Terror War
Reports and news related to the so-called 'war on terror' and the police state measures carried out in its name.
The Global War of Terror
08-02-2007 09:51
The so-called 'war on terror' is nothing new; it has its precedents in operations like Gladio; can be seen as the "strategy of tension" gone global and a logical extension of the US-UK imperial policy post 1945; it is the latest justification for the actions of a genocidal Empire which has caused between 20 and 30 million deaths since World War II; imperial genocide is not a new policy. According to Youssef Aschkar, the 'war on terror' did not start on September 11, 2001: "between 1996 and September 11, 2001, the culture of hate and fear was spread to the United States by the publication of thousands of books and articles on the subject of terrorism. From that time onward, 'Islamic terrorism' became the new Evil Empire". The Power of Nightmares, a BBC documentary, even starts from earlier. It "explores the origins in the 1940's and 50s of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, Neoconservatism in America and the parallels between these movements." Now, with the neocon's 'war on terror', legality and morality gone out of the window, torture [1|2], detention without trial [1|2|3], rendition, secret prisons, dawn raids, death squads [1], profiling, fabricated terror plots, executions and Orwellian Big Brother surveillance are the new norm as muslims are demonised in order to justify the "clash of civilisations" and the military industrial complex's perpetual global war.
Campaigns: Campaign Against Criminalising Communities | Scotland Against Criminalising Communities | National Guantanamo Coalition | Cage Prisoners
Blogs: Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed | Craig Murray
Radio: Taking Aim | Guns and Butter
Campaigning against Heckler & Koch Weapons in Germany and the UK
05-04-2009 22:07
Last month, some members of the 'Notts Shut Down Heckler & Koch Campaign' travelled to Germany. Together with German Peace Groups, we wished to pre-empt the company’s 60th birthday celebrations.
Here in Nottingham, the campaign holds regular monthly demonstrations outside their offices at Easter Park, Lenton Lane, Nottingham NG7 PX. These will continue with a picket on Tuesday April 14th and a special campaign anniversary demo on Monday May 11th [with a mystery guest!]. Heckler & Koch's UK office is NSAF Ltd, Unit 3, Easter Park, Lenton Lane, Nottingham NG7 2PX. Map | Google 'Street View'.
Newswire: Demos continue at Heckler & Koch weapons HQ: [July 2007] | [May 2008] | Surveillance at H&K HQ [May 2008] | [July 2008] | Pix 1 [Oct 2008] | Pix 2 [Oct 2008] | Surveillance at H&K HQ [Nov 2008] | Full Circle: From weapons to wars to refugees. Market Sq. Nottingham [Dec 2008] | [Dec 2008] | [Jan 2009] | German Indymedia: Weitere Proteste gegen Heckler & Koch | Demo about H&K weapons activities, Market Square [Jan 2009] | [Feb 2009] | Nottingham Campaigners to Visit Germany German Trip: Nottingham Campaigners to Visit Germany, press release in PDF | 1 Freiburg Peace Group | 2 Rottweil Peace Meeting | 3 Oberndorf Demo | 4 Oberndorf Demo | 5 KTS Social Centre Freiburg | 6 Misc pictures of German visit
Previous Feature: Protesters Target Nottingham Weapons ManufacturersLinks: Notts Shut Down Heckler & Koch Campaign | Notts Anti-Militarism | Nottingham Stop The War | Nottingham Student Peace Movement | RüstungsInformationsBüro RIB | Ohne Rüstung Leben | Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft - Vereinigte KriegsdienstgegnerInnen DFG-VK | Notts Indymedia (anti-militarism) Audio: H&K German Mission [Speech at Rottweil] Flyer: Poster / Flyer PDF of H&K leaflet
Home Secretary Blatantly Ignores Unfavorable Court Decision
04-03-2009 11:28
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, appears to have declared war on the government’s own secret terror court, overruling decisions made by judges in the Special Immigration Appeals Court (SIAC). In what can only be described as an act of executive fiat, two men who attended a hearing at the SIAC were driven away from the court, expecting to return home, as ordered by the SIAC judges, but were, instead, delivered to Belmarsh prison, where they were joined by three other men, who had been seized in raids on their homes.
Journalist and author Andy Worthington notes that the whole operation was clearly planned by the Home Secretary in advance. "Even though she had informed neither the men’s lawyers nor the SIAC judges." The first the lawyers heard about it was when one of the men’s wives rang, inquiring why he had not yet returned home. He adds; "the Home Secretary has acted in a manner that would have pleased King John, in those days before England's nobles forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, establishing for the first time that the king had no right to imprison his subjects except upon the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land."
On The Newswire: Jacqui Smith versus Justice Mitting | Home Secretary ignores Court decision, kidnaps bailed men and imprisons them in Belmarsh | Revealed: flawed intelligence exposes the scandal of Belmarsh detainees | Invisible Barriers: Detention without Trial/Social Housing Policy in the UK Today
Previous Features: Hundreds Join Demo for Academic Freedom and Against Deportation | Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University | The Global War of Terror | The Racist 'War on Terror' | Terror profiling nets innocents
Links: National Guantanamo Coalition | Cageprisoners | 100 Days to Close Guantánamo and End Torture | The Campaign against Criminalising Communities | Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) | Reprieve | Andy Worthington | Indymedia Topic Pages: Terror War | Guantanamo
Obama, Guantánamo and the “War on Terror”
01-02-2009 15:53
Update: Binyam Mohamed/UK involvement in torture
Former Guantánamo prisoners including Moazzam Begg and Chris Arendt, a former guard, are completing a UK speaking tour to “mark seven years of unlawful detention, abuse and torture”. The tour, organised by Cage Prisoners started in London on 11th January 2009, exactly seven years after the first transfers to the prison torture camp at Guantánamo Bay at date which was marked in London by a weekend of actions. Sami al-Haj, a former Guantánamo prisoner and Al Jazeera journalist was due to be one of the speakers but instead he joined a Free Gaza boat which was fired on and didn’t make it. By the Sheffield meeting, held on the date of Obama’s inauguration, he had been replaced by Omar Deghayes another former Guantánamo prisoner. In Liverpool the meeting “was held on the same day as the US president signed an order to close Guantanamo. Moazzam Begg was not impressed, and commented that Barack Obama spoke about ‘outlawing torture’ as though he himself had just decided to make it illegal: “It has ALWAYS been illegal, at least in any civilised country”" Further reports can be found on the tour blog.
Tour Reports: London (audio) | Bristol | Sheffield (audio: 1 | 2) | Liverpool | Guantánamo Voices Tour Blog
Campaigns: Cageprisoners | The National Guantánamo Coalition | 100 Days to Close Guantánamo and End Torture | The Campaign against Criminalising Communities | Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) | Reprieve | Andy Worthington
Background: Andy Worthington on Antiwar Radio: Obama, Guantánamo and Torture (audio) | SchNews: [ Inside Guantanamo | Omar Deghayes Speaks to SchNews ] Seven Years of Guantánamo Bay: London Actions | Guantánamo - Obama could do better | Binyam’s Story: From Ladbroke Grove to GTMO | The Rendition Monolgues | Moazzam Begg and Andy Worthington on Human Rights in The War on Terror | Can Human Rights Survive the "War on Terror"? | Guantánamo Bay: The Case of Omar Deghayes | Craig Murray: Legality, Morality and the War on Terror
Gaza: Weekend of Protest Across the Midlands
20-01-2009 18:59
On Saturday 17th January Israel declared a "unilateral ceasefire," ending (for the timebeing at least) the brutal assault on Gaza it began on 27th December. With the full extent of the devestation wrought only now becoming clear, protests against the attack and wider Israeli policy towards the Palestinians continued up to and beyond this declaration. The "ceasefire" came during a weekend of protests against the assault in Nottingham and across the Midlands, building on a widespread sense of anger, particularly amongst Muslim communities.
On Friday 16th January there was a vigil outside the Council House. Around 150 people attended and were addresed by a range of speakers. The next day there was a very large march from the Forest Recreation Ground to Market Square, with a rally next to the statue of Brian Clough. On Monday 19th January, a number of Nottingham residents made their way to UAV engines in Staffordshire to protest against the company's involvement in the production of Israeli military drones.
Previous Feature: Nottingham Responds to Gaza Massacre
Newswire: Protest at Arms to Israel from Staffordshire | Gaza Protest March Through Nottingham to Market Sq : Pix 1 | 2 | Nottingham Gaza Protest 'candle-lit' Vigil : Pix 1 | 2 | Stop the Slaughter in Gaza - Lincoln Protest | Nottingham Gaza Emergency Protest: Pics 1 | 2 | Gaza Public Meeting at Bobbers Mill Community Centre
Links: Nottingham Stop the War Coalition | Free Gaza | Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Indymedia Notts Palestine topic page
Nottingham Responds to Gaza Massacre
13-01-2009 20:57
With news of the ongoing military action in and against Gaza, protests have been called in many cities around the world. In Nottingham around two hundred people gathered in Market Square on Wednesday 30th December. Many people from Nottingham also made there way down to London to take part in the national demonstrations held on 3rd and 10th January.
A well-attended public meeting at Bobbers Mill Community Centre, Berridge Road West (Hyson Green) on Sunday 11th January was addressed by Jeremy Corbyn MP, John Heppell MP (Lab, Nottingham East) and Hicham Yezza from Nottingham University (recently wrongly imprisoned under the terrorism laws).
National Features: National Free Gaza demo 10.01.2009 | Gaza: Stop The Genocide | Yet again Israel massacres Gazan civilians - and yet again world leaders sit on the fence while people burn
Newswire: Gaza Public Meeting at Bobbers Mill Community Centre, Nottingham | Nottingham's Gaza Emergency Protest: Pictures 1 | 2 | Gaza Emergency Protest - 30 Dec 12pm Market Square
Links: Nottingham Stop the War Coalition | Free Gaza | Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Indymedia Notts Palestine topic page
Full article | 9 additions | 2 comments
Gaza: Stop The Genocide
06-01-2009 15:07
Death toll update for Tuesday 6th of Jan 2009: Israel escalated its operations in the Gaza Strip killing at least 82 Palestinians in less than 24 hours. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 683 have been killed over eleven days of Israeli attacks on Gaza. More than 2,850 have been injured. The hospitals say they have run out of supplies because of the blockade and Gaza faces a "a full-blown humanitarian crisis", the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on 6 January. On 3 January 2009 tens of thousands of people protested across the UK and across the world against the Israeli state's slaughter.
Reports: Sheffield | Portsmouth | Lancaster | Manchester | Cambridge | Brighton | Shrewsbury: 1 | 2 | London: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Liverpool | Newcastle | Bristol | Birmingham (video)
Up and coming demonstrations for Gaza: Continuous vigil for Gaza in Parliament Square, London, every day - from 10.30am, Thursday 8 Jan 2009 | Safe place for Gaza all over the world until the genocide stops! | Pedal for Palestine: London ride against the massacre in Gaza 18:00 Friday 9 Jan 2009 | Demonstration, London UK 12:30, Hyde Park, Saturday, 10 Jan 2009 | Rally for peace in Gaza - Belfast Saturday, 10 Jan 2009 | Wrexham, UK 10 Jan 2009 |Leeds, UK 10 Jan 2009 | Lobby your MP Saturday, 10 Jan 2009More news from Gaza: Massacre: 42 killed by Israeli shelling at UN school in Jabaliya Refugee Camp 6 Jan 2009 Unconventional weapons used against the people of Gaza 6 Jan 2009 Jabalia - 4th Jan 6pm - 5th Jan 5pm Sharon in Gaza + Interview with with Alberto Arce I.S.M 6 Jan 2009 | Activist describes attacks Ewa Jasiewicz in Gaza, BBC audio, 29 Dec 2008 | Cluster bombs, Depleted Uranium and White Phosphorus being used in Gaza - even right-wing newspapers talk of "war crimes" 4 Jan 2009 | Occupation forces targeting health workers, preventing medical aid to wounded 5 Jan 2009 | I expected an ambulance but a donkey cart carried the injured Ewa Jasiewicz in Gaza, 4 Jan 2009 | Occupation forces targeting health workers, preventing medical aid to wounded 5 Jan 2009 | Tel Aviv protests against the war Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), 5 Jan 2009 | International Solidarity Movement (ISM) stay in Gaza during ground operation 4 Jan 2009 | Ground invasion starts - ISM in the thick of it 3 Jan 2009 | Indian government gives US$100M to UN refugee body in Gaza 4 Jan 2009 | "Indiscriminate police brutality" at London protest UK 3 Jan 2009
News sources on school shelling, 6 Jan: Besieged families flee homes for shelter under UN flag Guardian | Dozens killed in Israeli strikes on UN schools in Gaza UN | BBC | Ma'an News Agency
Blogs by activists in Gaza: Tales to Tell | In Gaza
Videos: Multiple Israeli air strike on Rafah border with Egypt 2 Jan 2009 | Rage over Gaza - roundup of unrest in London, Athens, Paris 4 Jan 2009 | Protests for Gaza in Holland 4 Jan 2009
Comment: US Thwarts UN Gaza Ceasefire Call Cartoon by Latuff, 4 Jan 2009 | Israel Unleashes Chemical Weapons in Gaza Chris Floyd, 5 Jan 2009 | Israel: Bloody executioner for capitalism International Communist party, 4 Jan 2009
Full article | 5 additions | 13 comments
Yet again Israel massacres Gazan civilians - and yet again world leaders sit on the fence while people burn
29-12-2008 20:18
The whole world is watching while Gaza burns and implodes under the might of Israel's military machine. On all major news outlets the charred remains and scattered bodies are a graphic reality TV horror show, right down to the shrouded bundles of what was once 5 little girls who sought safety in a mosque only to be incinerated in a direct hit.
The collective punishment of civilians is a war crime; the whole world is watching gruesome war crimes taking place.
Stop! Look! And listen! Then lobby, campaign and fight for human rights enshrined in international law to be upheld and enforced in this case against the Israeli state war machine.
Newswire: Israeli navy fires on free Gaza ship on human mission to the besieged strip International witnesses speak from Gaza Free Gaza Movement, 27 Dec 2008 | On-the-spot report from Gaza City Ewa Jasiewicz, 28 Dec 2008 | Christmas In Gaza : No More Room In The Morgue Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent, 28 Dec 2008 | Protest against Gaza massacre in Edinburgh, Scotland 28 Dec 2008 | Nottingham UK, Gaza Emergency Protest 30 Dec: Pictures [1] [2] | Police launch massive attack on Palestinian solidarity demonstration in London 28 Dec 2008 | General strike called by Palestinians in Israel 28 Dec 2008 | Over 50,000 rally as pro-Gaza demos sweep Egypt's cities 28 Dec 2008 | Tales to tell (from Gaza) 28 Dec 2008, 5.30am, Jabalia | Ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza; 225 killed over 700 wounded Saed Banora, | IMEMC, 27 Dec 2008
News links: freegaza.org | IMEMC.org Independent Middle East Media Centre | Ma’an News Agency | english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast
Video links: Israeli shelling of Gaza continues Video from International Solidarity Movement on the ground, 28 Dec 2008 | Eye witness video post bombings 27 Dec 2008 | More video links
Pictures: This is what a massacre looks like 28 Dec 2008 Protest at Israeli embassy, London, England 28 Dec 2008 More pix from Protest at Israeli embassy, London, England 28 Dec 2008 More from Israeli embasy protest 28 Dec 2008 | Demonstration in solidarity with Gaza in Nablus, Palestine 27 Dec 2008 | Hundreds Protest in Sheffield Against Gaza Massacre 29 Dec 2008 | Nottingham UK, Gaza Emergency Protest 30 Dec: Pictures [1] [2]
Comment: Bombs over Gaza cartoon by Latuff, 27 Dec 2008 | Israeli Air Strikes in Gaza Kill as Many as 200 people cartoon by Latuff, 27 Dec 2008 | The Gaza blockade Cincinnati Jewish Community Relations Council | Statement on Zionist attacks on Gaza Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, 28 Dec 2008 | Massive attack on Gaza planned many months ago Barak Ravid, Haaretz, 27 Dec 2008
Stop the War activist in court
27-10-2008 13:50
On Thursday 23rd October, Nottingham Crown Court rejected the appeal against the conviction of Henry Twigger. Henry was found guilty of Criminal Damage in July, for painting anti-war slogans on the Army Careers Office at the Victoria Centre, in Milton Street, Nottingham.
Thursday’s hearing was about appealing this conviction. Henry's main plan was to point to the 'lawful excuse' provided for in 5.2.B. of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. The idea, as it is contained within a number of pieces of law, is to claim necessity or committing a crime to prevent a greater one. Mr Chris Coverdale from the Campaign to Make Wars History had turned out to assist Henry, but his evidence was disallowed.
Henry says he won't pay the fines and costs because it 'aids and abets' the system he's protesting about.
Full article | 1 addition | 1 comment
Justice demanded as Binyam turns 30
23-07-2008 08:34
Protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Thursday, 24th July, to hold a 'Birthday Party' for Britain's last Guantamo Detainee, Binyam Mohamed [Reports and pics 1 | 2 | 3]. The event was the culmination of a week long vigil which took place outside the US Embassy.
Previous reports: Binyam faces death penalty | Brown urged to act | Binyam sues British Govt. | New report details torture | Reprieve: 'Bring Binyam back' | Guantanamo's last Londoner
Previous actions: London: 1 | 2 | 3 | Sheffield | Nottingham
Other links: Cageprisoners | The National Guantanamo Coalition | Reprieve | Andy Worthington
Full article | 2 additions | 7 comments
Anti-Bush Visit Protest Marred by Police Violence and Snatch Arrests
18-06-2008 07:55
On Sunday 15th of June, as George W. Bush was making his way to Downing Street for his last state visit to the UK, thousands of people were gathering in Parliament Square following a call from the Stop the War Coalition.
Although the turn out to Sunday's protest was much smaller than in 2003 when Bush last visited the UK in the high of the Anti-War protest movement, by mid afternoon a crowd of around 2500 determined people were already making clear what they thought of the legacy of George Bush's wars in the Middle East and the US driven War on Terror [Demo video report] A powerful sound system had been set on the square from where several people, including Brian How, made speeches. Meanwhile the crowd kept demanding the arrest of George Bush for his "terrorist activities and war crimes" in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The protest had already been banned by the Metropolitan Police from marching through Whitehall, therefore crash barriers and police lines had been set at the southern end of Whitehall to prevent the demonstration from moving forward. At some point, the crowd approached the barriers and police lines to demand their right to demonstrate, but they were faced by a line of baton wielding police that started hitting those at the front. As a result a series of scuffles followed, resulting with some head injuries and bruises to some protesters, and the first wave of arrests.
Eventually, a large number of police with riot gear took positions to protect the entrance to Whitehall, whilst at the same time groups of TSG and FIT police forces started to carry a series of snatch arrests around the Parliament Square area [Video of arrests]. By the end of the evening 25 people had been arrested, some of which are now facing charges.
