7th October: "Stop Bombing Afghanistan" Peace Walk and Vigil on the Sixth Anniverary of the 2001 Invasion
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Christian Peacemaker Teams is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite Churches and other Christians that support nonviolence. CPT was formed in the U.S. in 1992 with the mission of "getting in the way" of violence in conflict areas. They currently have teams in Colombia, the West Bank, Iraq, Arizona (U.S.), and Ontario (Canada). CPT UK represents the efforts of CPT members and friends around the United Kingdom to support one another in peacemaking work and work towards an eventual CPT training in the UK.
Visit the Christian Peacemaker Teams UK site at
www.cptuk.org.uk
Meet 10am, Sunday 7 October
Saint Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, 78 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AG (tubes: Bank, Liverpool St)
"They destroyed my family, my home, my life. I have nothing left" - Agah Lalai, whose wife, father, grandfather, grandmother, three brothers, and four sisters were killed by a US airstrike on 8 May [1].
STOP THE BOMBING
According to the UN mission in Afghanistan, more Afghan civilians have died at the hands of US/NATO forces in the first six months of this year than were killed by the Taliban [2]. In one single incident this June, 25 civilians - including nine women and three young children - were killed by a bombing raid called in by British forces, one of just hundreds of such airstrikes in recent months [3].
TROOPS OUT
In a March poll, 53% of the British public said that all British troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan 'more or less immediately' [4]. This May the upper house of the Afghan Parliament passed a motion calling for a military cease-fire and a date to be set for the withdrawal of foreign troops [5].
Join us on Sunday 7 Oct - the sixth anniversary of the 2001 invasion - for a peace walk through London to demand an end to the bombing of Afghanistan and the withdrawal of British troops. Please wear black or white if possible.
This action organised by Christian Peacemaker Teams UK, the London Catholic Worker, the Oxford Catholic Worker and Voices UK. Contact s 0845 458 2564 or www.voicesuk.org.
NOTES
[1] 'Afghans blame Nato, the invited peacekeeper, for civilian deaths', The Times, 24 May 2007, http://tinyurl.com/2vhyfx [2] 'Errant Afghan civilian deaths surge', LA Times, 6 July 2007, http://tinyurl.com/2b4pww [3] '25 Afghan civilians die in NATO crossfire', International Herlad Tribune, 22 June 2007, http://tinyurl.com/269ytv [4] YouGov poll, 26-28 March 2007, http://tinyurl.com/24rear [5] 'Afghan lawmakers call for ceasefire', Associated Press, 9 May 2007, see http://tinyurl.com/39lmtq