Hiroshima Remembered 2024

On Tuesday 6 August London Region CND will once again gather at Tavistock Square for our annual Hiroshima Commemoration. Below you can see the schedule for the event.

Choir

Raised Voices

Welcome 

Carol Turner, London Region Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Address by Councillor Samata Khatoon, Mayor of Camden

Memorial

Wreath Laying at the Hiroshima Cherry Tree - participants are welcome to add their own floral tributes to those of the Mayor of Camden andLondon Region CND

Prayers for Peace, Rev Nagase

Speeches

Kate Hudson

Murad Qureshi

Performances

Hugh Goodwin guitar and voice

Ann Garrett poem recital

Jenny Malca Brown poem recital

Paul Steel guitar and voice

Close

Carol Turner

Raised Voices Choir

Followed by

A CND Picnic in The Park (bring your own, soft drinks provided) and an opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones

Join the H-Bomb’s Thunder Chorus

Men and women, stand together
Do not heed the men of war
Make your minds up now or never
Ban the bomb for evermore

Participant biographies in order of appearance

Raised Voices

Raised Voices is a London-based choir addressing social & political issues through music, including justice, peace, climate change, refugee support, Palestinian and womens rights.

Carol Turner

Carol Turner is the Chair of London Region CND, a national Vice Chair of CND and Coordinator of the International Advisory Group. She is author of Corbyn & Trident: Labour’s continuing controversy and Walter Wolfgang: A Political Life.

Councillor Samata Khatoon

Cllr Samata Khatoon is the Mayor of Camden for 2024-2025 and has served as a councillor since 2010. She is actively involved in the community, including as a Trustee at New Horizon Youth Centre and St Pancras Welfare Trust, and a parent governor.

Reverend Gyoro Nagase

Reverend Nagase arrived in England from Japan in 1978 to help build the UK's first Peace Pagoda in Milton Keynes. He completed the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park in 1984 and now focuses on meditation and peacefully drawing attention to the human cost of nuclear war.

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson has been General Secretary of CND since 2010 and is an internationally recognised peace campaigner. She is an historian and author of CND at 60: Britain’s Most Enduring Mass Movement and CND: Now More Than Ever.

Murad Qureshi

Murad Qureshi served on the London Assembly, 2004-16 and 2020- 21. He is a Vice President of London CND, a member of CND National Council, and a former chair of the Stop the War Coalition.

Hugh Goodacre

Hugh Goodacre is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at UCL and Westminster Universities. He is a folk musician and trade unionist.

Ann Garrett

Ann Garrett is Secretary of Bromley & Beckenham CND, Joint Convenor of Bromley Peace Council, and co-coordinator of Bromley Green Party. She is a community organiser and a drama teacher who co-founded Theatre in Education at the Belgrade Theatre.

Jenny Malca Brown

Jenny Malca Brown has a long-standing tradition of visiting the Cherry Tree at Victoria Park, where she joins Japanese families and CND members singing peace songs to commemorate Hiroshima.

Paul Steel

Paul Steel is a peace campaigner and member of Sheerness CND. He is singer and acoustic guitarist who regularly contributes his musical skills to CND group activities across London.

Join MEDACT in writing to your parliamentary candidates on nuclear war

Ahead of the General Election on July 4 - London CND is supporting MEDACT in calling on voters to contact their local candidates on issues of nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

The Medact Nuclear Weapons Group has prepared this short letter (and longer Appendices) which Medact members can send to their local PPCs. It cuts through all the complexity of the nuclear weapons debate, to the central point: Nuclear Deterrence strategy can fail.

You can find all the information - including how to find your local candidates - on the MEDACT website.

Lewisham CND protest outside Vicky Foxcroft office

On Saturday 1 June Lewisham and Greenwich CND held a protest outside the office of Vicky Foxcroft, who was the Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford in the last Parliament and is standing again this time.

Vicky Foxcroft voted against a ceasefire in Gaza last November when the SNP brought a motion to the House of Commons, and around 250 people turned up outside her office to make sure she is aware of the strength of feeling amongst her constituents.

Another event is being considered prior to the General Election - keep an eye on the website for details.

Arming Israel’s war on Gaza: Tory scandal, Labour shame

As part of campaigning work around the General Election, London CND Chair Carol Turner wrote the following blog for the CND website about the urgent issue of arms sales to Israel. Whoever forms the next government, our message must be resolute and clear - ending arms sale to Israel is a must.

If anything can convince the British government, out-going or in-coming, that the UK must halt arms exports to Israel, the Rafah offensive should. Day by day, hour by hour, the toll of Palestinian dead and injured slowly mounts. As far back as December President Netanyahu made clear that military operations would go on throughout 2024. In the midst of the Rafah carnage, and despite the international outcry, he recently reiterated this.

David Cameron has dismissed the idea of halting arms sales as gesture politics. Britain, he claims, supplies ‘less than 1% of Israel’s arms’.i Grant Shapps recently told parliament ‘defence exports to Israel are relatively small—just £42 million last year’.ii This deliberate misdirection is echoed by Labour.

The UK is among the world’s biggest arms exporters, the seventh largest in 2023.iii Arms manufacturers in Britain need a government licence to export military goods, software and technology overseas.iv Applications are evaluated against criteria which include Britain’s obligations under international law and the risk that exported items might be used in the violation of human rights.

No arms export licence should be granted if there’s a clear risk the items: v

• might be used to ‘commit or facilitate’ internal repression or a serious violation of international humanitarian law; or

• would undermine internal, regional, or international peace and security.

Existing licences can be revoked if they don’t match the criteria. But the government has resisted the introduction of post-shipment verification or end-use monitoring of military exports from the UK.vi

BAE Systems is a British company and leading supplier of parts for American F35 fighter bombers that the US supplies to Israel. They are being used against Gaza. Campaign Against Arms Trade and others point out that 15% of every US F35 supplied to Israel is built in the UK.vii

This means Britain is complicit in what’s happening to Palestinians across the Occupied Territories right now.

Individual MPs have spoken up. Leyla Moran, a British Palestinian and a LibDem MP broke the parliamentary consensus by speaking on national media about what was happening to her family there. Labour MPs Richard Burgon and Imran Hussain recently delivered a dossier of evidence on Israeli war crimes in Gaza to the International Criminal Court, evidence compiled from a series of panels they organised in parliament.

In April this year, UK opinion pollsviii showed a majority in favour of banning arms sales after aid workers were killed, including three UK citizens. Plaid Cymru wanted parliament reconvened. Green Party spokespeople have called for the cancelling of all arms export licences, and the LibDems and SNP want suspension.

Last October, Labour MP Zarah Sultana introduced a Private Members Bill calling for a halt to exports to countries ‘where it cannot be demonstrated that arms sold will not be used in violation of international law’ and led a Westminster Hall debate in December. At the end of March, recognising Israel would disregard the UN ceasefire resolution, she coordinated an open letter to Cameron, condemning the government’s failure to act, and calling again for a suspension of arms sales. It was signed by 134 parliamentarians from across the parties, including a Tory peer.

Under pressure from the solidarity movement which, week after week, has taken to the streets in cities and towns across the country, both Conservative and Labour have slowly been forced to increase criticism of Israel. To date, actions have not followed words. Not a single step towards halting British arms exports has been taken by the government, nor has any demand they do so come from the official opposition.

CND takes this issue very seriously indeed. Israel is one of only nine nuclear-armed states in the world, and the only one that doesn’t admit to having them. Israel has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty designed to limit their spread and secure nuclear disarmament.

The nuclear risks involved in the war on Gaza may not be as remote as they seem. Since the October attack by Hamas, a few Israeli politicians have floated the prospect of using nuclear weapons against Iran or Lebanon. Most of the drones and missiles Iran launched against Israel in April were taken out before they reached their targets. One missile was not. It successfully reached its target, Nevatim in southern Israel, near the Dimona nuclear facility.

Far from being gesture politics, the unwillingness of the US, UK, and other governments to halt arms sales has emboldened Israel which is pressing ahead with its attack on the Palestinian people in defiance of international law and international outrage.

The next 5 weeks of general election campaigning is an opportunity to make our voice heard by every candidate in every constituency across the country. CND members should act, and act now.

i David Cameron, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, 12 May 2024 at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001z828/sunday-with-laura-kuenssberg-arms-to-israel-gaza-protests-eurovision

ii Grant Shapps, Hansard, House of Commons, 20 November 2023 at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-11-20/debates/776C2068-C460-402F-8826-ECAE91256A56/UKArmsSalesToIsrael#contribution-7ACCD6F1-79D9-4859-9429-EFA71569E209

iii D Pieter et al, Trends in International Arms Transfers 2023, SIPRI at https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/fs_2403_at_2023.pdf

iv Louisa Brooke-Holland, An introduction to UK arms exports, House of Commons Library Briefing, 24 January 2024 at https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8312/

v Louisa Brooke-Holland and Nigel Walker, Arms export licences for sales to Israel, Housse of Commons Library Briefing, 7 December, 2023 at https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2023-0223/CDP-2023-0223.pdf

vi Committees on Arms Export Controls (CAEC) joint report ‘Developments in UK Strategic Export Controls’, 9 January 2024 at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/caec-report-on-uk-strategic-export-controls-government-response

vii BAE Systems, F-35: a trusted partner on the world’s largest defence programme, at https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/f-35-lightning-ii

viii YouGov polls in March and April, reported by the Guardian and others, showed majority support for a suspension of arms sales to Israel, see for example https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/majority-of-voters-in-uk-back-banning-arm-sales-to-israel-poll-finds In May, YouGov found opinion had remained static: ‘56% would support the UK ending the sale of arms to Israel for the duration of the conflict in Gaza. Only 20% would oppose this move’ reported https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/49366-british-attitudes-to-the-israel-gaza-conflict-may-2024-update

WeThink digital polling, reported by Byline Times in April, found 68% of those surveyed would support a ban, compared to 32% who were opposed https://bylinetimes.com/2024/04/03/brits-want-the-uk-to-ban-arms-sales-to-israel-but-its-political-parties-arent-listening/

March and Rally for Gaza - Lewisham & Greenwhich CND

We had a good turnout for the march and rally in Lewisham on Saturday, 20 April. This is was our fifth march in the borough and local residents continue to show up for Palestine.

The people of Lewisham and and across the country want an end to the destruction and misery in Gaza and across the Middle East and demand an end to arms sales to Israel.

There is a comprehensive video created by local filmmaker Martin Smith of Saturday’s demonstration that is up on YouTube. You can watch it HERE.

Don’t Put Britain on the Nuclear Frontline - A poem by Ann Garrett, Bromley CND

US nukes at Lakenheath make us vulnerable to a nuclear attack

NATO expansion draws us nearer to nuclear Armageddons night most black

Nations seem oblivious of possible annihilation

as they are addicted to arms sales proliferation

Arms dealers inexcusably irresponsible in their profit–driven world

ensure nearer the inevitable road of destruction we are hurled

Trident renewal is high on the Governments agenda

ignoring campaigners cries to de-escalate and surrender

Drones and missiles are being indiscriminately fired as conflicts increase

There is now a danger of greater tension with little hope of peace

Britain is irrevocably on the nuclear front line

Millions of peace doves need releasing before we run out of precious time

Sad death of Christine Bickerstaff

Alex Forbes, Chair of Wimbledon CND Disarmament Coalition writes:

Sadly we have to report the death of Christine Bickerstaff, who was a staunchmember of Wimbledon Disarmament Coalition/CND ever since its inception in the1980s, who was particularly active in helping with our annual Fete of the Earth.

Christine was determined that our group should continue after the death of our previous Chair Maisie Carter, telling me ‘I’m terrified of a nuclear war, please help keep the campaign going’, and so she volunteered as treasurer. Christine attended our steering committee meetings and leaflet sessions in Wimbledon. In particular, she helped organise leafletting for our screenings of the film Oppenheimer in Wimbledon last year.

She was brilliant at engaging with the public, despite struggling to walk and stand at times. She was eventually persuaded to meet the group at her house, but by then had become quite ill and gone into hospital.

In addition to her work with Wimbledon DC/CND, Christine was a stalwart of several other groups over many years: a supporter of our local Merton Palestine Solidarity Campaign, frequently attending stalls to help leaflet, as recently as last year. She also supported Cuba Solidarity Campaign and Amnesty International.

Christine was well known in Wimbledon Labour Party as well, where she helped coordinate leafletting, and joined in canvassing sessions. She stood in the Wimbledon West by-election in November 1975 and for election as a Councillor in Dundonald ward in 2014.

Christine will be fondly remembered and greatly missed; her passion and determination certainly inspired me.

Are We Really Heading For World War Three?

Wimbledon CND Disarmament Coalition’s Alison Williams reflects on the disturbing findings of a recent YouGov poll

I wonder how many of us are familiar with the results of a YouGov poll published on 1 February on the likelihood of a Third World War in 5-10 years. The headline results are disturbing: over half of Britons think it is likely; somewhat under half think Britain and allies would win; and well over half think it is likely to be fought with nuclear weapons.

Is that a fair reflection of the national outlook — accepting the likelihood of involvement in major, probably nuclear-armed, conflict within a decade? The axiom that a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought no longer applies, it seems.

A fifth of the UK’s defence budget maintains our nuclear deterrent which one researcher says is cannibalising the conventional forces, now seriously depleted. That said, as we approach a general election, time may be on our side.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has been in force for three years and continues to gain support. Currently, there are 93 signatories and 69 fully-signed-up states parties. Those of us who have been out and about, offering leaflets and information on nuclear disarmament, are encouraged by increased public interest.

Gaza, Israel & the United States: an update

The paper below was written by Carol Turner for CND’s International Advisory Group on 26 March, and circulated to CND’s Spring Council, April 2024.

On 25 March the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2728 (2024) by 14 votes for, including the UK, and 1 abstention by the United States. The UNSC resolution demands ‘an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan’ and ‘the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale, in line with international humanitarian law’. 

Israel immediately announced it would not comply with the resolution, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a scheduled trip to the US by his senior advisers. The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, tweeted: ‘We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages returns home.’ 

The current strain in relations between Israel and the US, which have led to the first successful ceasefire resolution in six months, emerged into the open in December when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans for his military operation in Rafah. The US insists this is ‘a major mistake’. But diplomatic efforts to change Netanyahu’s direction have so far failed to achieve results. 

Rafah: a shift in US-Israel relations

Rafah not only marks a new and brutal phase in Israel’s war on Gaza, it also represents a significant shift in US relations with the Netanyahu government. It does not, however, signal a fundamental break in the United States relations with Israel. Nor is it the first sign of tensions between Israel and the US over Gaza.

An intelligence report, the Annual Threat Assessment 2024 of the US Intelligence Community – 

released on 5 February this year but prepared over months before recent tensions emerged – predicts that Israel will struggle to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas. The report expresses concern that Netanyahu’s right wing coalition ‘may be in jeopardy’, and poses the possibility of ‘a different, more moderate government’ in Israel.

The following exchanges (mostly taken from New York Times reports) trace the path to the United States abstention on UNSC resolution 2728:

9 March: President Joe Biden said Netanyahu was ‘hurting Israel more than helping Israel’. 

10 March: in an interview with Politico US, Netanyahu dismissed Biden’s comment saying the ‘overwhelming majority’ of Israelis agree with his, Natanyahu’s policies.

14 March: Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, majority Senate leader and described as the most senior Jewish elected official in the US called for elections to replace Netanyahu. He said Netanyahu’s ‘political survival [was] taking precedence over the best interests of Israel’.

15 March: Biden confirmed the White House had been given notice of Schumer’s speech: ‘He made a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans.’

Israeli politicians were divided. Yair Lapid, leader of Israel’s opposition since January 2023 and founder of Yesh Atid, described as a centrist, liberal Zionist party, welcomed Schumer’s comments. He said ‘Netanyahu is causing heavy damage to the national effort to win the war and preserve Israel’s security. 

War cabinet member Benny Ganz tweeted that Schumer ‘erred in his remark’ saying ‘external intervention is not correct and not welcome’. 

US pressure on Netanyahu

Should Biden be unable to persuade Netanyahu to change course, the intelligence report together with the political comments and exchanges cited above suggest that the US is willing to publicly encourage a change of government in Israel. This is further confirmed elsewhere.

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, President of the Middle East Policy Council and a former US Ambassador to Malta told BBC Newsnight, Schumer was known as a staunch ally of Israel and the point of his speech was ‘for it to be noticed by the Israeli people’. Ehud Olmert, speaking on the same programme said ‘every minute that [Natanyahu] is prime minister he is a danger to Israel’ and pointed out ‘a majority of Israelis don’t trust the prime minister’. Olmert is a former Israeli prime minister 2006-09 and Mayor of Jerusalem 1993-2003. 

Sadly, this does not reflect a change of heart in relation to Gaza so much as concern that the impact of Netanyahu’s military action in Gaza is significantly undermining international support for Israel and, therefore, acting as a hinderance to US influence in the Middle East. 

In an interview with MSNBC, Biden elaborated on his comments that Netanyahu was hurting more than helping Israel. He had, he said, spoken to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and they are ‘all fully willing to recognise Israel and begin to rebuild the region’.

It is not yet clear that the events of the past week will lead either to a change of policy on humanitarian aid to Gaza and the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, or to a change of government in Israel. 

Despite Netanyahu’s personal unpopularity in Israel and the differences that exist in the Knesset, all the political parties share an over-arching goal – that of protecting the existence of the state of Israel. So far this has meant the Knesset is unwilling to distance itself from Netanyahu’s military strategy, even though some politicians are critical of the details. This is the fundamental roadblock Biden is facing. 

Postscript: the Gaza solidarity campaign

UNSC resolutions are legally binding. Israel’s refusal to adhere to UNSC 2728 violates the UN charter and international law and can lead to further action. In this case, in theory at least, it could lead to a block on arms exports to Israel. This is extremely unlikely, and is already being downplayed by commentators close to the Biden administration.

It does suggest though that CND should consider joining forces with Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Campaign Against Arms Trade, and others campaigning to Stop Arming Israel. This aspect of support for Gaza comes to the fore in the aftermath of the UNSC resolution. By helping take forward support for Gaza in this way, CND will have an additional advantage – that of highlighting Israel as a nuclear armed state and promoting our long-held call for a nuclear weapons free Middle East. 

1 The full text of UNSC Resolution 2728, of 25 March 25, can be found at https://www.jns.org/full-text-un-security-council-resolution-2728/

2 Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, 5 February 2024, at https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ATA-2024-Unclassified-Report.pdf 

3 BBC Newsnight, 19 March 2024, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001xj50/newsnight-19032024?seriesId=unsliced&page=1

Carol Turner is Chair of London Region CND and a CND Vice Chair. She is a directly elected member of CND’s National Council and part of the International Advisory Group.

Carol is a long-time peace campaigner, a member of Stop the War Coalition’s National Officer Group, and author of Corbyn and Trident: Labour’s Continuing Controversy.

Lewisham & Greenwich CND - March for Gaza

A big thank you to everyone who helped build the march and rally in Woolwich on Saturday. For those of you who were unable to make it, we marched from the mosque down Plumstead Rd and then filled up the grassy area in front of Tescos in Woolwich city centre. There were crafts for children, speeches, and we raised some money for Palestinian charities. We think over 1000 people marched for Gaza in Woolwich this Saturday.

A big thank you to members and supporters who helped build the event with leafleting and who helped out or made speeches on the day. It was great to work with Lewisham Stop the War and Greenwich Palestine Action.