The majority of the people in this country DO NOT SUPPORT THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN!

Young people want a future free from war and deprivation. We now have a whole generation of disenfranchised youth who are disillusioned with a government that spends our money on illegal wars of aggression and illegal occupations.

We refuse to comply with laws that prevent our message going out to the people from Parliament Square, the historical home of protest. People only gather together to risk arrest and possible imprisonment if their concerns are of the utmost urgency.

Therefore to go “ON STRIKE for PEACE” to save life is our duty and can never be illegal if the underlying cause is justified.

Since May 1st this year, the Democracy Village, with the invitation of The Peace Strike, established an ongoing fully operational village on the grassed area on Parliament Square.

During the week before the election, no major party offered the opportunity to bring an end to the war in Afghanistan. Predominantly, the collective aim of the village is to make a stand against the war in Afghanistan, and to ensure the peaceful return of our soldiers back
to the UK.

The Democracy Village is an ‘emergency camp’ reflecting the real concerns of the majority of people in this country. At this moment in time, Parliament Square is being occupied in order to put pressure on the Government to listen to the people, and to bring about peace for
all our sakes. Afghanistan is being illegally occupied by NATO forces
causing death and destruction every day, without any real justification that anyone can understand.

When the objectives of the village are met, then the occupation of Parliament Square will cease, and the village will move on to wherever else it might be required.

Boris Johnson and the GLA are concerned about any damage caused to the square regarding the grass, and the presumed restricted use to the
general public, implying that they are not welcome onto the square
now. Before Boris Johnson became the new mayor of London, there was a
major redevelopment plan for Parliament Square. It was planned to be
remodelled as a continental style piazza, and to join onto the
Westminster Abbey area. Also pedestrian crossings were to be
installed. All these plans were scrapped by Boris Johnson as there was
no money in the kitty. To date, there is damaged pavement area at the
back of the square and also loose pavement slabs that are potentially
dangerous. All in all, if there were a health and safety check to the
square then there are serious issues. Also the crossings to the square
are not safe for public use. Indeed it is the GLA that seem to be the main
obstacle to people’s enjoyment of the Square – it has failed to address
the dangers in accessing the Square and it has neglected the
infrastructure of the Square.

The Democracy Village does not deny use of the Square by people who
want to enjoy it, or to meet or to protest. All are invited and very welcome to
visit and use the space. Historically Parliament Square belongs to the people.

Peace Strike fully supports the Democracy Village in its historical
stand to bring about peace through its direct actions and ongoing
campaign work. The grass area will be maintained to avoid as much
damage as possible. Peace Strike is willing to take responsibility in
‘making good’ Parliament Square when the village moves on once its
objectives have beeen met. When the area is cleared of tents and
equipment, the grass area will be transformed to a ‘better standard’
than when it was found.

Let’s all get behind Democracy Village now……if our troops don’t
return to this country soon…… then they are lining up for another
war……..

To everyone who supports my protest in Parliament Square

I became involved in peace work at Parliament Square (PSq) from March 2002 and have been resident there since May 2006. In recent years I have established the “Peace Strike” which is an authorised 24-hour ongoing campaign operating from the Square. It gives me the right to live and campaign from there. The Square is my official residence, where I am registered on the Westminster City Council electoral roll.

Authorisation gives me the right to have four permanent static displays on the pavement and the right to sleep there in my tent. I have authorisation for: a 24-hour ongoing vigil for Gaza, a 24 hour ongoing vigil for Iran and a 24 hour ongoing vigil for Tamils. I have other authorisations for similar campaigning. Parliament Square is my home and continues to be my home.

My daughter Kerry is due to give birth in London at the beginning of June. I write to inform everyone that I will be taking a short leave to help and support her and my new grandchild, and that I plan to return to the Square once they are happy and settled. I see this absence as my right to family leave as a grandmother, without having to lose my authorisation to campaign from the Square.

I raised my daughter as a single parent from when she was two years old. She has no other siblings and I am the only family member who is available to her now. I must support her in her time of need. She has been an amazing support to me and others on Parliament Square for the past eight years. From a teenager she has contributed to the care and welfare of people living on the Square: from standing guard, deflecting abuse, making placards and being a witness in court to the more invisible work of preparing and bringing food as well as running our family home while I was away doing political peace work. She never once complained or asked me for anything, even when she went without money for clothes and pocket money as my income was being used to support the peace protests on the Square. Recently she told me that even if she had wanted me to leave she would never have asked because she knew that if she did I would have left.

Now is my time to take some leave to support her. It would be an injustice if she were denied the love and care of her mother at such a crucial time in her life because I am unable to leave my demonstration.

This is only a temporary leave and I will continue to co-ordinate the campaign while I am away from the Square. I have appointed a deputy to cover for me during my absence.

Thanking you for your consideration and ongoing support.

Maria Gallastegui

Show your support for the Palestinian people during this very difficult time.

bring placard and banners

Peaceful vigils are very powerful if we have enough people united together for peace.

Join the Democracy Village on Parliament Square for an election Day message to the in-coming Government that we demand:

END THE WAR IN AFGANISTAN
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!

Listen to the people of the country who do not support this futile war.
People are dying everyday on  for no good reason. Let’s bring an end to this madness.
The Democracy village is making a stand to compromise the new Government into putting into action what the really people want!

If you plan to stay at the village, please bring a tent, (some maybe available onsite) sleeping bag, bowl, spoon and mug. Also any personal effects you may need.
The village promotes peace,freedom and justice.
In keeping with this, we ask all villager’s to be respectful to each other, and to help out occasionally with jobs that need to be done. We aim to keep our village in good order.
Drink and drugs are not encouraged as passed experience shows this can lead to many problems.
We are representing the grass-roots peace movement throughout the world.Our platform is Parliament Square, Westminster, the very heart of political decision making, home place of protestors and free speech! We are now a voice for the voiceless, and we cannot afford to be brought into disrepute.
Too many people have died and been seriously injured for us to loose the credibility and respect that a stand like a stand like this represents.

All movements are welcome to share and swap ideas etc….

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

TO STOP WAR-THE PEOPLE MUST

¤  STOP ¤

Peacestrike operates a 24hr on-going Vigil For Iran located at Parliament Square Westminster London SW1A OAA

It is authorized under the SOCPA 2005 legislation concerning demonstrations in and around the Houses of Parliament.
The Vigil is authorized for up to 20,000 people and started on 1st September 2009.

We welcome all peaceful people who want to share their concern in they escalating threat of a pre-emptive strike on Iran.

The political situation in Iran and in the wider International arena is complex. We at Peacestrike advocate peaceful negotiations aimed at preventing another war in the Middle East.
Any Pre-emptive Strike against a Sovereign Nation is seen as an ‘Act of Aggression’ in International Law and is morally injust and therefore unacceptable.
Any expansion of the war now into Iran will destabalise the world and mean decades of death and destruction for all concerned, not to mention the Iranians themselves.

Do we really want to live in a militarized world?

Do we want our children growing up ready to be mobalised for war?
We think not, and and therefore, our stand is to say ‘NO’ to any form of oppression or threat towards Iran and the Iranian people. It is  important NOW to build-up a regular Vigil outside the Houses of Parliament in order to show our justifiable concerns. Remember it is our RIGHT to demonstrate and to be seen and heard. We live in a free and democratic country so therefore, BECAUSE WE CAN….WE MUST!

If we don’t show our concerns now and build up International Solidarity towards Iran, we may end up in the same senario of lies and deception that led to the illegal war in Iraq…

We can only prevent another war from happening if we act now BEFORE any possible attack.

Come and join us now, all welcome!
Info: 07886662091

Bring banners, flags, picnics…
Sing, chant, pray….
Share solidarity….stand together united in peace

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

Maria represented herself and successfully argued that any offence caused to Nicholas Soames was unintentional and that references on her placards to nazi concentration camps was legitimate for campaigning purposes.

See the story of Maria on the statue from July