As airstrikes pound and rockets are launched, amazingly a Palestinian bid to the UN could pave the way to lasting peace. The US and Israel are furiously lobbying to crush the bid for a state. But the UK is still on the fence, and EU Foreign Ministers meet in four days. Our voices, and a massive flag in the heart of Brussels, can persuade our government to vote ‘yes’. Join the urgent call for peace and freedom:

As bombs rain down on Gaza, Palestinians and Israelis are on the brink of another cycle of violence and vengeance. But, right now, the Palestinian Authority is preparing a bid to the UN that could be the best chance for peace. Let’s help them win it.

While people in southern Israel live in fear of rocket fire, the Gazan people live under siege, imprisoned in a tiny stretch of land. And in the West Bank people are driven from their lands by illegal settlements; their sick get stuck for hours in Israeli checkpoints on the way to hospital; and families are divided by a huge wall that slices through their fields. But if the Palestinians win their UN bid for a state now, it could begin to end the 40 years of occupation, and pave the way for two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.

The US and Israel are furiously trying to crush the UN vote, and the attack on Gaza may be an attempt to shift attention from the bid and present the Palestinians as untrustworthy partners. But the UK is still on the fence, and EU Foreign Ministers meet in just four days. If we all speak out now, we can persuade the UK government to vote ‘yes’ for peace and freedom. Click to drown out the blockers with our voices of hope via a massive petition delivered through a 5 storey high flag right outside the ministers’ meeting (picture at right):

http://www.avaaz.org/en/palestine_worlds_next_nation_uk/?bqsmtbb&v=19229

This is a legitimate, non-violent proposal that would provide Palestinians with a new legal status. And it is the best opportunity to turn the tide on endless US-led talks that do little more than provide cover for the steady illegal colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israeli ‘settlements’. The Palestinian resolution calls for the resumption and acceleration of negotiations. A ‘yes’ vote would rescue the path to a more balanced and fair peace process between two legitimate states.

While the Israeli and US governments are calling the bid ‘unilateral’ and dangerous, in fact the UN, World Bank and IMF say that the Palestinians are ready to run their own state, if only the occupation would end. And the world’s nations overwhelmingly support this diplomatic move away from violence. Ironically, the US/Israel efforts to overturn this bid and their threats to cut off money to the Palestinians are self-defeating as they boost the power of those who want to do away with Israel as a Jewish state.

Last year the US blocked a Palestinian bid at the UN Security Council. But in the upcoming vote at the UN General Assembly, all nations vote, and this resolution could begin to end the US/Israeli hegemony over this conflict. It can’t fully admit Palestine to the UN, but it can declare Palestine a state, with access to a range of international organisations, and give greater international legitimacy to non-violent Palestinian efforts to stop the Israeli military occupation.

Bombs and rockets are killing people right now, and Europe holds the key to this chance for freedom and peace — if we can persuade the UK, France, Spain, Germany to stand on the right side of history and back Palestinian independence, with firm support and financial aid, this could be a turning point. Join the petition and send a direct message to urge our government to support the bid:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/palestine_worlds_next_nation_uk/?bqsmtbb&v=19229

Palestinian statehood will not bring a resolution to this intractable conflict overnight, but UN recognition will change the dynamics and will begin to unlock the door towards freedom and peace. Across Palestine, people are preparing, with hope and expectation, to reclaim a freedom their generation has never known. Let’s stand with them.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Jeremy, Marie, Ricken, Aldine, Nick, Antonia, Pascal and the rest of the Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Palestinian bid for upgraded UN status (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13701636

Gaza-Israel conflict adds tension to Palestine UN bid (The Times)
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2012/11/15/gaza-israel-conflict-adds-tension-to-palestine-un-bid

Gaza conflict: world holds its breath for first Netanyahu war (The Week)
http://www.theweek.co.uk/middle-east/50108/gaza-conflict-world-holds-its-breath-first-netanyahu-war# 

The US and Israel threaten to withdraw funds if Palestinians go forward with the bid (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/19/israel-punishing-palestinians-un-campaign

The full Palestinian resolution which will be tabled at the UN (Inner City Press)
http://www.innercitypress.com/palreso1icpga110812.pdf

This follows the recognition he got as the best organised agent in the BCBC elections in May.

He has made an immediate impact by sorting out a potentially embarrassing constitutional problem at the Wales Green Party AGM today. Well done, John!

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

The official turnout figure for the South Wales Police area was 14.7%, with the figure in Bridgend being 14.2%.

The overall figure in Gwent was 14.3%, but included the only 0% turnout ever recorded, with not a single vote cast at one polling station in Malpas, Newport.

The biggest disappointment in the South Wales area was that the unfathomable blind loyalty to Labour returned Wales’ only Labour Police Commissioner in the shameful form of the disgraced former MP Alun Michael ( http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Alun_Michael#Controversy ). How on earth can anybody think he is an appropriate person to run our police force?

As staggering as this result was, at least we have not shared the Dyfed-Powys fate of having a Tory at the helm.

Record numbers of spoilt papers further underline not just the apathy, but the antipathy of people to the whole concept of a politicised running of our police.

So to sum up the farce, here in the South Wales force area we have ended up with an expense fiddling, ex Labour MP, whose morals are confused enough to be the chair of the Christian Socialist Movement (a contradiction in terms, surely), and who has secured the £85k job (plus expenses, no doubt!) with just 47% first preference of a 14.7% turnout – or in other words, just 7% wanting him in the job!!

So a man who confesses (see below) to be prone to clerical errors, poor judgement under stress, and financial irregularities (to be kind), is now going to be the guiding hand of the South Wales Police Force. Welcome to the Asylum of the Universe!

Alun Michael MP expenses claims (as reported in Wikipedia):
Alun Michael was one of the MPs who was investigated by the Daily Telegraph in its probe into MPs Expenses Claims in 2009. The Daily Telegraph reported that “Alun Michael claims £4,800 for food in one year, and £2,600 for repairs to his roof at his constituency home in Penarth. Claims for £1,250 cost of repairing a wall and building a 13ft chain link fence.”. Subsequently it was reported he was among 390 MPs required by Sir Thomas Legg to repay taxpayers’ money which allegedly they had wrongly-claimed. An audit of claims dating back to 2004 revealed that Michael should repay £18,889.56 for mortgage interest on additional loans “not shown to have been for an eligible purpose”. He had also been paid £280 more than he was entitled to claim for council tax in the year 2004/05 – claiming expenses for 12 installments when, in fact,he had only had to pay 10 to the local authority. Michael blamed a “clerical error” for the inflated claim. He said “The council tax payment came at a time when I was under a lot of stress politically”. Michael repaid £19,169.56.

Tour Programme

Finally, for a taste of Paul Mobbs’ presentation, see the Youtube video “FRAKNET”, recorded during his session at the Manchester anti-fracking conference in March 2012.

Further information here: http://www.fraw.org.uk/2012tour/index.shtml

We need the government know how horrified we are by the whole idea. The best way to achieve this is to spoil your ballot on November 15th. Exactly how you do it is up to you. You could scribble out all the candidates names, write NONE OF THE ABOVE in big letters, before dropping it disparagingly into the ballot box. Here is another good suggestion from Yorkshire:

Some people think spoiling ballots wastes votes. Some people think it legitimises the whole thing and that refusing to vote at all is best. I disagree. When spoilt ballots are collected, they are shown to candidates to agree the ballot is actually spoilt. Which means the candidates should get to see whatever you write on the paper. Also, spoilt ballots are counted and announced as such – spoilt ballots. So it will be clear what kind of proportion of the voters disagree with this nonsense.

I am not alone in this viewpoint.

The national party GPEW has declared that it is fundamentally opposed to this politicising of policing, and I am not aware of any Green Party candidates standing (although with the deposit at £5000, we probably wouldn’t be able to justify the expense, even if we wanted to stand candidates).

You can see further arguments, and some more (creative) suggestions on how best to ‘spoil’ your ballot paper here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/nov/05/police-and-crime-commissioners-police-spoilt-ballot-paper-north-yorkshire

Given the huge deposit, it is perhaps surprising to see two Independent candidates on the South Wales PCC ballot paper.
One is Tony Verderame, wealthy retired business man, who despite some creditable things on his CV, and claims to want to spent time in the community, is not likely to be seen much around the Gurnos, Ely or Caerau.
The other is Michael Baker – retired police officer, turned lawyer – so at least has a relevant background. If you feel compelled to vote for a candidate, he is probably the most worthy. I cannot help wondering who is putting up his deposit though!

As for the Conservative candidate – well, she is a Tory, so enough said!

And as for ALUN MICHAEL, the Labour candidate – what appalling cheek by both the man and the party – in even standing!!! His track record is a disgrace, and is well documented here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alun_Michael#Controversy If there is any justice, he will lose his deposit. It will be interesting to see if the extraordinary blind faith of so many of the South Wales electorate in anyone representing the Labour Party extends to this appallingly inappropriate character!

In summary – please don’t just ignore these elections. They provide an opportunity for us to express our opinions and have a say – spoiling it is not wasting it!!

Andy Chyba

Tell David Cameron to side with the majority of the UK public and support clean, green energy.

Dear Supporter

Right now plans are being drawn up that could see dozens of new dirty gas power stations built in the UK. These stations would undermine every victory won by our climate movement in the last 5 years.

Gas is an expensive fossil fuel and if these power stations go ahead they will result in decades of unrestricted carbon emissions and more pollution in the air we breathe.

A majority of us – 64% of the British public – want clean, renewable energy powering our lives.

But George Osborne is leading a faction of Conservative politicians who are pushing a dash for gas as part of a new Energy Bill that will be going before parliament in the next few weeks.

But you can stop him if you act now.

Tell David Cameron to listen to to the country on clean energy. Not Osborne and the gas lobby.

Cameron once promised to lead the ‘greenest government ever’. He changed the Conservative logo to reflect his green agenda, he even went to the Arctic to hug a husky. He created a green image to appeal to people like us but behind the scenes Osborne and his pals want to reverse all the real progress we’ve made on climate change.

Now it’s time for Cameron to deliver on his promise. The Energy Bill will be the test. It will shape the way our electricity is generated for the next 30 years.

Osborne’s group want to hand this future to the gas companies. Gas companies that spend billions on expensive gas imports, driving up household energy bills. Gas companies that lobby against expansion in wind power and hand out enormous salaries and bonuses to their top executives. Gas companies that pushed their prices up 8% in the last two months, meaning a quarter of the UK is now in fuel poverty and can’t afford their bills.

Gas is expensive. But it’s also dirty. From well to furnace, some types of gas power produce up to two-thirds the emissions of coal power stations.

But David Cameron can change this. By taking control of his party and sticking to his green promises.

Tell Cameron to side with the British public, not the extreme fringes of the Tory party.

The Energy Bill is the biggest opportunity for decades to green our electricity supply and kick-start the British economy.

Thanks for making it happen,

Pete Speller
Greenpeace UK

PS This week saw the longest power station occupation in history, as 16 activists from #NoDashForGas occupied the UK’s newest gas station for over a week!

I sat quietly through the early exchanges that presented the unedifying spectacle of the selfish and narrow-minded arguing for the protection of the PoW on the grounds that ‘I am a Bridgend person and I deserve to keep my services more than people in Taff Ely or Merthyr Tydfil’. A few made attempts to back up their arguments with a degree of rationality and evidence, but it never approached being compelling.

Members of the ABMU Health Board were in attendance and although they were being constantly put on the defensive, they did in fact present a robust defence of their position and convinced me that:

• They are undertaking a genuine consultation exercise and have not yet reached final decisions
• They intend to make, and are probably the best placed to ensure, decisions provide the most effective care that they can given the constraints upon them
• On top of the obvious financial constraints, the most pressing issue they face is deploying expert staff to best effect given serious shortfalls in staffing numbers created by recruitment issues rather than funding issues.

If these points are accepted, then what is the point of forming an an ‘intelligent’ and ‘focussed’ campaign group with the sole unambiguous aim of forcing the ABMU Health Board to decide in favour of protecting service levels at the Princess of Wales?

A successful campaign would be at the acknowledged expense of either the much newer (opened in 2000) Royal Glamorgan Hospital, near Talbot Green, or the Prince Charles Hospital, in Merthyr Tydfil – an area that has had more than it fair share of deprivation already. If the ABMU do their job properly and thoroughly, as I fully expect them to do, then either the PoW is not downgraded because of the excellence it provides and the logistical sense it makes location wise, OR it loses out to the other hospitals because they are better able to provide the high quality care and are better located to serve the regions whole population.

For a campaign group of local politicians and enthusiastic NIMBYists to alter this decision would be a travesty against democracy and against social justice.

This is the point that I endeavoured to convey when I addressed the gathering. That we were here to fight cutbacks in services is not the ABMU’s fault. They are tasked with the impossible task of trying to create the proverbial silk purse from a sow’s ear. What we are witnessing is the inevitable scramble to selfishly protect our precious share of resources at the expense of our neighbours.

By their own figures, NHS Wales will see a funding shortfall £250m to £445m in 2013/14, just to stay still on services. This is BEFORE trying to take on new advances in medical treatments; caring for an aging population; relieving the shortage of nurses by paying them an attractive wage; reducing doctors and consultants working hours by investing a huge amount more recruitment and training; thereby also helping to maintain standards and retain them.

The reality is that the NHS is already seriously underfunded. The squabbles we are seeing in the ABM region are only going to worsen and intensify all the time we have to endure the political landscape we currently have in this country – three brands of capitalism; three brands of austerity and cuts; three brands of social inequality; three brands of low taxes and survival of the (financially) fittest at the expense of the (financially) weakest.

It was not just me making these points. Fellow socialists from the Socialist Party and Plaid Cymru reinforced what I was saying, but were shouted down for ‘politicising’ the debate, while the culprits for the situation from the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour were given a soft ride despite the stench of hypocrisy and blatant playing to the gallery.

At least they cannot say they were not warned that this whole scenario is the early stages of Rosa Luxemberg’s prophecy that we will have to eventually choose between ecosocialism or barbarism. Ecosocialism is only one real choice, but barbarism is the default option if the choice is not made.

Andy Chyba
Chair Bridgend Green Party

I am pleased to say that we now have a venue for Spring Conference next year, which will be held at the
East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham, from 22nd-25th February.

Information on travel and accommodation will continue to be updated on the website over the next couple of weeks. The venue has a well-priced on-site 202 bedroom ‘eco-hotel’, booking information for this to follow shortly. www.greenparty.org.uk/conference

Apologies for the inconvenience that the late fixing of the venue for this conference may have caused. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find venues that suit our size and budget, and internal consultations on a mooted change to the conference dates to bring them in line with the other political parties also caused a delay.

Best wishes,

Louisa Greenbaum
Conferences Co-ordinator
The Green Party

The stars of BBC 3s The Revolution Will Be Televised are teaming up with World Development Movement to launch a new film today parodying Barclays role in speculating on food prices.

This hilarious spoof is meant to draw attention to the fact that Barclays is making profits of £500 million whilst speculating on food prices. This speculation is driving up the price of food in poor countries and drastically exacerbating world hunger.

Check out the 3 minute film: here

Or here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a7Np3XW6ezs

If you liked the film, please make sure to take action and send an email to George Osborne. Follow the link to see how.

We are trying to get as many people to watch and share this film as possible. If you could share this on facebook, twitter or email that would be fantastic.

Use the hashtags #Barclays and #foodspeculation if you can.

World Development Movement is an anti-poverty campaign organisation that fights against the policies that make poor countries poor. If you want to find out more about our organisation or sign up to our e- news please visit our website: www.wdm.org.uk

Best wishes,

Dan

Dan Iles

Food Campaigner

World Development Movement

020 7820 4900