Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition at the Edinburgh World Justice Festival
War and Refugees 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Monday 17 October With Roza Salih

AND ON TUESDAY: Vigil for Calais Refugee Children Event Tuesday in Edinburgh ? & Come along! https://www.facebook.com/events/204306746646727/

STOP BOMBING ALEPPO – Russia/US hands off SyriaAs left activists call on Jeremy Corbyn to speak out on Syria, Edinburgh Stop the War called a picket of the Russian consulate for an hour on Tuesday 11 October from 5.30 to 6.30 pm, 58 Melville Street, EH3 7HF FB event at https://www.facebook.com/events/1670073029975771/
Join us in calling for an immediate halt to the bombing. Read the Scottish Stop the War Statement at https://scotlandstopwar.org/2016/09/29/statement-on-syria/

On Saturday 8th October Edinburgh CND will have a Stall at the East End of Princes Street (outside register house) from 12 to 1pm.
After that we will be moving to the Augustine United Church where we will have a joint stall at the following event:

Migration Gathering- Challenging Myths: Respond Positiviely
When:Saturday 8th October, 1:30-6:30pm
Where:Augustine United Church, EH1 1EL
Organised by Edinburgh World Justice Festival (EWJF). Workshop to learn more about the issues and chart ways forward. Join together with migrants, asylum seekers, settled refugees and those who advocate for them for an afternoon to explore what people in Edinburgh can do. For details, updates and full festival programme see http://www.ewjf.org.uk/ andhttps://www.facebook.com/ewjf1/ on Facebook

On Monday 3rd we held our own EWJF meeting on Jeju Island and the Chagos Islands. We will be continuing with developing actions around this theme at our next meeting on the 7th November.

There is still 12 days of the EWJF to go. Other events we will be present at include:

1. Scottish Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Migration: giving women a voice 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Monday 10 October
Laila Alodaat talking about WILPF’s international work

2. David Rovics gig Wednesday, October 12 at 8 PM – 11 PM
The Canons’ Gait, 232 Canongate, Edinburgh Tickets still available

3. Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition
War and Refugees 7.30pm – 9.30pm, Monday 17 October With Roza Salih

STOP PRESS: ICJ turns down Marshall Islands plea
CND regrets this morning’s judgement by the International Court of Justice on the United Kingdom’s nuclear disarmament obligations. Judges threw out a case brought by the Marshall Islands that said the UK, in failing to get rid of its nuclear weapons, was in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The ICJ agreed with the UK’s objection to the case, in which they claimed to be unaware of a dispute with the Marshall Islands on this issue, a legal requirement to proceed.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “The Marshall Islands is one of the main victims of nuclear weapons and has suffered greatly from other states testing warheads over their country. From 1948 – 1956 the United States detonated 67 nuclear weapons test explosions over the Marshall Islands. Several islands were vaporized, others will remain uninhabitable for thousands of years. Many Marshallese died, babies were born with birth defects never seen before, and residents of the islands are still battling with cancers and other radiation-related diseases. It is no wonder that they want to see an end to nuclear weapons. “If the ICJ fails to properly consider their case, where do the Marshallese go to seek justice? The UK signed the NPT almost fifty years ago, committing to enter negotiations to get rid of its nuclear weapons. Instead, the government is in the process of spending at least £205 billion on new nuclear weapons – with the metal cutting tragically starting today. A mechanism is needed to ensure compliance with this international treaty, as currently the UK is dodging its obligations.”

OTHER NEWS:

1. Anti-nuclear campaigners have condemned Shadow Defence Secretary Clive Lewis’ comments on Trident in his speech at Labour Party conference 2016 . Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“Clive Lewis stated that Labour will now prioritise support for multilateral disarmament initiatives. All well and good but what use is that if Labour fails to oppose Trident replacement? How can Labour claim to work for multilateral disarmament if it supports the government building a new nuclear weapons system at a cost of £205 Billion? This means Labour is supporting nuclear rearmament. More news available here: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/50a46ed98fb9032bd46d11880/files/October_2016.pdf
+++++++reminder:. It’s that time of the year when CND reviews its work and sets the campaigning priorities for the year ahead. Conference 2016 will take place in Manchester on the 22nd and 23rd October and is hosted by Greater Manchester & District CND (if you’re a member of CND there’s still time to register for the AGM.)

2. The latest edition of Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre News is available here: http://peaceandjustice.org.uk/

3. Shetland to Scilly – New Technologies for Peace Journey is now complete. See the full story here:
http://www.shetlandtoscillyforpeace.com

4. LOS ALAMOS STUDY GROUP This is the first Bulletin in a long time. It has been truly difficult to keep up this summer. Please visit http://www.lasg.org for recent talks and pertinent press “clippings” as well as the Study Group blog, Forget the Rest. An essay (“Sustainability Requires Resistance”), written for the forthcoming issue of Solar Times, was published there today. If you are interested in our local work you will see more of it in our local letters; by all means come to one or more of these events.
+++++++STOP PRESS Bulletin 222: UN debate on banning nuclear weapons begins; 127 or more countries in favor so far

5. UNFOLD ZERO, World Future Council and the International Peace Bureau invited parliamentarians, peace advocates, tourists and others in Berlin to ‘help prevent a nuclear missile from being launched’ in front of the German parliament Chain Reaction 2016 culminates on October 2, which is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and which has been affirmed by the United Nations as the International Day for Nonviolence.

6. NEW POST: This month Lacuna magazine’s Editor in Chief A. T. Williams tells the story of widespread allegations of abuses by British soldiers in Iraq in Hear No Evil See No Evil: The UK and the Iraq Allegations. He has followed these events for a number of years in Lacuna, in other news outlets, and in his award winning book about the killing of one Iraqi detainee, Baha Mousa. In recent weeks and months the national newspapers have returned to these stories. But is the current furore just another stage in the failure of the UK government to find out the truth of what really happened in Iraq?