Action You Can Take
All Support Is Important
Anything you can do, however small, is a vital contribution to building and maintaining opposition to a devastating war on Iraq. Don't be silent about your opposition or doubt to this war. Blair will not change his pro-war policy unless we make it loud and clear that he does not have our support.
Please, please get involved. Here are some ideas of what you could do:
- Talk to everyone you know - spread the word
- Leaflet your area
- Vote with your cash - buy the Mirror / Independent / Morning Star
- Wear an anti-war badge
- Put an anti-war poster in your window
- Ask friends and family to also display posters
- Ask your local cafe / pub / grocer / take-away to display anti-war posters
- Keep us informed
- Write to newspapers
- Encourage groups and campaigns you are involved with to oppose war
- Support anti-war events
- Join demonstrations against war
- Get involved with Edinburgh Stop the War
- Make a donation to our campaign
- Essential Subscribe to our weekly mailing list
- Lobby your MP / MSP
- Buy an anti-war CD (profits help our group)
- Inform yourself - read an anti-war book
- Send us a message of support!
- Any other idea we haven't listed? Tell us!
- Support the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq
- Form a local anti-war group
Spread the Word
Don't be silent about your opposition to war. Tell friends, family and work colleagues that you oppose the death, destruction and environment damage that a war with Iraq will cause. Argue the case against war. Spread the word by any practical means you can.
Suggest to others how they might get involved. Tell them about protests and demonstrations that are taking place. Keep an eye on the national Stop the War Coalition web site - www.stopwar.org.uk - for the latest news and developments in the national campaign, and on our web site for events in Scotland.
Are you a member of a church? Hang a banner outside your church or church hall saying No War or Not in our Name. This could be made simply, using paint or by stitching large letters onto a white sheet, and will make an enormous impression. "Fiona and Peter painted the mural on the wall of the Lord Darnley yesterday. I hear they did a great job. Everyone is talking about it."
Leaflet your area
Hand out anti-war leaflets. Do this at your local shopping centre, church, mosque, train station, neighbourhood or workplace. You can pick up leaflets from our weekly stall.
Vote with your cash
Reward businesses who are acting against war by spending your money on them rather than other alternatives.
For example, in the UK the Daily Mirror and the Independent are the mainstream newspapers which are against war, together with the smaller circulation Morning Star. Give your support to these papers by regularly buying a copy (or even an extra copy and giving it to a friend or leaving it in a train / bus / cafe etc).
Daily Mirror anti-war front pages
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Anti-war badges
Wear an anti-war badge and have one or two spare to pass on to others you know. Anti war badges can be obtained from our weekly stall. If you want extra badges to hand out, please contact us.
Put an anti-war poster in your window
Publicly display your opposition to war. A poster in your window will embolden and support other protesters in the community. Posters can be obtained for free. Please come and collect from our stall, or contact us. You can also download them from here. Alternatively design and put up your own colourful posters. If you can, take a photo outside your building showing the anti-war poster in your window and send it to us. We'll try and add it to this web site.
Give anti-war posters to your friends and family - ask them to place them in windows
Do whatever you can to persuade others you know to also display posters. A street full of anti-war posters makes it strikingly clear to your local politician what the attitude is 'on the street'. Posters can be obtained for free from our weekly stall, or contact us. You can also download them from here.
Ask your local cafe / pub / grocer / take-away to display anti-war posters
Do you regularly drink in a particular cafe or pub? Or frequently shop in a local grocer? Take along a poster and politely ask if they would place it in their window or in some other prominent position.
A poster in a local shop, cafe or pub will be seen by hundreds of people and will spark anti-war conversations and support. These posters will probably be on a high street, so bus passengers will also see them! Ask the retailer if they will allow you to leave anti-war leaflets on their counter. You can pick up posters and leaflets by visiting our weekly stall, or otherwise please contact us. We'll try and get them to you. You can also download them from here.
Support shops you see displaying anti-war posters. Thank them for putting up a poster. Tell them you agree with their stance.
Lobby the media for greater anti-war coverage
British newspapers and TV news are not doing a good job presenting the case against war, or the atrocities occuring under the bombing. They are not questioning our politicians who are attempting to stoke up the fires of fear. They are not seriously questioning the motives of the United States. They are not providing enough coverage of anti-war events taking place all over Scotland and Britain.
Write to your local newspaper or national newspaper. Tell them you oppose war and you wish to see more coverage of anti-war events and arguments, and more coverage of the suffering of ordinary Iraqis under US and UK bombs. Object to biased or unfair coverage of the war and of people's views about it. Use phone-in programmes. Write or phone to support and encourage individual reporters you think are taking the right line. Send a copy of your letters and replies to us.
An excellent British web site called Media Lens (www.medialens.org) is doing this and needs our help. Week by week they look for bias in newspapers or on TV news, and then send out an email to subscribers explaining the bias and suggesting how we can complain about it. It's very informative. It's free to use.
Encourage groups and campaigns you are involved with to oppose war
Are you involved in a local group in the community or at work? Organise a small, informal meeting and bring up the issue of Bush and Blair's war on Iraq for discussion. Talk together about what your group can do to oppose war. Contact us to invite an outside speaker to talk about the war.
Support anti-war events
Support local and national anti-war events by turning up if you can, or by telling others about what's taking place (add an advert to your email signature). Write to your local or national newspaper, and also to the BBC. Tell them about an upcoming anti-war event. Tell them you think it is important and ought to be covered.
See our diary for up-coming events.
Join demonstrations against war
Anti-war demonstrations send a powerful and concrete message to our Government that there is large opposition to war, and to future wars. Who knows were Bush and Blair might take us next: Syria? Iran? Our public protests also give courage and support to others. At the recent Glasgow anti-war conference an activist from an anti-war group in Lebanon told of how his local Arab community was lifted by the sight of ordinary Europeans demonstrating on the street against war. We signalled to them that the people in Britain are not represented by Blair. "There is someone in Europe who we can talk to," the Lebanese were saying. They referred to us as the "European street"!
See our diary page for more details about events.
Get involved with Edinburgh Stop the War
Our anti-war organising group needs more help. Please come along to our weekly meetings. Or contact us. Come and tell us your ideas for mobilising against war. Help us put up posters around town. Help us hand out leaflets at anti-war stalls. Help us set up new stalls at cinemas and public lectures.
£££ Make a donation to our campaign £££
We are just a group of Edinburgh residents. Our group doesn't have any money other than what people donate at our stalls, profit we make from selling the anti-war CD, or from donations sent through the post. We desperately need more money to organise more anti-war events. Here's what your money can do:
£5 - buys 2000 leaflets
£10 - buys two steward jackets
£50 - goes towards the weekly costs of our office
£100 - projecting images onto public buildings
Please consider donating a small amount of money. Please send a cheque made payable to Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition to:
Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition
c/o Peace and Justice Centre,
Princes Street,
Edinburgh
EH2 4BJ
Thank you.
Subscribe to our weekly mailing list
Each week we send out an email to hundreds of people in Edinburgh who are opposed to war. We will keep you informed about on going anti-war activity in and around Edinburgh, such as demonstrations and public meetings. It costs nothing to join. To subscribe simply send us an email: edinburghstw@blueyonder.co.uk
Lobby your MP
Note - as well as contacting our MSPs we have a chance on May 1st to demonstrate our opposition by voting against pro-war parties. Parties which support this war include: Labour, Tories and Lib-Dems. We urge you to penalise these parties for supporting a bloody and totally unnecessary war. If we don't use this opportunity on May 1st then it will make it much more difficult to prevent our troops being sent on other needless invasions to possibly Syria and Iran. Please oppose those possible outcomes - please vote against Labour, Tories and Lib-Dems. Parties against war are the SSP, SNP and Greens - please support them.
Your MP and MSP represent you in Parliament. However they are not mind-readers. We need to express our opposition to war to them, and urge them to represent our anti-war stance whenever they have an opportunity to do so. We can also ask them if they will support Britain's involvement. MPs' mail-bags are full of letters against the war. Be the straw that breaks Blair's resolve. Every bit helps.
As well as writing, you can also visit your MP / MSP in person when they hold their surgery for constituents.
You can write to you MP via either the post, email or fax. Please copy Edinburgh Stop the War on any letters you send and replies you receive. We may be able to use them on our web site.
Fax Your MP - send a fax to your MP via this easy to use web page. It's free to use, and you don't need a fax machine!
Who is your MP? - locate your MP by name or Postcode.
Who is your MSP? - locate your MSP and their contact details by name or Postcode.
Download an example letter to send to you MP (MS-Word) or MSP (MS-Word). To use these letters, you will need to find out the name of your MP/MSP, via the links above.
Buy the anti-war CD (profits help our group)
The two disc compilation Peace Not War has been produced to raise funds for anti-war/pro-peace groups around the world. The double album is packed with rock, rap, pop, folk and dance music by the following artists, who are all opposing the war and making noises for peace:
| CD 1 | CD 2 |
| 1. Ani Difranco "Self Evident" | 1. Ms Dynamite "Watch Over Them" |
| 2. Public Enemy "Son of a Bush" | 2. GM Babyz "Pain of Life" |
| 3. Midnight Oil "US Forces" | 3. Roots Manuva "Juggle Tings Proper" |
| 4. DJ DisOrientalist "Occident & Emergency" | 4. Chumbawamba "Jacob's Ladder (Not In My Name)" (Acoustic Mix) |
| 5. Ginger Tom "Hey Hey USA" | 5. Alabama 3 "Woody Guthrie" |
| 6. Seize The Day "United States" | 6. Laszlo Beckett "What To Do" |
| 7. Fun<da>mental "Rape (Tactic of War)" | 7. Torben & Joe "Money is Your Blood" |
| 8. The Unpeople (John Pilger remix) "The Unpeople" | 8. Gurlfiend "Spark of Life" |
| 9. Crass "Nagasaki Nightmare" | 9. Tariq Ali (Asian Dub Foundation remix) "Not In Our Name" |
| 10. Slovo "21 Today" | 10. Persian Carpets "Allah Save Queens" |
| 11. The Mark of Cain "Lone Pine" | 11. Mud Family "Peace Not War" |
| 12. Change "We Want A Ceasefire" | 12. John Lester "Out of the Clear Blue Sky" |
| 13. Billy Bragg "The Price of Oil" | 13. Pok & the Spacegoats "Voices of a Future" |
| 14. Massive Attack "Hymn of the Big Wheel" | 14. Nitin Sawhney "Cold and Intimate" |
| 15. Coldcut "Atomic Moog" (Cornelius Mix) | |
| 16. Sia "Fear" | |
| 17. Bindi Blacher "Down" |
Each musician has submitted a song as a statement against the war, with the hope of funding the growth of the peace movement and inspiring audiences to take peaceful action to resist the war. You can hear samples of the music and find more details about this remarkable project at www.peace-not-war.org.
The double CD costs £15. All profit will go to Edinburgh Stop the War to fund our ongoing campaign. The CD can be purchased from our weekly stall. Alternatively you can order by sending a cheque (payable to Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition) for £15 together with your name and address to:
Edinburgh Stop the War Coalition
c/o Peace and Justice Centre,
Princes Street,
Edinburgh
EH2 4BJ
Inform yourself - read an anti-war book
The BBC, ITN and national newspapers aren't doing a good job presenting the anti-war case. There are certain facts and arguments that they don't report very often. For instance...
Did you know that the mass murderer Saddam Hussein was a great friend of the UK and the USA in the 1980s - even during and after the massacre at Halabja? We supplied him with ingredients for chemical weapons.
Did you know that it was President Clinton and Tony Blair who ended the last weapons inspection mission to Iraq in 1998? It's not true that Saddam Hussein threw the inspectors out. Those inspectors - then called UNSCOM - were very successful, and towards the end of 1998 they ensured that Iraq was effectively disarmed of weapons of mass destruction.
Did you know that the UK supports economic sanctions against Iraq which have killed over half a million Iraqi children since 1991? 500, 000 children. The effect of these sanctions is so appalling, so horrific, that it has caused senior United Nations personnel to resign in utter disgust.
Did you know that Iraq has the second largest known oil reserves in the world? US officials have stressed that protection of oil fields is "issue number one." Amazingly, it is being suggested that the profits from selling Iraqi oil will be used to cover the cost of the US/UK invasion and subsequent occupation. Iraqi's will be paying to be invaded and occupied! (Guardian, 23 January 2003)
Did you know that at the end of the previous Gulf War the Iraqi people almost succeeded in revolting against Saddam Hussein's rule? But Saddam Hussein was able to crush the revolt and keep power in part because the US allowed his forces to use helicopter gun-ships against the rebels. The US also prevented the rebellion from using weapons captured from the Iraqi forces which had retreated from Kuwait.
If you haven't heard many of these points before it's probably because you've only been relying on the TV and the newspapers for information. To gain a better understanding of what's going on with Iraq, try getting hold of some of the suggested books below.
You can also read the free primer pamphlet (which can also be downloaded).
Alternatively come up to the weekly stall and talk to us.
Also look out for articles by Robert Fisk (in the Independent) and John Pilger (in the Mirror). The web site ZNet provides an invaluable source of alternative news and views. Another web site MediaLens offers a week by week critique of British newspapers and TV news.
Suggested Books
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War Plan Iraq - Ten Reasons Against War On Iraq |
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War On Iraq - What Team Bush Doesn't Want You To Know |
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Iraq
Under Siege |
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Media Control |
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The
New Rulers Of The World |
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9-11
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Send us a message of support (please)!
We really welcome and appreciate messages of support or encouragement. Your message will be shared amongst our volunteers and placed on the web site. Email us at edinburghstw@blueyonder.co.uk or write to us or come up to our weekly stall and say hello!
Any other idea we haven't listed? Tell us!
Is there something more we should be doing, or asking other people to do? Please share you ideas with us. Please contact us.
Support the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq
Peace activists are traveling to Iraq to break the economic sanctions that have killed 500,000 Iraqi children between 1991 -1998 (UNICEF, 1998). You can send donations for the Scottish activists to:
Voices UK,
16B Cherwell Street,
Oxford,
OX4 1BG.
Tel: 0845 458 2564
e-mail: voices@viwuk.freeserve.co.uk
Keep us informed
Please tell us (contact details) what anti-war events/activities you are getting up to. News of each new activity can give us all encouragement. We might also be able to link you with other groups taking similar action, or help advertise your activity on our web site or weekly email.
Form a local group
If you wish to form an anti-war group in your workplace, street or part of town, please get in touch. We'll try to offer you help, advice and resources.
Anti-war Stall
Check the main page but out stall are usually on Fridays between 4 & 6 at he east end of Princes Street.
ALL WELCOME
Come along and say hello. Please show us your support. Take away leaflets, posters and badges. Sign our petition. Leave a donation. Purchase the anti-war CD. Hang around and help us hand out leaflets to passers-by.
