War Archives - Page 10 of 14

CND Special Event – Saturday March 30

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Mar 272013

With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

A special event will take place on Saturday 30th March at 2 p.m. in St Nicholas Square, to raise awareness of the ‘Scrap Trident’ Weekend of Action coming up on the 13^th to the 15^th of April.
A coalition of groups opposed to Trident, known as Scrap Trident, has been formed, both at Scottish level and in Aberdeen and shire. Find out more at http://scraptrident.org/

The Weekend of Action will be taking place as part of this campaign. It will include:

A national demonstration against Trident in Glasgow on the 13^th of April; and
workshops on non-violent direct action training in Glasgow, on Sunday 14^th of April.
Finally on Monday the 15^th, there will be a mass blockade of Faslane and a supporting demonstration.

To raise awareness of these actions, there will be a gathering in St Nicholas Square Aberdeen, outside Marks and Spencer on Saturday 30^th March at 2 p.m. The gathering will include music and speakers from trade unions, student bodies and a variety of political and pressure groups opposed to Trident.

The speakers will include Leonna O’Neill from Scrap Trident, who will also be running a workshop on non-violent direct action on Sunday 31^st March, from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Belmont Cinema. Jonathan Russell, Chair of Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament says

“There are many reasons to get involved in the particular abhorrence of nuclear weapons, and their potential for mass slaughter and ultimately the destruction of our planet. At a time of massive cuts in public spending, the one obvious cut is that of the replacement for Trident, at a cost estimated by Greenpeace at £97 billion.

“Whether you are for, against or undecided on the question of independence, the debate will foreground the question of whether we should have nuclear weapons in Scotland, the UK or, indeed, anywhere in the world.”

Coaches will be going to the demonstration in Glasgow from Aberdeen on Saturday 13^th April.

Further information:
A coach will leave for Glasgow from behind His Majesty’s Theatre at 7.30 a.m. on the 13^th April and leave for Aberdeen on the return journey at 4 p.m. It will cost £12 for waged and £8 for unwaged people. If you want to book a place on the coach, or need further information, please contact Jonathan Russell on 01224-586435, mobile 0758-245-6233 or via email: jhamiltonrussell@hotmail.co.uk .

Scrap Trident – Aberdeen CND Weekend Of Action

Aberdeen City, Events, Information No Responses »

Mar 212013

Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament invite you to a weekend of action from 13th to 15th April to scrap the Trident nuclear missile system. With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

There are many reasons to get involved:

The abhorrence of Nuclear weapons and their potential for mass slaughter and ultimately to destroy our planet.
At a time of massive cuts in public spending the one obvious cut is that of the replacement for Trident, estimated by Greenpeace at £97 billion

Whether you are for, against or undecided on the question of independence, the debate will foreground the question on whether we should have nuclear weapons in Scotland, the UK or, indeed, anywhere in the world.

A coalition of groups opposed to Trident has been formed both at Scottish level and locally – see: http://scraptrident.org/ – as a result of which there will be joint action by a number of local groups over the coming weeks which will include:

Weekly stalls/leafleting outside Marks and Spencer’s on every Saturday: 23rd, 30th March and 6thApril from 2-4pm
On March 30th at 2pm there will be a gathering outside Marks and Spencer with speakers opposed to Trident
On Sunday 31st March there will be non-violent direct action training from 2-6pm at the Belmont Cinema
On Saturday 13th April there will be a coach going to the demonstration in Glasgow leaving from Spa Street (at the back of His Majesty’s Theatre) at 7.30am. The coach will leave from Glasgow at 4pm and return to Aberdeen for around 7.30pm. Cost of tickets will be £12 waged / £8 unwaged.

If you wish to travel on the coach please let Jonathan know either by phone leaving a message at 01224 586435 or via email: jhamiltonrussell@hotmail.co.uk

Organising For A Nuclear Weapons Free Scotland

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Mar 072013

With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

The main item for our next meeting will be planning for the national weekend of action in Glasgow and at Faslane from 13th to 15th April (Saturday to Monday).

The action is a national mobilisation called by the Scrap Trident Coalition ( http://scraptrident.org/).

We are therefore inviting supporters and members of CND and other progressive organisations to assist with the organisation.

Following on from the organising meeting there will be a short meeting of Aberdeen and District CND.

7:30pm, Monday, 11th March

Seminar room,
Belmont Cinema,
AB10 1JS

Everybody welcome!

http://www.cnduk.org/
Contact: Jonathan on 07582-456-233

NATO Debate In Aberdeen

Aberdeen City, Information No Responses »

Feb 182013

A debate on the desirability or otherwise of NATO membership will be taking place in Aberdeen on Friday, 22nd February. With thanks to Jonathan Russell.

The question of NATO membership became headline news when the SNP decided to overturn their policy for an independent Scotland not to join NATO at their conference in October.

NATO is a military alliance which was set up during the cold war in 1949 but has outlived the Eastern Block.

Since 1991 NATO has conducted military operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya as well as having a training mission in Iraq and deploying warships to protect maritime traffic in from Somali pirates.

Alex Johnstone is a North-East for the Scottish Conservatives and will be speaking in favour of NATO membership.

John Finnie is an independent MSP for the Highlands and Islands region who opposes membership of NATO and resigned from the SNP over their change of policy on NATO.

The debate promises to be both interesting and informative and should get to the heart of whether or not an independent Scotland should be neutral or a member of NATO.

The debate will take place at 7.30pm on Friday 22nd February in room 613 in the MacRobert building at the University of Aberdeen. It is being hosted by the University’s Politics and International Relations Society in partnership with Aberdeen Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

All members of the public are welcome to attend.

CND News And Annual Report

Articles No Responses »

Feb 182013

The past year has been a particularly active year for Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament who have broadened their activity on a number of fronts. Jonathan Russell writes.

We now have our own Facebook page which has been putting out related news items on most days with several articles often appearing on the same day.

The amount of information coming out about Trident and nuclear weapons in general has escalated over the past year particularly in relation to the Independence debate.

The information being sent out to those that have signed up to our yahoo groups e-mail list has also increased.

This particularly relates to information being sent out from the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament but also reflects our own activity and information being sent in by individual members.

We have also run a series of articles in Aberdeen Voice, our local alternative on line newspaper, on the effects and Economics of Nuclear Weapons. Aberdeen Voice has also been particularly helpful in advertising our events. We have also had some publicity on STV and in the Evening Express and Press and Journal. The SNP and the Labour Party have both been helpful in circulating information as have the United Nations Association, Aberdeen Against Austerity and the Aberdeen branch of Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Our public stall outside Marks and Spencer took place weekly during the warmer months and allowed us considerable interaction with the general public. We also had stalls at an Anti- Racist event at Aberdeen Trades Union Council and at One World week at St Mark’s. Last, but by no means least, we have managed to get letters published in the Press and Journal and Evening Express.

Public Meetings

We continued to have regular meetings on the second Monday of the month and these have included talks on a variety of subjects:

Dave Watt gave a talk on nuclear accidents which was published in Aberdeen Voice.
Mike Hennessy gave a talk on the nuclear tension between India and Pakistan.
Jonathan Russell gave two talks: one on the Arms Trade and the other on Korea and the wider Asia Pacific ,both of which were published by Aberdeen Voice.
The main public meeting of the year however was with Bruce Kent, Britain’s most famous peace activist.

The meeting was held at Aberdeen University and hosted by the student/youth United Nations Association.

We also arranged for STV to interview Bruce which was subsequently broadcast on their news program.

Bruce’s visit was part of a wider tour of the East of Scotland co-ordinated by ourselves which also included Inverness, Brechin and Dundee.

We had representation at the Annual General Meeting of the Scottish CND and three meetings organised by the local and youth branches of the United Nations Association; one with Des Browne, a former Defence Minister under the Labour Government and now Co-chair of the BASIC Trident Commission, and a meeting with Malcolm Savidge, the former MP for Aberdeen North and Vice-President of the United Nations Society and ONE WITH Alexandra Buskie UNAUK R2 programme officer Alexandra Buskie on ‘The responsibility to protect and the prevention of mass atrocities’. Jonathan and Mike have attended local UNA organising meetings and Mike is now represented on the committee.

Members of the group also attended the Scotland for Peace conference at the Scottish Parliament with speakers from Finland, Ireland, England and Scotland.

Events

We continued with our two regular events; the Hiroshima Memorial Day and our Poetry and song night.

Hiroshima Memorial Day

Hiroshima Memorial Day takes place on August 6th, the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. At the memorial we have a number of speakers, some poetry and songs then a one minute’s silence. Then in a particularly atmospheric gesture, we float 200 candles onto the River Dee, each of which represents 1,000 of the 200,000 people killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Speakers included Barney Crockett, Leader of Aberdeen City Council, Kevin Stewart SNP, MSP for Aberdeen Central and Tommy Campbell of the Unite union.

We also had speakers from the Green Party, the United Nations Association, the Quakers and the Aberdeen branch of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Hilda Meer’s poetry was read and Kirsty Potts sang some rousing songs prior to the candles being sent down the river. We have run the event since 2009 and each year the attendance has increased.

Thanks go to all those that helped with the candles and all those who attended this very positive event.

Poetry and song night

This annual event took place at the Quaker meeting house on International Peace Day. Songs were sung by Kirsty Potts, Dave Davies, Dennis Shepherd and friends and Simon Gall. Poems were read by members of the group with special thanks going to Hilda Meers both for her poetry reading and for the poems from her recently published poetry book ‘Pathways’ published by Braswick.

New Year Party

We had a very successful New Year 2013 party at Jonathan’s.

Campaigning

A number of member and supports have sent letters to the Ministry of Defence and we encourage others to do so.

We encourage people to sign our petition and to sign up to the ‘No Nuclear Weapons here’ map which is available to sign up to online at naenuclear.org

Looking ahead….

2013 is likely to be an exciting and eventful year:

We have taken the lead in organising a public debate on NATO scheduled for Friday, 22nd February and hosted by Aberdeen University Politics and International Relations Society. The speakers will be John Finnie, one of the two MSPs who resigned from the SNP following their Conference decision to reverse their previous policy of keeping out of NATO. Alex Johnston MSP will speak in favour of NATO on behalf of the Conservatives.
Alan MacKinnon of Scottish CND will be one of the speakers at a conference organised by the Politics and International relations society at the University of Aberdeen entitled the ‘Global War Over Resources’ on 6th March.
Dr Nick Gotts will be speaking on the nuclear question in relation to Iran at our meeting on Monday, 11th March.

One of the most significant events of the year will be the weekend of action scheduled from Saturday 13th April to Monday 15th April organised by the Scrap Trident Coalition. This will involve the following:

National Stop Trident Demonstration on Saturday 13th April
Workshops on Trident and non-violent direct action on Sunday 14th April
A blockade of Faslane Nuclear weapons base from 7am on Monday 15th April

We will be holding our annual Hiroshima Memorial Day on Tuesday, 6th August.
We will also hold an event on International Peace Day on September 21st in which we hope to involve a variety of organisations and people
Last, and by no means least, we will hold regular stalls outside Marks and Spencer on Saturday afternoons during the summer months.

I would like to thank everyone in whatever way who has participated in the work of Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament over the past year. Particular thanks go to Christian Allard for setting up and operating our amazing Facebook page, to Sally Dickson for doing all the minutes and inspiring us to have stalls and to the forever present and diligent Mike Martin.

Jonathan Russell – Chair Aberdeen and District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Aberdeen CND To Hold AGM

Aberdeen City, Events, Information No Responses »

Feb 042013

With thanks to Mike Martin.

Aberdeen And District Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament are holding their Annual General Meeting on Monday, 11th Feb, at The Belmont Cinema.

Christian Allard will lead a discussion on independence, Trident and the way forward for the local group following Scottish CND’s decision to be part of the Yes Scotland campaign for independence.

Options ranging from full participation in the Yes Scotland campaign to no involvement will be discussed.

Everybody welcome!

Venue: Seminar room, Belmont Cinema, Belmont Street, AB10 1JS

Date: 7:30pm, Monday, 11th Feb

Website: http://www.cnduk.org/

Contact: Jonathan on 07582-456-233

Aberdeen And The Spanish Civil War Lecture: 5th Feb

Aberdeen City, Featured, History 4 Responses »

Feb 022013

Aberdeen City Councillor and member of Aberdeen Town and County History Society, Neil Cooney will be delivering a lecture on Aberdeen and the Spanish Civil War on Feb 5 at New Kings, Room 10, 7.30 – 8.30pm.

The lecture will explore the following areas:

Fighting Fascism in Aberdeen
The Call of Spain
The struggle to get to Spain
Conditions in the International Brigades
The war itself
The retreat
Some conclusions

All are welcome to this series of public lectures organised by King’s Museum. This event is free.

King’s Museum
University of Aberdeen
17 High Street
Old Aberdeen AB24 3EE

T: 01224 274330
E: kingsmuseum@abdn.ac.uk
W: www.abdn.ac.uk/kingsmuseum

NOTE. For those interested but unable to attend, Neil Cooney has granted permission for Aberdeen Voice to publish the written version of the lecture. This will be published in full on Thurs 7th Feb.

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Grumpy Jack’s Corner No.3 – Thanks For The Memorials

Opinion, Satire and Humour 1 Response »

Jan 182013

Duncan Harley reflects on Life, the Universe and Everything. A sideways look at the world and its foibles.

Salmond Cleans Up.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond this week announced the creation of a fund to restore Scotland’s War Memorials. To be called the Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund it will “allow for the sensitive restoration” of the 6,000 or so memorials in villages, towns and cities across the country.

Every town and village has at least one memorial and many more are dotted about the landscape at crossroads, local vantage points, inside churches and public buildings.

Many of course are well maintained by individuals, local groups and civic authorities.

The Inverurie Town Square statue is a very good example, as is the quite moving Roll of Honour found within Insch Memorial Hospital in Aberdeenshire. Insch, of course, being one of a very few towns which chose to use funds gained via public subscription to build a hospital instead of a statue to commemorate the dead of war.

The sons of the folk of Premney, Old Rayne, Colpy and Insch are very well remembered on the carved plaque in the entrance hallway. If you are in the area, I would certainly recommend you call in and have a look, a wee sob and a reflection on the nature of mankind.

Hasta La Vista Madrid

Alongside the above, my personal favourite is the plaque in Aberdeen’s Music Hall commemorating the local folk who fought and died for democracy during the Spanish Civil War (July 17 1936 to April 1 1939).

It’s not a well known memorial and it’s a bit forlorn and quite scratched. In fact, you can easily miss it unless you know where to look. There are only a few names on it and they compete with the notice board and leaflet display for attention.

However, somewhat unusually for a war memorial, it includes those who fought and survived alongside those who died at Ebro and Gandessa during 1937-38.

The Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund is seemingly open for applications right now, with funding available over the course of the four-year centenary commemorations, from 2014 through to 2018.

I’d get in quick though, if I was you, since if you divide a million pounds by 6,000 memorials, that works out at £166 for each project, if I’ve got my maths correct.

I personally will be asking Aberdeen City Council to restore the Spanish Civil War Memorial to its former glory. I am sure that £166 will buy a few a nice new frame and some scratch remover.

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¡No Pasaran! (They Shall Not Pass) – CD Review

Featured, History, Information 2 Responses »

Dec 212012

Aberdeen Voice’s David Innes reviews ¡No Pasaran! (They Shall Not Pass) – Scots In The Spanish Civil War (Greentrax Recordings)

Alas, there are few, if any heroes left of the International Brigade who fought for democracy in Spain in the 1930s. They were in the vanguard in fighting the inevitable battle against Fascism which would result in the slaughter and waste of a second World War in less than a quarter of a century.

Those who left the UK, and Scotland in particular, are enduring heroes of the left, and of freedom fighters everywhere.

There are memorials and books and commemorative gatherings for these brave socialists, but their dogged idealistic commitment and shared suffering led to great folk art.

Greentrax Recordings are to be commended for compiling the best of the Scottish Civil War songs and poems on a terrific and moving collection.

When the idea for the album was suggested, the compilers were staggered by the wealth of songs and poems available. They were heartened too, by the offers of new material on the theme. Editing the selection down to fifteen songs and a poem must have been a difficult task. Might we expect a second volume?

The collection veers between stirring anthems, none better than the joyous singalong Jarama Valley/Bandiera Rosa, the tender – Jamie Foyers and Si Me Quieres Escribir and simple stories of working class idealists who saw beyond the romantic adventure of the fight for freedom, yet still regarded it as a calling and their duty to enlist. Hasta Luego, a moving tale of a football fan leaving his younger brother at the turnstile to travel to Paris there and then, en route to Spain, is among the best of these.

A highlight for Aberdonians, though, will be local Brigadeer Bob Cooney’s Hasta La Vista, Madrid. Some of us were privileged enough to hear Comrade Cooney read this himself at meetings in the 1970s. This version, impeccably inhabited by Radio Scotland’s Iain Anderson, gives wonderful and moving expression to a rich, celebratory poem full of defiance and hope, scarce currency these days.

It is a fitting coda to a heart-stirring and emotional tribute to the immortal International Brigade.

Tracks: The Peatbog Soldiers (The McCalmans); Jamie Foyers (Dick Gaughan); Jarama Valley/Bandiera Rosa (The Laggan); Another Valley (Geordie McIntyre); Si Me Quieres Escribir (If You Want To Write); (Christine Kydd); These Hands (The Wakes); Owt For Nowt (John Watt); Viva La 15th Brigada/Viva Nicaragua (Carlos Arredondo); Picasso Paints Guernica (Robin Laing); Graves In Spain (Eileen Penman); When The Call Comes (George Archibald & Ian McCalman); Salud International Brigade (Jim Brown); Viva Los Brigadistas (Alison McMorland & Geordie McIntyre); Hasta Luego (Frank Rae); ¡No Pasaran! (Gallo Rojo); Hasta La Vista, Madrid (Iain Anderson)

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Aberdeen Stands With Gaza

Aberdeen City, Events, Featured, Information No Responses »

Nov 202012

Following the latest, ongoing outbreak of Israeli violence against the people of Gaza, citizens of Aberdeen demonstrate their solidarity and support for those under attack. With thanks to Dave Black.

On Saturday 17 November, some 50 people gathered at short notice to show their support and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who are facing daily massacres at the hands of the Israeli Defence Force.
Meeting in Aberdeen’s St Nicholas Square, many carried flags or banners stating “Stand With Gaza” and “End Israeli War Crimes,” while shouts of “Free Palestine” rang in the air.

Powerful speeches were delivered by Brian Carroll (Aberdeen TUC President) and Tommy Campbell (Unite Regional Officer).

Veteran pro-Palestinian activist and member of Scottish Jews for a Just Peace Hilda Meers gave the crowd a moving rendition of her poem Erasure – Death-Dance for a Palestinian Child.

Many passers-by stopped and took the time to sign a petition demanding Alec Salmond immediately halts any political and economic relationships with Israel until the oppression of Gaza has ended and the human rights of Palestinians are recognised.

Plans for taking forward solidarity with the people of Gaza will be progressed at a public meeting upstairs at the Belmont Cinema this Thursday 22 November at 7.30pm.

The agenda will include building towards an Aberdeen-Gaza Skype link-up at 2pm on 08 December at the University of Aberdeen’s MacRobert Building (room 613). This event is aimed at hearing directly the experiences of people in Gaza, forging links between activists and interested groups/individuals in Aberdeen and Gaza and looking at how these can be taken forward in the future.

<<<< >>>>

ERASURE – Death-Dance For A Palestinian Child, As Seen On A Video From Gaza

(During the Israeli Cast Lead attack on Gaza, Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinian ambulances to prevent them carrying wounded civilians to hospital. Sixteen medics were killed, resulting in casualties being ferried in donkey carts).

See the donkey-cart driver
race along the road, fast, fast –
pulling up with a jerk, not a word,
now his journey’s done.
.
See a mother leap out of the cart.
As she runs, runs, runs,
see her feet pound the ground,
the child in her arms so still, silent and still.
.
A man comes at a run, running quick, quick,
he runs towards the woman,
his arms reach for the child who lies silent,
unmoving and silent in sheltering arms.
.
Then turning, he runs, runs fast, quickly nears,
nearing the open door he surrenders the child
to other arms reaching, to bring help
for the child lying silent and still.

See the doctors bend over the hospital bed,
as they work for response from the child on the bed –
despairing at last, they must cover the head
of a child whose life has been stilled.
.
Whose life has been stilled,
has been stolen away,
the mother’s heart broken –
what more can I say?
.
What more can I say
What more can I do
As I try to convince you
This is our heartbreak too.
.
.
.
.
© Hilda Meers

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