Ahead of the national demo there on 4 October, Lindis Percy and Chris Cole take a look at RAF Croughton & its role in the US drone wars.
Seemingly not many people know about ‘RAF’ Croughton near Brackley and bordering Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Misleadingly referred to as RAF, this important US base is occupied and controlled by the US and their agencies under the umbrella of the United States Air Force. It supports Presidential, NATO, US European Command, US Central Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, US Department of State operations. The NSA, CIA and a contingent of GCHQ personnel are also present. It…
Ian Sinclair looks beyond the "babbling brook of [mainstream media] bullshit" about the Iraq crisis.
Just over ten years since it failed the public so completely over the 2003 Iraq War, the mainstream media’s coverage of the current Iraq crisis has been predictably awful.
“Stop droning on Mr Cameron… SEND IN THE DRONES” was The Sun’s considered front page on 4 September 2014. At the opposite end of the British press spectrum The Independent’s…
Thirty years on, the anti-nuclear war drama Threads has lost none of its power to shock. Its message of making connections has inspired many, including one of its producers, Richard Levitt.
Ruth and Jimmy kiss in their car on the Moors. A fighter jet roars ominously overhead. Potential violence erupts into the everyday. Some of the images in Threads - a mushroom cloud rising over Sheffield, a middle-aged woman urinating in fear - are etched forever into my mind’s eye. Watching the film again, the same cold fear washes through my guts at the thought that such destruction is still within the reach of several world leaders…
Four years after the successful conclusion of the Montgomery Bus Boycott - and two-and-a-bit months before the first Freedom Ride - legendary activist and journalist William Worthy reported for Peace News on the treatment meted out to African-American interstate travellers who failed to comply with segregation.
This article first appeared in the 24 February 1961 issue of Peace News.
A Leeds co-operator explores the pleasures and perils of Community Organising ...
My tummy tightens as I stand up for my turn. 'Why I am here'. 120 faces turn to me. I take the microphone. Shit.
I remembered to print all the agendas, the register sheets, I knew who should be there, I'd sorted out the IT/AV and music, I made sure the tea and coffee was happening and 90-odd chairs and tables were set up as planned. I'd just forgotten to prepare this one little bit, this moment of inspiration and explanation, each advisory group member saying something…
International fast to be held between Hiroshima and Nagasaki days (6th-9th August) in Burghfield, Paris, and Büchel.
Every year an International fast is held between Hiroshima and Nagasaki days (6th-9th August) in Burghfield, Paris, and Büchel, the last Nato base in Germany at which nuclear weapons are stationed. PN has covered the fast in both Paris and Burghfield with several articles in the past (see PN September 2012, June 2013 and September 2013).…
Report and images from Trident Protest at Rolls Royce AGM.
Rolls-Royce directors were confronted with the harrowing testimony of a Hiroshima survivor, Setsuko Thurlow, at their AGM on 1 May. Although the quote was lengthy, the chair was too disorientated to interrupt, and the board responded with nervous laughter.
Rolls-Royce provides power systems for Britain's Trident nuclear-powered, nuclear-missile-carrying submarine system. In June 2012, Rolls-Royce was awarded a £1bn contract to produce new reactor cores for the submarine that is…
Peace News co-editor Emily Johns tells the story of Walden Pond Housing Co-op,
Last night, 21 people crowded into the Friends Meeting House in South Villas, Hastings, to hear Peace News co-editor Emily Johns tell the story of Walden Pond Housing Co-op, which was set up in 1998 and now owns a house and a flat in the town.
The main point of the evening was to explain 'How to Set Up a Housing Co-op', with a lot of help from the Radical Routes handbook of the same name (44 pages, £3 or download for free…
San Sebastián Bachajón on the anniversary of the assassination of Juan Vázquez Guzmán
Last year, Peace News featured the story of the assassination in Chiapas, Mexico, of the community leader and defender of the land, Juan Vázquez Guzmán. In recognition of the first anniversary of his killing, 'Two Weeks of Worldwide Action: Juan Vázquez Guzmán lives! The Bachajón struggle continues!', have been called, from Thursday 24 April to Thursday 8 May. As part of this initiative, the screening of the film…
Covert US and British support for Syrian rebels has continued, despite overwhelming public opposition.
When the Coalition Government was defeated in parliament over military intervention in Syria last summer many activists probably thought that was the end of the matter. After all Prime Minister David Cameron had conceded ‘the British parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that and the Government will act accordingly.’
On the 28th of March, 2014, at about 4 p.m., the Afghan Peace Volunteers heard a loud explosion nearby. For the rest of the evening and night, they anxiously waited for the sound of rocket fire and firing to stop. It was reported that a 10 year old girl, and the four assailants, were killed.
Four days later, they circulated a video, poem and photos prefaced by this note: “We had been thinking about an appropriate response to the violence perpetrated by the Taliban, other militia…
For many of us, reading Peace News or attending Peace News events has sometimes had a significant impact in some way. We would be very grateful if you could send us your stories and views on what Peace News has done for you.
In 500 words or less, please tell us what Peace News means to you.
Has reading Peace News raised your awareness of new issues or changed your mind about something important? Has attending a PN event led to an important connection or initiative? Has the content of the paper encouraged you to create or join a group, or to take part in new activities? Has it helped to meet the needs of your group or organisation? Have you helped to produce it or appeared in it…
Published since 1886 the print of edition of Freedom is to be discontinued.
The Freedom Collective, publishers of Freedom, the anarchist periodical founded in 1886, decided at a meeting on 3 March 2014 to discontinue printing and concentrate on online publication. After the second printed edition of 2014, the intention is to publish a special edition for the anarchist bookfair in October, and after that to print only occasional free sheets.
Peace News and Freedom have much in common. Donald Rooum, who has contributed cartoons to Peace News since 1962, has…
Opting to do something can lead to various forms of activism and that in turn can lead to the difficult area of politics. Saying 'no' to what we oppose is one approach.
How many of us are in some way dissatisfied with the way things are in the world? Perhaps you've witnessed some grave injustice or you're even the victim of a social ill? Maybe you've spent years in academic settings trying to understand what's wrong with the world, but isn't the point to change it? Maybe you just know, things aren't meant to be like this.
Chances are you can relate to most if not all of the above and if so you might have been drawn to do something about it. Making…
