Indymedia York

Press Release 8th October 2007

Clare Short speaks in York on the crisis in Palestine

The Rt Hon Clare Short MP is coming on Friday 12th October to talk to a public meeting hosted by the York Branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). She will address the issue of what the British Government should be doing about Palestine and the illegal Israeli actions which have led to the current crisis. She will also sign her support for the York Declaration, which calls for peace and justice in the Middle East.

Clare Short served with distinction as Britain’s first Secretary of State for International Development, and resigned from the Cabinet on a matter of principle, the invasion of Iraq.

Also speaking in York is Musheir el-Farra. Originally from Gaza, Musheir lives in Sheffield. He has organised cultural links between Yorkshire and the Gaza Strip, and is in touch with conditions there: his sister is a doctor practising in one of the refugee camps.

The meeting is at 7.30 pm, Friday 12th October, at the Friends Meeting House, Friargate, York. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

There will also be Palestinian and Fair Trade goods on sale, plus a selection of books, magazines, merchandise and leaflets giving information about what is happening to Palestine.

More about the York Declaration:

Members of the York Branch of PSC adopted this at their Annual General Meeting in June, and are intending to present it to Parliaments throughout the democratic world, including Westminster and Strasbourg:

Peace and Justice in the Middle East: the York Declaration 2007

For forty years Israel has been in violation of several major UN Security Council and General Assembly Resolutions, because of its Occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and its continued imprisonment of the Gaza Strip. It is in violation of international humanitarian law, as expressed in the 4th Geneva Convention, because of its persistent human rights and other abuses directed towards the Palestinian people. It is furthermore in violation of the 2004 verdict of the International Court of Justice relating to the Wall it continues to build on illegally Occupied Land. Its continued Occupation of Palestinian land is causing great suffering to many people and is a major source of conflict and instability in the Middle East.

We the undersigned wish to express our deep concern at the injustice and oppression that after so many years Israel continues to inflict on the Palestinian people.

Palestine is a land that is special to many people throughout the world. We call upon the international community to act urgently to end the suffering, death and injustice that continue to blight that land.

More about PSC:

PSC has a UK membership of about 3500. It supports the Palestinian right of return as stipulated in UN Resolution 194. PSC organises campaigns, demonstrations and public meetings in the UK. It liaises with European and other organisations whenever possible, most recently joining some 40 NGOs in Enough, the umbrella campaign against 40 years of illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, with a mass demonstration in London in June. PSC works to highlight the human rights abuses committed by the Israelis and to raise awareness on the issue of Palestine to the general public. The York Branch, one of the most active in the country, has a mailing list of over 300.

Contact:

Nick Hall, Branch Secretary, on 07900 650077 or
Monica Wusteman, York (01904 630751)

Web-site: www.yorkpsc.org.uk
E-mail: information@yorkpsc.org.uk
Postal address: York PSC, PO Box 423, York YO24 4WP

As Iraq burns and Afghanistan trembles, the oceans of the world rise ever
higher and the skies fill with the smoke of innumerable factories and jet flights for the rich.

It is no coincidence that BAe Systems, in its dealings with the repressive government of Saudi Arabia, accepts payment in the form of barrels of oil, mediated by the British government. Climate change and international conflict, twin threats of the modern world, are intricately linked, feeding off one another for mutual profit as people and the planet are destroyed.

In 2004, a report leaked from the Pentagon spelled out the reality past the US government's stance on climate change. In spite of the lies and pseudo-science promoted as fact by a government in the control of the oil industry, the report - drawn up by government officials, oil consultants and military strategists - described climate change not only as an ecological disaster, but as a threat to national security, more destructive than international terrorism. "Once again," the report concludes, "warfare would define human life."

They were not wrong. Afghanistan (proposed site of a natural gas pipeline running from the Caspian sea) and Iraq (one of the three most oil-rich countries in the world) are just two of the more prominent examples of the increased militarisation of the world's unsustainable energy policy. Across the world, from the rapidly-depleting Amazon rainforest to the destructive paths woven by oil pipelines throughout central Asia, South America and elsewhere, earth abusers are met with grassroots opposition, to which they increasingly have a single answer: naked force. Money given in bribes by oil companies helps to facilitate civil conflict across Africa, with the resulting conflict forcing thousands from their homes in Sudan, Chad and the rest of a continent already feeling the most brutal edge of global climate change.

In addition to providing the iron fist with which to protect environmental abuse from popular resistance, the arms industry contributes directly to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere. Military aircraft contribute more emissions per vehicle than corresponding commercial aircraft and, due to their requirements, produce higher levels of destructive chemical emissions. The production and transportation of mass weaponry creates still more destruction, product of an arms trade which spans the globe.

Issues of armed conflict, whether between states, between peoples or between those with power and those without, cannot be separated from climate change, or from the wider system of capitalist exploitation. Therefore, to coincide with the Camp for Climate Action, we call on on all those outraged by this state of affairs to join us in taking action against the BAe factory located in Brough, near Selby, from 12:30pm on 1st September. Bring anything to make noise, whether a whistle, a drum, or simply your own voice. Meet 12:30 at Brough station to leave soon after.

Directions: Brough is approximately twenty minutes by train from Selby (closest train station to the camp for climate action). Trains leave from Selby at 10:59, 11:44, 11:59, and 12:18; trains are sporadic so please make sure to leave on time. When leaving the station, go down Station Road, turn left onto Saltgrounds Road, and cross the bridge; keep walking, the site is difficult to miss.

Directions from climate camp to factory: http://tinyurl.com/npqmb