Words
Friday, December 28, 2007 at the Women in Black vigil in Jerusalem marking 20 years of WIB:
http://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2054&Itemid=363
Text of leaflet: Women in Black Edinburgh, Scotland, Winter 2007/2008
Message from Catherine aged nine
We stand here in solidarity with ALL victims of wars: our silence is visible
Winter 2007/2008
We stand to bear silent witness against the futility of war and the devastation which comes in its wake.
War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children ...
We deny personal responsibility when we plant landmines and, days or years later, a stranger to us — often a child – is crippled or killed. From a great distance, we launch bombs or missiles with almost total impunity, and never want to know the number or identity of the victims.
War does not end conflict –
War does not bring peace –
War is not the answer –
Women in Black is an international network of women opposed to war, militarism and violence. It is a non-party political, non-aligned network of women who work for peace and justice by:
- supporting peaceful alternatives to militarism, arms sales, war and violence,
- increasing understanding of conflict and use of non-violent strategies for peace.
Women in Black stand vigil for peace
in more than 300 towns and cities
in more than 30 countries worldwide
|
Women in Black started in 1988 when Israeli and Palestinian women stood together in vigil in Jerusalem against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The international movement Women in Black was awarded the Millennium peace prize by the United Nations in 2001. |
In this season of peace and goodwill,
The US is the world’s top military spender – $528.7 billion,
Britain the second highest military spender – $59.2 billion
(SIPRI Yearbook 2006)
Landmines: in 1999 157 countries signed the Mine Ban Treaty. Ten years on 54 of those countries are contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), and 13 countries continue to manufacture landmines, including the US. UK completed destruction of its stockpile of 1,250,000 landmines by Sept. 1999 and ceased manufacture. A partial and welcome success!
Depleted Uranium: can penetrate armor or burn, creating uranium oxide dust that can be inhaled or can contaminate wounds when fragments of munitions or armor become embedded in the body. Research continues into its long-term genetic and environmental effects, and association with birth defects, cancers, and Gulf War Syndrome. The EU has repeatedly passed resolutions requesting an immediate moratorium on the further use of depleted uranium ammunition, but France and Britain have consistently rejected calls for a ban. Work to do!
Cluster Bombs: cluster munitions have a failure rate of 5% (Hansard 8.12.06) and remain a threat to civilians: children playing or going to school, people gathering crops, collecting firewood or going for water, often resulting in the loss of a limb or death. They were used extensively by the UK in Kosovo and Iraq, and large areas of the Falklands are still too dangerous for people to walk on. The UK, the world’s third largest user of lethal cluster bombs over the last ten years, has renamed one of its two remaining cluster munitions in an effort to beat an expected worldwide ban next year (Landmine Action 2007). British policy is to phase cluster bombs out by 2015. If dangerous now, why wait?
Britain's only nuclear weapons system consists of 4 Trident submarines based here at Faslane, each carrying 14 nuclear missiles with up to 8 warheads. Each warhead has the explosive power of 100,000 tons of high explosive - 8 to 10 times the Hiroshima bomb that killed 200,000 people in Japan in 1945. Say No!
What can we do?
- We can encourage our newly elected councillors and MSPs –and our new Prime Minister to support peaceful policies in Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world;
- We can learn about resolving conflicts peacefully;
- We can pay attention to, and be curious about, the words we use: terrorist/freedom fighter; asylum seeker/ economic sponger; prisoner of conscience/ trouble maker,
- and much more - for peace, justice and humanity.
Please join us Saturdays 1-2pm
Princes Street, Edinburgh, opposite the Balmoral Hotel.
We are a women-only vigil,
and appreciate the invaluable support of men.
Message from Catherine aged nine
Women in Black
Women in Black is meant for peace and to stop war.
The women in black stand with signs, posters and banners to show that war is not nice at all and that you don't need to fight to get over war, you can talk about it and make agreements.
So if you stand with them on Saturdays you can help to try and stop war and bring peace.
You can try to help people lead better lives by standing and trying to make the public agree.
I am sure that the people that we are trying to save from wars would bevery grateful.
Lots of humans are in danger and need your help because some people have been choosing to do wrong instead of right, as you can see the people that do this to them are just unfriendly and not many people want to be like that, so help to make others of your kind survive instead of a nasty little group win over many lives.
Just dress in black on Saturdays and come to Princes Street Edinburgh and find the women in black they will have signs, posters and banners waiting for you.