Demonstrasi sampaikan mesej untuk Gordon Brown: hentikan perang

Satu perarakan menuntut perang dihentikan akan diadakan di London bertepatan dengan hari Gordon dilantik sebagai pemimpin parti Labour yang baru menggantikan Tony Blair.

Yang menariknya, Polis yang sebelumnya menegaskan supaya laluan perarakan ini mestilah menjauhi konferens Labour yang penting tersebut, telah menarik balik penegasan itu, sehingga membolehkan laluan perarakan akan begitu hampir dengan lokasi konferens tersebut.

Details di bawah:

STOP THE WAR COALITIONNEWSLETTER

No. 1009

15 June 2007

Email office@stopwar.org.uk

T: 020 7278 6694

Web: www.stopwar.org.uk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

1) AN ANTI-WAR MESSAGE FOR GORDON BROWN

2) MAKE BLAIR'S LAST DAY AN ANTI WAR DAY

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1) AN ANTI-WAR MESSAGE FOR GORDON BROWN

Manchester police have backed down on their insistence that the route of the Stop the War demonstration on Saturday 24 June should be kept away from the special Labour leadership conference, at which Gordon Brown will be installed as Labour Party leader. Our march will now pass very close to the conference venue (see below for route details).

The demonstration will call for a CHANGE OF POLICY NOT JUST A CHANGE OF LEADER, specifically:

* Troops out of Iraq now

* No attack on Iran

* Break the British government's link with US foreign policy

There will be a very large media presence at this conference, so it is important we have a good turnout. The demonstration will ensure that the voice of the anti-war majority in this country is heard. The protest will include a NAMING THE DEAD ceremony at which we will commemorate the deaths of Iraqis, now estimated to be up to one million, and of British soldiers who have been killed in an illegal and unnecessary war.

There are coaches coming to the protest from around the country and many local Stop the War groups have made group travel arrangements by public transport.

Please join this demonstration if you can and spread the word as widely as possible.

COACH DETAILS: http://tinyurl.com/2xbu25

CHANGE THE POLICY NOT JUST THE LEADER

DEMONSTRATE SPECIAL LABOUR CONFERENCE

SATURDAY 24 JUNE MANCHESTER

* 12 Noon: Assemble Albert Square

* 12.30 pm: Naming the Dead ceremony

* 1.00 pm: March route: Albert Square, Princes Street, Moseley Street, Lower Moseley Street, Windmill Street, Mount Street, Peter Street, Deansgate, St Mary's Gate, Cross Street, Albert Square.

SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE Walter Wolfgang (Labour NEC), Moazzam Begg, Peter Hook (from the group New Order), Rose Gentle, George Galloway MP, Sajjad Karim MEP, members of the cast of Coronation Street, Lindsey German and Andrew Murray (Stop the War Coalition).

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2) MAKE BLAIR'S LAST DAY AN ANTI WAR DAY

PROTEST AT DOWNING STREET WED 27 JUNE

Tony Blair says it is not Iraq that has made him so unpopular. MPs in his own party say he is “in denial” and “self-delusional”. Military Families Against the War, supported by Stop the War Coalition, are planning to correct him on Wednesday 27 June, the day he leaves office and is replaced by Gordon Brown.

Their protest at Downing Street from 10am aims to make sure that Blair’s last day in office is marked by his true legacy. For many of the military families this has meant the loss of their loved ones due to the Bush-Blair war crimes. For the Iraqi people it has meant the complete destruction of their country and up to one million killed, with over four million – one in seven of the population – becoming refugees since the invasion in 2003.

Tony Blair will leave Downing Street on the morning of 27 June. Brown will enter in the afternoon, when Military Families will hand him a letter asking him to meet them, a request that Blair has turned down repeatedly over the past three years.

Stop the War will be publishing more details and timings shortly. Military Families Against the War are asking for the widest possible support for their protest from the anti-war movement. Please check the Stop the War website for updated information.

MAKE TONT BLAIR'S LAST DAY AN ANTI WAR DAY

JOIN MILITARY FAMILIES AGAINST THE WAR

SUPPORTED BY STOP THE WAR COALITION

PROTEST AT DOWNING STREET

WEDNESDAY 27 JUNE FROM 10 AM

Saya teringat pengalaman menyertai perarakan (baca: demonstrasi) seumpama ini di Dundee dahulu rentetan Al-Quran yang dihina di Penjara Guantanamo Bay. Bermula dari Dundee Central Mosque, kami berarak dalam barisan 4 sebaris. Yang depan sekali membawa sepanduk bertulis frasa tuntutan berkenaan penghinaan Al-Quran tersebut. Kami diingatkan agar tidak menjerit2 sewaktu berarak. Hanya alunan bacaan Al-Quran dipasang dengan speaker besar. Dan kami berjalan perlahan2 sehingga ke city centre.

Mungkin kalian tidak dapat membayangkannya. Tapi saya merasa sungguh terharu, apabila semasa saya (berada di barisan hadapan selepas pemegang sepanduk) diperingatkan oleh polis yang mengawal kami supaya berhati-hati kerana ada lubang kecil di jalan hadapan kami. Situasi itu berlainan sekali dengan demonstrasi yang dibuat di Malaysia, yang walaupun tuntutan yang dibuat adalah demi maruah agama Islam, rasanya ada juga buat demonstrasi pasal penghinaan Al-Quran ni di malaysia waktu itu, tapi perarak dipancut dengan air asid, seolah-olah mereka melakukan kesalahan.
Sepatutnya mereka pergi pancut air asid tu kepada mereka yang buat maksiat, berdua-duaan, terang-terangan kat tepi tasik perdana. Itu baru salah.

Ketika melalui jalan besar dan merentasi bulatan (roundabout) berhampiran LIDL, semua kenderaan berhenti memberi laluan kepada kami. Hati saya berdebar2. Sepatutnya mestilah mereka marah2 kerana kami telah melambatkan perjalanan mereka. Saya jangka tentu ada di antara mereka yang akan menjerit2, ”Hoi!” ke, apa ke. Tapi anehnya, itu tidak berlaku. Mereka menunggu dengan sabar sehingga kami melewati bulatan tersebut, dan saya pasti mereka tidak melahirkan ketidakpuasan hati mereka dari riak wajah pemandu2 tersebut. Alunan al-Quran mendayu2 dari Qari yang terkemuka (saya lupa bacaan siapa yang dialunkan waktu itu) bergema di langit bandar Dundee. Hati kecil saya rasa sungguh bangga ketika itu menjadi Muslim. Polis terus2an menjaga laluan kami, kiri dan kanan barisan kami agar tidak dilanggar kereta dan sebagainya. Cameraman dan wartawan turut membuat liputan, saya tak pasti dari akhbar mana.

Sampai di City Centre, kami mengagih2kan pamplet kepada orang2 di situ tentang apa itu Al-Quran. Apa itu Islam. Al-Quran menyeru kepada perdamaian, bukan keganasan, dsb. Seorang membacakan Al-Quran, dan beberapa speaker memberi ucapan ringkas sebelum kami bersurai.

Perarakan tersebut yang diadakan tengah hari sewaktu rehat Postgraduate Summer Workshop kami. Kami mendapat kebenaran dari pihak universiti untuk memanfaatkan waktu rehat kami menyertai perarakan tersebut.