Welcome to the first Action Roundup from for Anti-Militarist Network. To have your events or actions covered either add them to Indymedia UK under the anti-militarism tag, or email us.
The AMN successfully meet in Brighton during the first weekend of May. There were workshops on the link between military and the environment, the No Borders camp in Calais this summer and direct action training amongst others. Sessions on resisting the DSEi Arms Fair in London in September and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Edinburgh in November.
The next gathering will be in Nottingham 11th and 12th of July. More details to follow.
http://www.antimilitaristnetwork.org.uk/nextgathering
SMASH EDO – MAYDAY! MAYDAY!
The day after the gathering the Smash EDO campaign in Brighton held their biggest event to date. With crowd estimates of between 1,500 to 2,000 participants the lively demo took to the streets visiting companies which support ITT, the company which owns weapons component company EDO MBM. RBS, HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and McDonalds, all of which are financially complicit with EDO, were targeted by the Smash EDO campaign. An Army Recruitment Centre was also attacked with paint. That night banks were also attacked with paint.
The Smash EDO campaign has worked tirelessly against EDO MBM, Brighton's local weapons company, since 2004. This demo shows that five years on the campaign is going from strength to strength, with over a quarter of a million pounds of damage inflicted on the company's premises earlier in the year. Arms companies be warned!
More info: http://www.smashedo.org.uk/ & http://decommisioners.wordpress.com/
TAMIL PROTESTS ROCK PARLIAMENT
With the Sri Lankan government's genocide against the Tamil people continuing, Tamils around the world have taken to the streets to urge for action to stop the killing. In London thousands of Tamils have marched, blockaded Parliament Square and held hunger strikes. Demonstrations also took place in Oslo, Paris and Copenhagen.
More info: http://www.tamilsforum.com/ & http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/427063.html
NEW PEACE CAMP SET UP IN DERBY
Activists from Trident Ploughshares have set up camp opposite Rolls Royce's site in Derby. The Rayensway plant contains a Neptune nuclear test reactor, used in testing nuclear material for the UK's Trident armed nuclear submarines based at Faslane, Scotland. If you're in the area pop in for a cup of tea!
More info: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/05/429776.html
NOTTINGHAM ANTI-MILITARISTS PUT HECKLER & KOCH IN THE FIRING LINE
The Shut Down H&K campaign have been holding monthly demonstrations outside the small arms companies British HQ. The protesters have been been finding it hard to get the word out about the presence of a warehouse full of guns in Nottingham due to Police putting pressure on media corporations not to give any coverage. This demonstration was supported by comedian and thorn in the ass of the arms trade mark Thomas, who said “I really hope the campaign can grow and grow and actually get a result here.” This demo marked a year since the campaign started.
The next monthly demonstration will be Monday the 8th of June.
More info: http://www.shutdownhk.org.uk
SHEFFIELD STUDENTS REMOVE MILITARY RECRUITMENT FROM CAMPUS
Students in Sheffield physically removed the stalls of arms companies Rolls Roycs and QinetiQ and the Army and Navy from a careers event. The stalls were bagged up and removed from the campus. This follows on from several anti-militarist actions in Sheffield by students against military recruiting and arms companies.
More info: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/428898.html?c=on#c222144
UPCOMING EVENTS
May 27th – Die-In for the victims of war in Afghanistan in London http://www.stopbombingafghanistan.org/
June 8th – Shut Heckler & Koch demo in Nottingham http://www.shutdownhk.org.uk
For an updated AMN calender visit http://www.antimilitaristnetwork.org.uk/calendar
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