Network for Peace

12 June
LONDON. Book Launch of Memo to the Editor A timely, revealing and important book, Memo to the Editor is a compilation of letters authored by Ibrahim Hewitt, the Middle East Monitor’s senior editor, and addressed to the editors of major newspapers on issues of the day. 7pm £12.50.

Insight with Wendy Law-Yone. In 1948, as Burma gained independence, a young man named Ed Law-Yone founded The Nation newspaper. It went on to become Burma’s leading English-language daily and a hugely influential voice in the country. Ed Law-Yone, the editor and proprietor, became a major player within the political elite, but following the military coup of 1962 the paper was closed and he was imprisoned. Wendy Law-Yone will be joining us in conversation with the BBC’s diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall to talk about the unique portrait of Burma she discovered.

The death penalty was re-instated in the United States in 1976. Since then, for every ten people that have been executed, one person has been released from death row after spending an average of ten years in isolation. One For Ten is an online documentary series telling the stories of these innocent people. The screening will be followed by a debate with co-directors Will Francome and Mark Pizzey, and producer Laura Shacham.

In conversation with Paul Conroy - Under the Wire: Marie Colvin's Final Assignment. Paul Conroy first met Marie Colvin in March 2003 in Syria. He was attempting to smuggle himself across the Tigris on a raft made of tubes stolen from lorries, with the aim to get into Iraq to cover the final assault on Baghdad. Having worked together in Libya in 2011, they were a natural pairing for an assignment to Homs. They were determined to cover the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown and the devastating impact this was having on civilians. £12.50.

Chaabi music, a beautiful rhythmic cocktail uniting Muslim and Jewish traditions, was the heart and soul of cosmopolitan Algiers until the War of Independence began in 1954. By then, the two communities were no longer allowed to work together, the music stopped and friendships were forced apart. On a visit to Algiers, Irish – Algerian director Safinez Bousbia met a craftsman who once played with the El Gusto Orchestra. After hearing his spirited story she decided to track down every surviving member.

Produced by the BBC Persian Service, this documentary looks at the rise of Ahmadinejad and explains how this provincial politician with a PhD in traffic management became a personality to be reckoned with.

Talk by Dr. Moser. Dr. Moser is an Ecosystem Conservation Specialist with extensive international experience including with the UN Development Programme.

Public talk by Frances Middleton.

12.00 Optional bread & cheese lunch £3-00.
1.00 Talk by Rowenna Davies on Changing perceptions of the UN followed by discussion.

Public Meeting with Ben Donaldson, UNA-UK Communications and Campaigns Officer who attended the ATT meeting in New York. He will speak about this experience and our ongoing campaign to promote the implementation of the treaty.

Where Next for Nuclear Disarmament? Commander Robert Green RN Ret'd, one of the first ex-RN Commanders with nuclear weapon experience to have come out against them, will speak about observing the groundbreaking conference hosted in Oslo by the Norwegian government in early March 2013 on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and in Switzerland attending the recent experts' meeting on moving from a world with fewer nuclear weapons to one with none.

This year, the John and Elnora Ferguson Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Sir John Holmes, Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

AGM of Mid-Somerset CND & Peace Group
Join the debate, help plan the next part of the campaign.

This course is for staff of international and national agencies and those with advisory and management responsibility for emergency, relief, development, and peacebuilding programmes. It is particularly relevant for those engaged in the planning and implementation of field-based programmes, and those concerned with developing policies for appropriate responses in complex political emergencies.

Followed by annual multi-faith walk/ceremony for Nagasaki Day in Battersea Park.

Pax Christi's Annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki vigils/stalls in the Piazza, Westminster Cathedral, Victoria, London.

Pax Christi's Annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki vigils/stalls in the Piazza, Westminster Cathedral, Victoria, London.

Speakers: Ann Farr (Pax Christi), Karen Chalk (ICAHD), Adrian Dorber, Canon of Lichfield Cathedral who have led tours/pilgrimages to Palestine/Israel. There will be time for questions, interviews with a couple of people who have visited Palestine/Israel, information about alternative tours, Palestinian goods for sale and much more.

Speaker : Pat Gaffney of Pax Christi will look at the reality of Occupation and at the individuals and groups working nonviolently for peace and justice All welcome - £3 requested, including tea/coffee.

Showing of the life of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi GErmany. Followed by discussion.