Published 16 October 2006
5, Annesley Road Oxford
OX4 4JH
13/10/06
To
John Kelly
County Emergency Planning Officer
Woodeaton Manor
Woodeaton
Oxford OX3 9GU
Re. transport of nuclear weapons and materials
Dear Mr. Kelly
I have been asked, on behalf of Network of Oxford Women for Justice and Peace, to make a response to the reply you sent to Councillor Val Smith on 20th. September. We are concerned that you feel that you do not need to know the routes and timings of nuclear transports unless an emergency arises. I would have expected that you, as Emergency Planning Officer, would be one of the first to be informed so that emergency services would be on stand-by . I am aware that exercises do take place but I am also aware that on one such exercise, admittedly some time ago, it turned out that protective clothing was at Bicester when the scenario envisaged was on the Oxford ring road near Cowley. Our main concern is with the transport of nuclear warheads from AWE Burghfield to Coulport in Scotland; these convoys sometimes use the Oxford ring road, the A34 and the M40. There are also convoys carrying nuclear materials from AWE Aldermaston to RAF Brize Norton for transit to the US and a return traffic from Brize Norton. These convoys use the Oxford ring road and the A40; we would have expected that you with overall responsibility for the area would be informed in advance. We know that these take place as they are regularly monitored by Nukewatch. We seek a firmer reassurance about the readiness to deal with an accident involving these convoys than your letter suggests and would also point out that Oxford City Council is a member of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) . I have read the LAESI guidelines which are very detailed but make little mention of your role; it also appears from this document that the police are informed but it is then up to them to decide whether to inform the Fire Service etc. One final point: are members of the public or interested bodies such as NOW allowed to attend exercises as observers?
Yours sincerely
Jean Kaye
This silent vigil in Bonn Square, Oxford, was held only a few days after yet more tragic killings of Palestinians in Ramallah. In particular, we were deeply grieved to hear of the death of the brother of Mohammed Atallah, one of the children who had spent an enjoyable couple of weeks holiday in Oxford in 2005 as a guest of the Oxford Ramallah Friendship Association.
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Sobhia 2005: Bulldozing of settlement |
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Destruction of olive trees at Liwane near Ma'on
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Oxford Group 'Network of Oxford Women for Justice and Peace have organised an exhibition of photographs showing women from peace groups in Israel, Canada, USA, Serbia, Germany and the UK. Below you can see three of the photos.
(see below photos for more details of the exhibition, or check our Diary section. You can click here for the pdf of the A5-size flyer)
The exhibition will take place at Fusion Arts, in East Oxford, from the 4th-20th
August, and is aimed at showing the diversity of the global Women In Black movement,
which holds vigils in more than 60 countries world-wide to promote peaceful
solutions to conflict.
The photographs are accompanied by texts written and sent in by the women, explaining why they are part of the movement. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and with the global Women in Black conference in Jerusalem this August.
Local women are also taking part in the exhibition, and will be there to celebrate its opening on Thursday 4th August from 6-8pm.
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Update 11.10.2005
WiB Gathering in Jerusalem, August 2005
We have now received some feedback about the WiB Gathering in Jerusalem, in the form of photos and a Declaration. See item 10) in the Reports section.
Photos: Lieve Snellings from WiB Belgium attended the Gathering and has sent us links to the dozens of photos that she took of the event. To simplify your search, I recommend you go to http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lievesnellings/my_photos and click on any caption beginning 2005 WiB. You can see a couple of her photos in the Reports section, taken at a WiB vigil in Haga Square, Jerusalem. To contact Lieve direct, click here.
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19.10.2005
WiB members under threat in Belgrade. See Action
Alert!! 
for more details.
A number of members of NOW have decided to take part in this lobby and I have now received from Irene Brennan details of the travel arrangements for those wishing to travel as a group:
'I would suggest that we travel by Express coach (or Tube if people have difficulty with the coach) and that we gather at Gloucester Green station at 12.00 pm. This means that we should get to Parliament by 2.30 pm. That should give us time to lobby our MPs and then have a cup of tea before the meeting at 4pm. We shall be leaving Westminster at about 6.00 pm and should therefore be back in Oxford at about 8.30 pm. A briefing on the issues will be available for those unable to access the material by email.'
You can access all documentation connected with this lobby via links on the Diary page or below:
1. 4-page briefing on Israeli nuclear weapons here (pdf)
2. 29-page briefing here (pdf)
3. Poster here, which you can
print out.
A silent vigil was held in Bonn Square on 17 April to demand the release of Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, particularly women and children. NOW was responding to a call from Addameer and the Women's Organization for Political Prisoner (WOFPP), whose petition to free Manal Ghanim and Nour we had signed. Below is the text of the petition:
Manal Naji Mahmoud Ghanim, 29 years old, mother of four, from Tulkarem Refugee Camp, was arrested in April 2003 by the Israeli army and sentenced in a military court in the occupied West Bank to 50 months in prison. Manal, who suffers from Thalasemia, was arrested when pregnant and shortly after that gave birth to her son Nour. Nour is now a year and half old. Both are held in Hasharon Prison (Telmond).
The prison authorities do not provide Manal and her son with the necessary medical care, nor do they provide Nour with adequate food or toys. The prison authorities even refuse to let the family bring any toys for Nour. In addition to the daily suffering in prison, it happens, as on November 28, 2004, that the wardens attack the women prisoners with tear gas and water hoses. While such a violent act represents severe harassment for all the prisoners, for a baby it actually is a real danger. In fact, Nour was ill for at least six weeks following this attack.
Manal has another two sons and a daughter. The younger boy, 7-years old Maged, suffers from sickle cell anemia. Due to his health condition, he needs hospitalization every ten days. At these times, Maged desperately needs his mother's support.
We, the undersigned, are seriously concerned about the deterioration of Manal's, Nour's and their family's health, caused by Manal's continuous imprisonment. We demand to immediately free Manal Naji Mahmoud Ghanim.
A formal decision was taken by NOW members at a meeting in early 2004 to affiliate to the ESF (European Social Forum), to be held in London in October 2004. Later in the year an ESF sub-group was set up to consider what contribution NOW could make to its programme of activities. The following text is a short explanation of the background, prepared by Nancy Lindisfarne who has been one of the most active members in organizing for this year’s Social Forum.
"The European Social Forum is a giant gathering for everyone opposed to war, racism and corporate power, everyone who wants to see global justice,workers' rights and a sustainable society. The ESF will take place in London 14-17th October, at two main sites: Alexandra Palace and in Bloomsbury. Please access the ESF website at:http://www.fse-esf.org.
The European Social Forum emerged from the spectacular success of the World Social Forum which opened in Porto Alegre , Brazil in 2001. Its first two gatherings in Florence (2002) and Paris (2003) attracted over 50,000 from across Europe and beyond. The magnificent worldwide anti-war demonstrations on February 15th 2003 were called by the Assembly of Social Movements in Florence.
'NOW' has proposed a workshop. Title: Local Organizing - How to do it, and How to keep going! NOW women develop their energy, outreach and political focus to campaign and campaign again. A lively workshop discussion - How to organize locally with a global focus? Why women? How to keep going? What lessons can we learn from local groups?
There have been more than 800 seminars and workshops proposed for the ESF.This is a huge number to fit into less than half the spaces so the programme committee will now be asking organizations to join forces and merge seminars and workshops. Exactly how we shape our meeting will depend in part on this process, so there should be much to discuss at our NOW meeting on 4th September."
NOW held Oxford's first Women in Black vigil against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories on Saturday, 17 July 2004. The event took place in Bonn Square from 2.30 to 3.30pm. Participants stood in dignified silence, holding placards in English, Arabic and Hebrew. It proved very successful, with many people stopping to speak to the leafleters. It was decided to hold a second vigil on Saturday July 31 from 2.30 to 3.30pm and thereafter regularly once a month. A fuller report and photos of the first vigil can be found on the Oxford Indymedia website.
