EDINBURGH PEACE & JUSTICE CENTRE
St John's Terrace
Princes Street
Edinburgh EH2 4BJ
Tel: 229 0993
Email:peace-justice@btconnect.com
Diary of Events:
OCTOBER 2002
P& J NEWS
3 October: “Scotland - a Place of Refuge?” Open Forum at the Sanctuary, St George's West Church, entry from Stafford St. 7.30-9.00pm. Bernard Crick chairs:
Jackie Baillie MSP for Dumbarton; Christian Mahr of UNHCR; and two Home Office representatives from NASS unit on plans to 'disperse' asylum seekers in Scotland. All welcome.
Deadline for next newsletter: Monday 28 October
DIARY OF EVENTS:
Women in Black Vigils: Edinburgh 1st & 3rd Saturday of the month 1pm-2pm, Registrar House, Princes Street. Contact: Jane Lewis 0131 669 5591 jane@gn.apc.org
Peace Vigils: St John's Church Lothian Road, 2nd Saturday of the month, 11 am - 12 noon.
Tuesday 1st Oct: The G7 - the “Geneva Seven” - from NW England: two campaigners' describe visit to the WTO in Geneva. WDM talk 8.30pm. 14 Forth Street.
Wednesday 2nd Oct: Recycling: Nationally and Locally. The first of a series of talks at the Morningside Peace and Justice Group (MP&JG). Every Wednesday 10.30 am. at Open Door, 420 Morningside Road.
Wednesday 2nd Oct: A701 No Alignment Action Group. Public
meeting with Margo MacDonald MSP and Siobhan Samson FOE, at The Miners Welfare Club, Seafield Road, Bilston at 8 pm. (see News & Views)
Saturday 5th Oct: Greenham Common- celebration to commemorate Historic Site from 2 pm. (apologies for wrong September date)
Saturday 5th Oct: Justice and Peace Scotland Annual Gathering. Renfield St Stephen's Church Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow. G2 4JP 10 am - 4 pm. Tel 0141 333 0238 email. Justice.peace@virgin.net
Saturday 5th Oct: “Jock Tamson's New Bairns” 11 am - 1 pm Teviot Row Dining Hall, Teviot Row Union, University of Edinburgh. A day on the work of The Institute of Contemporary Scotland: A dramatisation of problems facing asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland, followed by discussion.
Sunday 6th Oct: Edinburgh Inter-Faith Pilgrimage. Gathering at Leith Links, St Andrew's Place, 1-1.15 pm - visiting St Mary's Church, Gurudwara and North Leith Parish Church. Further details: Victor Spence 01383 723412 or Louisa Gupta 0131 229 7220.
Sunday 6th Oct: Learn Self Defence. Edinburgh Claimants' Workshop 5.15 - 6.15pm on coping with the Sheriff's men. Also Social Night 5pm - 11pm: poetry by Sandie Craigie and music by Freeloadin' Frank. News on new law and supposed abolition of warrant sales. Open to all, free food and cheap drink, at CWU building 15 Brunswick Street.
Wednesday 9th Oct: Land Reform. Ian McNeil of Barra. MP&JG 10.30 am (see 2nd Oct for details).
Thursday 10th Oct: First meeting of Edinburgh Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. 7.30 pm at ACE, 17 W Montgomery Place (by Brunswick Road)
Saturday 12th Oct: Building Links in Uncertain Times. Launch of Democratic Left's new quarterly journal “Perspectives” and discussion of how to repair democracy and forge links between social campaigners. Friends Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, 1pm-3.30pm
Saturday 12th Oct: Charity Singathon. A sponsored 12-hour singathon in aid of Edinburgh Women's Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre. Southside Community Centre, Nicholson Street. To book performance times, 10 am - 10 pm call 557 6737 or Margaret Bremner 669 3684.
Saturday 12th Oct: Scrap Trident Demonstration organised by CND at Devonport, Plymouth.
Wednesday 16th Oct: After Petroleum. MP&JG at 10.30 am
(see 2 Oct for details)
Saturday 19th Oct: Small World Big Challenge. WDM Free public event at Methodist Hall, Tollcross, 12.45 pm - 5.00 pm. Online booking: www.smallworldbigchallenge.info
Saturday 19th Oct: The Arms Trade: Ethics and Jobs. CAAT speakers:Ian Goudie (arms conversion expert); Dr Michael Northcott, Reader in Divinity; and a speaker from the STUC. Sacred Heart Church Hall, Lauriston Street, 2 - 4pm
Wednesday 23rd Oct: Edinburgh and the Green Belt MP&JG 10.30am
(details as of 2rd Oct )
Thursday 24th Oct: Grand Namibia-Scotland Ceilidh. At Old St Paul's Church Hall 8.30-11.30pm. University of Namibia Choir and Dance Group & ALP and others. Call Pat Bryden: 0131 332 3163
Saturday 26th Oct: The Edinburgh One World Peace and Justice Concert. At Greyfriars Kirk - 6.30 pm for 7 - 10 pm £4/£2 concessions. Neil Walker 0131 331 4469
Tuesday 29th Oct: 'Miracles, Masters & An Extraordinary Story' Accounts of miracles over the last decade. 7 - 9 pm, highlighting forthcoming photographic exhibition: 'Sharing will save the world', at Craigmillar Arts Centre. Dates to be confirmed. Repeat in November at the Quaker Meeting House.
Tuesday 29th Oct: Future plans. Brainstorm by Jubilee Scotland, Edinburgh Branch. P&J Centre. 7.30pm . All welcome
Wednesday 30th Oct: Is Socialism Dead? MP&JG at 10.30am (details as on 2nd Oct)
NOVEMBER:
Tuesday 5 November: “A Voice of Welcome?” The Scottish media and asylum-seekers: 2nd open forum at The Sanctuary, St George's West, Stafford Street entrance, 7.30pm. Details from P&J Centre.
Saturday 9th Nov: Scottish Medical Aid for Palestine - Fund-Raising Day. Christ Church Hall, Morningside Road. Time: 10 am - 3 pm. Speaker: Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta at 12noon.
Tuesday 12 November: “Scotland -a land of opportunity?” How immigrants have enriched Scottish life. 3rd Open Forum at The Sanctuary, St George's West, Stafford Street entrance, 7.30pm. Details from P&J Centre
NEWS AND VIEWS
How Religious leaders see War with Iraq from www.zenit.org.
The spectre of US military action against Iraq has prompted many religious leaders to urge negotiations, or UN intervention, to avert an invasion or other form of attack.
Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Vatican secretary for relations with states, called for dialogue and said that the UN Security Council should decide on military action on behalf of the international community. U.S. RC bishops also urged restraint. RC Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor came out against the use of force. While he agreed that Iraq may pose a threat to regional security, he demanded clear evidence - in view of the “grave consequences that a war would have for our own country and for the world.” Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey also urged caution and the need for a strong consensus in the U.N. Future Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams also urges a peaceful solution.
In the US Jim Winkler, chief of the United Methodist Church's advocacy and action agency called for no attack and for Bush to seek a peaceful solution through the U.N. He said: “A pre-emptive war represents a major and dangerous change in US foreign policy. It also sets a terrible precedent for other nations.” 37 leaders within the WCC from the US, UK and Canada also urged the US and UK Governments to use restraint, because of the human costs of war. The presiding bishop of The US Evangelical Lutheran Church expressed deep concern about a possible pre-emptive military strike and the great suffering that Iraqi civilians would face. The Religious Society of Friends in the UK said neither economic suppression nor military action against Iraq has produced regional stability. It urged the US & UK to stop exporting arms to Iraq and the return of weapons' inspectors to be negotiated.
Other religious leaders favour a military option. Anglican Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali said western leaders have a responsibility to fight terror. The 16 million -member Southern Baptist Convention justified the use of force by Saddam's 'development of weapons of mass destruction' for use against the USA and her allies. National Association of Evangelicals Vice President for government affairs, Rich Cizik, said Saddam's involvement with al-Quaida amply justifies an attack.
However, at its annual conference the RC Theological Association of Great Britain opposed the idea of a 'just war'. It said: 'Opinions differ on the moral adequacy of traditional 'just
war' theory as grounds for using violence to settle disputes
between states. However, by any measure, an attack [on Iraq] would not meet even minimum requirements for a 'just war' in that tradition: *
notwithstanding the malignant character of the present Iraqi regime, the UK and the US do not possess the necessary international authority to remove by violence the ruler of a sovereign state * such a pre-emptive war could not legitimately be claimed as a measure of self-defence* peaceful means of resolving the dispute with Iraq have not been exhausted * and the violence involved would inevitably entail the suffering and death of many innocent people. It went on: “The rhetoric of the so-called 'war against terrorism' is being used to legitimate the selective and morally arbitrary use of violence against regimes whose interests conflict with our own. We fear that our country is being drawn into complicity with what would amount to an act of state terrorism in pursuit of a dangerously uncertain political outcome'.
Leifr Eiriksson Peace Award
The Leifr Eiriksson Peace Award 2002 goes to US Congresswoman, Barbara Lee for her courageous vote in the US Congress a year ago, on 14th September 2001. Barbara Lee was the only member of the US Congress to oppose Resolution 64, and the sole voice against 420 others who approved use of the US Armed Forces against an undisclosed number of nations and peoples, in an open-ended action by the President, and who significantly reduced Congress's authority in approving such future military action. Her words shall remain with us as a guideline: 'As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.'
The Award is being presented this year for the second time by the Peace 2000 Institute. www.peace2000.org it is named after Leifr Eirksson, Icelandic discoverer of Vinland - the American continent in the year 1000. In the same year, the Vikings of Iceland agreed to solve their differences on religion peacefully and lay down their arms at the Althing - www.althing.org.
Ecumenical News International News Highlights 13 September 2002
Churches in Sri Lanka mobilise for peace in advance of historic
talks. As the Sri Lankan government prepares for historic peace talks with Tamil rebels next week, churches in the island nation are mustering
support for the peace process, even
in the face of opposition by hard-liners from the Sinhalese majority. Represenatives of the Sri Lankan
government and the LTTE
(Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam), known as the Tamil Tigers met for talks in Thailand from 16-18 September in an attempt to resolve a two decade-old ethnic conflict that
has claimed nearly 65 000 lives.
Nigerian Christians and Muslims pray for peace on anniversary of
riots. A week-long programme of prayer and fasting has brought Muslims and Christians together in the central Nigerian state of Plateau on the anniversary of the bloody religious
conflicts that broke out here. A series of religious riots between Muslims and Christians began on 7 September 2001, soon engulfing the state and leaving more than 5000 people dead,
as well as destroying about 100 villages and forcing 500 000 to
flee their homes. The government-supported commemoration began
last Saturday, 7 September, and will conclude in churches and
mosques this weekend.
Jerusalem hospital threatened with closure by Israeli tax
Leaders in the Lutheran World Federation fear the Israeli government is about to impose an employer's tax that could cause the closure of the only hospital
offering modern treatment for certain illnesses to people living
in the Palestinian territories.
The LWF-run Augusta Victoria Hospital
in East Jerusalem is the only specialist cancer unit in the
territories and the sole centre for kidney dialysis. "Now that
they are imposing this tax, the danger is that the hospital will
close," a spokesman told journalists attending the 10-17 September
meeting of the LWF council, the organisation's main governing
body, taking place here.
CLOSER TO HOME
The Roundabout Way to Get Rid of the Greenbelt.
The building of a massive roundabout a Gowkley Moss, Milton Bridge, eight miles south of Edinburgh has left many people aggrieved at Midlothian Council, who see the development the as the first phase of a new A701 dual carriageway.
The road, which received planning permission in February 2000, could be a 'Trojan Horse' for further development in Edinburgh's Green Belt.
Local people have witnessed the steady destruction of the Green Belt over the years. Pressure groups have increasingly sprung up in Midlothian, due to the Council's reluctance to listen to concerns about the long-term damage to the countryside, and the short-term planning that will damage everyone's quality of life.