St. Werburghs Tree Planting to Remember the Nakba, or Catastrophe

For Palestinians writes; the 15th May 2008, a group of people from Bristol observed 60 years of suffering in Palestine by planting a holly tree in the Narroways Nature Reserve above St. Werburghs, Bristol. We planted the holly tree in St Werburghs as a symbol of friendship, to show the world that the people of Bristol empathise with the people of Palestine as they struggle for co-existence in an increasingly alien environment. And to show that we acknowledge and condemn the failings of our politicians. Full article.

| Nakba Day, a day for Palestine, Bristol, 15th May 2008 | 2nd June 8.30pm: Bristol Indymedia Film Night: Bristol Goes To Palestine, Documentary Premiere! | 2nd June 6.30pm: Bristol Indymedia Film Night: FREE! 'Gitmo: The New Rules of War' | International call for actions on the 31th of May and the 1st of June against borders, States

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John Bolton, ardent advocate for the Project for a New American Century, WAS to speak at Festival of Ideas

Tony Gosling writes; John Bolton bottles out...John Bolton will not now be speaking in Bristol. The decision was, according to BCDP [the organisers], his alone.

Bristol Stop the War write; Rather than be invited to Bristol as a respectable speaker on issues like the United Nations he should be on his way to the International Criminal Court as a war criminal. Bristol Stop The War Coalition is organising a protest outside the meeting – meet at the Watershed, 7pm, Thursday 29th May (Protest Flyer from swindonstopwar.org.uk)...In addition to the protest on 29th May we are encouraging all our supporters to contact the organisers and sponsors of the festival to object to Bolton being invited to speak. Contact details for organisers and (some) sponsors are below....Full article.

Josh writes; is John Bolton really speaking at the Watershed ??? sounds too good to be true, read that he was booked for 29th May at 7.30 p.m. as part of Festival of Ideas, & Bolton´s got great ones! a real, live, neocon fundamentalist in Bristol ?? Full article & comments. (Image: John R Bolton)

| War Criminal Speaks In Bristol | Protest Flyer (PDF, swindonstopwar.org.uk) | John Bolton to talk in Bristol? | Related YouTube Videos 1, 2 & 3 | Related Links Ben & Bolton (brizblog.wordpress.com) | How Bolton Armed Haiti's Thugs and Killers (counterpunch.org) | Either Iran will acquiesce or it will face dire consequences (globalresearch.ca) | Bolton on Wikipedia

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'On the Verge' to be screened despite attempted censorship in Bath, Bristol and other UK venues.

Screenings of the protest information film in Southampton, Oxford and Chichester and Brighton have all been met with threats by the authorities. Then a local screening in Bath was also under pressure as Bath Activist Network reported; Alan Bartlett, head of licensing at B&NES pressured the owner of the Bell public house on Walcot Street to not show the film due to licensing and certification small print, acting on instruction from an undisclosed source... But not put off by the attempted censorship, an alternative arrangement was soon made.

Now the Bristol screening has also come under attack as Kebele Social Centre reports; The screening of 'On the Verge', as part of the information tour of the group Smash EDO, will go ahead on Thursday 27th March, despite attempts by Sussex Police and others to prevent it. We feel that the intimidation and threats that we and other venues have received is a direct attack on the values of free speech and the freedom to protest, and should be resisted. We fully support the Smash EDO campaign and are proud to be able to give them this platform to allow their dissenting voices to be heard. Full article. (Image: Kebele Social Centre, Bristol - venue for the 'banned' screening on 27th March)

| Kebele to show 'the film they tried to ban' | Brighton's Schnews on how ban on SmashEDO film subverted in Brighton! |Smash EDO 'On The Verge' tour comes to Bath | How can we confront the weapons manufacturers in our local communities? | SmashEDO! Anti-arms campaign visits Bristol | 'On the Verge' Tailer | www.smashedo.org.uk |

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What is is that they don't want us to see?

Updated! Reader writes; This weeks issue of Schnews, the 14 year old weekly free sheet from Brighton, gives chapter & verse on how Brighton activists subverted the ban on the premiere showing of 'On the verge', the film about local campaign group SmashEDO.

For four years a group of Brighton activists have fought to close down local weapons manufacturer, EDO-MBM, who make parts for bombs used in Iraq and Palestine. A new full-length film has been made about this campaign and yet the authorities seem to want to stop anyone from seeing it. First the authorities tried to stop a screening in Brighton, then in Southhampton and now in Bath. Matt Banning of Bath Activist Network writes; We regret to announce that the advertised screening of Smash EDO's 'On the Verge' documentary about their anti-arms campaign in Brighton, will no longer be shown...Alan Bartlett, head of licensing at B&NES pressured the owner of the Bell public house on Walcot Street to not show the film due to licensing and certification small print, acting on instruction from an undisclosed source...The film is back on! We will be showing it at 7.30 at the friends meeting house, York Street, Bath, come one come all and defy this pretty weak attempt by the cops and beurocrats to stop the film getting shown! The plot thickens. Full article.

While in Bristol, D Locke and A Grannie write; Bristolians and other supporters of peace & justice often look at murderous, vicious, illegal (sic) wars around the world, and ask, how can we help stop these crimes against humanity? We may have written to the PM, or our local MP, gone on local and national anti-war marches, yet found our opinions ignored and the wars continuing....its coming to Bristol next week, March 27, from about 7pm for food & film/chat from 7.30pm Full article. (Image: Ali Ismaeel Abbas, a victim of coalition bombing in Iraq, has his hopes for a decent life dashed forever. Source; Cluster bombs: A Hidden Enemy for Iraqi Children)

| Brighton's Schnews on how ban on SmashEDO film subverted in Brighton! |Smash EDO 'On The Verge' tour comes to Bath | How can we confront the weapons manufacturers in our local communities? | SmashEDO! Anti-arms campaign visits Bristol | 'On the Verge' Tailer | www.smashedo.org.uk | Other Related Stories: 5 Years on, Never Forget the South West Politicians Who Took Us to War | On the March of the Robots of War... | Porton Down - New National Geographic documentary talks to victims

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