Cadiff Protest -Kick Raytheon Out of Wales

[Udo Erasmus]

LEBANON BURNS - RAYTHEON EARNS
PALESTINE BURNS - RAYTHEON EARNS
IRAQ BURNS - RAYTHEON EARNS

Kick Raytheon out of Wales - Solidarity with the Raytheon 9!

DEMONSTRATE - 5.30 - 6.30, Tuesday 27th May, Transport House (T&G Building), 1 Cathedral Road, Cardiff (this is where the office of the First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan is based).

To co-incide with a protest in Derry outside the trial of the Raytheon 9

Bring placards, banners, drums etc. Please Forward this Message On!

Raytheon - banned by Liverpool Council, the Norwegian and Belgian government, manufacturer of cluster bombs and lethal weapons - has been welcomed to Wales by our politicians with barely a murmer of dissent. They are a key part of the new, privatised UK Military Academy being built in Wales.

Let's be clear, Raytheon are directly implicated in war crimes: In 2003, a Raytheon device hit the Shu'ale market in Baghdad in 2003, killing at least 62 civilians. In 2006 a Raytheon device hit Qana in Lebanon in 2006, killing at least 28 civilians, including 16 children.

By welcoming Raytheon, our politicians are complicit with war crimes.
Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales has defended Raytheon and attacked anti-war campaigners as liars.

Any thing we can do in Wales to frustrate the merchants of death can only be of help to those on the receiving end of war.

RAYTHEON 9 TRIAL SET TO START

The trial of the “Raytheon Nine” anti-war activists started this week in Belfast, and will last for up to six weeks.

The nine anti-war protesters, occupied and shut down the Derry offices of Raytheon, the fifth biggest arms manufacturer in the world, on Wednesday 9 August 2006 during Israel's war on Lebanon.

The action was part of a wider protest at Raytheon’s complicity in the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rush messages of support to resistderry(at)aol.com

For background, see:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=601&Itemid=27
www.raytheon9.org

 

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Note: This Cardiff demo is being called to co-incide with a mass demonstration on Tues 27th May outside the court in Belfast. It is being held outside of the office of Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales who has consitently accused the Anti-Military Academy Campaign of being liars.

 

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Words of Wisdom from Rhodri

"We have worked very hard to get this project for Wales. the reference to cluster bombs and Raytheon by campaigners is a simple guilt by association argument with absolutely no supporting evidence. They should be ashamed of themselves for using such a smear as a substitute for intelligent argument" - Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales, 18 Jan 2008
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14856

 

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NEW VIDEO ABOUT THE RAYTHEON 9:

 

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DAWC PRESS STATEMENT RE: Raytheon 9

The trial of the Derry Anti War activists, who took part in an action against the worlds largest missile manufacturer, Raytheon Systems, began this week. The activists claim that they took direct action against Raytheon, to stop the manufacture of weapons systems and to save lives in the Middle East. They face charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and affray. If they are found guilty they could face long prison sentences.
The Derry Anti War Coalition, have organised a protest in support of the accused activists, on Tues 27Th May, outside the Laganside Courts in Belfast. David McAuley, one of the organisers explains why,

" On the week it was announced that George Bush would come to Northern Ireland, anti war activists went on trial, for trying to prevent war crimes. The DAWC activists are criminalised and stand in the dock accused, while the world's biggest war criminal is welcomed and eulogised by our politicians."

The DAWC have received messages of support from all around the world for the actions its members took against Raytheon systems. Those supporting the Raytheon 9 include, Noam Chomsky, George Galloway MP, Tony Benn, Christy Moore, Jill Evans MEP and the respected environmentalist George Monbiot. Mr McAuley claims while international support from political figures has been good, local politicians have failed to support the campaign.

" No major Political figure in Northern Ireland has spoken out in defence of the Raytheon 9. All those local Politicians who addressed anti war rallies and made speeches to show their solidarity with Palestine and Iraq, should hang their heads in shame. They are desperate to bring a war criminal like George Bush to Northern Ireland, yet they will not support people from here who acted to save lives and stop war crimes."

The DAWC will be running a bus from Derry to the protest outside the courts in Belfast. The bus will leave the Guildhall at 7.15am sharp on Tues 27Th May and will return to Derry by lunchtime. The protest will take place outside Laganside Courts at 9.30 am. The DAWC urge all those who stand against war and the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, to come out and support the Raytheon 9.

 

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MESSAGE FROM RAYTHEON 9 TO CARDIFF

It is a fact, not an allegation, that Raytheon is complicit in war crimes in Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere in the world. Human Rights Watch reports have detailed the appalling suffering inflicted by Raytheon munitions on helpless civilians in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. The response of raytheon was to rush replenishments to the region so that slaughter might proceed.

We greet the members of the Stop the St Athan Military Academy Campaign and the Cardiff Stop the War Coalition who have highlighted the role of Raytheon in fuelling war for profit. We send our solidarity to you in your struggle to expose the obscenity of Raytheon involvement in military training in Wales. We thank you for the support you have shown us. We look forward to working in the future with you and with opponents of war and mitlitarism everywhere to cleans the world of the ugliness which Raytheon represents.

Eamonn McCann
Raytheon 9
Derry