The Irish Anti-War Movement

The Galway Alliance Against War is holding a New Year’s Day Peace Party in the Rowing Club, Woodquay, Galway on January 1st starting at 7pm and admission is FREE.

The Guest of Honour will be Malalai Joya, a female member of the Afghan parliament, who has survived 4 assassination attempts – she is hated by both the Karzai regime that banned her from parliament and the Taliban.

Human Rights Watch described her as “the bravest woman in Afghanistan”. GAAW has arranged for a telephone link-up with Ms Joya from her base in the mountains of Afghanistan – Galway’s local peace group believes it will be a truly unique experience for people in Galway to hear first hand why the war in Afghanistan is not the solution to the problems of that troubled country.

GAAW is also hoping to have Sue Glenton, the wife of British Refusenik Lance Cpl Joe Glenton, as well as British MP George Galloway on this cyber-platform. At present Mr Galloway is leading Viva Palistina the multi-national relief convoy that is headed for Gaza to help break the Israeli blockade of that small Palestinian enclave. Galwegians will recall that this week marks the first anniversary of the Israeli onslaught of the Gaza Strip that left over a thousand Palestinian civilians dead.

Thanks to PANA for inviting me to speak at their 2009 AGM on behalf of Shannonwatch. Shannon Airport is the embodiment of the erosion of Irish neutrality and of Irish involvement in the business of global warfare. Sadly a large share of its business now is US military stopovers, although Ireland claims to be a neutral country. A state that has had a proud tradition of peacekeeping with the UN is now trying to profit from immoral and unnecessary wars. But offsetting the loss of commercial traffic – due to the ending of the Shannon stopover, the downturn in the global aviation industry, and other factors – with war traffic is not something we can or will ever accept.

Since the start of this decade – soon after the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers & Pentagon - the Irish government has made Shannon available to the US government. Its not the first time this happened – the US were also allowed to use Shannon during the 1991 Gulf War (bombers were seen at Shannon, en route to Iraq). But when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, the Irish government stepped up its support for the imperialist warmongering and allowed them to use Shannon as a refueling stopover. As a result the majority of soldiers being transported between the US and Iraq for most of this decade have passed through Ireland.

Global warming is receiving increasing attention at home and internationally. Copenhagen’s high profile world summit on climate change in December 2009 is being attended by 192 countries and 100 heads of state who will discuss emissions cuts and financial measures to combat climate change.

While it’s good that carbon emission cuts from industry are being discussed, an item that is not prominent on the agenda is that of the obvious harm that war does to the planet. Fuel-intensive combat, oil well fires, the boom in cement consumption due to reconstruction efforts and security needs, and heavy use of explosives and chemicals all contribute to global warming in a massive way.

Here are some facts on the Iraq war and the impact that this war alone has on the environment:

A year since the deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza in which 1,415 Palestinians were killed (including 318 children) and over 5,000 injured, no homes or schools have been rebuilt; most children have no textbooks or school supplies; the water and sewage systems have not been repaired; people are still dying for lack of medical care. How long must 1.5 million people wait before they can begin to reconstruct their lives?  The siege must end.  The borders must be opened. Governments have failed to act.  We must act instead. 

On 31 December, 2009, Irish civilians will be amongst the 1,000 international men and women who will end the year by marching alongside the Palestinian people of Gaza in a non-violent demonstration to demand that Israel end the illegal siege of Gaza.

Please endorse the Gaza Freedom March – sign the pledge:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/t/9750/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=2055

MARY MINIHAN and MARY FITZGERALD

MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has been refused permission to visit Gaza by the Israeli authorities, he told an Oireachtas committee.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs yesterday, Mr Martin said no substantive reason had been given for the refusal. Similar requests from other European countries had also been turned down.

“I just wanted to go in myself and see Gaza,” he said.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the initial request to visit Gaza had been made last month. The department had been advised by the Israeli government last week that access was not possible

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy said Mr Martin was not being singled out, and he was “always welcome” to visit Israel. “It is not the appropriate time to visit Gaza because of the Hamas terrorist regime that controls it. This can pose a . . . security risk,” the spokesman added.

Committee chairman Bernard Durkan condemned the decision. “This is totally intolerable. That an Irish foreign minister is not permitted to visit a region to assess a humanitarian situation is almost without precedent and is tantamount to censorship,” Mr Durkan said.

Matthis Chiroux is an Afghanistan veteran who refused to go back and won his subsequent trial.

He was with us here in Dublin at our IAWM AGM.

Hi folks. Just want to send out an account of my arrest last night at West Point in protest of Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan that he was announcing inside. Very successful action with many people participating and what's sure to be a few fun court dates to come! I feel fine and really appreciate being able to put down my thoughts about experiences like this and send them out to share with people to be shared with others. Hope ya'll find the time to read and pass around.

Peace and Solidarity,

Matthis Chiroux

Mara Ahmed and I were given the opportunity to interview Tariq Ali when he spoke at Hamilton College in Upstate New York on November 11, 2009, during his recent speaking tour of the United States. Tariq, a native of Pakistan who lives in England, is a well known writer, intellectual and activist. He has traveled all over Southwest Asia and the Middle East while researching his books. Mara, who is working on a film highlighting the opinions of the Pakistani people regarding the current situation in Pakistan and the Western initiated 'Global War on Terror', had a lot of questions for Tariq about the internal state of Pakistan. I wanted to ask Tariq for his opinion about the effects of American foreign policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and what alternatives he thought might be available. --JB

Mara: What is the role of Islamophobia in the Global War on Terror. Many American war veterans have described the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as imperialistic, racist and genocidal. Your comments?

Send messages of support to Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, in prison for speaking out against the Afghan war and facing  court martial for refusing to return to Afghanistan.

If Joe Lieberman, Howard Berman, the Jerusalem Post and the Israeli and American governments are all impressed by a particular Palestinian and enthusiastic about his past acts and future plans, what conclusion should any rational person draw ?   The article by the Editor of the Jerusalem Post transmitted below constitutes, in my opinion, essential reading.

Editor's Notes: Salam Fayyad builds Palestine