EVENTS:
- Tuesday 5th December: Edinburgh CND monthly meeting with AGM and winter treats, all welcome: 6pm to 7.30pm, Peace and Justice Centre, 5 Upper Bow, Edinburgh EH1 2JN.
- Friday 8th December: UN House, a partner organisation of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), will hold an open party on the eve of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, featuring Protest in Harmony: from 5.30 pm, Dolphin House, 4 Hunter Square, Edinburgh EH1 1Q. Please email if you wish to attend this.
- Saturday 9th December: UK CND Day has called a nationwide Day of Action to celebrate ICAN’s Nobel Peace prize win and to promote the United Nations treaty banning nuclear weapons. We will be having our monthly stall that day and intend to make it a part of this event: 12.00 noon (note earlier time) at the East End of Princes Street. We will be continuing until 1330 with the support of Women in Black. and From 2pm to 4pm there will be Peace Prize Crane-Making at the Peace and Justice Centre 5 Upper Bow
- UNFOLD ZERO encourages people to commemorate Human Rights Day today (December 10) by advancing the human right to freedom-from-the-threat-of-nuclear-weapons. They recommend two recent appeals on nuclear weapons and human rights to send to your parliamentarians and governments. Both of the appeals highlight the threat of nuclear weapons to current and future generations, and call on governments to undertake significant nuclear disarmament measures at the 2018 UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament.
Such measures could include non-nuclear states signing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (today being highlighted by the Nobel Peace Award) if they have not already done so, and nuclear-reliant states agreeing to no-first-use as a step towards comprehensive prohibition.
-
Monday 11th December WILPF Scottish Branch Party to celebrate ICAN winning the Nobel Peace Prize will be held at Serenity Café 6.15 to 8 pm Serenity Café The Tun, Jackson’s Entry, 111, Holyrood Road Edinburgh EH8 8PJ All Women Welcome. Check out the venue: www.serenitycafe.co.uk
The majority of Scottish parliamentarians are now committed to work for the new UN nuclear ban treaty. All SNP (including our First Minister Nicola Sturgeon), all Scottish Greens along with some Scottish Labour representatives (including leader Richard Leonard) have signed it. This commits signatories “ to work for the signature and ratification of this landmark treaty by their respective countries.“
Peace is the prize – Celebratory weekend (8-11 December)
On the 10th December, the Nobel Peace Laureates will take centre stage in Oslo to collect the 2017 prize. This year’s peace prize will be awarded to ICAN, the global network which supported the 122 states backing the new UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.
To celebrate the Nobel Peace Prize – which honours the tireless efforts of thousands of people across the world who brought about the nuclear ban – Bruce Kent will host an ‘award ceremony’ at the MoD! This is your chance to come and collect a peace prize and raise awareness about the nuclear ban.
After the ceremony, there will be a die-in to highlight the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. Medact members will wear scrubs to symbolise the lives of medics that would be lost once a nuclear bomb is detonated.
To celebrate the Nobel Peace Prize – which honours the tireless efforts of thousands of people across the world who brought about the nuclear ban – Bruce Kent will host an ‘award ceremony’ at the MoD! This is your chance to come and collect a peace prize and raise awareness about the nuclear ban.
After the ceremony, there will be a die-in to highlight the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. Medact members will wear scrubs to symbolise the lives of medics that would be lost once a nuclear bomb is detonated.
And for your diary:. Wednesday 17th January, 7 pm, Nuclear Savage Film + discussion. Augustine United Church, George IVth Bridge
See below for events on 14th and 15th, 16th and 18th
___________________________________________________________________
OTHER LOCAL NEWS:
0. NEW: Saturday 16th December 12.30pm – 2pm: Campaigning stall at the east end of Princes Street (next to the Wellington Statue – drop by for a chat or stop for a while and lend a hand it would be much appreciated. We’ll have copies of the greetings cards that we’ve produced on sale as well as CDs, leaflets and petitions.If you’re in Glasgow on Saturday Glasgow Stop the War have organized and event at 2pm on the Jamaica Bridge – details at https://scotlandstopwar.org/2017/12/15/events-on-16th-december/ Monday 18th December 7.30pm at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace: This is our final meeting of the year. We’ll be at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace at 7.30pm – come along and share homemade Muffins, Mince Pies and conversation about the state of the world and plans for 2018.
1. Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland have the following activities planned –
Thursday December 14 – 11 am – street stall and leafleting at Tescos in Nicolson Street Edinburgh .
This activity will mainly involve handing out leaflets on the links between banks and financial institutions and companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons
Thursday December 14 – 12 30 pm – Don’t Bank on the Bomb planning and organising meeting in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre Upper Bow Edinburgh .
Anyone interested is welcome to come to these activities
Please help pass word round. Also see news from Commonweal below.
This activity will mainly involve handing out leaflets on the links between banks and financial institutions and companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons
Thursday December 14 – 12 30 pm – Don’t Bank on the Bomb planning and organising meeting in the Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre Upper Bow Edinburgh .
Anyone interested is welcome to come to these activities
Please help pass word round. Also see news from Commonweal below.
2. Edinburgh CND and the CO Memorial Committee are pleased to announce the Design Competition for a permanent Memorial to Conscientious Objectors to be created in Edinburgh’s Princes St Gardens.
Artists are invited to submit applications by 12 noon 15 December 2017. A shortlist of three or four artists will be engaged to create designs for the Memorial.
View and Download the Brief Here.
Queries should be directed to: COMemorial@peaceandjustice.org.uk
Queries should be directed to: COMemorial@peaceandjustice.org.uk
Attached is a full text of the announcement of the Memorial Design competition which you are welcome to amend and use as you see fit.
———————————————————————————————–
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
University students, young academics and young activists from around the world met at the historic Charles University from Nov 27-29 to discuss actions and initiatives to prevent nuclear war and promote nuclear disarmament. As nuclear tensions increase following North Korea’s most recent missile test, they released an appeal calling on world leaders to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons being used and to support United Nations initiatives for nuclear disarmament, including the High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament to take place in 2018. The appeal also calls for the $100 billion nuclear weapons budget (most of which is spent on the US nuclear arsenal) to be slashed, and the funds to instead by allocated to climate protection, implementing the sustainable development goals, and for other social and economic needs. The appeal recognizes that a large number of countries still rely on nuclear deterrence as part of their security doctrine, but affirms that these countries are legally obliged to achieve nuclear disarmament. The appeal – Reach High for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World – was adopted at the conclusion of a three-day conference in Prague, Czech Republic, organised by the Youth Network of Abolition 2000, the global civil society network to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Basel Peace Office and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND) were honoured to be invited to the international conference held at the Vatican earlier this monthat which Pope Francis gave a powerful speech condemning nuclear weapons.
PNND Co-President Senator Ed Markey, Chair of the United States Senate Climate Change Task Force, also joined the “We Are Still In” coalition at the COP23 Climate Conference which was held in Bonn, Germany from Nov 6-17. The We are still in coalition consists of a group of U.S. states, cities, universities, companies, and nongovernmental organizations working together to achieve America’s commitments to the Paris Agreement despite the Trump administration/s efforts to the contrary. See Markey’s press release on COP23.
PNND Co-President Senator Ed Markey, Chair of the United States Senate Climate Change Task Force, also joined the “We Are Still In” coalition at the COP23 Climate Conference which was held in Bonn, Germany from Nov 6-17. The We are still in coalition consists of a group of U.S. states, cities, universities, companies, and nongovernmental organizations working together to achieve America’s commitments to the Paris Agreement despite the Trump administration/s efforts to the contrary. See Markey’s press release on COP23.
On November 15, PNND held two events in the Spanish parliament (Congress of Deputies) to discuss risks of nuclear war, international initiatives to abolish nuclear weapons, and the role of parliamentarians.
On November 14, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the President’s unilateral authority to launch a nuclear attack, including the first use of nuclear weapons and PNND Council member Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the UK Labour Party, is one of three recipients of the prestigious 2017 Sean MacBride Peace Prize, conferred by the International Peace Bureau (IPB) a Nobel Peace Laureate organisation.
Los Alamos Bulletin 237: http://www.lasg.org/ NNSA doubts LANL pit production; Nobel peace prize get-togethers Sunday Dec. 10 (Santa Fe & Albuquerque) and Bulletin 238: Normative plutonium policies as we see them – a quick sketch
Australia: Walkatjurra Walkabout: Supreme Court Case update with other news available on request
___________________________________________________________________
OTHER THINGS:
1.On 17th February 2018, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
1.On 17th February 2018, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
To celebrate six decades of vibrant and powerful activity, we are curating an online exhibition with exhibits provided by our members and supporters. We are inviting you to send in a photo that best symbolises your most significant memory from the past 60 years. This could be a photo of you at a demonstration, vigil or blockade; a picture of a site that is significant to you, like Greenham, Molesworth or any of the bases; or a photo of an artefact, like your favourite badge, banner, knitting or piece of fence. What you choose is up to you! If you have something to share, please include a short explanation (100 words max) of why the image is so important to you.
2. In August 2015, Common Weal South Lanarkshire submitted a Freedom of Information request to all 32 Local Authorities in Scotland to establish which councils had investments in companies designing, manufacturing or selling arms in the UK and worldwide. All 32 local authorities responded, with NINE councils confirming they had investments (Orkney Island Council, Highlands Council, Moray Council, Glasgow City Council, Edinburgh Council, Scottish Borders Council, Fife Council, Falkirk Council and Aberdeen City Council). These investments were made without the consent, consultation and knowledge of residents within these local authorities. These investments have been made through scottish local government pensions schemes.
In a bid to highlight those councils who declared investments in the arms industry we decided to target each council individually starting with Edinburgh City Council. This Council alone has £128m invested in the arms industry, while Scotland’s largest local authority pension scheme, Strathclyde Pension Fund has investments worth £83 million in 11 of the 20 companies with the biggest global involvement in arms manufacture. Glasgow City Council has had shares worth £19.6 million (2015), in the top two arms-producing and military services companies; Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of Trident nuclear weapons, and Boeing.
In a bid to highlight those councils who declared investments in the arms industry we decided to target each council individually starting with Edinburgh City Council. This Council alone has £128m invested in the arms industry, while Scotland’s largest local authority pension scheme, Strathclyde Pension Fund has investments worth £83 million in 11 of the 20 companies with the biggest global involvement in arms manufacture. Glasgow City Council has had shares worth £19.6 million (2015), in the top two arms-producing and military services companies; Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of Trident nuclear weapons, and Boeing.
Through a social media, press and targeted campaign we contacted every politician representing each council, all associated community councils and groups active in the council area. We wrote to Edinburgh City Council requesting that they investigate, review and support an investment policy which is transparent, ethically and morally sound that opposes any direct or indirect investments in the arms industry. Common Weal South Lanarkshire believe such a policy would attract the overwhelming support of the people and encourage a wider movement which seeks to invest in our future, instead of perpetuating conflicts using public funds. Alas our request was not taken seriously by the Leader of The Council who merely stated these investments were done so via their Pension Committee. That said, we expected such a reply, our intention being to raise public awareness of how public money was being invested by a council whose conscience is questionable at best in acknowledging the pain, death and suffering such investments have on those least able to protect themselves. It is worth noting the UK are one of the largest arms traders in the world and we wonder why we are a target for terrorism.
3. A new book on North Korea: Fire and Fury: How the US Isolates North Korea, Encircles China and Risks Nuclear War in Asia https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Fury-Isolates-Encircles-Nuclear/dp/1905570937/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
edinburgh cnd 