Northern Friends Peace Board


The Peace Board

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Issue 25  Summer 2008

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Contents


Building Peace – Tackling Racism

This continuing area of concern for Northern Friends Peace Board was the theme of a conference in Huddersfield in March, attracting nearly 90 participants. Through our work in putting on events such as this, we aim to give Quakers and others opportunities to learn from and support one another in finding effective ways of building peace in their communities. We have been delighted that non-Quakers as well as Quakers have wanted to come to and support these events.

Philip Lewis, of the Department of Peace Studies in Bradford, was our main speaker.  Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Islam in Britain, he encouraged us to dig deeper: both to understand the different trends and strands of Islam (and his recent book* will aid this digging) but also to find those elements of our own faith traditions that can be drawn upon to help build stronger communities and better mutual understanding.

Also amongst the many interesting contributors to the day were Leah Elcock of Bolton’s Racial Equality Council; Lisa Cumming of Bradford’s ‘Programme for a Peaceful City’; Marian Liebman, Quaker and writer on restorative justice and Andy Sykes, a former BNP organiser now committed to working with young people in countering extremism.  They and others helped focus our thinking on the importance and practical challenges of listening and dialogue, of speaking out and of acting in solidarity.

There was an energy and sense of hope about the event – enhanced by a small parallel programme for teenagers – tempered with a realistic awareness of the challenges involved in this work.  More is planned, but exactly when and where is still to be finalised. We plan also to have (soon, we hope) a DVD arising from the day for Friends and others to use as a stimulus to reflection and action.

Philip Austin


* Young, British and Muslim, 2007, ISBN-10: 0826497306, Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd

Conscience and Choices

In May, Manchester Quakers once again organised an event in the city centre to mark International Conscientious Objectors day.  The ceremony featured Bruce Kent, of CND and the Movement Against War, as a speaker and the Manchester Community Choir.  It coincided with the end of the Great Manchester Run, so there were perhaps more casual passers-by than might normally be expected on a Sunday, and the sun shone through-out.   

Towards the end of the ceremony, all participants were invited to lay a white carnation at the base of the sculpture in the Peace Garden, each flower representing a conscientious objector from a different era and part of the world. A number of former COs and their families were present and remembered.

Whilst we don’t have conscription to military service in the UK at the moment the issue of the rightness of young men and women being trained and sent to kill by the government is very much alive.  David Gee’s report, Informed Choice, pub-lished by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust at the beginning of the year is still making ripples, months after the initial widespread coverage.  Its companion resources for potential recruits – at  BeforeYouSignUp.info – should be widely publicised, so that those who are thinking of signing up can get a good spread of information and opinion about the implications of doing so.  

For those serving in the army who are having difficulties, At Ease  - a free advisory, counselling and information service for members of the armed forces and their families - can be contacted every Sunday evening.  It is based in London but is looking for additional volunteers in all parts of the country.  Contact them – either to volunteer or to seek help – at:  

Email: info@atease.org.uk    Telephone: 02072 475 164 (Sundays only, between 5pm - 7pm)

Toynbee Hall Site, 28 Commercial Street, Aldgate East, London  E1 6LS.

Peace Tax Conference

The 12th International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax Campaigns will take place  at the University of Manchester, from 5 to 7  September 2008.  This year the Conference is organised by Conscience - the UK Peace Tax Campaign. The international conference is a biennial event which draws together national war tax resistance and peace tax campaigns from 16 different countries with Conscience and Peace Tax International (CPTI) , an NGO officially recognised by the UN.  Find out more at: http://peacetax2008.org.uk/

Speaking of which...

Huddersfield Peace Lecture

Feargal Cochrane, director of the Richardson Institute of Peace & Conflict Research at Lancaster University, was the latest contributor to Huddersfield Quaker’s fifth annual Peace Lecture.  He took as his subject “Can Hope and History Rhyme? The Role of the Arts in Overcoming Violence in Northern Ireland’.  The event was well attended with a good mix of people in the audience, reports NFPB member Robin Bowles, who arranged the event.

WalkTalk

Gill Hicks was severely injured, losing both her legs in the London bombings of July 2005.  Since then, she has written a moving account of her experiences (in the book ‘One Unknown’) and is now an ‘ambassador’ for Peace Direct.  From the 19th July, she and a small core team of others, will be walking from Leeds to London, encouraging conversations between people of  widely different backgrounds and experience  ... an opportunity, as they describe it, ‘to walk in another’s shoes’ .  They want people to join them on the walk as it progresses from north to south through the country – find out where it will be and register your interest at: www.walktalk.org.uk.   Gill and husband Joe have a firm belief in humanity and the power of  ordinary people to overcome conflict: “each of us a ‘one unknown’ can make a positive and significant difference”.

Hexham Debates

With an impressive range of speakers – starting with Bruce Kent and finishing with Paul Rogers – the people of Hexham have turned out in impressive numbers to a series of public talks and debates.  Set at a slightly unusual time of 11.00am on Saturdays, the events have attracted great interest and energy and it is clear that the process will need to continue.  Whilst Quakers have taken a key role, this has not been a uniquely Quaker initiative and the planning group is now considering which people to invite next.  NFPB member Caroline Westgate reports that there was a remarkable coherence and consistency in the messages conveyed, albeit from different angles: global security has got to build on the foundations of  economic justice, environmental sustainability and democratic accountability rather than ever-increasing military spending.  Watch this space for news of the next phase.

Iran – change of approach needed

Iran is often used as the justification for the the US missile defence system.  There are continued calls and efforts to promote diplomatic alternatives to try to unblock the current impasse.  

The US-Quaker body, Friends Committee on National Legislation, writes: “The U.S. needs a new approach to avoid war ...  FCNL is working to encourage a diplomatic solution to the disputes and is involved in an ongoing dialogue between faith communities in the U.S. and the people and government of Iran.”  Read more about this and find a range of useful resources at: www.fcnl.org.  

The British American Security Information Council (BASIC) publishes regular updates on Iran, and recently circulated an open letter to the UK government from Sir John Thomson, a former leading diplomat.  In his introduction to the letter, BASIC’s director Paul Ingram says: “We do not have the luxury of implementing ideal solutions .... but we do have choices.  ... Sir John offers tactical advice the British government would do well to listen to.”    BASIC’s updates can be found at www.basicint.org/update/iran.htm  and the open letter at: www.basicint.org/pubs/openlet.pdf .

Meanwhile, the Church & Society Council of the Church of Scotland put a motion to the General Assembly calling on the UK government to ‘do all in its power’ to prevent foreign military intervention in Iran.  The Ekklesia news agency reports: “The Church & Society Council concludes that, domestically and internationally, Iran’s future may lie not with negotiators in the West, or even its leadership, but with its people.  Could it be that this young population in this ancient land may peacefully and constructively bring about the changes that Iran so desperately needs?”

News from the NFPB February meeting in Leeds

Our first NFPB members’ meeting of the year was in Leeds in February.   
Dave Webb and Lindis Percy spoke to Friends about the US missile defence system and the continuing witness and campaigning, particularly around Menwith Hill and
Fylingdales.  Lindis spoke of her continued sense of outrage at what is being done at these and other US bases in the UK, with precious-little accountability.

We also:

- heard news and reflections from Friends about the range of ways in which they were working to support asylum seekers,

- approved proposals for taking forward our work with young people

- and considered our financial report from the end of the year.

Friends’ level of giving seemed to decline in 2007, but we were encouraged by the generous contributions already received during 2008.  We have continued to recommend £6.50 per member as a guideline for contributions from Area and Local Meetings.  This will be revised upwards to £7 from January 2009, having been at the lower figure for three years.  Our annual report and accounts are available on our website soon and on request.
NFPB next meets at Newcastle Meeting House on 21st June, and in Perth and Nottingham in September and November respectively.  

Nuclear Weapons on the road   ... or on the way out?

Recently launched in Glasgow, and helpfully reported in The Independent newspaper, the DVD Deadly Cargo provides a chilling and informative insight in the transport of nuclear weapons up and down the roads of the UK.  It includes footage of a typical convoy, so that it can be easily recognised, and a host of additional Nukewatch resources as DVD extras.  A few copies are available from the NFPB office (between £5 and £10 each, depending on income) and from Nukewatch: nukewatch.org.uk or 0141 416 3161.

Whilst Friends have joined others at Aldermaston and Faslane in protest at the government’s nuclear weapons programme - present and future - diplomats were meeting in Geneva in late Spring to try to take forward the next stage of the preparatory process (Prep Comm) leading up the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.  Rebecca Johnson, a security analyst, writes of this year’s Prep Comm thus: “Despite some angry rhetoric and grand-standing, the 2008 PrepCom was more good-natured, constructive – and a lot more substantive – than was possible last year.”  Read more at: www.acronym.org.uk/npt/08pc07.htm.

A Scottish Government Trident Working Group has recently been set up, and is preparing for ‘possible attendance’ at the Review Conference in 2010, whilst on 14th June, Scottish CND is inviting people to demonstrate by forming a Peace Chain around Faslane: www.BanTheBomb.org  
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