Final push for Bring the Troops Home petition‏

STOP THE WAR COALITION 
NEWSLETTER  
No. 1131 15 December 2009  
Email office@stopwar.org.uk  
Tel: 020 7801 2768  
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk   ; 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk

1) FINAL PUSH FOR BRING THE TROOPS HOME PETITION  
2) TONY BLAIR CONFESSES HE'S A WAR CRIMINAL  
3) REMEMBER GAZA: ISRAELI EMBASSY 27 DECEMBER 
4) VIVA PALESTINA AID CONVOY TO GAZA  
5) BEATS BEAT BULLETS GAZA SPECIAL  
6) SONG FOR GAZA  
7) POSTSCRIPT: RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

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1) FINAL PUSH FOR BRING THE TROOPS HOME PETITION

If you haven't signed Stop the War's Bring the Troops Home  
petition, we urge you to do so online now:  
http://bit.ly/8jLhRk. You will then be included when military 
families and former soldiers deliver the petition to Gordon  
Brown in Downing Street on Monday 21 at 5pm.

Military families are coming with their supporters from around 
the country and they have asked for the widest support when  
they go to Downing Street. If you are able to join them, it  
will be very much appreciated.

Please note that if you have been collecting signatures for  
petition sheets, these need to arrive at the Stop the War  
office by 17 December to be included in Monday's submission to 
Gordon Brown.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped us accumulate tens of  
thousands of signatures.

MILITARY FAMILIES DELIVER PETITION TO GORDON BROWN  
BRING THE TROOPS HOME 
MONDAY 21 DECEMBER, 5PM  
DOWNING STREET, WHITEHALL, SW1A 2AA  
PLEASE SUPPORT IF YOU CAN

For more information see: http://bit.ly/4Z3eCR

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2) TONY BLAIR CONFESSES HE'S A WAR CRIMINAL

Tony Blair's admission in a BBC interview that he would have  
made up some other lie other than weapons of mass destruction 
to topple Saddam Hussein has raised the stakes considerably  
for his appearance at the Iraq Inquiry, probably in January.

As John Rentoul, Blair's biographer and the Independent's  
chief political commentator, put it, "Tony Blair's interview  
was the front-page lead in The Guardian and prominently  
reported in all available outlets, all along the lines 
summarised by the Stop the War Coalition press release this  
morning: Tony Blair confesses to war crimes."

Stop the War will ensure that Blair gets a very warm reception 
at the Iraq Inquiry. We will undoubtedly be joined by many of 
the families who lost loved ones because of Blair's war  
crimes.

Reg Keys, who stood against Blair in the 2005 general 
election, has already said he will be on the Inquiry's 
doorstep the day Blair is there. After hearing Blair's latest 
justification for his war crimes, Reg gave a withering and  
unmissable interview to the BBC about losing his son, who was 
killed in Iraq, due to Blair's lies. You can watch the video  
here: http://bit.ly/6Gw9h2

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3) REMEMBER GAZA: ISRAELI EMBASSY 27 DECEMBER

On Sunday 27 December, it will be exactly one year since the  
start of Israel's attack on Gaza, in which 1,400 Palestinians 
were killed, 5,000 injured and 50,000 homes destroyed.

To mark that anniversary and to protest at the continuing  
Israeli siege of Gaza, which denies the one million population 
of Gaza the basic necessities, there will be a vigil outside  
the Israeli Embassy, 3-5pm, High Street Kensington, London W8.

The vigil has been called by Palestine Solidarity Campaign,  
Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative and Campaign 
for Nuclear Disarmament.

REMEMBER GAZA: END THE SIEGE  
SUNDAY 27 DECEMBER 2009 3-5PM 
HIGH STREET KENSINGTON LONDON W8  
(High St Kensington tube station)

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4) VIVA PALESTINA AID CONVOY TO GAZA

As well as the vigil at the Israeli embassy in London, Sunday 
27 December is the day that the Viva Palestine aid convoys  
from Britain, the United States and Turkey will enter Gaza,  
bringing essential resources to its people that are deniedthem 
by the Israeli siege.

The Viva Palestina convoy is getting a tremendous response in 
every country it crosses on the way to Gaza. You can follow  
its progress on the Viva Palestina website, which has lots of 
videos, pictures and reports, and on Twitter. 
* Website: http://bit.ly/pPrky 
* Twitter: http://twitter.com/viva_palestina  
* George Galloway on Twitter: 
http://twitter.com/georgegalloway

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5) BEATS BEAT BULLETS GAZA SPECIAL

On Tuesday 22 December, Start the Music has a Gaza Special in 
its series of highly successful Beats Beat Bullets fundraising 
gigs for Stop the War.

Another impressive line-up will be performing in memory of the 
atrocities committed by Israel and the worldwide protests that 
took to the streets in every corner of the world (see Stop the 
War's Song of the Week below).

Top of the bill is rapper-poet Lowkey, who made such an impact 
on Stop the War's Stop the Massacre demonstration on 10  
January 2009 - the biggest protest for Palestine ever held in 
Britain - with his "Long Live Palestine - Long Live Gaza" (see 
http://bit.ly/Q7jEd).

Joining Lowkey will be Reveal and Shadia Mansour.

BEATS BEAT BULLETS TUE 22 DECEMBER  
A GAZA SPECIAL FEATURING:  
LOWKEY, REVEAL AND SHADIA MANSOUR  
8-11pm at Vibe Live, Vibe Bar Tickets £5  
91 - 95 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL

See Start the Music website for more details: 
http://startthemusic.org.uk/

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6) SONG FOR GAZA

With the Viva Palestina aid convoy on its way to Gaza, and the 
anniversary of Israel's attack approaching, we've chosen Song 
for Gaza by Michael Heart as song of the week, which has  
become a YouTube phenomenon, with millions of hits and many  
people creating their own videos to go with the song.

The video we've used is a moving testament to the worldwide  
outpouring of rage against Israel's attack, with pictures of  
demonstrations from every corner of the globe. You can watch  
the video and hear the song here: http://bit.ly/7YhW1D

Many thanks to everyone sending in suggestions for song of the 
week, which have all been excellent and very varied. Keep them 
coming. Sometime soon we'll try and have a multiple posting on 
the website so we can begin to catch up with the backlog of  
suggestions.

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7) POSTSCRIPT: RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Rage Against the Machine are one of the biggest bands in the  
world and they are uncompromisingly anti-war. In 2007, their  
lead guitarist Tom Morello did a memorable benefit gig in  
London for Stop the War.

An extraordinary internet rebellion has broken out to try and 
get Rage Against the Machine's protest track, "Killing in the 
Name", as Christmas No.1, in front of the latest X  
Factor/Simon Cowell single.

It seems to be working, with nearly one million joining the  
Facebook group which started the campaign (see 
http://bit.ly/4pwYdT) and downloads of the song putting it  
currently ahead of the X Factor song. Simon Cowell is not  
pleased! Sales also generate donations to the housing charity 
Shelter, which has already receive £30,000 as a result. The  
singles chart will be published on 20 December.

SEE THIS VIDEO FOR MORE INFO: http://bit.ly/4vnt7q