Wales

The ‘Wales Peace Festival 08’ took place in Bangor over the weekend 18 – 19 October. Organised by Bangor and Ynys Môn Peace and Justice Group, the event produced inspiring proposals for an enhanced culture of peace. Speakers included former Guantanamo kidnap victim Moazzam Begg, MEP Jill Evans, Peace News editor Milan Rai, Greg Muttitt from the Hands off Iraqi Oil Campaign, and Dr Ambrose-Oji discussing the effects of climate change on Africa. Stephen Thomas of the Welsh Centre for…

Supporters of the People Before Profit Charter (PBPC) held a protest on Queen Street in Cardiff on Halloween. Protesters called on the government to bail-out people, not just banks.
“The protest aimed to shine at least a lantern of light on what the banks have been doing with our money!” said Adam Johannes, one of organisers.
“Since the start of the credit crunch,” he continued, “British banks have been given or loaned almost £500 billion pounds of our money. We are told this…

Once again this year Aberystwyth Town Council will lay a white poppy wreath at the war memorial. The ceremony takes place on Saturday 8 November at 11am. In taking this action Aberystwyth Town Council is unique in Britain. But the decision to maintain the tradition was not made easily. It took the casting vote of the Mayor, Sue Jones-Davies.
The white poppy not only commemorates all those who suffer in wars; it also sends out the message that “there are better ways to resolve conflicts…

On 8 September, the Fellowship of Reconciliation commemorated “the burning of the bombing school” with a protest against the proposed St Athan military training academy.

The burning of the bombing school took place at Penyberth near Pwllheli in 1936. Ignoring the objections of the people of Wales, the British government developed an RAF bombing school on a site of particular importance in Welsh literary culture.

When the bombing school was set on fire, Plaid Cymru members…

Merthyr Tydfil residents and climate change campaigners staged protests at the Cardiff Hilton during the AGM of the UK Coal Authority on 10 September. Campaigners scaled the luxury hotel and hung a banner reading “Coal = Climate Disaster” over the main entrance.

Inside, with no hint of irony, the Coal Authority prepared to present its “Environmental Awards”. Residents sorely afflicted by Ffos-y-Frân opencast coalmine interrupted proceedings to present developers Miller Argent with…

Where’s the nearest army recruitment centre to you in Wales? Is there a company in your town selling combat raiding craft or “rugged use” military laptops? Is your local university teaming up with Rolls Royce to research the latest military technology? The Khaki Dragon project aims to bring together information on how the land, people, skills and knowledge within Wales contributes to war. The initial Khaki Dragon report Mapping Military Wales is soon to be available bilingually. It shows…

On 25 April, campaigners from all over Wales took part in a demonstration against plans to build a military academy at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan. Courses at the proposed academy will train any military or security personnel who can pay. St Athan will be an institution whose purpose is to profit from violence and war.

CND Cymru is particularly concerned that those training for nuclear warfare will do so in our nuclear-free nation.
Chair of CND Cymru, Jill Evans, said…

As part of Bike Week 2008 (14-22 June), cyclists from all over Wales will be riding to a rally in Cardiff. Youth, cycling and environmental groups, including the Welsh Youth Forum on Sustainable Development (WYFSD), Scouts and Grwp Beic Aberystwyth, are promoting the ride, which in mid-Wales will start on Wednesday 18 June, finishing in Cardiff on the Saturday.

En route, cyclists will stop off to find out about local environmental campaigns. In Merthyr Tydfil, for example, cyclists…

Rob Newman, in a set that was surely as politically and historically informed as comedy gets, said that, when our descendants look back, the Camp for Climate Action will be the single most important moment of 2007. George Monbiot believes “a new political movement has been born”, though he is surely aware that this movement has been alive and doing its best to kick for some time. Whatever else we think about the Camp for Climate Action, it was certainly a major “victory” for creative NVDA.…

If you haven’t been hiding under a rock for the last couple of months, you will have heard about the Slutwalk movement – marches organised by women in cities across the globe to protest against the huge problem of victim-blaming culture relating to rape and sexual assault, provoked by a Toronto policeman’s comment that “women should avoid dressing like sluts” in order to avoid being raped. After the original Slutwalk Toronto, satellite marches quickly sprang up across the world, under the…

The El Sueno Existe music festival is held from 11-13 August in Machynlleth in the beautiful Dyfi valley. It is a vibrant fusion of Welsh and Latin American music, dance, poetry, film and political discussion, taking inspiration from Victor Jara, the Chilean theatre director and singer-songwriter who has become a symbol of the struggle for human rights and justice across Latin America.

This year, the festival will feature workshops and talks from on the theme Latin America rising: “…

The Llanidloes-As Sawiya Friendship Association (LASFA) group was formed about two years ago. As Sawiya is a village of approximately 3,000 people in Salfit province, right in the middle of the West Bank, Palestine. It is dominated on all its surrounding hills by illegal Israeli settlements, from which comes the continual threat of settler violence.

LASFA aims to provide support for this village through publicising its situation, financial contributions to community projects, and…

Ceredigion Against the Cuts march through
Aberystwyth. PHOTO: Alun Williams

Ceredigion Against the Cuts staged a successful rally in Aberystwyth on 7 May. Led by the local samba band, some 250 people marched through the town to a rally at the castle. Newly-elected assembly member Elin Jones was one of the speakers, alongside members of the PCS and Unison trade unions who had organised the rally together.

Other speakers included…

Emily Johns’ collection of pictures was exhibited at the University of Wales, Trinity St David in Carmarthen on 6 May. The event was hosted by the chaplaincy. The planning was undertaken by chaplain Ainsley Griffiths, the well known bardic poet Mererid Hopwood, Jeni Williams, poet and tutor at the University of Wales, Amnesty International and myself.

Mererid Hopwood read, in Welsh and in English, a moving poem she had composed for the occasion. Oghpgho Okpako from the Niger Delta…

Chorus:

We will rise, we will rise
We will not accept those politicians’ lies
So come on get out and fight, unite against the right
We will rise, we will rise!

“Cut it all”, cries Cameron; “cut them off”, cries Clegg
“If you lose your livelihood, well, just go out and beg!
One and all must share the pain, ’cause we have done the sums
We’re all in this together - oh, but not our banker chums!”

The government goes on about this Big…