Catch up: CND/ Stop the War meeting on Ukraine from the 5th of July

Here is the link to the recording of the CND/ Stop the War meeting on Ukraine from the 5th of July https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF7XX35fCCc

I have also pasted below a helpful summary of what was said, courtesy of a Stop the War comrade .

Please note Hiroshima events around the region.

August 6th 11am Churchyard St Philips Cathedral Birmingham -Colmore Rd B3 2QB Readings of Poetry and Prose, Songs from Clarion Singers etc

If you would be willing to read something (I will provide the reading) please let me know) . We will also be handing out leaflets explaining to the public why we are there and will be remembering Campaigners who have died recently -Bruce Kent and , more locally, Julia Larden

August 6th 1pm-3.30pm Coventry Cathedral Music Poetry and Making Cranes for Peace. !pm drumming Performance 2pm Remembrance Service The link for the Cathedral’s Facebook live stream is https://tiny.cc/cathfacebook

South Cheshire and North Staffordshire CND Saturday 6th August:  Hiroshima Day stall in Leek with the Leek Peace Choir +        Monday  8th August:  Hiroshima/Nagasaki Day event with music, poetry, readings etc -more details to follow

8th July Monday Hereford Hiroshima Commemoration 12 noon, by the cherry tree in Hereford Crematorium.

Best Wishes

Gill Cox

Birmingham StWC and West Midlands CND joint hybrid meeting on War in Ukraine, Tuesday 5th July 7pm on Zoom and at the Warehouse Cafe

Another successful joint hybrid meeting with WMCND on Ukraine had a good turnout of 44 attendees, and was chaired by Gill from WMCND.

The meeting heard excellent speeches from Kate Hudson (General Secretary of CND) and Lindsey German (Convenor of Stop the War Coalition) on Ukraine; and Mohammed Suleman (Local Kashmiri Activist) on Kashmir. Apologies from Pete Jackson (PCS Midlands Regional Chair), who was scheduled to speak but had Covid.

Kate focused on the increasing risk of nuclear weapons being used in the Ukraine war, which is being either denied by omission or sanitised in mainstream discourse. We are given no sense that NATO and Russia have 12,000 nuclear weapons between them, 2000 of them on special alert status ready to be rapidly deployed.  No sense that Nuclear weapons imply human annihilation. Instead, nuclear weapons are presented in technical and euphemistic terminology mollifying their danger. For example, discussions of ‘battlefield’ and ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons convey a softer, more reassuring impression of their impact than their actual capabilities for causing unrestricted devastation.

The no-fly zone is the most rapid route to nuclear war, Kate said, which would escalate swiftly into a direct conflict between NATO and Russia. Sending more arms and heavy weaponry into Ukraine would also make nuclear usage more likely.

There has also been a disturbing militarisation and intensification of nuclear capability of NATO countries since the war began, further extended at the annual NATO summit in Madrid last week in its New Strategic Concept which set out:

·         A continued military buildup up in the Indo-Pacific towards a long term strategy against China.

·         Increasing focus and military buildup in Eastern Europe to counter Russia.

·         Sweden and Finland co-opted to NATO as part of an open door policy to expand its membership further across Europe and with a new global remit into the Global South.

·         Nuclear usage green lighted in more war scenarios.

We must resist this proliferation and preparation for more war, which comes at the expense of social welfare and public services. For example, the government is increasing UK nuclear spending by 40%but claims not to be able to afford a pay rise of 1% for nurses. We must stop this war in Ukraine, and end this mounting nuclear threat.

Lindsey began by categorically stating StWC’s opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She lamented the huge loss of life and injuries on both sides; the ongoing destruction of Ukraine and enormous displacement of her people.

Ukraine had a right to self-determination but the west supplying it with arms would just mean more bloodshed and increase the likelihood of the war dangerously spreading. This was an inter-imperialist proxy war between a NATO led US and Russia under the aegis of China, caused in large part by a NATO expansion which its recent Madrid summit seeks to develop. NATO is thus using the conflict as a recruiting tool to extend US hegemonic allegiance and increase its military presence in Europe. It is not a defensive but consistently aggressive alliance with

the UK as it’s cheerleader in chief – Johnson cynically using the conflict to distract from domestic crises, even going to Kiev to deliberately stop peace negotiations.

Linsey said there can only be three outcomes to the war:

·         A long drawn-out stalemate that would be catastrophic for Ukraine.

·         An escalation that draws in other countries and threatens nuclear confrontation.

·         Peace negotiations- which is of course what we are calling for: to stop the war and urge our governmentto sue for peace through negotiation and diplomacy.

The war is hurting workers everywhere and is of benefit only to arms dealers, the military, undertakers, and right-wing governments. We need now to build a mass grassroots anti-war movement which, like the successful one against the Iraq war, will not be instantaneous but the result of gradual intensive campaigning in our communities and workplaces.

Mohammed Suleman spoke on Kashmir, occupied by an Indian army of 1.2 million soldiers daily terrorising 9 million Kashmiris, holding the state in a stranglehold comparable to the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

A soldiery that commits daily human rights violations including killings, rapes, torture and false imprisonments, directed by Modi’s BJP government which is in turn sponsored by a fascist RSS Hindutva movement terrorising India’s 200 million Muslims and other minorities.

The UK government, far from offering any censure or denunciation, openly courts Modi’s regime for trade deals and sells it weapons for use in its fascistic agenda. As Suleman said, it is not morals but money that drive British interests abroad.

With media and the liberal establishment largely silent on the issue, we must raise awareness of this frightening and dangerous situation ourselves within our working class communities and trade unions and mobilise protest at the grassroots. There was a promising demonstration of the campaign opposing violence against Indian Muslims last weekend in London with over 1000 people and there will be another protest at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham starting July 28th. This will focus of the presence in the Indian squad of serving Indian army soldiers aligned to the BJP and RSS.

Contributions from the floor included Stuart providing ample evidence of how undemocratic Zelinsky’s regime is, despite contrary reports – left wing organisations are banned while open fascists are present in its ranks of the Army. Jeremy emphasised the the war’s devastating effect on global wheat supply causing ominous prospects of mass starvation and famine.

Pro-NATO arguments from Mike Tucker and Bob Whitehead in the name of Ukrainian self-determination were roundly discredited and, Mark Holland argued, merely served the interests of Western Imperialism.

Saef went further and deemed the conflict symptomatic of the pathologies of Western Imperialism and dmned its profound Eurocentric aspects, facets of which, he felt, also tainted the tenor of our meeting