<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META content="MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=2>PLEASE DON'T REPLY TO THIS EMAIL<BR>FOR
CORRESPONDENCE USE <A
href="mailto:schnews@brighton.co.uk">schnews@brighton.co.uk</A> THANK
YOU.<BR>This week's SchNEWS: <A
href="http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news473.htm">www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news473.htm</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>**
We'd like to get up to 10,000 subscribers (we've got 9937 now)<BR>by our 10th
Birthday (the first ever SchNEWS came out on the 16th<BR>of November 1994) so
please send this on and point out to your<BR>friends the virtues of subscribing
to SchNEWS.<BR><BR>** Oh, and you can give donations and pay for our new book
by<BR>credit card now, aren't we nice! Check out the
website.<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Friday
12th November 2004, Issue 473<BR><BR>WAKE UP! WAKE UP! IT'S YER TANKED
UP...<BR><BR>SchNEWS<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>HOLY
WAR, BATMAN<BR><BR>"The redeployment of British forces in Iraq to support a
US<BR>assault on Falluja marks another stage in a creeping return to
the<BR>colonial era, when popular revolts against occupation were<BR>routinely
suppressed by overwhelming force." - Mark Curtis,<BR>historian<BR><BR>"The
assault on Fallujah has started. It is being sold as<BR>liberation of the people
of Fallujah; it is being sold as a<BR>necessary step to implementing 'democracy'
in Iraq. These are<BR>lies." - Rahul Mahajan, author and
journalist<BR><BR>History was repeating itself again this week with a
massive<BR>military assault against Falluja, where another episode of
good<BR>versus evil panned out on our TV screens. But for some reason
the<BR>people of Iraq are taking exception at the military invasion of<BR>their
country, and don't realize we are there to save them.<BR><BR>Journalist Rahul
Mahajan was in the first attack on Fallujah in<BR>April and told of that assault
"U.S. forces bombed the power plant<BR>at the beginning; for the next several
weeks, Fallujah was a<BR>blacked-out town, with light provided by generators
only in<BR>critical places like mosques and clinics. The town was
placed<BR>under siege; the ban on bringing in food, medicine, and other<BR>basic
items was broken only when Iraqis en masse challenged the<BR>roadblocks. After
initial instances in which people were prevented<BR>from leaving, U.S. forces
began allowing everyone to leave -<BR>except for what they called "military age
males," men usually<BR>between 15 and 60. Keeping noncombatants from leaving a
place<BR>under bombardment is a violation of the laws of war. Of course,
if<BR>you assume that every military age male is an enemy, there can be<BR>no
better sign that you are in the wrong country, and that, in<BR>fact, your war is
on the people, not on their oppressors, not a<BR>war of
liberation."<BR><BR>Destroy and Save<BR><BR>At least 600 civilians were killed
in the last attack on Fallujah,<BR>and Professor Edward Herman reckons that "we
can be fairly certain<BR>that the town will be destroyed and that civilian
casualties will<BR>be very heavy. Fallujah must be destroyed in order to save it
from<BR>control by a resistance to the U.S.-invasion/occupation and
U.S.<BR>control, as was the case with Ben Tre in Vietnam, about
whose<BR>destruction the famous phrase "We had to destroy the town in
order<BR>to save it" was coined by a U.S. officer implementing
the<BR>destruction. Then, as now the U.S. right to invade and destroy
in<BR>order to shape the politics of a distant country was taken as a<BR>given
by the media and intellectuals."<BR><BR>"In both cases there was this ready
willingness to use advanced<BR>weaponry on relatively defenseless peoples, with
heavy civilian<BR>casualties entirely acceptable, and of course kept under the
rug<BR>as much as possible, with media assistance. There were no body<BR>counts
of civilians in Vietnam, and U.S. leaders like Colin Powell<BR>and General Tommy
Franks have been explicit that such counts, as<BR>regards Iraqi civilians, are
not an interesting subject and in<BR>fact "We don't do body counts" said
Franks."<BR><BR>This is because as Mark Curtis points out "Iraqis are regarded
as<BR>"unpeople" whose deaths matter little in the pursuit of western<BR>power;
the major block on committing atrocities is the fear of<BR>being exposed and
ministers will do all they can to cover them up.<BR>The public is the major
threat to their strategy, which explains<BR>why they resort to public deception
campaigns."<BR><BR>But we can try to stop the attacks. As Jo Wilding,
another<BR>eyewitness to the last attack whose ambulance was hit by
American<BR>snipers said "Millions of us demonstrated against the war and,
as<BR>a result, civilian casualties were reduced because of all
the<BR>attention. We need to be out on the streets again, in every<BR>country,
protesting against the invasion of Falluja and the<BR>ongoing killing."<BR><BR>*
Demos and vigils against the attacks have been taking place<BR>across the
country. Check out <A
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk">www.indymedia.org.uk</A> for
others<BR>planned. (Worthing demo this Saturday 2pm Montague Place)<BR><BR>*
Angry at the ongoing carnage in Iraq? Want to take part in or<BR>organise some
direct action or civil disobedience but lack the<BR>confidence, skills or
knowledge? Get along to a workshop this<BR>Sunday 11am - 4pm, 7a Rampart Street,
London E1 2LA (nearest tube<BR>Whitechapel) 0845 458 2564<BR><BR>* 13 - 21 Nov.,
Justice for Iraq's detainees: A Speaking Tour by<BR>Peggy Gish from the
Christian Peacemaker Teams' Iraq Project. For<BR>dates <A
href="http://www.voices.netuxo.co.uk/detainees.html">www.voices.netuxo.co.uk/detainees.html</A><BR><BR>*
18 Nov. Eyewitness Iraq: Stories of occupation and solidarity<BR>7.30pm, Friends
House, 173-177 Euston Road. With Peggy Gish, Jo<BR>Wilding and Philip Pritchard
(who spent a few months in prison<BR>after trying to disarm B52
bombers).<BR><BR>* Mark Curtis' new book, Unpeople: Britain's Secret Human
Rights<BR>Abuses (Vintage) <A
href="http://www.markcurtis.info">www.markcurtis.info</A><BR><BR>* Rahul Mahajan
is author of 'Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power<BR>in Iraq and Beyond' <A
href="http://www.empirenotes.org">www.empirenotes.org</A><BR><BR>FLOG
IT<BR><BR>Two anti war protestors will be in court later this
month<BR>challenging the corporate pillage of Iraq. Ewa Jasiewicz and<BR>Pennie
Quinton were nicked for "aggravated trespass" after<BR>protesting against the
Iraq Procurement Conference held in London<BR>in April.<BR><BR>Windrush
Communications, who organised the Conference, which they<BR>boasted would
"discuss the wide range of economic opportunities<BR>available... following the
awarding of up to $18.4 billion in<BR>contracts from the US
Congress."<BR><BR>The two will argue that it was the conference that was in
fact<BR>illegal, under the Hague Regulations of 1907 and Geneva<BR>Conventions
1949. The US-led provisional authority was breaking<BR>international law by
flogging off state assets, raising the<BR>prospect that contracts signed now by
foreign investors could be<BR>scrapped by a future Iraqi government.<BR><BR>In a
leaked memo last year UK Attorney General Lord Peter<BR>Goldsmith advised Prime
Minister Blair that in his view, "the<BR>imposition of major structural economic
reforms would not be<BR>authorised under international law."<BR><BR>As Ewa put
it "It's as simple as this. Iraq is not America's to<BR>sell. It is up to the
people of Iraq to decide, finally, theirs'<BR>and their county's destiny -
political, social and economic.<BR>Everything right now is being done to prevent
that from<BR> happening."<BR><BR>Their trial will be held at Highbury
Corner Magistrates Court on<BR>November 23-24 10.30am. A lively support picket
will take place on<BR>both days, starting at 9am. For more up to date
information<BR>contact Ewa Jasiewicz: <A
href="mailto:freelance@mailworks.org">freelance@mailworks.org</A> 07749 421 576
or<BR>their solicitor, Rhiannon Jones at Bindman and Partners, 020 7833<BR>4433
<A href="mailto:r.jones@bindmans.com">r.jones@bindmans.com</A><BR><BR>More
info:<BR><A
href="http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/11/09/3388857">www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/11/09/3388857</A><BR><BR>*
24 Nov, 'Making a killing: the Corporate Invasion of Iraq' with<BR>author Noami
Klein. Friends House, Euston Road, London 6.30pm £5<BR>waged/£3
unwaged<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Crap
Arrest of the Week<BR><BR>For having work tools in your car!<BR><BR>At a recent
demo against the IMF in Sussex a man was arrested for<BR>having a pruning saw in
his car. Thing was the man in question<BR>happened to be a tree surgeon so it's
a bit like nicking a plumber<BR>for having a
wrench.<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>LIFE
OF BRIAN<BR><BR>"The fact is the Government doesn't want people to hear what
I'm<BR>saying and to see the pictures of tortured and bombed
innocent<BR>children which I have on display here." - Brian Haw,
peace<BR>protester.<BR><BR>In the upcoming Queen's speech the government is to
bring in an<BR>organised crime bill to deal with things like drug dealing,
money<BR>laundering, people trafficking, firearms and one person
holding<BR>banners in Parliament Square.<BR><BR>The government is once again
using the cover of "organised crime"<BR>to crack down on people's right to
protest. A clause in the<BR>upcoming bill will mean protests near parliament
will be time<BR>limited and will need a specific permit. This is being brought
in<BR>to deal with Brian Haw, an anti war protester who has been camped<BR>out
in Parliament Square for over three years - existing laws have<BR>failed to
remove him and an injunction from Westminster City<BR>Council failed. Peter Hain
MP said that they need legislation to<BR>deal with "long-term
demonstrations".<BR><BR>Speaker of the Commons Michael Martin said "I myself
have<BR>exercised these rights to protest and would defend to the last
the<BR>rights of others to so do, including in Parliament Square."
Sounds<BR>like he supports Brian - funnily enough he doesn't. He
said<BR>legislation was needed to protect parliament's "unique position"<BR>and
make sure MPs are "free from harassment". The harassment Brian<BR>has caused is
displaying pictures of Iraqi children killed by the<BR>US/UK occupying forces
and the use of a megaphone, Brian says "My<BR>only crime is to have a megaphone
- it's absurd, barking mad." But<BR>not as barking mad as Tory MP Sir George
Young who reckons Brian<BR>is a security threat - apparently terrorists could
hide behind the<BR>peace protester's banners and "pick us off as we arrive at
or<BR>leave the House". Er, right.<BR><BR>Other measures to "crackdown on crime"
that the government have<BR>been talking about are extending police powers of
arrest, search<BR>warrants to extend to any property a suspect has access to
and<BR>allowing entry on more than one occasion with no time limits,
drug<BR>testing of anybody arrested, allowing the use of covert taking
of<BR>fingerprints and DNA for "speculative searches". There may also be<BR>new
clauses to deal with "animal rights extremism" which will<BR>tighten up the
harassment laws even more.<BR><BR>All this is being introduced to deal with
"organised crime" at a<BR>time when crime figures are going down. It looks like
the<BR>organised crime bill has more to do with curbing effective
protest<BR>than tackling crime. More about Brian Haw's protest:<BR><A
href="http://www.parliament-square.org.uk">www.parliament-square.org.uk</A><BR><BR>*
Another injunction under the Harassment Act has been gained<BR>against peaceful
campaigners which will do nothing to stop<BR>harassment. Oxford University has
gained an injunction against<BR>SPEAK who are campaigning against a new
vivisection lab being<BR>built (or not built as no work has happened for 16
weeks after the<BR>last building firm pulled out).<BR><BR>Merely publishing and
distributing well-informed material, in<BR>which animal experiments are
described and referenced, could from<BR>now on be illegal. Such a move would
deny the public access to<BR>information to which they are
entitled.<BR><BR>Oxford University has consistently said it is acting in
best<BR>scientific interests, but declined to take part in a debate<BR>organized
by SPEAK with pro and anti vivisectionists talking. The<BR>campaign against the
Oxford lab continues: SPEAK -<BR><A
href="http://www.speakcampaigns.org.uk">www.speakcampaigns.org.uk</A> 0845
3307985.<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Deadline<BR><BR>A
23 year old French environmental activist was killed this week<BR>by a train
transporting nuclear waste from France to Germany.<BR>Sebastien Briat had his
leg severed by the train whilst he was<BR>chained to the track, and died before
reaching hospital. Earlier<BR>in the day, the train had been delayed for two
hours while police<BR>cut free two other protesters who had chained themselves
to<BR>another section of the track.<BR><BR>Opposition to the cargo has been
growing and actions have sprouted<BR>across France and Germany, from the
establishment of resistance<BR>camps in south Germany, to farmers driving their
tractors on the<BR>track.<BR><BR>* See <A
href="http://www.indymedia.org">www.indymedia.org</A> for more
info.<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Dredgeful<BR><BR>Sharks
at the government have come up with another typically<BR>imaginative way of fast
forwarding us all toward environmental<BR>collapse: they want to marine quarry
the seabed of the Median<BR>Deep, halfway between the Sussex coast and northern
France. Then<BR>they want to dump the dredged seabed onto areas of the south
east<BR>of England and build hundreds of thousands of houses on
greenbelt<BR>land.<BR><BR>The plans have caused outrage among fishermen on both
sides of the<BR>Channel and among environmentalists, who say the government
risk<BR>breaking EU laws designed to protect fragile seabed habitats.<BR><BR>The
good news is that residents of Sussex are not taking this<BR>lying down. The
latest in a series of actions against the dredging<BR>saw pixies use bike locks
to close the Newhaven Swing Bridge on<BR>the A259 in East Sussex, blocking the
exit of the Hanson dredging<BR>ship the ARCO Dart at high tide on Sunday. The
bridge was due to<BR>open at 9pm but was closed for an hour and a half while the
ships<BR>crew struggled to remove the locks and eventually had to call in<BR>the
fire service. <A
href="http://www.eco-action.org/sos/">www.eco-action.org/sos/</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Mad
Car Disease<BR><BR>Anti-roads campaigners had thought they had seen off the
Hastings<BR>Bypass, but now part of the route has been resurrected as
the<BR>Bexhill Link Road. This scheme has some of the worst
environmental<BR>aspects of the original scheme - it will cut through
ancient<BR>woodland and the tranquil Combe Haven Valley, it will also
drive<BR>out wetland bird species - redshank, snipe and lapwing - and
other<BR>prized wildlife. Also included in the "development" would be
1,100<BR>houses and an out-of-town business park.<BR><BR>* There's a route walk
21st Nov, meet 10.15am outside Brighton<BR>station, or 11.45am outside St
Leonard's Station (Warrior Square)<BR>07966
952018<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------
<BR><BR>Banned Band Naked<BR><BR>Seize The Day thought that their chance to
break into the<BR>mainstream had come when they won the most public votes in
the<BR>2003 BBC Radio 3 awards.<BR><BR>Their humorous political songs gained
twice as many votes as any<BR>other band. However, as the BBC awards ceremony
approached, Seize<BR>the Day were mysteriously disqualified and the award was
given to<BR>a little known band from Slovenia.<BR><BR>Lead singer Theo Simon
believes that the BBC wouldn't risk giving<BR>a showcase to musicians who sang
about stopping war while the<BR>Government was dropping bombs on Baghdad. Theo
Simon said, 'There'<BR>s a belief in the music industry that protest music isn't
popular<BR>and never will be again, but the reality is that there's a
wider<BR>audience for it. The number of votes that we've received
shows<BR>that'.<BR><BR>Seize the Day protested during the awards ceremony.
Holding up<BR>signs declaring 'BBC COVER UP' the trio stood naked in front
of<BR>the BBC cameras, politicians, and top musicians.<BR><BR>The band will play
in Swansea on November 19 as part of the<BR>BEYONDTV 5th Video Activist
Documentary Festival Nov 19-20<BR>Tachwedd 2004, Patti Pavilion, Oystermouth
Road, Swansea, Pafiliwn<BR>Patti, Ffordd Ystumllwydiarth, Abertaw<BR><A
href="http://www.undercurrents.org/beyondtv">www.undercurrents.org/beyondtv</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------
<BR><BR>Union U-Turn<BR><BR>Workers at Kings Cross Channel Tunnel Rail Link site
have forced<BR>contractors Laing O'Rourke to negotiate with the GMB union over
a<BR>new contract dubbed the 'contrick' by the workers (see
SchNEWS<BR>471).<BR><BR>The Joint Sites Committee (JSC) has been organising
unofficial<BR>resistance to the 'contract', which proposes cutting the
basic<BR>rate of pay in half, after workers were told to sign them by
the<BR>construction union UCATT. Yesterday, The JSC organized a
sit-in<BR>protest against the deal agreed between Laing O'Rourke and
UCATT.<BR>The ex-general secretary of UCATT, George Brumwell has also
agreed<BR>to talk to Laing O'Rourke to renegotiate the deal;
he's<BR>'reconsidered his position', after signing the original
'contract'<BR>and trying to convince workers it was a good deal.<BR><BR>Workers'
representatives are calling for a national ballot of all<BR>Laing O'Rourke
workers to reject the deal. If there is going to be<BR>a new contract - they are
demanding no cut in take home pay, no<BR>discretionary bonus scheme, full
holiday and sick pay, a pension<BR>scheme, and redundancy pay.<BR><BR>Workers at
other Laing O'Rourkes sites are also resisting the<BR>contrick and have also
been visited by the JSC.<BR><BR>* More info: Steve Hedley -
07985-438301<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Positive
SchNEWS<BR><BR>The Green Dragon Woodland Project Co-op collects and
sells<BR>secondhand books to raise money for regenerating British
woodland<BR>habitat. After only 2 years of life the project has recycled
tons<BR>of unwanted books and with the funds turned them back into
living<BR>trees. Check out their new expansive and very interesting
website<BR>at: <A
href="http://www.greendragonwoods.org.uk">www.greendragonwoods.org.uk</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>SchNEWS
in brief<BR><BR>** Brighton's premier pirate Radio 4A will be broadcasting
this<BR>weekend 101.4 FM <A
href="http://www.radio4a.org.uk">www.radio4a.org.uk</A><BR><BR>** Resisting ID
Cards meeting next Tuesday (16) at Friends Meeting<BR>House, Mount St., 7.30pm
organized by Manchester Anarchist Group<BR><A
href="http://www.af-north.org">www.af-north.org</A><BR><BR>** Maelstrom is a new
info squat in Leeds at the old Post Office,<BR>Hyde Park Corner, Woodhouse
Street. For events<BR><A
href="http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leedsbradford/">www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/leedsbradford/</A><BR><BR>**
There's a couple of talks at Brighton's Cowley Club (12 London<BR>Road) next
week: On Monday (15) Corporate Watch will be talking<BR>about the film 'The
Corporation' - and how we can fight back<BR>against the multinationals. Starts
7pm. On Thursday (18) community<BR>publishers Queenspark Books will be talking
about their work 6pm.<BR><BR>** The next Scottish Dissent meeting will take
place in Perth, on<BR>the 20th November, from 2pm till 5pm at the Twa Tams on
Scott St.<BR>disabled access, no dogs, email: <A
href="mailto:dogend123@hotmail.com">dogend123@hotmail.com</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>..and
finally...<BR><BR>People might remember the stickers from a few years
back<BR>proclaiming "Avoid Hunger - Loot Tescos"; well 200 Italian<BR>anarchists
did that last week in the Panorama hypermarket outside<BR>Rome. After cheekily
asking the manager for a 70% discount, which<BR>was unsurprisingly refused, the
masked up proletarian shoppers<BR>swarmed the store shouting "Free shopping for
all" while filling<BR>up trolleys full of goodies, overcoming the security and
then<BR>distributing it to crowd outside! No one was nicked on the
day<BR>probably because lots of cops had to deal with a 10,000 strong<BR>demo
about the rising cost of living since the Euro was<BR>introduced, cuts in state
benefits, and the cost of the war in<BR>Iraq.<BR><BR>* Don't forget No Shopping
Day on 27th November <A
href="http://www.adbusters.org">www.adbusters.org</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Disclaimer<BR><BR>SchNEWS
warns all readers that whilst Batman is a fictional<BR>character, supervillains
do really exist ...
Honest!<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>INFORMATION
FOR ACTION - IF YOU LIKE IT PASS IT ON...<BR><BR>What's On? Check out out Party
and Protest guide at<BR><A
href="http://www.schnews.org.uk/pap/guide.htm">www.schnews.org.uk/pap/guide.htm</A>
- it's updated every week, has<BR>sections on regular events, local events,
protest camps
and<BR>more...<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>HOW
TO UN/SUBSCRIBE TO SCHNEWS-L<BR><BR>To unsubscribe, go to the website and follow
the instructions<BR>there, or send a message to <A
href="mailto:webmaster@schnews.org.uk">webmaster@schnews.org.uk</A> with
subject<BR>UNSUBSCRIBE PLAIN TEXT - <A
href="mailto:email@address.com">email@address.com</A><BR><BR>To subscribe, go to
the website or email <A
href="mailto:webmaster@schnews.org.uk">webmaster@schnews.org.uk</A><BR>with
subject SUBSCRIBE PLAIN TEXT - <A
href="mailto:email@address.com">email@address.com</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>SchNEWS
At Ten It costs £9 INC. p&p per book, further<BR>details as
below.<BR><BR>PEACE DE RESISTANCE It costs £7 INC. p&p per book,
further<BR>details as below...this one comes with a free multimedia CD
too!<BR>SchNEWS Of The World - issues 301-350 for £5!! Past books are<BR>goin'
cheap... SchNEWSround issues 51-100 - SOLD OUT; SchNEWS<BR>annual issues 101-150
- a snip at £2; Survival Handbook issues<BR>151-200<BR>- a snip at £2; SchQUALL
issues 201-250 - sold out;<BR>Yearbook 2001 issues 251-300 - bargain £3. All
prices inc. p&p.<BR>Cheques to 'Justice?' - Honest!<BR><BR>In addition to 50
issues of SchNEWS, each book contains articles,<BR>photos, cartoons, subverts, a
"yellow pages" list of contacts,<BR>comedy etc. You can also order the books
from a bookshop or<BR>library.<BR><BR>Subscribe to SchNEWS: Send 1st Class
stamps (e.g. 10 for next 9<BR>issues)or donations (payable to Justice?). Or £15
for a year's<BR>subscription, or the SchNEWS supporter's rate, £1 a week. Ask
for<BR>"originals" if you plan to copy and distribute. SchNEWS is<BR>post-free
to
prisoners.<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>SchNEWS,
PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 0EF, England<BR>Phone: 01273 685913 (NO
FAX)<BR>Email: <A
href="mailto:schnews@brighton.co.uk">schnews@brighton.co.uk</A> Web: <A
href="http://www.schnews.org.uk">www.schnews.org.uk</A><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>@nti
copyright - information for action - copy and
distribute!<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>SchNEWS-l
mailing list<BR><A
href="mailto:SchNEWS-l@gn.apc.org">SchNEWS-l@gn.apc.org</A><BR><A
href="http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/schnews-l">http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/schnews-l</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>