Financial Appeal

Since the start of the year we have produced many thousands of leaflets, hundreds of placards and petitions and initiated demonstrations, vigils, public meetings and protests.  This has put a strain on our finances.  At our most recent organising meeting we resolved to continue the campaign for justice for the Palestinians and to produce material highlighting the role of Britain in both supplying arms and the components of arms to Israel.  At the same time we are building a major conference (see above) to bring together all the strands of the anti-war/peace movement in Scotland and sending a large delegation to the NATO protests in April to highlight the role of the US, Britain and NATO in Afghanistan.  This is likely to cost close to £7000 and the only source of funding we have is our supporters.  Please help if you can as an individual or raise the issue of support in your union branch.  Cheques should be made payable to Stop the War and should be sent to Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition
c/o Peace and Justice Centre, St Johns Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh

STUDENT OUTRAGE AT GAZA SLAUGHTER

250 students at Edinburgh uni marched on their campus calling for an end to the seige of Gaza and an immediate ceasefire. the march was organised - at two days notice - by the Palestine Solidarity  Society, EU Stop the War Coalition, the Islamic Society and People and Planet.

An atmosphere of protest built up through the morning before the protest. Megaphones announced the demo, leafleters spread themselves accross campus, walls and pavements had big chalk notices calling students to action and placards were on show.

As the protest gathered so to did the police as they sent in two police vans and atleast 25 officers. Later an Evidence Gathering Team was also dispatched. This is the second time in 3 months that police have entered campus grounds because of student protests.

The demo marched around campus several times chanting 'free palestine'  'ceasefire now' and 'end the occupation.' As we marched scores of students joined in.

After touring the campus several times we rallied with speeches from the Stop the War Coalition and the Edinburgh University Palestine Solidarity Society. A delegation, with the backing of the protest, left to deliver a letter to Alex Salmond at the scottish parliament, urging a complete arms embargo on Israel.

Next week there are plans for a march from the uni to the US Consulate to co-inside with Obamas inauguration. This is just the start of the re-emerging of a culture of student protest at Edinburgh University.

The major arms company Lockheed Martin is bidding to run the UK 2011 census.

The major arms company Lockheed Martin is bidding to run the UK 2011 census. LM also contribute to the Trident programme in the UK.

There is a Downing Street petition here to stop them getting the contract.

Stop the War Annual Conference
Saturday April 25th, Camden Community School, Euston, London.
An opportunity to discuss the nature of the War on Terror after
Bush and how the movement should respond.

FINANCIAL APPEAL

Please consider making a donation, or better still setting up a direct debit, to Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition. Please click in the link to find details http://www.edinburghstw.org.uk/donations/

If every ESTW contact were to send in £1 or take up a direct debit of £1 a month that will help ESTW greatly. ESTW will be able to keep producing material, public meetings, etc. In short, ESTW will keep the pressure in our politician and will keep informing the public with facts that the mass media does not show.

1) You can send a cheque, made payable to Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition, to:

Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition
c/o Peace and Justice Centre,
Princes Street ,
Edinburgh
EH2 4BJ

2) YOU CAN COMPLETE A STANDING ORDER FORM (download here)

FOR ONGOING ANTI-WAR ACTIVITIES, WE WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF SUPPORTERS COULD MAKE REGULAR SMALL (OR LARGE) DONATIONS USING THE DOWNLOADABLE STANDING ORDER FORM WHICH IS ATTACHED TO THIS EMAIL.

Thanks to all those who have generously supported the campaign up to now, and to all those who respond to this appeal.

AFGHANISTAN: NEW LEAFLET AND LINK TO USEFUL RESOURCES
The war there is exacting a growing toll and is increasingly unpopular with the Afghan people. Six years after the US attacked that country, thousands of Afghanis are dead (being 'unpeople' in the words of writer Mark Curtis they are as uncountable as the Iraqi dead), 370 US soldiers and 170 other 'Coalition troops have been killed. President Karzai is living in his own 'Green Zone' protected by foreign mercenaries because he dare not trust his own compatriots whilst the rest of the country is either back under the control of the Taliban or given over to the Northern Alliance (notorious war lords and poppy growers) who preside over that crops harvest that increases exponentially as each year passes. The cost of all this to NATO is $188 per annum whilst next to nothing is spent on reconstruction - ostensibly the reason our troops are in the country.

Documents on Afghanistan are available from the Stop the War Coalition Office.

Useful resources relating to Afghanistan from the Canadian Peace Alliance can be found at

http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/AfghanistanResources.htm

Top Ten War Profiteers of 2004

1) Aegis

2) BearingPoint

3) Bechtel

4) BKSH & Associates

5) CACI and Titan

6) Custer Battles

7) Halliburton

8) Lockheed Martin

9) Loral Satellite

10) Qualcomm

NEW CAMPAIGN BROCHURE TO CHANGE FOREIGN POLICY
The Stop the War Coalition has a new brochure containing the resolutions passed at the People's Assembly in March and a letter to Labour MP's and party officials as part of our campaign to pressurise the new prime minister to change foreign policy.
See: http://tinyurl.com/2bxh86

You can also download the letter to the new Prime Minister as a petition: http://tinyurl.com/2ohkg5