World Iraq

Reports and news related to the US-UK-led war on Iraq (20 March 2003 to the present) and the worldwide protests against it.

SchNEWS 743: Leicester Is More

A thousand EDL supporters rampaged through the streets of Leicester on Saturday (9th), attacking locals, anti-fascists and police.

On the Newswire: 1

SchNEWS 742: ITT's Hammertime

Brighton's Smash EDO campaign are holding a mass demo at EDO/ITT on Wednesday 13th October. Anti arms trade campaigners plan to lay seige to EDO/ITT and shut them down for the day.

Info for the Day:: The meeting place for the demo is Wild Park Cafe (directions here) at 10am on Wednesday, but people are being asked to arrive on the evening of the 12th. Convergence space will be available. There will be a meeting about the demo at 7pm at the Cowley Club on Tuesday 12th. There will be a timeline on Indymedia and a twitter feed: @smash_edo

Local contacts for ITT's Hammertime: Birmingham - hammertime-brum [at] riseup.net | Bristol - bristolagainstarmstrade [at] gmail.com | Cambridge - hammertime-cambridge [at] riseup.net | Cardiff - val.swain [at] yahoo.co.uk | Cornwall - kernowaction [at] gmail.com | London - hammertimelondon [at] dsei.org | Manchester - info [at] targetbrimar.org.uk | Notts - alex.dable [at] ntlworld.com | Swansea - d [at] undercurrents.org

Links: ITT's Hammertime demo page| Smash EDO |Target Brimar| Decommisioners

SchNEWS 740: No Borders Camp, Brussels

No Borders Camp 2010 in Brussels kicks off this Saturday (25th) til the 3rd October, so get yourself to the continent to make a start on creating a world where no one is illegal. Among the objectives of the camp are the denouncing of European migration policy; showing the links between this policy and the structures of capitalism and repression; the blocking of Brussels' deportation system and the organisation of an autonomous safe space for the voices of migrants and activists to be heard.

On the Newswire: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

In SchNEWS:1

Links:www.noborderbxl.eu.org

SchNEWS: Calais - Out of Africa

The Africa House squat in Calais is to be evicted next Wednesday (9th). After a herd of 20 CRS vans circled the squat scoping the site on Wednesday morning (2nd), they deposited an eviction notice with those present, informing the migrants they had a week to hit the streets. The building - home to Eritrean, Sudanese and Ethiopian migrants, many of whom had already seen previous squats and camps destroyed - has been marked for demolition.

SchNEWS: Squaring Up To 'Em

This Saturday (15th) people will be protesting at various places around central London to give the new 'stable, national interest' coalition a warm welcome.

SchNEWS gives a round-up of all the events taking place over the weekend to get your action-hungry teeth stuck into.

Resisting Deportations to Bagdad

16-10-2009 18:24 | Iraq | Migration | Terror War | World

Around fifty people protested on 14th October against the deportation of more than forty people to Baghdad. The demonstration was called to stop the first mass deportation flight to Baghdad, and demanded that "the first mass deportation flight to southern Iraq, expected to leave on Wednesday, is suspended and the detainees threatened with forcible removal are released immediately." Activists from International Federation of Iraqi refugees and Stop Deportation Network spoke and called for an end to all deportations to Iraq and to free the detainees. Also on 14th October an early day motion was tabled by 4 MPs in the House of Commons which "calls for the deportation of Iraqi refugees to Iraq to be halted and for the Iraqi detainees threatened with forcible removal to be released immediately". Despite this the first deportation to Baghdad took place, 39 people were flown out early on Thursday the 15th October on a specially chartered plane provided by Air Italy. Sadly UKBA were able to deport the first ten people to Baghdad. The other detainees were not accepted by the Iraqi government and were flown back to detention in the UK. Update: the returned Iraqi detainees have announced a hunger strike from 19th October 2009 and have said that they and will strike until they are released. In addition a French / UK deportation flight to Afghanistan was due to leave Lille-Lesquin on the 20th October but was cancelled at the last moment.

A model letter has been produced by NCADC for people to use as part of their campaign against Air Italy over this issue. A further demonstration, was held on Saturday October 17th in Parliament Square and it was addressed by two deportees, who had been returned to Brook House detention centre, they spoke on the phone and told protesters, via a megaphone, of the violence and mistreatment they had experienced during the deportation at the hands of immigration officers and private security guards.

A protest has called, No Deportations to Iraq - Release the hunger strikers now! for Monday, 26th Oct, 4:30-6:30pm at the Home Office: 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

Articles: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ]

Links: [ Stop Deportation Network | Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq ]

Imperial Disinformation: The Guardian's Iran/Iraq Coverage

28-05-2007 09:20 | Iraq | Other Press | Terror War | World

On 22nd May, 2007, the front page of The Guardian was taken up by pro-war propaganda, designed to prepare public opinion to accept that war with Iran is an inevitable next step in the Anglo-American 'war on terror'. Simon Tisdall's high-profile piece claimed that Iran has secret plans to do nothing less than wage war on, and defeat, American and British forces in Iraq by August.

Last February, Indymedia UK published a feature on MI6 Iran disinformation being run by The Telegraph and the BBC [ 1 | 2 ], "the British mainstream media are now reflexively boosting the US claim that Iran presents a threat to the West". The feature also contains more details about the looming war and what it's really about.

Guardian Disinfo Newswire Articles: Guardian promotes Bush administration war propaganda against Iran | Pentagon Propaganda Occupies the Guardian's Front Page | Guardian at the Gates: Surging Toward War With Iran | The Grauniad: An Unlimited Conduit for US-UK's War Propaganda | CASMII Strongly Criticises the Guardian for Anti-Iranian Article

Iraqi Oil Workers To Strike Over Privatisation Law

11-05-2007 20:20 | Iraq | Workers' Movements | World

As efforts to secure lucrative oil privatisation contracts in Iraq for multinational companies progress, so does the resistance.

Read on for more...

Links: basraoilunion.org | handsoffiraqioil.org | carbonweb.org | iraqoccupationfocus.org | uslaboragainstwar.org

Worldwide Anti-War Protests: March 18th Reports

Saturday 18th March was an International Day of Mobilisation against the war and occupation in Iraq, marking the three year anniversary of the war (see call from WSF Assembly of the Movements). Over the weekend of the 18th hundreds of demonstrations took place throughout the world demanding to end to the occupation of Iraq, and protesting against a possible attack on Iran.

In London, the Stop The War coalition said 80 - 100,000 people marched through the streets, however as usual there was disagreement over numbers with the police saying the turnout was as low as 15,000 (a figure which was then printed in mainstream media across the world). See reports and pictures from London [1 | 2 | 3 | 4]. The march sparked some personal commentary about the day and the tactics [ Brian B | riot act | Jo Wilding ]. Locally protests also took place in Glasgow, Newcastle and Dublin.

In the Arab world, demonstrations took place in Basra and the Syrian capital Damascus. Smaller ones took place in Beirut, Cairo and other Arab cities. In the Tunisian city of Sfax, police stormed into a crowd of about 3,000 people and beat them with batons and truncheons, injuring at least 20.

Iraq Oil Union President to Tour UK

29-11-2005 15:56 | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Workers' Movements | World

Organising over 23,000 workers in Iraq's oil and gas industries, the Federation of Oil Unions in Iraq (IFOU) is struggling against both the US/UK military occupation and the corporate-led privatisation of Iraq's industry. The president of the federation, Hasan Jumaa Awad, is touring the UK and addressing public meetings during November and December.

The Union has stated that ‘The privatisation of the oil and industrial sectors is the objective of all in the Iraqi state/government. We will stand firm against this imperialist plan that would hand over Iraq's wealth to international capitalism such that the deprived Iraqi people would not benefit from it ... we are taking this path for the sake of Iraq's glory even if it costs us our lives.’

Ewa Jasiewicz, Co-Convenor of the IFOU Support Committee ‘Naftana’ (meaning ‘Our Oil’) said, ‘Hassan’s second visit to the UK is a wake-up call. Iraq’s oil has not yet been privatised, and the IFOU are in a position, physically, strategically and historically to make sure that it never will be. This union needs our maximum support’.

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