Edinburgh Peace and Justice Resource Centre

We hope to engage a freelance Administrative Assistant - Click on - About The P&J

Here are the arrangements for those traveling to the national demo in Edinburgh on 13 March, plus some updated info.
Assembly will be at the Scottish Parliament at 11.00 on the grass area towards the park.
March off at 11.30, setting off up the Royal Mile
The Rally will be in the Grassmarket at 12.15

- TRAINS will probably be on strike on the day, ie not running.
- PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUSES TO EDINBURGH to the bus station as usual. Get to parliament by exiting bus station to Princes Street, turn left into Leith Street, left again into Calton Road, turn right when you get to the end of Calton Road and you will see the Parliament at the bottom of the Royal Mile. Walking down the Royal Mile could be difficult, see below (PEDESTRIANS)
- PRIVATE BUSES WITH PASSES will drop off at the Holyrood Palace and Parkcar park,in Holyrood park opposite the Parliament. These buses will then park up in King's Stables Road adjacent to the Grasmarket which is where they can be boarded after the rally for the return journey.
- CAR PARKING This car park is managed by Historic Scotland and controlled by the Royal Park Constabulary and is not normally available to visitors to the Parliament. A small number of spaces will be allocated for our use and if you need one, please get in touch with Peace & Justice Centre asap with details inc. registration number. Please do not use this car park without prior confirmation.
There is presently work going on around the entire perimeter of the parliament (inc lower section of the royal mile) and a trough is dug up.
Difficult and expensive at the best of times, parking anywhere in the area is not recommended!
Parking at the multi-story can park in Castle Terrace is very close to the rally in the Grassmarket, and there is access to and from this car park in King's Stables Road as well as Castle Terrace.The route for walking to starting point for the march is along the Grassmarket, along the Cowgate past Dynamic earth where the route to the assembly point will be signed. (This walk takes approximately 15 minutes)
Those approaching down the Royal Mile should turn left after Royal Mile School - the route will be signed
-TIRED PEDESTRIANS If you want to get to the parliament from somewhere in Edinburgh, the bus which goes there is the number 35. Details of route and times can be found at
http://lothianbuses.com/r35.php
WEE GENERAL UPDATE
In addition to the First Minister Alex Salmond, our wonderful Protest In Harmony singers (don'tcha love 'em) and the speakers mentioned on the flier, broadcaster Lesley Riddoch is joining the platform to give us some feisty words, and the super.r.r.rb Commotion drummers will be out in their women's colours kilts,so every chance of us all being heard us in Edinburgh Castle!
Still looking for extra stewards, knowledge of Edinburgh an advantage but not essential, if you can help please email with your mob no. and be prepared to turn up a wee bit early.
The edinbuggers are looking forward to a big turn out on the day!
Mind yer banners so we know where you are all from.
More fliering, postering, talking, facebooking, and general bigging it up to be done in the last coupla weeks, please contact us if you are willing to help out
Publicity materials available3 from P&J in Edinburgh or SCND office for you westcoasters.
Hope this helps
- HELP NEEDED! Please get in touch if you would like any further info
mob 07795594573

Website: www.mesp.org.uk

From Friday 5 March - Thursday 18 March 2010 the 7th Annual Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace, MESP 2010, will bring together people from a wide range of spiritual backgrounds, people working with peace, conflict, reconciliation and justice, educators, teachers, scholars and students, people from artistic and cultural backgrounds, people working with health, well-being and healing experiences and concerns, people from diverse cultures, traditions and communities and people froma across the Scotland and internationally. more generally, everyone participates in an individual and non representative capacity, to allow people to draw upon their own experiences and to share their unique visions and perspectives, and people of all backgrounds who respect the Festival ethos are warmly invited to participate in this spiritual, educational, artistic and cultural and international festival which celebrates peace and mutual understanding. There will also be pre events in the weeks before (you can search these in www.mesp.org.uk), including a Middle Eastern Film Festival and exhibitions and displays, and some may want to participate in some events in a CPD capacity

Minibuses will be travelling to and from the Big Blockade in February from Edinburgh, Glasgow and other parts of Scotland depending on demand.
We expect to leave Scotland on Sunday and go to a resting place near enough to get to Aldermaston fresh on Monday morning. After the blockade, everyone will be able go to a convergence space to await the release of people who have been arrested, (who will be collected) and meet up and hear each other's stories before the journey home.
To book a place, please contact the Peace and Justice Centre at St John's, Princes Street Edinburgh. You can book in person,(call in between 10 and 4.00 Monday through Saturday) by phone (Call 01312 229 0993) or by email (contact@peaceandjustice.org.uk) . Please send or hand in £5 per person to firm up your booking. We do not know what the exact cost will be, it will depend on bookings and the donations and finacial support we can raise, please help with a donation especially if you cannot come for any reason. We would also like to know if you are over 25 with a clean licence and are prepared to share the driving.
Please let us know if you have particular needs – eg , real wheelchair user, or if you can only sleep in a 'real' bed. The more we know, the easier it is to plan. .
Please make all cheques payable to Trident Ploughshares. And let us know the name, contact details (email, phone, postal address) of the people who are booking seats. More details at blogs.

A Festive event to look at one way of tackling climate change and celebrating the turn of the year on Sunday 13 December at 7.30pm!
The Centre is very happy to have Henderson's at St John's lovely veggie cafe next door (yes same Hendersons as Hanover Street) at the site of the old Cornerstone cafe. At our first collaborative event we hope to raise funds for the Centre, let you enjoy a bit of a ceilidh and introduce the idea of 80/20 eating as an important action for Climate Change that we can all make a commitment to. And all at once!
Enjoy seasonal local food as your 80% and add in 20% of fair-traded extras so you don't miss your all important coffee, chocolate or other favourite! On the night, Henderson's will provide some inspiring samples of the kind of treats we can enjoy from locally sourced ingredients.
Our friends from the music and spoken word community will encourage us all in being creative in our work for peace. Come along and contribute to the entertainment, or just sit back and enjoy our JAM for YER PEACE FESTIVE EVENT !
Local poets musicians and others will provide entertainment and Henderson's will provide the tasty food
DAVID FERRARD, EILEEN PENMAN, ADAM HOLMES
SOLWAY POETS AND FRIENDS
Entry, including a simple supper, £8 (£5 conc)

Just after eight thirty this morning, several members of Trident Ploughshares blocked the entrance of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre for quarter of an hour as Parliamentarians from NATO countries met for the final session of the assembly. Foreign Secretary David Milliband and the Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen were due to speak following a minute’s silence. The protesters wore shirts emblazoned with the images of wounded and traumatized Afghan children, graphically demonstrating the fact that NATO’s war in Afghanistan is killing innocent civilians and traumatizing children in violation of international law.They recited the names of Afghan civilians who have died since the war began. Several protesters were blocking the entrance to the Conference Centre so that Parliamentarians could see them on their way into the session or from the escalators inside the building. Police arrested six of them.
The protesters called for an immediate moratorium on drone and air strikes, an end to NATO’s war in Afghanistan, withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, investment in humanitarian aid, disarmament of NATO nuclear weapons, a halt to the expansion of and the dissolution of NATO.
A statement from Trident Ploughshares read:
Today the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is having a one minute silence which it claims is a ‘mark of respect to all those who have been affected by the conflict in Afghanistan.’ This hypocrisy must not go unchallenged. NATO is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Its war has forced five million people to flee to refugee camps. To claim to “respect” those affected while planning to send in yet more troops, which will inevitably lead to more civilian deaths, is an affront to the Afghan people and an insult to the families of those who have been killed. But we will not be silent. In the name of the innocent civilians who have died in this tragic and foolish war we call for an immediate moratorium on drone and air strikes, an end to NATO’s war in Afghanistan, withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and investment in humanitarian aid, a halt to the expansion of and, finally, the dissolution of NATO.
Since the US/NATO war in Afghanistan began eight years ago more than 7,000 civilians have died and countless innocents wounded and traumatized. On Friday Gordon Brown announced plans to send 5,000 more NATO troops into the conflict in which more than 200 UK soldiers have died. And Barack Obama is poised to announce that the US will send some 34,000 troops. Every time air and drone strikes kill civilians more people will turn against NATO and the UK and the US. Eight years of war have failed to accomplish anything. Stepping up the war is folly and will only increase terrorism. Troop increases and the creation of a larger Afghan police and army will not bring peace to Afghanistan. We should be putting more resources into humanitarian aid, building schools and hospitals, providing doctors and teachers. That is the way to build peace, not by sending in more troops.
We also call upon NATO to disarm its nuclear weapons. Trident - with around 160 warheads, each ten times as destructive as the Hiroshima bomb - is assigned to NATO, and the US deploys hundreds of nuclear weapons at bases across Europe under the NATO alliance. This is in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under which nuclear weapons states are obligated to bring to a conclusion negotiations for disarmament of nuclear weapons. NATO’s policy of deterrence threatens global peace and security. As long as NATO continues to rely on nuclear weapons for security other countries will want them too. Moreover the people of Scotland and our Scottish Parliament have rejected Trident. It is encouraging that Obama and Medvedev announced plans for a new START Treaty for reductions of strategic nuclear weapons. But we must go further. The only way to ensure peace and security is to abolish nuclear weapons.
We believe that the peaceful world we seek cannot be achieved through the warmongering that characterise NATO, but only through a spirit of co-operation and dialogue between nations. We cannot stand idly by as NATO leaders plot further bloodshed and destruction.

By Brian Larkin
Ten miles from the "bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond," on the shores of another picturesque Scottish loch, lurk the menacing black hulks of four Trident submarines. Unlike the fabled Loch Ness monster, these behemoths represent a very real danger to humanity.
For when each of these submarines slips silently into the deep waters of the North Atlantic, it is armed with 48 nuclear warheads, each 8 to 10 times more destructive than the Hiroshima bomb. Before the subs return to port, the warheads are stored at a weapons depot called Coulport in bunkers dug out of the hillside on the banks of the next loch over. That hillside is fenced off and patrolled by dogs and sentries toting automatic weapons.
Periodically, a convoy carries the warheads to the Atomic Weapons Establishment near London where the warheads are maintained. If you walk along the perimeter of that fence Ministry of Defence police with German Shepherds will escort you off the land.
But across the road is a beautiful bit of woodland known as Peaton Glen. A sign says this land is for the "peaceful enjoyment of all." About 10 years ago this land was purchased from the MOD by Georgina. She is in her 70s and walks with a cane now. But in the early 1980s Georgina was one of the "Greenham women."
Hundreds of women camped at Greenham Common for 10 years opposing U.S. nuclear weapons based there. They broke into the air base and danced on top of one of the silos where Cruise missiles were stored. Their persistence paid off and the U.S. withdrew its Cruise missiles. With the end of the Cold War, the feeling that nuclear weapons presented an imminent threat to humanity subsided. But the UK still had its own nuclear weapons based on those submarines up in Scotland.
It was not the end of the anti-nuclear weapons movement in Britain. At the same time that Georgina bought the land next to Coulport, a group of peace campaigners formed a group called Trident Ploughshares.
Trident Ploughshares was inspired by the Berrigans and others who hammered on the nose cone of an MX missile in 1980. Members pledged to engage in, or support, direct disarmament actions in an open, accountable and non-violent way until the government itself started to disarm the nuclear weapons. The group held disarmament camps each summer in Georgina's woodland. People reclaimed those hills and lochs, walking the perimeter, cutting through the fence and even swimming across the loch and into the port. Gillian painted the word "VILE" on a sub in dock.
Angie, Ulla and Ellen dumped computer equipment into the loch. They were acquitted on a defence of international law. TP organized several big blockades of Faslane. In 11 years there have been more than 2,000 arrests. Yet Trident is still there.
In 2006-07 a handful of TP members organized Faslane365, a yearlong blockade of the base. More than 100 autonomous affinity groups came from all over the UK and Europe, even from Japan. There were more than 1,000 arrests.
Having been involved in anti-nuclear campaigns in the past, I felt it was time to push for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Too many countries now have, or are developing, nuclear weapons. And Scotland has a unique part to play because the Scots do not want Trident. They elected the Scottish National Party, which made getting rid of Trident its top campaign pledge. By the end of the yearlong blockade, the SNP government formed a working group on a future of Scotland without nuclear weapons.
Two years later, there has been no action. In fact, there is little the Scottish Parliament can do because defence matters are in the hands of the UK government. That's why, during TP camp this summer, five of us walked straight in the front gate of Faslane to invite everyone at the base to join us in beginning the process of disarming the nuclear weapons.
We passed through two levels of security and reached the inner high-security perimeter before police stopped and arrested us. We offered flowers and a letter inviting base workers to talk with us about putting their skills to work on building renewable energy. We were charged with Serious Organized Crime Prevention Act, which was enacted as part of anti-terrorist legislation after the 7/7 bombings in London.
We could face up to a year in prison for this simple nonviolent action, though it is unlikely. Other protesters convicted under this law for entering the base were simply admonished. Our letter explained that "it is the presence of Trident submarines each carrying 48 warheads 10 times more destructive than the Hiroshima bomb, which constitutes a serious organized crime. We invite others to follow us through this gate and restore humanitarian law."

SATURDAY NOV 7th is not just two days after Guy Fawkes night, This is the Peace & Justice Centre FUND RAISER
ceilidh at The Rudolph Steiner Hall 60 Spylaw Road, EH10 5BR.
THE weel kent BELLE STAR Ceilidh band, with Adam Holmes, Finalist in this year's BBC Young Traditional Musician, singer songwriter, and Lisa Paton with Townhouse and Stairheid Gossip's Eileen Penman adding to the entertainment.
Organic Bar, and well stocked raffle. The Centre is busier than ever, following our activity with Gude Cause, and now we are going to have an election to deal with, BUT we desperately need money to make sure that PEACE is on the ballot paper. The Centre can inform the public, support the campaigns, lobby the politicians and generally
WAGE PEACE BUT we need the cash to pay the rent, keep the computers on, get the word out...

The Edinburgh Peace and Justice Resource Centre welcomes the forming of a new and influential group of former UK Government ministers and senior military officers to work towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. The lead has been taken by Des Browne, himself a recent Minister of Defence, and includes the former Foreign Secretaries Margaret Beckett and Malcolm Rifkind, as well as less surprising recruits like Shirley Williams.
The inspiration comes from the initiative taken by US elder statesmen like Sam Nunn and Henry Kissinger, who have called for the elimination of nuclear weapons as a matter of urgency. This initiative has been endorsed by President Obama, and is at least an element in current US foreign policy.
Last year, following a conference which formed part of the First Minister's Conversations, the Scottish Government set up a working group to look at Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons. It aimed to examine how the legality (or rather the illegality) of nuclear weapons affected the policy of the devolved administration of Scotland, and also how Scotland could contribute to the development of an international role in peace and reconciliation work. In addition it was to consider environmental impact and the impact that the absence of nuclear weapons would have on jobs. The fact that banning the bomb has now become the concern of senior politicians and soldiers means that the time is more than ripe for Scotland’s Working Group to report on its findings. The situation is developing fast, and the prospects for nuclear disarmament are, for the time being, better than they have ever been. But it is essential to grasp the opportunity while it lasts.
The Peace and Justice Centre looks forward to the publication of the Working Group' s findings and the Scottish Government's plans following the group' s report. We hope that the Scottish Parliament will support Des Browne in his new role and encourage the Parliament at Westminster to do likewise.

More information at:
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/swnw-working-group/meetings/2009/april... and www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/08/nuclear-disarmament-cross-party-gro... and www.totalpolitics.com/blogs/

21st of September is the International day of Peace, a day which means a lot to all of us. Such a big significant word: PEACE.
Mahatma Gandhi definition for Peace: "Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds. It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us, we should have become extinct long ago. And yet, the tragedy of it is that the so-called civilized men and nations conduct themselves as if the basis of society was violence".
Wikipedia definition of Peace: “is a term that most commonly refers to an absence of aggression, violence or hostility, but which also represents a larger concept wherein there are healthy or newly-healed interpersonal or international relationships, safety in matters of social or economic welfare, the acknowledgement of equality and fairness in political relationships and, in world matters, peacetime; a state of being without any war or conflict. Reflection on the nature of peace is also bound up with considerations of the causes for its absence or loss. Among these potential causes are: insecurity, social injustice, economic inequality, political religious radicalism, and acute nationalism”.
But what we really want to know is what Peace means to people like you, people like us.
So we would like to invite all of you to send us a contribution saying what Peace mean to you. We will publish them in the next months' newsletters.
Email or post it to:contact@peaceandjustice.org.uk
Edinburgh Peace and Justice Resource Centre
St John's Church
Princes Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4BJ
Hope you all enjoy this special day, and many thanks for your collaboration .