History
History and anniversaries from the liberation struggles. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Nottingham's Old County Hall Occupied
11-04-2008 12:11
Since a few days, a group of people have occupied the Old County Hall on High Pavement as part of the international days of action for free culture and autonomous spaces. Also see feature article. The building, also known as 'the Judges' Lodgings' has both a fascinating history and is a building of outstanding beauty. So what is its history? Who's been living there over the years? And why has been sitting empty for so many years?
"For many years it was used as the Judge's Lodgings, and behind it is a really charming garden which forms an oasis of greenery which it is very difficult to see from anywhere else than the windows of the schoolrooms of Halifax Place Chapel. It is a 17th century house which was greatly altered about 1833, about which time it was purchased from the Fellows family, who had removed thither from a smaller house a little to the west. Before their time it was occupied by Lady Hutchinson, the mother of Colonel Hutchinson." That's an extract from an article on Notts History, an online collection of copyleft articles on Nottinghamshire's vibrant history. Reading through articles about the history of the Judge's Lodgings, one thing is certain. And that is that some very high ranked individuals have lived here over the centuries.
Photos: New Squat Occupied: opp. Galleries of Justice [1] | [2]
Links: Nottinghamshire History | Announcing The New Squat: Location (Nottingham) | Nottingham Braced For Squat Actions (feature) | Days of Action for Squats and Autonomous Spaces
Five years on...
20-03-2008 17:30
It is now five years since the invasion of Iraq and its consequences are obvious for all to see. Estimates of the death toll, suggest that more than a million Iraqis may have been murdered since the invasion. In addition, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 2.2 million Iraqis are internally displaced, with a further 2 million having fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan. The explanation for these stark figures lies in the surge in sectarian conflict, widespread state repression, ongoing US-UK military operations, endemic criminality and growth of Islamic fundamentalism, all of which have been facilitated, if not actively encouraged, by the US-UK occupation.
This carnage has not taken place without opposition. The anti-war movement globally, nationally and locally has campaigned against US-UK imperialism in Iraq since the possibility of an attack was first mooted shortly after September 11th. The movement's concerns echoed in Nottingham as they did elsewhere, encouraging many local residents to get active.
Newswire: Stop the War: Five Years on (report) | Stop the War: Five Years on (photos 1) | Stop the War: Five Years on (photos 2) | Notts Indymedia Iraq Topic Page
Links: Nottingham CND | Nottingham Stop the War Coalition | Nottingham Student Peace Movement | Veggies Against War
Calendar Of Resistance Launched
04-12-2007 19:54
Nerve magazine introduces Liverpool’s Capital of Culture year with a Merseyside Resistance Calendar 2008.
The calendar records and celebrates the region’s rich tradition of radicalism and dissent. History is for the most part written by and for the rich and powerful and ‘official’ histories of Liverpool are no exception. But an essential part of our history are those people and groups who put themselves on the line for their communities and what they believed in and who ‘had a go’ without waiting for society’s approval.
Protest over multi million pound redevelopment of Edinburgh
19-04-2007 23:00
Demonstrations have taken place throughout the city on redevelopment plans which may mean the demolition of some of Edinburgh's most historic and listed buildings. Protesters from 'Save Our Old Town' (SOOT) demonstrated on the Royal Mile outside the City Chambers as the Council discussed the £300 million development plans of both the Canongate and Market Street. With these, and many more 'redevelopment' plans for around the city, Edinburgh is changing quickly, and the Old Town is being destroyed quicker than you can say 'Listed Buildings'.
Links: Canongate Community Forum (SOOT) | Save Glenogle Baths Campaign | Save Meadowbanks Campaign | 600 protest against Meadowbank Stadium destruction
Nottingham and Slavery - A Hidden History
16-03-2007 18:48
As Britain continues the 2007 celebration of 'Abolition 200', the legal end of Britain's official involvement in trans-Atlantic slave trading, and with most eyes on the main slave trade ports like Bristol and Liverpool, our local councils seem quite unconcerned about direct or indirect involvement with the profits of slavery in Notts and East Midlands, and seem happy just to leave local churches to do the soul searching. Let's ask some questions...
An easy example of Notts involvement in slavery is the well-known Mellish family, whose name is probably best associated in local minds with a Nottingham school. The family is known to have had involvement with ownership and official dealings with plantation estates in the West Indies in the 18th century. Even a cursory look at the Mellish family online archive record reveals inheritance of slave plantation estate property from the governor of the Bahamas (John Tinker), and we can read about William Mellish's official dealings with plantation monies in Jamaica as Receiver General for the Customs & Excise (he was also MP for Retford).
Photos: George Africanus: Re-dedication of former slave's grave
Links: The Mellish and Buchanan Families of Blyth and Hodsock - A Brief History | The Nottingham Sparrow, Nottingham AF | 'Slavery - the Hidden History', Bristol Radical History Group | Anti-slavery march demands reparations for slave trade
McLibel: Human Rights Victory Anniversary
17-02-2007 09:09
To celebrate the McLibel Human Rights Victory Anniversary, there was a small demo on Thursday at the McDonalds restaurant at Exchange Walk
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg declared that the notorious and long running McLibel case was in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of expression, thereby voiding any solace that McNasty may have enjoyed from the trial.
The Court ruled that UK laws had failed to protect the public’s right to criticise massive corporations whose business practices can affect people’s lives, health and the environment. Meanwhile after spending £10 million to suppress free speach, McDonalds find that the most widely distributed protest leaflet ever, continues to be distributed worldwide... Mainly by a group in Nottingham!
Audio: Interview with an activist about McDonald's and all its works | Short bit of the interview
Previous reports: Nottingham Another Anti-G8-McDonalds event (2004) | Nottingham McDonalds Celebrating the McLibel Two (2005) | Nottingham Day of Action against McDonald's (2005) | Nottingham's part of the Worldwide Day of Action Against McDonalds (2006)
Links: McSpotlight | Veggies
No More Fallujahs
30-10-2006 00:00
28th and 29th October saw a weekend of Nonviolent Resistance in London against the Occupation of Iraq on the 2nd anniversary of the US/UK massacre in Fallujah culminating in an unprecedented 'unauthorized' Peace Camp in Parliament Square defying the SOCPA.
Personal Accounts:here and here and Rikki’s Report
The 61st Hiroshima Day
06-08-2006 17:17
61 years ago on 6th August 1945 the first nuclear bomb, "Little Boy", a uranium bomb, was dropped on a civilian target, the city of Hiroshima in Japan, 3 days later on 9th August "Fat Man", a plutonium bomb, was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These Americian acts of genocide, which killed as many as 210,000 people, were unnecessary and were designed "to kick-start the Cold War rather than end the Second World War".
CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) in the UK have shown that 59% opposes the replacement of Trident, Britian's submarine-launched nuclear ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missiles) system. On Friday 5th August protestors handed in 53,000 signatures on a petition to 10 Downing Street calling on the government not to replace Trident or develop any new nuclear weapons system. On Tuesday 2nd August two peace activists were arrested after painting "Trident is Terrorism" outside Faslane naval base. In October Faslane 365 begins — a year-long continuous peaceful blockade at Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons submarine base.
Protests against nuclear weapons are expected to take place around the world, 80 protests have been organised across the USA: To mark the 61st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, rallies, vigils, teach-ins, and nonviolent protests will be held in more than 60 cities in 24 states across the country to demand an end to nuclear weapons and wars. Antiwar, nuclear abolition and indigenous rights groups are focusing on facilities run by the Bechtel Corporation, one of the world's leading nuclear weapons contractors, war profiteers, and violators of indigenous rights. Activities will take place under the banner: From Hiroshima to Yucca Mountain to the Middle East: No Nukes! No Wars! End War Profiteering! Support Indigenous Rights!
Protests are also expected in Perth and across Europe.
Links: CND | Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space | Nuking Iran is not off the table | Calculating the risk of war in Iran | The Hiroshima Myth | Wikipedia: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Hiroshima / Nagasaki Memorials: Swindon 2006 | Cambridge 2006 | Cambridge 2005 | Nottingham 2005 ( 1 ) ( 2 ) | Oxford 2005 | Sheffield 2003
Read on for analysis on the danger that the USA might nuke Iran [ indymedia.org version with translations ].
Belgrade remembers Srebrenica - 11 years on...
19-07-2006 16:03
The Srebrenica massacre was the July 1995 killing of up to an estimated 8,106 Bosniak males, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by a Serb Army of Republika Srpska under general Ratko Mladić including Serbian state special forces "Scorpions". The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II and considered by many as one of the most horrific events in recent European history. It is also the first legally established case of genocide in Europe after the Holocaust. (source: Wikipedia).
11 years on, a large crowd gathered in the city centre of Belgrade to remember the victims killed in the Srebrenica massacre. Last year the same vigil was attacked by nationalist groups, some of who trew teargas in the crowd. The police guarded the protest heavily this time. We took some photos...
Links: Wikipedia on the Srebrenica massacre | Preliminary list of 8106 Bosniaks killed in Srebrenica - (PDF version) - Issued by Federal Commission for Missing Persons on June 5, 2005 | The Association Women of Srebrenica - Official Website | Srebrenica Genocide Blog - Independent Blog Regarding Srebrenica Massacre | "Cry from the Grave" documentary film detailing the account of the massacre | Chemical Warfare in Bosnia? The Strange Experiences of the Srebrenica Survivors (a Human Rights Watch report) | BOSFAM - Non-Governmental group supporting displaced women in Bosnia
Worldwide Anti-War Protests: March 18th Reports
22-03-2006 10:19
Saturday 18th March was an International Day of Mobilisation against the war and occupation in Iraq, marking the three year anniversary of the war (see call from WSF Assembly of the Movements). Over the weekend of the 18th hundreds of demonstrations took place throughout the world demanding to end to the occupation of Iraq, and protesting against a possible attack on Iran.
In London, the Stop The War coalition said 80 - 100,000 people marched through the streets, however as usual there was disagreement over numbers with the police saying the turnout was as low as 15,000 (a figure which was then printed in mainstream media across the world). See reports and pictures from London [1 | 2 | 3 | 4]. The march sparked some personal commentary about the day and the tactics [ Brian B | riot act | Jo Wilding ]. Locally protests also took place in Glasgow, Newcastle and Dublin.
In the US tens of thousands took part in protests across the country (500 demonstrations were scheduled). For news, pictures and video see the following Indymedia reports: Rallies & Marches: Akron, OH 1 2 | Albuquerque | Arlington, TX | Ashland, OR | Binghamton | Boston 1 2 | Chicago | Colorado Springs | Columbus 1 2 | Concord, NH | Connecticut | DC | Eugene | Fayetteville, AK | Fresno | Houston | Kansas City | Los Angeles | Milwaukee | Minneapolis/St.Paul | Nashville | New Hampshire | New York | Olympia | Orange County 1 2 | Pittsburgh | Phoenix | Philadelphia | Portland | Rochester | San Diego | San Francisco Bay Area | Santa Barbara | Santa Cruz | Seattle | Springfield, Mass | Tuscon, AZ | Vancouver, WA | Vermont | Worcester
Civil Disobedience: Boston, MA: Demonstrators visit several ROTC Offices | Eugene, OR: Civil Resistance activists arrested after sit-ins | Lakewood, OH: Arrests at Lakewood Military Recruitment Center | Lansing, MI: Five Arrested at Lansing Military Recruitment Center | Los Angeles, CA: Eight Arrests at Senator Feinstein's Office -1 -2 | Portland, OR: 19 Arrested while Delivering Anti-War Petitions to Senator Wyden's Office | Washington, DC protesters target Halliburton, Bechtel, and Carslyle
Indymedia Centres around the world collected reports of demonstrations from hundreds, to thousands of people. In Germany the demands were often broadened to include protests against repression and or the liberty of political prisoners.
Worldwide IMC reports: Estrecho: Sevilla, Córdoba | Maritimes: Halifax feature and photos, Fredericton | Ontario: London, Toronto, Windsor | Ottawa Video | BC Vancouver | Winnipeg Victoria | Alacant | Barcelona: 1 2 | Bruxelles: 1 2 3 4 | West-Vlaanderen | Bulgaria | Cyprus: Greek English | Euskal Herria: Ermua | Ireland: Dublin | Germany: Berlin, Duisburg, Trier, Tübingen | Italia: Roma, Palermo, Saronno and Gorizia | Nederland: Amsterdam | Norge | Polska: Warszawa English report and photos, Wrocław, Wa-wa, Poznań | Portugal: Lisboa | Scotland: Glasgow | Switzerland: Feature, Ginevra | Brasil: 1 2 3 | Peru: Lima | Puerto Rico | Aotearoa: Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland | Perth
In the Arab world, demonstrations took place in Basra and the Syrian capital Damascus. Smaller ones took place in Beirut, Cairo and other Arab cities. In the Tunisian city of Sfax, police stormed into a crowd of about 3,000 people and beat them with batons and truncheons, injuring at least 20.
See also: [Infoshop] Global Protests Mark Iraq War Anniversary | [A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition] Initial Reports on March 18 Antiwar Actions | corporate media coverage [ 1 | 2 ] | Indymedia UK March 18th Section
