Saturday 1 May 2010, Parliament Square, London

Traditionally a day free of labour and a day in solidarity with the demands of labour, Peacestrike have called a strike on 1 May from 10am, to demand an end to war and an end to the senseless killing.

Joining the Peacestrike in Parliament Square will be the Election Meltdown May Day Carnival and People’s Assembly. This will be followed by a Direct Democracy Camp which will stay until the election on 6th May.

For much more information on the events see:
http://london.indymedia.org.uk/events/4664

For more about Peace Strike see
About Peace Strike

'End the War in Afghanistan. Bring the Troops Home

She was arrested under the already failed and scheduled for repeal SOCPA act for taking part in an unauthorised demonstration within a designated area.

The two men she was with were also released on bail, Simon (left) unconditionally and the other, Ian (right) on a condition he does not take part in any further protests or demonstrations within the designated area between now and his court date.

Maria, Simon and Ian at the Cenotaph

Maria being arrested – why couldn’t the police let them stay the 229 minutes as they had planned (1 minutes for each British soldier killed).

See here for an Indtymedia report

229 minute silent protest – one minute for each British war dead

At 2pm this afternoon, three people began a protest at the Cenotaph, the monument to British war dead in Whitehall, London, about the escalating war in Afghanistan.

Holding a banner saying ‘End Afghanistan corporate war. Honour our troops. Bring them home’, the three intend to remain for 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes). Each minute represents one British soldier killed since the conflict began in 2001. The protest will be carried out in silence.

This year alone, 92 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan. (1).

The protest will also honour the many thousands of Afghanistan civilian deaths as a direct result of the war (2) with indiscriminate airstrikes accounting for a large increase in deaths of Afghans since 2006 (3).

NOTES

1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/17/afghanistan-casualties-dead-wounded-british-data#data

2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_of_the_War_in_Afghanistan_%282001%E2%80%93present%29#Aggregation_of_estimates

3. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/09/07/afghanistan-civilian-deaths-airstrikes

Presenting a petition to the Prime Minister earlier in the day

The statement signed by those taking part in the protest   – 229 minutes silence

More protest in Parliament Square