Mon 21 Dec: join military families handing in petition to Downing Street

Please come to these two protests, next Monday and the Sunday after Xmas.

** Join Military Families against the war when they hand in petition to bring troops home from Afghanistan at Downing St at 5pm Mon 21 Dec. (Details below.)

** Gaza protest one year on outside Israeli embassy, 3-5pm Sun 28 Dec. (Details below.)

1) DECEMBER 21 MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
2) GAZA PROTEST AT THE ISRAELI EMBASSY 27 DECEMBER

3) Thanks to everyone who supported the protest outside Kingsland Shopping Centre 12 Dec.

4) Activity in the New Year

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1) DECEMBER 21 MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

With another two soldiers killed, bringing the total in 2009
to 102, the delivering of our Bring the Troops Home petition
to Downing Street on Monday 21 December, 5pm, could not be
more timely.

Military families are coming from around the country, with
their supporters, to take the petition to Gordon Brown's door.
They will be joined by former soldiers.

The families have asked for as much support as possible.

Hackney Stop the War banner will be present.

Stop the War thanks everyone for their efforts in collecting signatures for the
petition. It doesn't yet have a total figure because petition
sheets are still coming into the office, but tens of thousands
of signatures have been collected.

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) GAZA PROTEST AT THE ISRAELI EMBASSY 27 DECEMBER

Sunday 28 December will be exactly one year since the start of
Israel's attack on Gaza and there will be worldwide protest
marking the anniversary.

The UK protest will be at the Israeli Embassy in London from
3-5pm. It has been called by Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament and many other organisations and
campaigns (For full list here:and details of Remember Gaza
events around the UK, go to http://bit.ly/5bxUAn )

With a British Court having issued a summons for the arrest of
Tzipi Livni (see http://bit.ly/8b11ul) - one of the three
Israeli ministers who led the Gaza onslaught - the issue of
war crimes, the need for Israel to be brought to account for
war crimes now documented by the UN's Goldstone report, is as
urgent as ever.

The protest at the Israeli embassy will also be calling for an
end to the Gaza siege, through which Israel is strangling all
aspects of civil life for one million Palestinians.

Please publicise the protest as widely as possible.

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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3) Thanks to everyone who came to the 40 strong protest outside the Army Show Room at the Kingsland Shopping Centre on Sat 12 Dec.

We collected signatures to bring the troops home and got people to sign a xmas card for Joe Glenton, the soldier who courageously refuses to fight in Afghanistan and who faces the prospect of up to 10 years in prison.

We also remembered the 100 British soldiers killed this year, together with the many Afghan civilians who have lost their lives in this pointless war, and demanded the Army Show Room be shut down.

We got a very good response.

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Finally....

4) Tony Blair is likely to appear at the Iraq Inquiry in January
and Stop the War's officers are discussing plans for how best
to give him a warm reception.

On 28 January, Gordon Brown's international conference on
Afghanistan, which will be attended by Hamid Karzai, president
of Afghanistan in name but not legitimacy. Stop the War will
of course be organising protests and other events, details of
which will be published soon.

It may not have been called, but the general election campaign
has effectively started, with suggestions the date may be as
early as March. Stop the War intends to ensure that the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq are central issues in the election.

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Hackney Stop The War sends best wishes to all our members and supporters for the New Year.