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Don't forget the following two events, information about which I reproduce below. A. 11 Days of Action Against the Economic Sanctions on Iraq B. Phone Wave Information (20th November, Universal Children's Day) Best wishes, Gabriel voices in the wilderness uk *********************************************************************** A. 11 Days of Action Against the Economic Sanctions on Iraq The following is a (partial) list of anti-sanctions events taking place during the 11 Days of Action: 20th November (Universal Children’s Day) * Everywhere! Phone the Foreign Office! (see reverse for more details) * London, Whitehall, opposite Downing Street, 6-7 pm. Matt Barr speaks at ARROW’s weekly anti-war vigil opposite Downing Street about his participation in the forthcoming Walk for Healing and Peace (from Washington to Ground Zero in New York) and the 10th voices uk delegation to Iraq this December. * Sheffield. Midday protest organised by Sheffield Campaign Against War in the Gulf, in association with Sheffield Women Against War. Contact John Smith (johncsmith@btinternet.com) for more details. 21st November Manchester, St Peter’s Square, 12.30 - 1pm. Anti-sanctions vigil. Organised by Salford CND. tel. (01942) 894 862. 22nd November Birmingham, outside Barclays Bank, New Street, 11am - 1pm. Anti-sanctions vigil. Organised by Iraqi People First, contact 23rd November Downing Street, 12 noon. 10th voices delegation member Matt Barr hands-in statement of intent at Downing Street before flying to the US and then on to Iraq. Please come and show your support! 24th November Cambridge, outside the Guildhall in the Market Square, noon - 1.30 pm. Vigil against the war in Afghanistan and the economic sanctions on Iraq. Contact Janet (01954) 719 644. 26th November *London, Whitehall, outside the Foreign Office, 5.30 - 7pm. Weekly ARROW (Active Resistance to the Roots of War) anti-sanctions vigil started in July 1991. Contact 0207 - 607 2302. *Edinburgh. Anti-sanctions talk with voices delegate Richard Byrne. tel. 0208 554 2205. 27th November Lower Lecture Room, Lincoln College, Oxford, 8pm. voices anti-sanctions talk to the Oxford University People and Planet society. All welcome. 28th November Manchester, St Peter’s Square, 12.30 - 1pm. Anti-sanctions vigil. Organised by Salford CND. tel. (01942) 894 862. **************************************************************************** ******* B. Phone Wave 20 November 2001 Withdraw "Smart" Sanctions: Lift Economic Sanctions on Iraq Phone protest to the Foreign Office: Mr Tim Stew 020 7270 3743 Individuals call between 3pm and 5pm. Groups between 9am and 3pm as assigned. Introduction Thank you for joining the Phone Wave against the Foreign Office, part of the 11 Days of Action against the Economic Sanctions on Iraq. The point of this action is to make it clear to the Foreign Office that we reject the "smart sanctions" resolution being put to the UN Security Council by Britain and the USA at the end of this month. Please ring Mr Stew, who is on the Iraq Section, on Tuesday 20 November, and try make as many of the points listed below as you feel are appropriate. Please remain calm and polite throughout. (`Evidence' is there for you to draw on if you wish.) (Back-up phone number to call: Middle East Section, 020 7270 3757.) Starting Point Please begin by reminding Mr Stew that it is Universal Children's Day, and that according to UNICEF (Aug. 1999) economic sanctions have contributed to the deaths of half a million children in Iraq. (This doesn't mean that all these deaths are attributable to sanctions.) Point 2: No Re-Inflation Tinkering with the oil-for-food programme, as the British resolution at the Security Council seeks to do (June 2001 draft) CANNOT solve the vast humanitarian crisis in Iraq, because it does not allow the re-inflation of the Iraqi economy. EVIDENCE The UN Security Council's own `Humanitarian Panel' said in March 1999, `the humanitarian situation in Iraq will continue to be a dire one in the absence of a sustained revival of the Iraqi economy'. EVIDENCE The British resolution `will do nothing to tackle the real issue - how to stimulate the internal economy and allow civil society to come back.' (Aid agency official quoted in Financial Times, 1 June 2001) EVIDENCE `the US [and UK] plan will not revive Iraq's devastated economy while control over Iraq's oil revenues remains in the hands of the UN, and foreign investment and credits are still prohibited.' (FT, 28 May 2001) Point 3: no massive investment The British resolution (June 2001 version) does not allow foreign investment to reconstruct Iraq's public health infrastructure on the scale required. EVIDENCE `To recover from its 11 years under the sanctions battering-ram - which has crushed the country's industrial and agricultural infrastructure - Iraq needs the freedom, and overseas investment, of a huge reconstruction effort.' (Economist, 24 Feb. 2001) EVIDENCE `[A]lthough the country would be able to import more [under British proposals], it would still be denied the free movement of labour and capital that it desperately needs if it is at last to start picking itself up... Iraq needs massive investment to rebuild its industry, its power grids and its schools, and needs cash in hand to pay its engineers, doctors and teachers. None of this looks likely to happen under smart sanctions.' (Economist, 26 May 2001) CONCLUSION The resolution could bring some small benefits to the Iraqi people, by allowing a greater range of civilian goods into Iraq. But without the re-inflation of the economy, Iraq will continue to suffer mass unemployment and ultra-low wages, and therefore mass poverty. And without the rapid reconstruction of the electricity and water/sewage/sanitation and other essential systems, thousands of children every month will continue to die, because of the economic sanctions. The Phone Wave has been organised by CASI <www.casi.org> and voices in the wilderness uk <www.viwuk.freeserve.co.uk>, on behalf of a number of groups who meet every six weeks at the National Coordinating Meeting of the British anti-sanctions movement. Thank you! For help, please contact CASI: 01223 329131 <phonewave@casi.org.uk> -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk CASI's website - www.casi.org.uk - includes an archive of all postings.