[Imc-london-audio] stories for 14 june

[Planet Mail]

The Square Occupied social centre in London is now facing eviction, with a 
date set for 23rd June, but the occupiers say they intend to resist any 
eviction attempt.

Over the months you'll have heard of many events that have taken place 
there, highlighing the fact that the social centre has been an important 
hub for politics and self organisation in london.

In a statement issued a week and a half ago the Square collective said:

"We plan a social resistance to any attempts to evict us composed of all 
the elements which constitute THE SQUARE - including students, teachers & 
migrants which have utilised and contributed to this radical public space."

"we call for solidarity to the social centres around the UK, autonomous 
collectives and radicals to converge on the weekend of the 23rd-24th-25th 
June in Russell Square.

for more see wwwlondonsocialcentre.org.uk

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Members of Spanish anarchist trade union, the CNT, who work at supermarket 
distribution centre Mercadona, are now into their 75th day of a strike.

Things kicked off when company bosses gave three Barcelona workers the boot 
for trying to organise fellow workers. Expecting trade union retaliation 
Mercadona brought in scab labour before a strike had even been declared!

The union is calling for the reinstatement of sacked workers, agreement to 
negotiated working conditions, improved health and safety, and recognition 
of the CNT for the purposes of worker negotiation.

for more see:
barcelona.cnt.es

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Now although fast food restaurants may be more likely to be robbed by their 
own workers than any other industry in the world, middle school pupils in 
the UK have revealed something just as interesting.

Twelve year old Jasmine Roberts’ science project involved testing the 
quality of water in the likes of Burger King and McDonalds, apparently 
found that the water in the ice contained more bacteria than the water in 
the toilets!

Jasmine even went on to win the regional school science competition for the 
quality of her research!

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Twenty Four Greenpeace activists were arrested last week for blocking the 
main entrance of NATO’s Brussels Headquarters with a giant replica model of 
a B61 nuclear bomb.

They also dropped a banner from the main NATO building roof calling for 
“Nukes out of NATO”.
The action occurred as Defence Ministers prepared for a high-level meeting 
on the future of NATO.

Sixteen years after the end of the cold war, 480 US Nuclear weapons remain 
in Europe. They are currently stationed in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the 
Netherlands, Turkey and the UK.

Last week a report released by the Commission on Weapons of Mass 
Destruction chaired by Hans Blix called for the 480 US-owned and controlled 
nuclear weapons to be removed from Europe and returned to US soil. The 
report provides great detail on the dangers of US nuclear weapons, and also 
explains how these weapons impede international efforts to negotiate 
further nuclear reductions with Russia.

for more see
www.greenpeace.org

================================

on 8th June a G8 demonstrator was found guilty of Breach of the Peace and 
fined £300 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court – despite numerous mistakes, 
contradictions and omissions in the identification evidence by the police 
witnesses.

The demonstrator had been arrested after being penned into Canning Street 
in central Edinburgh for around six hours during the Carnival for Full 
Enjoyment.

Sheriff McColl stated that she believed the two policemen giving evidencde 
were credible witnesses – although no-one could explain why not one frame 
of film shot by the countless police and media cameras present in that 
confined space had captured the accused charging the police lines, as 
described by Merseyside PCs Grant and Keith.

Interestingly, the reason for the police tactics of mass detention on that 
day was openly stated – both police witnesses said that the police had 
decided to cordon and detain the crowd of 200 plus demonstrators, NOT 
because of anything the demonstrators had done, or were doing – but purely 
to stop them joining up with other groups of demonstrators in the city centre.

===================================

On Sunday 11 June, 'London No Borders' & 'No One is Illegal' organised a 
small demonstration outside the gates of News International at the Wapping 
fortress.

The protest against the 'vigilante journalism' stunt reported in the 
previous week's News of the World where employees of the paper had made 
false promises of work to migrants, then picked them up in buses to 'take 
them to work'... but instead delivered them to Colnbrook detention centre 
where they were interviewed by immigration officers and detained.

Protestors questioned the legality of the kidnapping of the migrants and 
hoped that a prosecution might ensue. They said they deplored the vicious 
anti-immigrant atmosphere being encouraged by sections of the media, and 
asked which will be the next group to be targeted for some illegal action 
by what they called 'newspapers peddling hate'?

In related news, Ministers have decided that it’d be a great money saving 
ploy if access to free legal advice is curtailed.

Presumably responding to the news that over 98% of fast-track asylum cases 
from Harmondsworth detention centre are rejected, the Legal Services 
Commission has decided that unless a migrant has more than a 40% chance of 
success the case must be dropped.

for more see:
www.ncadc.org.uk

====================================

And now onto another newspaper, this one peddling something entirely 
different - peace....

On 6 June "Peace News" celebrated seventy years of radical peace publishing 
- first published in 1936 it's been a key communicator in multiple 
campaigns over the decades.

In the Second World War, Peace News was the main lifeline for conscientious 
objectors to the prevailing view that Britain had to fight war and 
oppression with organised violence of its own, managing to keep publishing 
despite widespread official and unofficial disapproval.

In the 1950s, Peace News played a central role in the rise of the anti-bomb 
movement, with the first-ever Aldermaston march being organised from its 
offices. Peace News went on to become effectively the unofficial paper of 
the radical wing of the growing nuclear disarmament movement - the Direct 
Action Committee Against Nuclear War, and the Committee of 100 - which 
existed alongside the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Peace News’s coverage of the US black civil rights movement, nuclear 
testing in the Pacific and apartheid South Africa exemplified its 
commitment to international reporting – a commitment which continues to 
this day.

In the 1970s, Peace News was awarded the prestigious "Scoop of the Year" 
award from Granada TV for breaking the story of a former SAS colonel 
setting up a private army. Peace News then turned its attention to direct 
action against nuclear power stations, and - in the 1980s - actions against 
cruise missiles and opposition to the Falklands war. It also gave space to 
exploring gender politics and feminism.

Through the 1990s, the paper continued to be at the heart of British 
nonviolent campaigning, covering such issues as the arms trade and the road 
protest movement.

Over the past five years, Peace News has continued informing and 
encouraging radical protest against the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; 
in campaigning on the subsequent crackdown on civil liberties - under the 
auspices of the “war on terror”; and in highlighting government moves 
towards a new generation of British nuclear weapons.

True to its radical roots, the birthday will be marked by an all-day event 
at an occupied social centre in central London to take place from 11am 
until midnight on Saturday 17 June. The event will focus on the issues at 
the core of Peace News’s current reporting, including civil liberties, the 
war on terror, nuclear power and weapons, antimilitarism and 
counter-recruitment - more details on that later.

and to check out peace news see:
www.peacenews.info

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****************

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tonight there's a Red Pepper film and discussion night being held at The 
Square occupied social centre - the film is called 'Divorce Iranian Style' 
– and is a documentary which follows Iranian women as they fight for 
divorce and child custody in what is a deeply patriarchal society. The film 
maker will be there to answer questions, it starts at 7pm, it's free and 
that's at 21 Russell Square

--

On saturday 17th there's the Peace News 70th Birthday Event which we 
mentioned earlier. Runnning from 11am until 5pm there's workshops, plenary 
discussions, banner-making, NVDA training and more, while from 7pm - 
midnight there's a party with live bands, film screenings and DJ's. And 
that's at the Square Occupied Social Centre, 21 Russell Square

--

Next week (19th-25th) sees National Refugee Week - with hundreds of events 
taking place aimed at promoting understanding about the reasons why people 
seek sanctuary- for more and to find out about local events see 
www.refugeeweek.org.uk

--

Well, next wednesday is Summer Solstice... and once again stonehenge is 
open to the public with english heritage allowing people access to the 
stones between 10pm on Tuesday 20th June, through til 9am the next day... 
with conditions stating that the car park must be cleared by 1pm. Sunrise 
is a few minutes before 5am, with the solstice time point being just before 
half past twelve. If you're out and about...  have fun and stay safe....

--

Finaly an advance warning - coming up on 24th june is the Climate Gangsters 
Party outside the American Embassy - The Campaign Against Climate Change is 
holding a protest and party, saying Bush and co. are modern day Al 
Capones... making money from climate crimes and bullying the rest of the 
world into inaction.... - for more info check campaigncc.org