Author: edinburghcnd

edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 7th October

UntitledWe had a successful  Edinburgh World Justice Festival (EWJF) event with Alex Lockwood and Rob Edwards on 1st October. Video of the talks are available via our Facebook page and there will be more copies of Alex’s book on sale at the EWJF Book festival:
Saturday 19th October: EWJF Bookfair 10am to 5pm Augustine United Church, 41 George 4th Bridge, EH1 1EL Organised by EWJFCome and browse and buy some great inspiring books from sfbbooks, Lighthouse, Shrub, Scottish Radical Library and Haymarket. There will also be talks, workshops and short films.
There are still a number of events: check out the full programme at 
We would particularly like to recommend the following:
1. Wednesday 9th October, 7.30pm War and the Environment
Edinburgh Stop the War public meeting as part of the Edinburgh World Justice Festival.  At the Augustine Church, 41 George 4th Bridge EH1
————

2. EWJF Conference which will put justice at the centre of debates about action on climate change. CLIMATE JUSTICE – the world we want and how to get it
10.30 – 5.30 Saturday 12 October
Epworth Halls, Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square EH8 9BX
Part of Edinburgh World Justice Festival

————                                                                                                                                                3. Monday 14th October, 7 – 9pm Women and the Environmentat the Augustine Church, 41 George 4th Bridge EH1 1EL organised by Scottish Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom                                                                                                        —————-4. Tuesday 15th October, 6 – 9 pmWar School (war.school/)  Campaign Against the Arms Trade in collaboration with Edinburgh Stop The War Coalition, Edinburgh CND, Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre and Peace Education Scotland.facebook.com/events/684046652077780/ —————                                                                                                                                              5. Thursday 17th October, 6.30 – 8.30 pmShadow World (shadowworldfilm.com/) The unmissable Shadow World returns to Edinburgh. This year we are joined by Andrew Feinstein: author of the original book, Executive Director of Corruption Watch UK and exANC MP. shadow-world-2019.eventbrite.co.uk/                                    Both films are free to attend, and both are being held in the University of Edinburgh’s David Hume Tower, LG09, George Square, EH8 9JX. Note they are filling up quickly!

—————
Other Events:
1. Today: 7th October 2019, XR Peace joins the International Rebellion: see previous post and Facebook
2. Exciting conference and side-events in Prague on October 7-8. 2019.
Bertha von Suttner, the first female Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was born in Prague. She lived in a number of Czech, German, Austrian and other European towns during her life campaigning for peace and an end to war. This conference aims to raise awareness about the life and ideas of Bertha von Suttner, and discuss peace-related issues in the context of today’s international politics. The conference will be held in the historic Old Town Hall (Day 1) and the Czernin Palace/Foreign Ministry (Day 2). Visit the conference website for more information including the program and registration application.
UPDATE 10/10 ‘The Nobel Committee has not adhered to the will of Nobel, as inspired by Bertha von Suttner, to give the prize to peace and disarmament activists and organisations,’ said Fredrik Heffermehl, author of the book The Nobel Peace Prize: What Nobel Really Wanted. Heffermehl says that the prize should have been called the ‘Lay down your Arms’ prize, and focus on the civil society organisations that are working for disarmament and the abolition of war, and that they desperately need the money allocated to the award in order to undertake this vital work. 
3.’Gandhi, The Man Who Changed The World’ at the Indian Consulate in Edinburgh on the 8th of October 6pm. Further info from Dovetails (see below).
4. The Scottish Peace Network are organising an event called Opposing Pro War policies and Modern Day Threats such as Climate Change – on Friday October 11- doors open at 630 pm and event starts at 7 pm .
Venue is Room LG 10 David Hume Tower , University of Edinburgh , George Square Edinburgh EH8 9 JX .
5. Saturday 12th October: Edinburgh CND leafleting. 1230 East End of Princes Street

6. Saturday 26th October: Radical Independence Campaign ConferenceA Failed State in a Failed System: Time for Radical Independence RIC National Conference 2019 Glasgow, Radisson Blu Hotel Tickets available here

———————-
OTHER NEWS:
1. The 2019 version of the Don’t Bank on the Bomb guide is now available at nukedivestmentscotland.org. The media release is here https://nukedivestmentscotland.org/media-releases/ a. It includes a quote from Councillor Steve Burgess (Edinburgh) and Councillor Audrey Doig (Renfrewshire). The Sunday National has published a news piece.
—————
2.1. CND has responded to a Yougov survey which shows that 70% of Labour Party members support getting rid of Britain’s nuclear weapons system.
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“The overwhelming majority of Labour Party members must be listened to. They rightly recognise that Britain’s nuclear weapons are an enormously expensive and dangerous white elephant. Trident addresses a phantom security threat rather than the real threats like the unfolding climate crisis, which must be at the top of the agenda.
2.2. Anti-nuclear campaigners have responded to Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry’s plan to compensate to military victims of Britain’s nuclear tests. Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:”Every aspect of nuclear weapons manifests a complete disregard for human life, and the way British veterans exposed to high doses of radiation have been treated serves as a powerful example.”Like many service people today, they were ill-equipped, and they knew little about the fatal and life-changing consequences of the nuclear tests they carried out.CND ran 2 side events at the conference on 22nd and 23rd September
2.3. Anti-nuclear campaigners protested outside the Japanese Embassy in London over plans to dump radioactive water from the ruined Fukushima power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese government is exploring what to do with over 1 million tonnes of contaminated water which have accumulated since a tsunami struck Fukushima in 2011. The water has been used to prevent the Daiichi nuclear power plant’s reactor cores from melting. The plant operator Tepco expects to run out of storage space by 2022.

Home page – Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

———————
3. Move the Nuclear Weapons Money: As the United Nations First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) starts its 2019 session in New York today (7 Oct), plans are progressing to publicise the colossal waste of money on nuclear weapons by physically ‘counting out’ the global nuclear weapons budget. 
This event will highlight the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign and actionspeople can take to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in nuclear weapons corporations and re-direct these budgets and investments to better things.Over the next four weeks, governments meeting at the UN will debate and vote upon a number of nuclear disarmament resolutions. However, the impact of these resolutions is likely to be minimal as long as there continues to be strong financial interests in maintaining the nuclear arms race.  There are about 26 nuclear weapons corporations earning nearly $100 billion per year amongst themselves. ‘They have vested financial interests in producing more and more nuclear weapons,’ says Dr Keith Suter (Australia), Economics Futurist and member of the Club of Rome,  ‘and they exert intense political power on decision makers to protect these interests.‘
Join them count out $1 trillion – the nuclear weapons budget for the next decade – and ‘reallocate‘ this from nuclear weapons to climate protection, poverty alleviation and the sustainable development goals. The campaign is building excitement amongst legislators, religious leaders, peace and disarmament campaigners, climate activists, artists, musicians, athletes, youth and others. Below are inspring words from a few supporters of the campaign.
The money counting will be used to highlight actions that can be taken by individuals, universities, cities, parliaments and others to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in nuclear weapons, and invest instead in a sustainable future.
The main counting will take place in New York during UN Disarmament Week (October 24-30, 2019). However, there will also be some small ‘satellite countings‘ in other locations around the world.
——————-
4. Nuclear Free Local Authority (NVLA) on the potential resolutions to consider in support of the ICAN Cities Appeal and the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
An information briefing is available which offers members three possible resolutions:
4.1. A simple endorsement of the ICAN Cities Appeal.
4.2. A resolution which mentions your membership of NFLA / Mayors for Peace and support for the ICAN Cities Appeal.
4.3. A broader and more political resolution supporting the ICAN Cities Appeal and challenges current UK nuclear weapons policy.
The briefing also includes all the current global towns and cities that have passed resolutions to support the ICAN Cities Appeal according to the Nuclear Ban website.
NFLA also congratulated Fife Council becoming the 5th Council in the UK to pass a resolution to support the Treaty.
Other NFLA information sources:
4.4 NFLA Newsletter for September 2019, which summarises what we have done this month.
4.5 NFLA Policy Briefing 192, which summarises the key discussion and actions from the NFLA Steering Committee of the 13th September.
4.6 NFLA New Nuclear Monitor 59, which provides a copy of our response to the fourth round of public consultation on the proposed Sizewell C reactor in Suffolk.
4.7 The flyer for the NFLA All Ireland Sustainable Energy Forum taking place in Dublin City Hall on the 18th October – registration for this is now open to councillors, council officers and NGO representatives.
4.8 The flyer for the NFLA / TASC / BANNG and Stop Hinkley joint public meeting in the Firstsite Gallery, Colchester on the 26th October – registration for this is now open to councillors, council officers, NGO representatives and interested members of the public.
4.9 NFLA Policy Briefing 193 and a media release summary of the NFLA’s assessment of Brexit from the perspectives of nuclear, energy, environmental and climate change policy.
———————
5.1.ICAN Scottish Partner organisations and MSPs  attended a press and photo call outside the Scottish Parliament at 12.45 on Thursday the 26th September to highlight the special Opening for Signature for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN in New York. Politicians and campaigners also handed in a letter to Number 10 Downing Street tomorrow to mark the UN’s Nuclear Abolition Day. The United Nations General Assembly hosted a High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament at the UN Headquarters on that day from 11am until 6pm. UN Member States are represented by their Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers or UN Ambassadors. In addition, the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs has selected two representatives from civil society to speak.
The letter, coordinated by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), urged the government to honour its commitment to a world without nuclear weapons. The letter said “In an increasingly dangerous world, where the threat of nuclear war is rising, this goal has never been so important.”
“The UK cannot claim to support this goal whilst prioritising the replacement of Trident, at vast expense and considerable opportunity cost to other forms of security and spending beneficial to our country.”
5.2.1ICAN minutes from the last meeting are available, 5.2.2 Bea of ICAN wrote for our Together First campaign recently:https://together1st.org/blog/a_world_free_from_nuclear_weapons.  Here’s a bit of background, would be lovely if any of the organisations on this list wanted to sign up.
5.2.3 Recent analysis that UNA-UK put out contains a letter exchange that shows (sigh…) the UK’s continued undermining of the TPNW, against the judgement of the recent Lords report.
——————
6. It’s party conference season at the moment, but it won’t be long now until it’s time for CND’s own conference, on the weekend of October 19-20. There are many important topics to discuss as part of our AGM and policy conference on the Saturday. See our AGM and policy conference for information, including online registration if you haven’t yet done so.
On Sunday, CND and the International Peace Bureau will jointly host an international conference — 21st Century Security: challenges and solutions. Please join us and hear activists and experts from around the world provide a global take on the problems we are facing. We will be gathering to learn from the experience of activists from across Europe and beyond – and to plan collective strategies to address global problems.  We will explore topics including climate change, nuclear disarmament in the age of Trump, the rise of China, potential conflict with Russia, resource wars, and building a different future.
——————
7.  Beyond Nuclear International: https://beyondnuclearinternational.org  When we speak about the world’s deadliest nuclear disasters, we routinely mention Chernobyl and Fukushima, but we forget Mayak and Church Rock. Charles Digges reminds us of “the worst nuclear disaster you’ve never heard of” when a deadly nuclear explosion at Mayak in the Ural mountains occurred on September 29, 1957, leaving permanent radiological contamination that still affects people today. Perry Charley will never forget the Church Rock tailings spill. He continues to seek protection for his Navajo people from the ravages of uranium mining, while providing a glossary of nuclear concepts for which the Diné have no words.
——————-
8. Los Alamos Study Group Bulletin 263: Los Alamos doubles down on plutonium and growth overall; “How dare you!” http://www.lasg.org/
——————–
9. 2nd October was the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi. The day is commemorated around the world as the UN International Day for Non-violence.
This special day was adopted by the United Nations in 2007 by UN General Assembly Resolution 61/271 with the objective to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness“. The resolution reaffirms “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and the desire “to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence“.
——————-
10. 22nd and 23rd October in London Facebook Decolonising the Nuclear: Public Lecture & Workshop
—————–

11.Justice Sub-Committee on Policing is undertaking an inquiry into how policing in Scotland makes use of facial recognition technology. The sub-committee will consider whether the use of that technology is lawful, ethical, proportionate and transparent. You are invited to submit your written views to the inquiry  https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/113104.as    ———–                                                                                                                                              12. Cynthia Cockburn obituary https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/24/cynthia-cockburn-obituary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Advertisements
edinburghcnd

Special Post 3rd October 2019

TWO EVENTS:  October 5th (All Under One Banner) and October 7th XR PEACE
1. CND and SCND: Climate change and nuclear war are the two greatest threats to global health and survival. Despite Nobel Peace Prizes, the Global Ban Treaty, and the efforts of experts and activists, the issue of nuclear weapons and war has not received the attention it deserves given the grave nature of the threat.Urgent action to tackle climate change is needed but our government prioritises war and weapons of mass destruction like Trident over the future of our planet.

It has been estimated that about 6% of the global carbon footprint results from military-related activity. Militarism and war are inextricably linked with imperialism, racism, and the destruction of habitats.
Scottish CND has joined XR Peace which proposes to make explicit the links between militarism and the climate emergency. On the 7th October 2019, XR Peace will join the International Rebellion around the world and our presence will raise awareness of how militarisation, wars, armed conflicts and arms sales all impact the climate, cause long term pollution and enable corporate exploitation of scarce resources, which dispossess people and lead to militarised borders to limit climate-induced migration, and massive suffering.
As we block the road with other peace organisations who are also part of XR Peace there will be workshops, teach-ins, speakers, entertainment and more. Also, if you have unwanted props or structures to help block the road, they are wanted too!

The Extinction Rebellion movement has inspired millions with its attention-grabbing protests which have succeeded in setting a new agenda in the media and have put governments under growing pressure to respond. The next action will take place between the 7th and 20th October.
Nuclear abolition has to be part of the agenda, which is why CND, in addition to supporting this Friday’s Global Climate Strike, will join the October blockade.
We’re working as part of XR Peace, a new coalition of organisations planning to shut down part of the Embankment in London to bring attention to the growing threat of nuclear war.Can you join in from Monday 7th October or commit to a couple of hours? There are a variety of things to engage in. Affinity groups can help blockade the Embankment – alternatively there’s plenty to do without risking arrest.

Supporting the blockaders, singing, dancing, talking — all are essential and good fun. Also, if you have unwanted props or structures — perhaps a Trident missile or submarine, or something that could help block the road, like unwanted furniture? — bring them down to liven up the events.
We invite you to join us on one of the days between October 7th-20th.
As we block the road we will have workshops, teach-ins and exhibitions, choirs, musicians, comedians, academics, story tellers and speakers, making the links between nuclear weapons, militarism and the climate emergency. Come for a day or the whole two weeks. Rebel for peace and the planet. Edinburgh’s Peace and Justice Centre will also be joining in

2. All Under One Banner: March and Stall

This years All Under One Banner March is on Saturday 5th. SCND are having a stall on the Meadows and have asked for volunteers to help with it.
We will also have the black and white Edinburgh CND banner and has suggested that those wanting to walk with it meet at the steps in front of Dynamic Earth at 1230.  It’s just behind the parliament towards the crags.
There are several ways to get there eg through the closes above the parliament or down Holyrood Rd as the area immediately around the front of parliament and the bottom of the High St. will be very congested.
We should also have a very tall pole to fly the CND symbol flag and guide people in.
Contact Malcolm on 07989 776 041 if you get lost looking for either.
edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 16th September

Edinburgh World Justice Festival 2019 runs from 28th September to 19th October -check out the programme at www.ewjf.org.uk

Edinburgh CND’s main meeting is on 1st October with Alex Lockwood, author of the novel ‘The Chernobyl Privileges’ (available to purchase at the talk) and Rob Edwards (Environmental Journalist, theferret.scot) for a discussion of what we can learn about the dangers of nuclear power and to debate the ongoing presence of nuclear weapons on Scottish soil at HMNB Clyde. Especially topical given the likelihood of reopening the Hunterston B nuclear power reactor (see also later items in News section).

69739892_10151223217779980_986931305063120896_n

From Chernobyl to Faslane: the nuclear emergency
Tuesday 1 October, 7pm to 9pm
at Quaker Meeting House, Edinburgh
Discussion about the dangers of nuclear power and to debate the ongoing presence of nuclear weapons on Scottish soil. (2 days later some of us will be visiting Faslane)

Other meetings we will be supporting include:

1.Edinburgh Stop the War public meeting ‘War and the Environment’ taking place on 9th October, 7.30pm at the Augustine Church on George 4th Bridge – see Facebook event  – https://www.facebook.com/events/380454189312971/

2. Saturday 12th October EWJF conference: Climate Justice, the world we want and how we get it  Epworth Halls, 25 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX                                            What kind of system change is needed in order to stop catastrophic climate change?What kind of movement will be needed to create this?                                                      How do we integrate global climate justice into campaigning in Scotland?                     N.B.at 12 30, Leafleting at the East End of Princes Street

3. War School Screening @ EWJF Tuesday 15 October, 6.30pm to 9pm
at David Hume Tower, Edinburgh
This documentary looks at the dangers militarism poses to the nation’s youngest generations and is sponsored by a number of organisations including EdinburghCND

4. Shadow World Screening @ EWJF
Thursday 17 October, 6.30pm to 8.30pm at David Hume Tower, Edinburgh
Shadow World, is a film which reveals how the international arms trade fosters corruption, determines economic and foreign policies, undermines democracy and creates widespread suffering.

5. Saturday 19th October: EWJF Bookfair 10am to 5pm Augustine United Church, 41 George 4th Bridge, EH1 1EL Organised by EWJFCome and browse and buy some great inspiring books from sfbbooks, Lighthouse, Shrub, Scottish Radical Library and Haymarket. There will also be talks, workshops and short films.                                            ——— —–                                                                                                                                 STOP PRESSES Sunday 22nd 2019 version of our guide is now available at nukedivestmentscotland.org. The media release is here https://nukedivestmentscotland.org/media-releases/ and copied below. It includes a quote from Councillor Steve Burgess (Edinburgh) and Councillor Audrey Doig (Renfrewshire). :1.Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland intends to launch the 2019 edition of the guide to nuclear weapons divestment in Scotland next week. The report details the nuclear weapons investments of Scottish banks, Scottish local authority pension funds, Scottish universities and the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme, and features a step-by-step guide for people who want to get involved in the divestment campaign. Some of the changes in this year’s edition of the guide include: the research covers 30 nuclear weapons companies compared to 22 last year; detailed information on the investment policies of Scottish local authority pension funds has been added; 10 Scottish universities are covered compared to last year’s five. Their website https://nukedivestmentscotland.org/ is currently down for updating but they will be tweeting information from the guide using the hashtag#NaeCash4Nukes so please share widely if you can  UPDATE website will be up from 22/9     2.20/9 is the first day of the Global Week for Peace, the Climate, Sustainable Development and Nuclear Abolition.  The week takes in the:

                                                                                               ——————-

NEWS:                                                                                                                                                 1. HUNTERSTON B

Hunterston B nuclear power station is based in North Ayrshire and has been operational since 1976 and was due to be decommissioned in 2006, a date which has since been pushed back to at least 2023 – making Hunterston one of the oldest nuclear power stations in Europe.Both its nuclear reactors (R3 and R4) have been out of operation due to safety reasons since March and October 2018 respectively. Now that R4 is due to restart with hundreds of cracks that exceeded government safety limits until the Office of Nuclear Regulation changed the goalposts to allow up to 700 cracks, we urge our members and supporters to take the actions listed below. Read the Report
—————-
2. CLIMATE STRIKE The world currently faces two existential threats: nuclear weapons and climate change. Urgent action is needed on both but our government continues to prioritise war and weapons over the future of our planet. Trident uses massive energy and resources in research, production, operation, dismantling and eventual waste storage. Scrapping Trident is a great way to cut the UK’s footprint.
For these reasons, CND is supporting the Global Climate Strike called for Friday, September 20th, ahead of an important UN climate summit. We are calling on our supporters to join us for a Climate not Trident day of action
STOP PRESS: XR Peace October Rebellion: The world is burning.
Urgent action to tackle climate change is needed but our government prioritises war and weapons of mass destruction like Trident over the future of our planet. The Extinction Rebellion movement has inspired millions with its attention-grabbing protests which have succeeded in setting a new agenda in the media and have put governments under growing pressure to respond. The next action will take place between the 7th and 20th October.Details to follow.
—————-
3.(A)+++++++ It’s been a busy month at Scottish CND, some travelled down to London to oppose the DSEI arms fair then back up to Helensburgh to participate in the Disarming Nuclear Scotland conference and now they’re gearing up for our AGM in the coming months and also some exciting coalition work happening in October http://www.banthebomb.org+++++ (B)CND UK has a very busy autumn coming up and they started as we mean to go on with a very successful protest at one of the world’s largest arms fairs, where nuclear bomb makers trade and arms are sold to authoritarian regimes. CND & Trident Ploughshares joined the #StopDSEI blockade this week – here’s how we got on
Read all about it in this month’s magazine, as well as our support for the upcoming Global Climate Strike.

Read Campaign: September edition
Download Campaign: September edition                                                                      +++CND @ Labour Party Conference :Sunday 22 September 2019, 6:00 PM St Paul’s Church, West Street, Brighton BN1 2RQ. CND also responded positively to Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry’s plan to compensate to military victims of Britain’s nuclear tests.

—————–
4. MOVE THE MONEY: In just under 45 days legislators, youth, celebrities, religious leaders and other representatives of civil society will start counting out $1 trillion – the nuclear weapons budget for the next decade – and ‘reallocate’ this from nuclear weapons to climate protection, poverty alleviation and the sustainable development goals.

The money-counting action will be used to highlight actions that can be taken by individuals, universities, cities, parliaments and others to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in nuclear weapons, and invest instead in a sustainable future.                                                                                                                                             The action is part of the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign, which was established by PNND, International Peace Bureau, World Future Council and other international organisations in 2016.The main money-counting action will take place in New York during UN Disarmament Week (October 24-30, 2019).

In 1973, Pink Floyd released a hit song Money from the album Dark Side of the Moon, a number one selling album that remained in the pop charts for a record 900 weeks. The song is about the seductive and corrosive power of money – which can blind people from their humanity and serve instead the force of evil.                                      Money, so they say. Is the root of all evil today
Money, it’s a hit. Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit                                                   So it’s no suprise that Roger Waters, songwriter of Money and the conceptual leader of Pink Floyd, supports Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, which aims to move money from the evil of nuclear weapons to instead be spent for human good.               In a video message supporting the Count the Nuclear Weapons Money action released today, Waters holds up a mock $1 million note and says that we have a choice: ‘We can either spend this million bucks on this – MAD, mutually assured destruction. Or on this: kids, our future, the planet, education, equality.” n a longer interview with Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, Waters warns about the risks of nuclear weapons, and he highlights the negative role of the corporations which are making millions or billions of dollars producing the weapons.
For more  quotes from some Move the Nuclear Weapons Money supporters (including CNDs Bruce Kent). please visit www.facebook.com/CTNWM or www.nuclearweaponsmoney.org/endorsers.

—————-
5. Beyond Nuclear International: https://beyondnuclearinternational.org             5.1 The Washington Post recently editorialized that Bernie Sanders’s omission of nuclear power from his climate plan made it “unnecessarily expensive.” But, as we answered on their editorial pages, nuclear power is wildly expensive and relies on subsidies that stunt renewable energy growth. And it has never been a financial success. One trillion dollars, another needless spending splurge, is how much the world’s nuclear states will squander on nuclear weapons in the next 10 years. A protest action outside the UN will count it all (see $ above).  5.2 (Hu)Man-made radioactive contamination is already everywhere, including in the deepest reaches of our oceans. That’s why we, and experts around the world, urge Japan to continue storing its radioactive water at the Fukushima disaster site, rather than dump it into the ocean. And some of the oldest radioactive contamination of the Nuclear Age continues to plague the Hanford site and the people who work there. ICAN reports. 5.3 (added 23/09) The world’s youth turned out across the world on September 20 in a mass climate strike. We covered events in Washington DC. Much alarm rightly surrounds the burning Amazon, but, as journalist Angelo Ferrari points out, Africa is also burning, and, in some ways, the climate effects are even more severe. We run his article in English and the original Italian.                                                                                                                           ——————–
OTHER MEETINGS:
1. Two meetings on Monday 16 September, (1.1) Edinburgh CAAT 7pm to 8.45pm
at the Edinburgh Quaker Meeting House  (1.2) Edinburgh Stop the War 7.30 pm to 9pm at the Peace and Justice Centre, Epworth Halls. Regular group meet-ups – newcomers welcome!
——————
2. Together We Are Powerful: Stories of Resistance
Saturday 21 September, open all day at Customs Wharf, Edinburgh
A unique exhibition collecting images and artefacts from decades of creative activism as communities around the world.                                                                                                  ————–

3. Facilitator Training for PeaceBuilders: Cooperative Games & Conflict Resolution for Primary Schools 
Sunday 22 September, 10am to 5pm
Initial training followed by an 8 week volunteer placement. Contact Edinburgh Peace and Justice on the link above for more info and to register.                                                      ————–                                                                                                                                          4.Just Transition: Employment, Energy and Environment
Saturday 16 November, 10am to 5pm
at St Ninian’s Hall, Edinburgh
Learn about the practicalities of turning the idea of a just transition into a reality.———————-

++++++5. 130 years of ideas that don’t get old: 7th-8th October in Prague. Visit the conference website for more information including the program and registration application.                                                                                                                   ——————
++++++6. CND conference, on the weekend of October 19-20. There are many important topics to discuss as part of our AGM and policy conference on the Saturday. See our AGM and policy conference for information, including online registration if you haven’t yet done so. On Sunday, CND and the International Peace Bureau will jointly host an international conference — 21st Century Security: challenges and solutions. Please join us and hear activists and experts from around the world provide a global take on the problems we are facing.
——————
AND FINALLY:
1. Peace & Justice News Autumn edition 
In this issue Nay Nay Htun reminds us of the forgotten people – the Rohingya Muslim refugees who fear to return to Myanmar, Eeman Talha gives historical context to the crisis in Kashmir and Cindy Kamtchoum explores West Papua’s demand for autonomy. And, in Centre News we’ve nearly reached our goal of  140,000 Origami Cranes and our Peacebuilders Collaborative Classroom programme is nearly ready to launch in schools. Plus catch up on our work on the arms trade and nuclear weapons.

2. .Los Alamos Study Group http://www.lasg.org/ to host town hall meeting on 17th September on Los Alamos lab expansion, reinvestment
Plutonium factory complex planned, $13 billion in capital investment expected lab-wide, new highway proposed Congressional delegation, Governor, cabinet officials & others invited

3.Next UK ICAN partners meeting will take place in London at Friends Meeting House on Monday 23rd September between 2.00pm and 4.00pm 

STOP PRESS: Invitation  to join with ICAN Scottish Partner organisations and MSPs to attend a press and photo call outside the Scottish Parliament at 12.45 on Thursday the 26th September to highlight the special Opening for Signature for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN in New York.

edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND news 24th August into September

Edinburgh CND events in September:
1.Sunday 1st September: Portobello Village Show. We will have a Peace Stall at the show which runs from 2pm to 5pm in Rosefield Park https://www.facebook.com/events/2267948083304092
—————-
2.Tuesday 3rd September: regular organising meeting 6pm at New Peace and Justice Centre.
———

3.Saturday 14th September: 12 30, Leafleting at the East End of Princes Street

————
4.Other events:
4.1 Stop the Arms Fair.  1.Monday 3rd September will see our friends at Roots of Resistance protesting outside the ExCel starting with a Meeting of Worship. I hope you can make it to the ExCel next month. This is where those who profit from war, repression and injustice do business. This is where we can stop them.                                       ++++2. 4th September 2019 10am to 4pm Join the No Nuclear Day at the ExCel in the Royal Victoria Dock • Further details, including meet-up point and map Sign up and share the event on Facebook
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said:
“These companies are not only profiting from selling arms to some of the world’s most authoritarian regimes, they profit too from manufacturing Britain’s own weapon of mass destruction, the Trident nuclear weapons system.
“We are outraged at this cavalier approach to human rights and the threat of nuclear war. The DSEI arms fair has no place in a civilised society – we call on the government to shut it down for good.”
Notes

see http://www.cnduk.org (also forMerchandise and August Newsletter)
NB on the 3rd Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems are attending a reception in the Scottish Parly onat 6 pm:THERE WILL BE a presence outside the Parliament with singing, placards and banners to protest about the event from 5.30pm


4.2 Saturday 7th September: Helensburgh CND Conference:The conference will cover topics from the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to outlining our efforts to work with and through trusted political partners such as the SNP and Scottish Greens. There will also be a tribute to the lifelong anti-nuclear activists Dot and Eric Wallace who left Helensburgh CND a substantial legacy which should allow the annual conference to continue. Scotland: A Peace of History will also be on display as will David Newbigging’s Benchmark 6 for the lunch hour where soup and sandwich will be provided. You can read more about the itinerary and book your tickets via the links above and below.To attend you have to go through Event Brite on the link below . Disarming Nuclear Scotland Conference – Helensburgh CND  
For other SCND events see http://www.banthebomb.org

————–                                                                                                                                            5. 28th September to 19th October: Edinburgh World Festival 2019. see http://www.ewjf.org.uk. Edinburgh CND have a meeting on 1st October and are sponsoring a number of others.

42789301Chernobyl, what can we learn? Tues 1st Oct, 19.00 – 21.00
Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, EH1 2JL Organised by Edinburgh Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Alex Lockwood, author of ‘The Chernobyl Privileges’ and Rob Edwards (Environmental Journalist) discuss the danger of Nuclear Power https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-chernobyl-to-faslane-the-nuclear-emergency-tickets-71033889275

——————
NEWS: 
1. Don’t attack Iran

Trump has scrapped the deal with Iran designed to prevent the development of nuclear weapons and has imposed sanctions aimed at destroying the Iranian oil trade and therefore its economy. He is looking for pretexts to attack the country. In this he is being encouraged by his national security advisor, John Bolton, an architect of the Iraq war and a man committed to military solutions. The new Tory administration at Westminster is lining up with Trump.  The risk of outright war is high.  Stop the War is campaigning for the British government to condemn this brinkmanship and publicly oppose military action against Iran. Download the petition and use it in your workplace, community group, political party or with your friends. https://scotlandstopwar.org/2019/07/15/petition-dont-attack-iran/

——————
2. SCND: are coming to the end of the planned Scotland Not Trident campaign for 2019 where we spent each month focusing on a different issue Scotland is facing, from drastic cuts to NHS funding to school teachers striking for better pay. It has been a whirlwind and hundreds of people have been involved spreading the message online and on their streets. The campaign may be over but the message of Scotland Not Trident will live on, especially in these uncertain political times. We will not stop campaigning until there are no nuclear weapons on the Clyde – in Scotland – or in the world.
The August Newsletter and the new magazine contain more information see http://www.banthebomb.org
——————
3. Beyond Nuclear International: https://beyondnuclearinternational.org 3.1.When a French lab discovered tritium in the drinking water of more than 6 million people in France, authorities rushed to dismiss the levels as “harmless”. But are they really? We take a look. And after the French “tested” atomic bombs in French Polynesia, a legacy of illnesses was ignored by the government. Three men, all now gone, tried to change that.
3.2. Ames, Iowa, processed uranium for the atomic bomb. Then the lab dumped the waste by the river and around the town. People began to notice high cancer rates. Brittany Prater, who grew up there, returned to make a documentary about what happened. She found a deadly secret lurking beneath an idyllic-looking landscape. We review her film, Uranium Derby. We are honored to republish an oped by Robert Jay Lifton and Naomi Oreskes, who dismiss any rationale for including nuclear power in climate solutions. Read “The false promise of nuclear power.”                      3.3. A secretive nuclear industry-led agency has eclipsed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, writes Beyond Nuclear’s Paul Gunter. The Institute for Nuclear Power Operations does not make any of its information available to the public but is controlling so-called safety oversight at aging and failing US nuclear power plants. Two theatrical performances inspired by the Fukushima disaster offer hope — and sometimes a touch of humor — amidst tragedy, and conclude that giving up is not an option.
3.4.(2/09) Arguments for nuclear power are falsely optimistic, write Mark Diesendorf and Richard Boinowski. New wind and solar farms are far cheaper — and of course safer. So is Australia’s interest in nuclear power just a cover for nuclear weapons aspirations? Paul Martin Butkovich drew the horrors of nuclear war in the 1940s and ’50s, but never sold his pictures. We are happy to give his art some belated attention.
————–
4. CND (London) recently received a letter from the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, in which he commended our efforts in working towards peace. In it he also shared the text of a Peace Declaration that he delivered on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, at the city’s annual Peace Memorial Ceremony, in which he expressed his ardent wish for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons so that no one else would experience such tragedy as Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Read the full declaration, which is included below, and to share its powerful and important message as widely as possible; a message of peace and reason in a world in which intolerance and aggression are on the increase. http://www.cnduk.org. Also has details of 2 London based vacancies (parliamentary officer and campaigns assistant)
————–
5. Peace and Justice Centre Autumn events:
5.1 Gentle Peace Walk: Sunday 15th September Princes St Gardens 2-3pmhttps://www.facebook.com/events/636670543484221/
5.2 Militarism & Climate Crisis. Sunday 15th September. 3.15-4.30 pmWhat can we do? St Columba’s by the Castle. https://www.facebook.com/events/2339439912935134/
5.3 PeaceBuilders: Facilitator Training. Cooperative Games & Conflict Resolution for Primary Schools Sunday 22 Sept. 10am – 5pm. Edinburgh. For more information and to register go here.
5.4 Origami Peace Cranes Workshop
Saturday 14 Sept  2 – 4pm. Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre Edinburgh Methodist Church,25 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX
——————
6. In 2013, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) declared September 26 to be the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Abolition Day). The 130th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, representing over 170 parliaments from around the world, adopted a resolution which ‘Calls on all parliamentarians to promote and commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons each year on 26 September, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/32.’        The United Nations General Assembly will host a High Level Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament at the UN Headquarters on September 26, 2019. UN Member States will be represented by their Presidents, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers or UN Ambassadors. The event will aslo be live-streamed on http://webtv.un.org/. In addition, two representatives of civil society will be selected to speak.
September 26 is also the anniversary of the incident in 1983 when a nuclear war was almost launched due to malfunctions in the Soviet nuclear weapons early warning system, which erroneously detected a US ballistic missile attack against Moscow. The incident is graphically portrayed in the award winning docu-drama ‘The Man who Saved the World.’ The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons falls in the same week as the UN International Day for Peace (Sep 21), the UN Climate Summit (Sep 23) and the UN Summit on SDGs (Sep 24-25).
—————–

7. Move the Nuclear Weapons Money is a campaign involving legislators, religious leaders, youth and other civil society activists all over the world taking action to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments in nuclear weapons and redirect these budgets and investments to instead support peace, climate protection, ending poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals; reverse the financial interests in the nuclear arms race, and build a peace economy.  Over the next ten years the nuclear armed countries plan to spend over 1 trillion US dollars on the nuclear arms race. Those who are manufacturing the nuclear weapons are making a fortune. But they are stimulating the nuclear arms race while everyone else suffers. Imagine how this money could instead end poverty, help reverse climate change, fund sustainable development goals, and support peace, education, health and welfare. Each couple of weeks they introduce a few of the amazing people who have joined the campaign, and we share some of their words of inspiration on the issue.
Check the website and facebook pages and twitter handle for more endorsers and quotes.                                                                                                                                              On July 30, the Abolition 2000 global network to eliminate nuclear weapons held an international webinar on  Divesting from Destruction. Investing in peace and sustainability. The webinar explored strategies and actions to reverse the financial interests in nuclear weapons by cutting nuclear weapons budgets, ending investments in nuclear weapons corporations, increasing investments in peace and sustainability, and promoting the economic value of peace. Just under 2 months will be the of start counting $1 trillion, the nuclear weapons budget for the next 10 years, in 1 million mock notes each of $1million value.

—————–                                                                                                                                            8. UNFOLD ZERO, a global platform advancing UN initiatives for nuclear abolition, is compiling a list of Nuclear Abolition Day 2019 events and actions around the world.

In 2009, the United Nations declared 29 August to be the International Day against Nuclear Tests, a day to raise awareness about the catasrophic impacts of nuclear weapons tests or any other nuclear explosions, and the need to abolish nuclear tests as one of the ways to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world.
Karipbek Kuyukov, a second generation victim of Soviet nuclear tests, calls on people around the world to observe a moment of silence on August 29th.
Kuykov is Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project, which was launched at the 2012 Assemblyof Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND).
Kuyukov, who was born without arms but is an accomplished artist, would like people to observe the moment of silence at 11:05 a.m. their local time. At this time analog clock hands form a Roman letter “V,” symbolizing victory. “The moment of silence and the representation of victory honour those who have suffered and urges the international community to continue to seek victory over the nuclear weapons threat.”
Peace with NFLA is holding a seminar close to International Peace Day on the humanitarian aspects around nuclear weapons and peace in general.

STOP PRESS 29/08: NFLA media release, for immediate release, 29th August 2019

On the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, NFLA welcomes an upcoming seminar with Mayors for Peace highlighting the ongoing issues of those affected by 74 years of nuclear weapon tests,

http://www.nuclearpolicy.info – includes links to NFLA Facebook and Twitter pages
Mayors for Peace Website: http://www.mayorsforpeace.org
——————-
9. Nuclear Power: We heard on 20th August that the Office of Nuclear Regulation has given EDF permission to restart reactor 4 at Hunterston B.  The date is not yet certain but the probable date is 30th August.  You will remember from the note of the meeting between ONR and Dr Ian Fairlie and Sean Morris of Nuclear Free Local Authorities, that although cracking in Reactor 4 is not as extensive as in Reactor 3, there is an issue of some cracks openings that are greater than 1.2 cm wide (ie ~½ inch):

Write (with copies to social media) to the following people

·      the Chief Inspector of the Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR),

·      the Chief Executive of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA),

·      your own MSP and the current Scottish Minister for Energy

·      the Scottish Government’s Director of Energy and Climate Change                             In writing to the above and in using social media, you might express the views that:

·       both the Hunterston B reactors should remain closed for good

·       that EDF and North Ayrshire Council should publish their plans for evacuation in the event of a nuclear accident; and

·       that free potassium iodate tablets should be pre-distributed to the population within 50 km of Hunterston B.      Consider planning, organising and participating in demonstrations outside Hunterston.                                                    +++++++++++++++COME TO THE EDINBURGH CND meeting on 1st October                                                  

————–                                                                                                                                        10. Other issues: 1.NFLA Policy Briefing outlines core Hiroshima and Nagasaki events held around the UK and Ireland. It also outlines the wider policy context, Manchester’s recent 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre and the upcoming Mayors for Peace Executive Conference later this year in Germany. 2.Friday 13th September Mayors for Peace / NFLA joint seminar on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and the need for peace is taking place in Manchester Central Library Meeting Room 1 with a sandwich lunch at 1pm and the seminar from 1.30pm – 3.30pm. 3.The Yemen crisis and reforming Britain’s arms trade Organized by Lloyd Russell Moyle MP, member of Parliament’s Committees on Arms Export Controls Monday 23rd of September at 11am, Brighton Unitarian Church, BN1 1U  3. Next UK ICAN partners meeting will take place in London on Monday 23rd Septemberbetween 2.00pm and 5.00pm in London, venue tbc and draft agenda to follow.

edinburghcnd

EdinburghCND News 6th August (Hiroshima Day)

74 years ago today (6/09) an atomic bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima, killing over a hundred thousand innocent men, women and children.
Added 09/08; At 3:49 am on the morning of August 9, 1945, the crew of the Bockscar, a United States Army Air Forces plane set off. It carried the ‘Fat Man’ atomic bomb towards its primary target, the city of Kokura in Japan. Clouds and smoke obscured Kokura so the Bockscar headed for its second target, the city of Nagasaki.The bomb was devastating. 22% of Nagasaki’s buildings were consumed by flames. The death toll and destruction was less than in Hiroshima because of Nagasaki’s hilly geography, but as many as 50,000 to 100,000 died instantly and others died slowly and agonisingly as a result of burns and radiation.
DSCF1123
1. Tuesday 6th August: HIROSHIMA DAY Commemoration  NEW VENUE:  South Castle Street (bordering Princes Street) from 6pm to 7pm. Followed by regular organising meeting afterwards at Peace and Justice Centre.
Also: tea ceremony commemorating Hiroshima at 3pm at St Mary’s Cathedral, west end Remembering Hiroshima with a Japanese Tea Ceremony
—————-
2. Saturday 10th August: 12 30, A. Leafleting at the East End of Princes Street. Education Not Trident and remembering Nagasaki.

B. Edinburgh Stop the War Campaigning stall also 12 30 at east end princes street https://www.facebook.com/events/665631733939468/ Download the petition and use it in your workplace, community group, political party or with your friends.

https://scotlandstopwar.org/2019/07/15/petition-dont-attack-iran/

C. Origami Cranes Workshop 2pm – 4pm Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre EH8 9BH (this will be repeated on other Saturdays in August: see link in 4 below

—————–

3. More than 60 remembrance events are set to take place across Britain to mark 74 years since nuclear bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The events honour the 340,000 people who will killed.
The anniversary comes in the week Donald Trump scrapped the INF treaty, sparking fears of a new nuclear arms race (see 5 below)
Watch our video to hear from a survivor of the bombs and help win a world where this horror will never happen again.
(a)NFLA has a media release which supports the Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration events this week and comments on the current concerns over the nuclear weapon issue.
(b) Also today,  Mayor Matsui of Hiroshima delivered this year’s Peace Declaration at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony.
The Peace Declaration is also available online at the City of Hiroshima website:
http://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/www/contents/1343890585401/index.html
—————
4. Fringe Events (to be updated with any suggestions)
————–
5.INF Treaty: on Friday, 2nd August, the historic INF Treaty is set to expire, massively increasing the risk of nuclear war in Europe. Meanwhile, tensions are on the rise with Iran following the US’s wrecking of the landmark nuclear deal. And the British government has used the 50th anniversary of the moon landings to announce new military space programmes.
As a landmark nuclear arms control treaty was scrapped, anti-nuclear campaigners handed in a letter to Downing Street  calling on the Prime Minister to guarantee that Britain will not play host to US nuclear missiles.
Some articles on this:
SCND adds: With Donald Trump’s stalling of the Iran nuclear deal, there is a very real danger that there could be a new war in the Middle East that the UK could end up involved in. Both sides in this dispute need to take steps to de-escalate this confrontation. Since Trump start this current crisis, the United States should begin to ease tensions by backing off of the sanctions directed at Iran. (The Scottish Peace Network have some new literature about this topic, get in contact to hear more.) Furthermore, the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty is due to expire tomorrow. This treaty has been a cornerstone of nuclear arms control since 1987 and now President Trump is tearing it up with Russia closely following suit.
The latest edition of Nuclear Free Scotland – Spring/Summer 2019 is available on the SCND website http://www.banthebomb.org
————–
6. Nuclear Power:  The recent heat wave has brought home the reality of the climate crisis, but nuclear power is no solution, with the extreme temperatures shutting down plants in France and a damning new report showing the industry is totally unworkable, despite what the new Prime Minister says.Boris Johnson has written the so-called ‘letters of last resort’ to the commanders of our nuclear weapons submarines. As we approach the 74th anniversary of the catastrophic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the risk of accidental or intentional use of nuclear weapons remains very significant.
New research has found that almost all nuclear power plants built since the nuclear industry’s inception have generated large financial losses. Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “The history of nuclear power is seven decades of economic ruin and environmental catastrophe. Toshiba’s decision last year to abandon plans to build a reactor at Moorside in Cumbria and Hitachi’s suspension of work this year on the Wylfa Newydd plant in Anglesey simply reflect the economic reality that this report sets out. “Nuclear power isn’t only expensive, it creates an unsolvable waste problem, and as the TV drama Chernobyl so graphically reveals, nuclear accidents create human misery and environmental destruction. “Our new Prime Minister should learn these lessons and adopt a fresh approach to energy that centres on clean and economically viable renewable technology.”
DIARY DATE: Remember our meeting on 1st October
————

7. Preparations are under way for the No Nuclear Day at the DSEI arms fair, on Wednesday 4th September in east London. DSEI is one of the world’s biggest arms fairs and the UK the second-biggest arms exporter.As Kate writes on her blog, “behind every pound made in this trade is the reality of death, brutality, mutilation, and destruction of communities. Behind every company or government celebrating a new order or contract, lies the sorrow of bereavement, of childhood curtailed, of peace denied.” Please see the DSEI page on our website for more information, including how you can get involved on the day. In particular, there are contact details for Trident Ploughshares, who are keen to talk to CND groups about the arms fair and what support roles are needed, including legal observers. Both Trident Ploughshares and Yorkshire CND are organising non-violent direct action training, visit our website for up to date information and contact details.                                                   ————–                                                                                                                                                                                     8. Basle Peace Office and others: We’ve written a letter to the new Prime Minister to express our concerns about Britain’s continued possession of nuclear weapons and the lack of action on global abolition.Please add your name.In just under 90 days Basel Peace Office will join others to count out $1 trillion, the nuclear weapons budget for the next 10 years.

As we count one million mock notes each of $1 million value, we will reallocate this moneyto peace, poverty alleviation, climate protection, health, education and other areas of economic, environmental and social need.
And we will highlight actions people can take to ‘Move the Nuclear Weapons Money’ to better purposes.
Join us to help count the money and to demonstrate what we could do if we weren’t wasting this money on nuclear weapons.
++++The week of Sep 21-27 includes the UN International Day for Peace (September 21), UN Climate Summit (September 23),  UN Summit on SDGs (September 24-25) and the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (September 26).

—————                                                                                                                                       9. Beyond Nuclear International: https://beyondnuclearinternational.orgAn International Forum for a Nuclear-Free World, held in May in Sendai, Japan, has just released a statement calling for a global end to the use of nuclear power. And it noted that nuclear power and nuclear weapons are “two sides of a single coin.” An African American medical doctor, Chip Thomas, lives and works on the Navajo reservation. With the participation of his patients and others in the community, he photographs and records their lives on the sides of buildings. (b) President Trump has his finger on the nuclear button. He could press it and obliterate Afghanistan. But he says he won’t do it. At least for now. Paul Rogers looks at the implications of Trump’s hints at “winnable” nuclear war. Seven young Tunisians call upon their government to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons because “waiting and doing nothing is the worst of solutions,” they write.                          ————-

10. July 2019 NFLA Newsletter. It is also on our website at http://www.nuclearpolicy.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/NFLA_July_2019_Newsletter.pdf
————–
11. Forward to September: We will have a stall at the Portobello Village Show on Sunday 1st September
————
12. And a reminder: No to War / No to NATO Scottish Network  – meeting has been arranged on Wednesday August 7 2019 at 5 pm in Scottish CND office
————
++++++13: Sad news from Australia: The  legal challenge against the Yeelirrie uranium mine had been unsuccessful. Please watch and share the short 2 min video Uranium: West Australia under threat to make uranium mining extinct – not WAs unique species. Buy Kalyu – support Martu campaign against Kintyre
————-
++++++14:Check out meeting in Edinburgh 22/09 on Illegality of Nuclear Weapons. Organised by UN house
edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 20th+ July & into August

IMG_0241
On 6 August 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb called “Little Boy” on Hiroshima in Japan. Three days later a second atomic bomb (“Fat Man”) was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These are the only times nuclear weapons have been used in war.
The firestorm in Hiroshima destroyed five square miles of the city. Almost 63% of the buildings in Hiroshima were destroyed after the bombing and nearly 92% of the structures in the city were destroyed or damaged by blast and fire.
Estimates of total deaths in Hiroshima have generally ranged between 100,000 and 180,000, out of a population of 350,000. Casualties from Nagasaki are thought to be between 50,000 and 100,000.
The world says never again
2019 is the 74th anniversary of the bombings. Memorial events are planned across the UK for Hiroshima Day on the 6th August and Nagasaki Day on the 9th August.
1. Tuesday 6th August HIROSHIMA DAY Commemoration  NEW VENUE:  South Castle Street (bordering Princes Street) from 6pm to 7pm. Followed by regular organising meeting afterwards at Peace and Justice Centre.
2. Saturday 10th August: 12 30, A. Leafleting at the East End of Princes Street. Education Not Trident and remembering Nagasaki.
B Origami Cranes Workshop 2pm – 4pm
Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre EH8 9BH
Join us on the weekend after the anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb, to make origami cranes for peace. Ancient Japanese legend promises anyone who makes 1000 cranes will be granted a wish from the gods. Help us make 140,000 cranes to wish for peace and disarmament. Workshops are the second Saturday of each month. Make cranes (or learn how to), help count how many we have so far (about 125,000), enjoy tea and coffee, a chat – or come along to find out more about the work of the Peace and Justice Centre. Please share far and wide!
—————————-
Two Events in July
1. 22nd July in Glasgow
mail
STOP PRESS: For those who missed Monday’s Meeting: Scottish CND and Edinburgh CND are supporting a very interesting meeting in the Edinburgh Yes Hub at 31 Lasswade Road Edinburgh EH16 6 TD on Thursday July 25 at 7 pm .
The speaker at the meeting is Medea Benjamin from the US Code Pink Women for Peace organisation .
Code Pink is an internationally active NGO . It is a grassroots peace and social justice movement which works to end US funded wars and occupations .
A major part of its work is to challenge militarism .
Medea is visiting Scotland over the next week or so – therefore it is good news that she is able to speak at this meeting.
The venue is quite small so it would be really if people could book s place by going to the website edinburghyeshub.info
2. Webinar PNND joins with Abolition 2000, World Future Council and UNFOLD ZERO to invite you to join a webinar on:
Move the Nuclear Weapons Money:
Divesting from Destruction. Investing in peace and sustainability
Tuesday July 30. 5pm – 6:30pm Central Europe time. 11:00 – 12:30 USA Eastern time
3. and one more in August: No to War / No to NATO Scottish Network  – meeting has been arranged on Wednesday August 7 2019 at 5 pm in Scottish CND office
—————————
 
Other News: 
STOP PRESS: STOP PRESS: Kate Brown’s landmark book — Manual for Survival — revealed many little known facts about the Chernobyl disaster and debunked myths put about by the nuclear lobby. Here, she highlights five common misconceptions about the accident. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/04/chernobyl-nuclear-power-climate-change-health-radioactivity  (for those who missed the excellent meeting on 19th July)
————
1. Beyond Nuclear International: https://beyondnuclearinternational.org (A)  One day before an election, the Australian government authorized a Canadian uranium mine that has been bitterly opposed by the Aboriginal traditional owners. The move follows a long history of colonial abuse of indigenous peoples, often over mineral rights. N.b. See also:
 (B) At 16 she won the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize. Now Kehkashan Basu is calling for spending on nuclear weapons to be redirected toward aid to refugees, children and ending world hunger. And the false narrative that Chernobyl wildlife is thriving is exposed once again, by a new study of bank voles which shows a decline in reproduction that could affect the entire ecosystem. (C) For the first time BNI are running a story in three languages — thanks to Equal Times– about a play performed by relocated Futaba high schoolers vividly recalling their experiences of the Fukushima nuclear accident as little children. And Jacqueline Cabasso lauds the US Mayors who unanimously passed a resolution calling on all presidential candidates to declare their views on nuclear weapons and nuclear war.
——————–
2. From CND: (A) Peace campaigners have responded to news of a new MoD space programme, announced by Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt on 18th: Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “We condemn UK involvement in these new military programmes in space. Our leaders should be taking steps to preserve space for peace, rather than racing towards its weaponisation. “The Defence Secretary rightly celebrates the moon landings in her speech today. They represented a high point of the peaceful exploration of space, an endeavour that inspires the best in humanity. But the militarisation of space is completely at odds with this peaceful vision and Britain should play no role in it. (B) We’re still trying to get our anti-Trident message out on the buses in Manchester this September, in time for this year’s Conservative Party Conference. Can you help us take it to the heart of the establishment. http://www.cnduk.org
————— 
3. Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh: we need your help! We’ve been invited by Summerhall – a high profile and experimental arts venue – to curate a programme of artworks, performances and transformances (a combination of both art and activism, taking place in the city) for the Edinburgh Festival. There’s a problem though. We have the venue. We have the programme planned (it’s even being advertised at Extinction Rebellion – Summerhall – Open Minds Open Doors
——————
++++++4. NuClear News No.118 July/August 2019 is now available for downloading here: www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/wp/wp content/uploads/2019/07/NuClearNewsNo118.pdf
——————
5. Parliamentarians from across North America, Europe and Central Asia met in Luxembourg from July 4-8, 2019 for the Annual Meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).  Following five days of dynamic discussions, the Assembly today (July 8, 2019) adopted a comprehensive Declaration on Advancing Sustainable Development to Promote Security(Luxembourg Declaration) along with a number of supplementary resolutions. Together the declaration and reslutions include reflections, recommendations and appeals to OSCE member governments on peace, human rights, environmental, economic, political and security issues. (See OSCE Parliamentary Assembly advances peace, disarmament and sustainable development).
+++++5A 25/07:Count the Nuclear Weapons Money will take place over seven days and seven nights during UN Disarmament Week, October 24-30, 2019. Join us for 15 minutes, an hour or longer to help count the money. Set up a counting team and use this to promote your nuclear disarmament initiative. Or organise a short satellite counting in your university or city. Click here to sign up to count the money, or contact us by email at info@nuclearweaponsmoney.org.
———————————————–
6. On the second anniversary of the day that the United Nations agreed to ban the bomb Trident Ploughshares, in order to challenge Faslane’s legitimacy and highlight the progress that has been made since a huge majority of the world’s states took the ban decision, used spray paint to re-decorate the main entrance of the base for peace and blocked the the base’s other entrance.
Their aim was to remind the public and those working in the base that most governments now agree that nuclear weapons must be prohibited and eliminated and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) that was adopted at the UN aims to do just that. While the nuclear-armed states may not agree, they will have to come to terms somehow with the impact that the TPNW is already having because the ban prohibits any nuclear sharing, testing and development as well as use.
 —————–
7.Los Alamos Study Group http://www.lasg.org/ :Bulletin 261: Public discussion: “The Steepest Time: Youth and Crisis at the End of an Age,” Thursday July 25, 2019, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Phil Space Gallery, 1410 Second St, Santa Fe PLUS Bulletin 262: New Mexico Democrats push Trump nuclear weapons agenda regardless of environmental costs, suborn NM Environment Department to blackmail DOE into more LANL pit production and warheads
——————

8.And finally:

A wonderful event to start this year’s Manchester International Festival –  Yoko Ono’s Bells for Peace. The BBC filmed it and it can be seen on the attached link.
edinburghcnd

Edinburgh CND News 27th June and into July

EVENTS:
5. Friday 19th July: Kate Brown will be speaking about her book on Chernobyl:
See 2 in NEWS and https://cnduk.org/events/talk-on-chernobyl-survival-and-the-future-edinburgh/
————
1. Saturday 29th June:  Don’t Attack Iran: 1330 at the East End of Princes Street
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is joining protests against war on Iran
Kate Hudson, CND general secretary, said: “Every day seems like a step closer to a US-led war on Iran. It’s clear now that US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal last year was in fact a step towards a declaration of war. Military intervention in Iran will inevitably have devastating humanitarian consequences and there are no just arguments for it. Why are our leaders incapable of learning the obvious lessons from Iraq and the other disastrous Middle East wars? A movement must quickly gather pace to say no war on Iran, back the Iran nuclear deal, and oppose any British involvement in this war. We must act now to prevent catastrophe and countless innocent deaths.”
1(a). Saturday 20th July there will be a stall with petitioning against war with Iran (East end of Princes Street 12 noon)
————-

2. Tuesday 2nd July: Regular monthly organising meeting 6pm at Peace and Justice Centre. NOTE new address: 25 Nicolson Square, Edinburgh EH8 9BX

————-
3. Saturday 6th July: Climate Festival on the Meadows. 12noon to 9pm The Meadows EH9 9EX. Edinburgh CND will have materials on the ScotE3 stall https://www.facebook.com/events/2261408987509612/
Jim Taggart’s funeral is also on 6th July, at 10:30am in Craigrownie Parish Church, Cove Burgh Hall, Shore Road, Cove, near Helensburgh G84 0LY.
The service will be followed by burial at the Barbour Cemetary and then refreshments at the Green Kettle, Garelochhead (see link in news item 3 below)
————-
4. Saturday 13th July: 1230 Leafleting at the East End of Princes StreetSCOTLAND NOT TRIDENT
————–
NEWS:

STOP PRESSES:

(A) This NFLA media release  welcomes an Edinburgh City Council resolution supporting the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (and the ICAN Cities Appeal), and a Midlothian Council resolution calling for the Lothian Pension Fund to divest from shares in companies involved in developing nuclear weapons. 
(B) The HBO/Sky TV series, Chernobyl, has been hailed as a masterpiece, reached millions of viewers and revealed many truths about the terrible devastation of a nuclear accident. But despite efforts by the nuclear lobby to claim the show is “fiction”, or a uniquely Soviet-driven outcome, we show how Chernobyl can still happen anywhere, and why. Similarly, the threat of nuclear war remains ever-present. Tilman Ruff helped found iCAN and still works for nuclear abolition, inspired by the Hibakusha eye-witnesses and their powerful testimony. https://beyondnuclearinternational.org
See also items 2 and 3 below
——————————
1. From Edinburgh CAAT: Last week the Court of Appeal ruled that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen are unlawful! This verdict is fantastic news and represents a massive achievement for CAAT. The judges in the case concluded that key ministers – including Liam Fox and the remaining two candidates for the Tory leadership – had illegally approved arms exports to Saudi Arabia without an assessment of the risk to Yemeni civilians. The government has been ordered to stop issuing arms export licences and review all previous decisions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia since the start of the Yemen conflict, which the Guardian reports as having a value of at least £4.7 billion. You can read more on the decision on the CAAT website, CAAT blog, the BBCand the Guardian. Analyses of the decision were also published in the Guardian and the Independent.
However, the Court’s verdict will not be the end of the struggle: the Government is expected to appeal the decision, and will doubtless be looking for ways to minimise the impact on its relationship with Saudi Arabia. We would urge you to write to your MP in support of the verdict. Your support is essential for demonstrating that the Government is acting at odds to the public opinion. And don’t forget to keep up the pressure on your public servants in Holyrood to end their support for our local arms dealers. If you want to learn more about local and national arms trade issues, the next Edinburgh CAAT meeting is next week:  Monday 1st July, 7pm to 8.45pm
Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL
——————–
2. The CAAT meeting is after the EWJF meeting also on 1st July 5pm to 6.30pm in the Peace and Justice Centre.                                                                                                This years EWJF https://www.facebook.com/ewjf1 runs from  28th September to 19th October and our meeting is on Tuesday 1st October with Alex Lockwood author of the Chernobyl Privileges and Journalist Rob Edwards.

The issue of Nuclear Power is becoming more serious with EDF wanting to reopen Hunterston Power  Station: Kate Brown will be speaking about her book on Chernobyl on Friday 19 July 2019 15:00 – 17:00. Room 1.20, Dugald Stewart Building, 3 Charles Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD Booking is Required.  Chernobyl- Survival & the Future: Professor Kate Brown

Dr Ian Fairlie will also be at the meeting and will be able to update  on development at Hunterston. EDF Energy is currently hoping to re-open Reactor 4 on 24th June and reactor 3 on 31st July. For more on EDF see 3 below
———————

3. From CND: (a)The UK will shortly have a new Prime Minister, but we’re stuck with the same old policy on Trident. The UK is committed to spending £205 billion – and counting – on nuclear weapons at a time when there’s no money for hospitals, schools or housing. This waste of money on Trident has to stop, and so we want to take this message to the heart of the establishment – to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.  Throughout September, for the four weeks culminating in the conference, we plan to launch a fleet of buses on the city, emblazoned with a CND slogan. We want to make the case against Trident impossible to ignore. Can you help us flood the streets of Manchester with our anti-Trident message? (b) STOP PRESS (June Newsletter):It’s been a worrying start to the summer, with the US seemingly desperate to start a war on Iran, which Kate analyses on her blog, and a recent nuclear convoy exercise showing that Britain is unprepared for a nuclear accident. We’ve also been greatly saddened by the deaths of Walter Wolfgang and Jim Taggart. It all shows the importance of our continued campaigning, and we were pleased to see tens of thousands demonstrate against Donald Trump . We were also buoyed by the landmark judgement that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful. CND with other anti-nuclear groups will be hosting the No Nuclear Day on Wednesday September 4th, to highlight and protest against arms firms’ profiting from their involvement with immoral nuclear weapons. See http://www.cnd.uk for more including conference, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Global Dangers Tour.

—————-
4. Beyond Nuclear International https://beyondnuclearinternational.org (a) Women and children are far more sensitive to radiation exposure than men, their daughters especially so. Yet women continue to live, work, and raise children far too close to nuclear power plants, which release radiation on a daily basis, and in large batches when refueling. We are campaigning to let more women know of the dangers. And we present another article in our series on why nuclear power impedes progress in addressing the climate crisis, this time focused on French company, EDF, and its misleading “emissions-free” claims.
(b) We are grateful to our Greek colleagues for reminding us of the truly appalling and barbaric fate of Nikos Nikiforidis, who was executed by firing squad in 1951 for promoting the Stockholm Antinuclear Appeal.They tell his tragic story. And Heidi Hutner and Erica Cirino author the next in our series on why nuclear power only adds to the disaster of the climate crisis. (c) If you wish to make a donation towards the work of BNI visit the webpage.
——————-
5. Move the Nuclear Weapons Money and the ICCPR: Over the next ten years the nuclear-weapon States plan to spend approximately $1 trillion on maintaining, upgrading, modernizing and deploying nuclear weapons. At the same time the international community is striving to find the money to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, and the United Nations is struggling to meet its operating costs which are less than 5% of the annual nuclear weapons budget.
PNND is cooperating with Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, a global campaign to cut nuclear weapons budgets and investments, and reallocate these to instead support peace, climate protection and sustainable development.
And in October, the big event: Count the Nuclear Weapons Money
Basle Peace Office adds: On October 24, 2018, the UN Human Rights Committee adopted General Comment 36 on the Right to Life, affirming, amongst other things, that the threat or use of nuclear weapons ‘is incompatible with respect for the Right to Life and may amount to a crime under international law.’
General Comment 36 also held that States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) have an obligation to end the production of weapons of mass destruction, destroy existing stockpiles and provide adequate reparation to victims of their testing or use. In light of this historic development, the Abolition 2000 working group on Nuclear Weapons and International Law has posted a blog and published a flyer on Using UN Human Rights Committee General Comment 36 to support nuclear abolition actions and campaigns                     +++++++++(A)The Global Peace Index (GPI) 2019 rankings, released earlier this month, demonstrate that ‘Global peacefulness has improved for the first time in five years.’
But for most of the countries possessing nuclear weapons their level of peace remains far below the global average, and in some cases has declined even further.
The United Kingdom is ranked at number 45 on the Global Peace Index, France is ranked at number 60, China at 110, USA at 128, India at 141, Israel at 146, DPRK at 149, Pakistan at 153 and Russia at 154.
Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the GPI presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to date on peace dynamics, trends, and key factors in developing peaceful societies. The Index also makes correlations between levels of Positive Peace and economic indicators, demonstrating the economic value of peace. +++++++++(B) UNfold zero adds update introducing the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money global nuclear-weapons divestment campaign, highlight recent developments that support the divestment campaign including the UN Global Compact revised investment exclusion criteria and UN Human Rights Committee General Comment 36, and we note some recent divestment initiatives in US cities including in Charlottesville and New York. The nuclear weapons industry has incredible political power, and uses this to stimulate the nuclear arms race and expand the already colossal nuclear weapons budgets. In order to reverse this power, a global Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign is promoting and supporting nuclear weapons divestment. The campaign partner organisations are working in cooperation with similar campaigns on divestment from fossil fuels and conventional weapons industries. To date, four federal governments have adopted nuclear weapons divestment policies as a result of initiatives by parliamentarians and civil society – Norway in 2006, New Zealand in 2008, Switzerland in 2012 and Lichtenstein in 2016.
The campaign has also gathered momentum with nuclear weapons divestment policies adpted by a number of by states, cities, universities, religious institutions, banks, pension funds and private investors. +++++(C) Basle Peace Office: Basel Peace Office is a co-sponsor of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money which campaigns to cut nuclear weapons budgets and investments in nuclear weapons corporations, and redirect these budgets and investments to peace and sustainable development.
The campaign has been boosted by the UN Global Compact adding nuclear weapons to its list of excluded investments, and the UN Human Rights Committee adopting General Comment 36 in which it affirms that the threat or use of nuclear weapons violates the Right to Life. In addition, some activists are referring to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons(‘Ban Treaty’) and the International Court of Justice 1996 nuclear weapons case to convince their cities, universities, governments, pension funds and banks to end their investments in nuclear weapons.
—————-
6. Peace and Justice centre: (a) Kites Not Armed Drones: Summer edition
Sunday 30 June. 1 – 4pm. Meadows Pavilion Cafe Our warm and sunny version of the earlier Kites Not Drones will feature kite-making and origami peace crane making, plus Refugee Community Kitchen will provide music, food, and merchandise sale. A lovely event for families and it looks like the weather is going to be good this time! Let us know you are coming and Share on facebook.
We are also looking for volunteers to help make kites and staff our stall. Could you help out for an hour or two? Email the office to express an interest.
(b) Workshop: The Ambiguity of Violence as Resistance Friday, 28 June 2019. 10:00am to 6:00pm. Godfrey Thomson Hall, Thomsons Land
Holyrood Road EH8 8AQ Edinburgh. For More info and to Register go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workshop-the-ambiguity-of-violence-as-resistance-tickets-62254788749
(c) Annual Inter-Faith Occasion for World Peace Tuesday 2 July. 7:15 – 9pm.
St. Mark’s Unitarian Church, Edinburgh EH1 2DP                                                                  ———————
7. Scottish Peace Network Armed Forces Day protest
Saturday 29th June Scottish Peace Network presence at the Armed Forces Day parade in Stirling. Meet at the entrance to the King’s Park (a short walk from the train station) at 11:30
——————-
8. Los Alamos Study Group http://www.lasg.org/ : Peace leader in Albuquerque, almost 96 years old, begins fast against US sanctions and sieges, calls for solidarity
———————
+++++9.  Campbeltown AUOB rally: The Yeshub has a bus going, great scenery, great journey with yessers. Leaving the hub at 7-30, uplifts at Murrayfiels Hotel, A8 footbridge Ratho Station Premier Inn Livingston book edinburghyeshub.info   under events