger to the well-being of people across the globe.

Anti-War Ireland is organising to oppose Bush when he lands in Ireland in late June. Recent polls have indicated that the majority of Irish people oppose the Bush visit and want a halt to the refuelling of US warplanes at Shannon. Anti-War Ireland is planning to meet this warmonger as he arrives at Shannon to highlight the extent of Irish opposition to his belligerent foreign policy and to simultaneously let our government know that we want the US killing machine out of Shannon. This will be an anti-government demonstration as much as an anti-Bush protest. Put the following date in your diary and spread the word:

*Demonstration to oppose the visit of George W. Bush and against the presence of the US military at Shannon Airport: Assembling Shannon town centre, 8pm, Friday, June 25th. Organised by Anti-War Ireland.

Dominic Carroll (Clonakilty) is co-ordinator of the Anti-War Ireland sub-group organising the Shannon demo and he can be contacted at clonakiltyagainstthewar@eircom.net.



2. MARY KELLY TRIAL

A circuit court judge has set June 15th as the date for the re-trial of Mary Kelly, who walked free from court last year when a Clare jury refused to convict her for an act of decommissioning on a US warplane parked at Shannon Airport. The State is determined to secure a conviction for this act of conscience and Mary faces a possible jail sentence if they have their way.

Anti-War Ireland fully supports Mary Kelly and we call on all anti-war activists to support her in a tangible fashion. An Anti-War Ireland sub-group has been established to organise and mobilise around Mary’s case and Liz Tully (Dublin) has been appointed as co-ordinator. It is essential that people help, and financial contributions to Mary’s support team would be especially welcome. Liz Tully can be contacted at fairviewantiwar@eircom.net.

Meanwhile, the Anti-War Ireland campaign in support of Mary gets up and running this coming Saturday with an open-air meeting and stall in the centre of Ennis, County Clare. The event kicks off at 12.30pm and all are welcome to help out! Leafleters etc. particularly welcome!

This Saturday’s open-air meeting is the first of series that will be held in the run-up to Mary’s trial and it is expected that will take place every Saturday. For information, contact Liz Tully at the email address given above. Mary Kelly needs your active support right now – there is little point in saying ‘I should have helped’ when she’s sitting in Limerick Prison, so get stuck in now and help her to secure a ‘not guilty’ verdict from the people of Clare!



3. AMBUSH2004 MEETING IN LIMERICK, Saturday, 8th May

Report from AmBush2004: “AmBUSH 2004! was initiated from a meeting attended by representatives of Mid-West Alliance Against Military Aggression (Anti-War Ireland), Galway Grassroots Group, Cork Grassroots Group, and Dublin Grassroots Group. From our last meeting on the 18th of April we are proposing the following strategy: We have local protests before Bush arrives – these to be directed at Top Oil, the company which re-fuels the American warplanes at Shannon, or Esso, in view of their financing of Bush's election campaign, and as a way of highlighting the oil-profit-war axis.
We echo the call for a demonstration at Shannon airport on the night of Friday June 25th coming out of the initial Anti-War Ireland meeting.
We propose this takes the form of a `Hands Around Shannon' carnival, an encirclement of the airport with candles, torches and other light bearing objects, and drums, guitars, pots, whistles and other noise making instruments, plus kites and whatever else that makes a spectacle. Our aim is that the maximum number of people come to participate in these protests.
We aim to establish an international peace camp in Shannon, at least for the duration of the summit.
The next AMBUSH 2004! meeting takes place in Limerick, at 2pm on Saturday the 8th of May.
You can contact us at: ambush2004_info@yahoo.com.”



4. ANTI-WAR PICKET AT BALDONNEL AIRPORT

Assemble at the gates of Baldonnel Aerodrome (off Naas Road, near West Link Business Park) Sunday 9th May 3pm.

Bring your family, friends, banners, drums, whistles.

Since the beginning of 2003 over 150,000 US troops have stopped over in Shannon Airport. This figure averages at 1400 per month and is set to increase as the US occupation of Iraq intensifies.
The Evening Herald ran a headline a few weeks ago showing a US Hercules aircraft parked in Baldonnel airport in West Dublin, sporting the Jolly Roger (flag of war) flag. US and British military aircraft have been using Baldonnel as a rest-over point on route to Iraq.
We need to highlight the use of Baldonnel as a base for US war machine and its occupation of Iraq. The American regime are poised to send even more troops to back up their brutal and illegal occupation of Iraq. As the war intensifies Baldonnel will be used as Ireland’s second WARPORT.
(off Naas Road, near West Link Business Park).

Contact Gino at 085 7211574 for more details. Organised by the IAWM.



5. MARLBORO MAN NOT WELCOME HERE · No Prescriptions for Profit
Demonstration at EU/US Health Ministers’ Meeting at Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork on Tuesday 11th May at 10am

The US Secretary of Health, Tommy Thompson, and EU Health Ministers will find themselves the subject of a noisy protest when they gather in Cork next Tuesday 11th May for a meeting in Rochestown Park Hotel. The coalition of campaigning groups and political parties which has called the demonstration has adopted the slogan "No Prescriptions for Profit", and intends to embarrass Health Minister Micheál Martin for daring to invite warmonger Tommy Thompson and his UK counterpart, John Reid, to a health conference at the very moment their troops continue to pile up the corpses and wounded in Iraq.

Incredibly, Thompson will speak on cardiovascular health despite having been funded to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars by US tobacco giant, Phillip Morris, purveyors of Marlboro cigarettes and numerous other brands of death-stick.

Thompson is a thoroughly bad fish in many other ways: a militant Catholic, he has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the president in what’s being called “Bush’s Other War” against women’s reproductive rights, and pioneered work-for-welfare programmes in the US.

The protest is open to all, and will gather at 10am in Douglas Court Shopping Centre carpark.

The demonstration will focus on the following issues:
· Peace not War
· Universal and free healthcare, not privatised healthcare
· Clean air and seas, not incinerators and pollution
· Public ownership of the pharmaceutical companies, not pharmaceutical profiteering
· A woman’s right to choose, not continued attacks on women’s reproductive rights.

We would urge activists from Cork and beyond to join the demo. Bring banners, placards, whistles and drums.
Initiated and supported by the Cork Anti-War Campaign/Anti-War Ireland



6. ANTI-WAR IRELAND PICKET on US Secretary of Health in Cork

The Cork Anti-War Campaign and Anti-War Ireland will be holding a picket on the second day of the EU Health Ministers conference in Cork. The specific target of this anti-war picket will be the US Secretary of Health, Tommy Thompson, who is attending the conference. Thompson is a member of the Bush cabinet and his hands are steeped in the blood of those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assemble outside the Rochestown Park Hotel at 10am, Wednesday, 12th May. All welcome and bring a homemade placard or some other symbol of your opposition to the warmongering of this administration.
For more information, phone 087 1258325.



8. ANTI-WAR IRELAND organising meeting in Dublin

A meeting of the Anti-War Ireland organising group will be held in the Teachers’ Club, Parnell Square, in Dublin, between 2pm and 5pm, on Saturday, 15th May. Anti-war activists are welcome to attend and participate. The three principal items on the agenda are the forthcoming Anti-War Ireland national conference (this was postponed and may now be held in June prior to the Bush visit); the Mary Kelly case (her trial is about to begin); and the Bush visit.
For further information, phone Fintan at 087 1258325.



9. ANTI-WAR IRELAND WEBSITES

A website – antiwarireland.org – is now at construction stage and we hope to have it up and running properly quite soon. We are also working on a website that will deal specifically with Shannon airport. More details in the next AWI bulletin.

ENDS