IAWM RALLY AT DÁIL, THURSDAY 5PM – DON’T BOMB SYRIA, CEASEFIRE NOW!

IAWM Press Release, 08 December 2015
IAWM RALLY AT DÁIL – DON’T BOMB SYRIA
The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) is having a protest at Dáil Eireann starting at 5pm this Thursday 10 December.
NO MORE BOMBING OF SYRIA – CEASEFIRE NOW!
END ARMS SALES NOW – STOP PROFITEERING FROM WARS
RESTORE IRISH NEUTRALITY – US MILITARY OUT OF SHANNON
END THE CYCLE OF WAR AND TERROR – NO MORE WESTERN WARS IN MIDDLE EAST
Speakers include:
– Richard Boyd Barrett TD, President IAWM
– Clare Daly TD
– Azad Izzeddin, Syrian Refugee
– Margareta D’Arcy, Anti-War Activist
– Ed Horgan, Shannonwatch and former Irish Army Officer
– Memet Uludag, Steering Committee IAWM
– Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, anti-war activist, will recite poem
– Síomha Ní Aonghusa, anti-war activist, will sing a special song about war
The Irish Anti-War movement, in solidarity with other anti-war events in the UK, France and elsewhere, is assembling outside the Dail at 5pm on Thursday December 10th to demand of the Irish Government that it upholds Irish neutrality, refuses to facilitate, or participate in, the bombing of Syria, calls for an immediate ceasefire and withdraws permission to use Shannon Airport by the US military.
“The claim that bombing will destroy Da’esh (Islamic State) is patently false, said Marnie Holborrow,” IAWM Steering Committee member.

IAWM Press Release, 08 December 2015
IAWM RALLY AT DÁIL – DON’T BOMB SYRIA
The Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) is having a protest at Dáil Eireann starting at 5pm this Thursday 10 December.
NO MORE BOMBING OF SYRIA – CEASEFIRE NOW!
END ARMS SALES NOW – STOP PROFITEERING FROM WARS
RESTORE IRISH NEUTRALITY – US MILITARY OUT OF SHANNON
END THE CYCLE OF WAR AND TERROR – NO MORE WESTERN WARS IN MIDDLE EAST
Speakers include:
– Richard Boyd Barrett TD, President IAWM
– Clare Daly TD
– Azad Izzeddin, Syrian Refugee
– Margareta D’Arcy, Anti-War Activist
– Ed Horgan, Shannonwatch and former Irish Army Officer
– Memet Uludag, Steering Committee IAWM
– Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, anti-war activist, will recite poem
– Síomha Ní Aonghusa, anti-war activist, will sing a special song about war
The Irish Anti-War movement, in solidarity with other anti-war events in the UK, France and elsewhere, is assembling outside the Dail at 5pm on Thursday December 10th to demand of the Irish Government that it upholds Irish neutrality, refuses to facilitate, or participate in, the bombing of Syria, calls for an immediate ceasefire and withdraws permission to use Shannon Airport by the US military.
“The claim that bombing will destroy Da’esh (Islamic State) is patently false, said Marnie Holborrow,” IAWM Steering Committee member.
“Bombs are one of the main reasons why we are facing terrorism in the first place. Bombs predominantly kill innocent people and thus help to draw people towards Da’esh both in the region and in the suburbs of European cities, where discrimination, racism and disaffection further fuels hatred of Western governments. The 8,500 drone strikes on Syria already carried out by the United States, France and Russia have created more Islamist militants than they have killed. The political vacuum left from the bombing of Iraq, which killed up to a million people, has been filled by the horror of Da’esh. To repeat the same mistake now simply makes no sense,” she said.
The IAWM criticises the Irish Government’s offer of military assistance to France. It has invoked Article 42, section 7 of the Lisbon Treaty which says that if an EU member state is the victim of armed aggression, the other member states will be obliged to come to its aid ‘by all the means in their power’. Irish Defence Minister Simon Coveney has given his full support for this. He has also said that Irish Defence Forces could take more of a role in Mali to free up French troops for their war on Da’esh.
Jim Roche, IAWM PRO noted that “this approach pulls Ireland in to the new war frenzy and is exactly what anti-war activists warned against during the Lisbon Treaty.”
The protest will also draw attention to the huge profits made because of this perpetual warfare. “Last year the UK sold £3bn worth of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, whose billionaires fund Da’esh and armed groups in Syria and Iraq”, said Marnie Holborrow.
Jim Roche noted that: “Ireland, too, participates in the arms bonanza. Last year alone, the Irish government issued almost 800 licences to exporters producing component parts for use in military goods abroad. Ending arms sales to the most reactionary states in the region should surely be the first step towards achieving an end to the Syrian civil war.”
The protest will also draw attention to the continued use of Shannon Airport by the US military. Ed Horgan of Shannonwatch noted that: “As the new war frenzy gathers pace Shannon Airport continues to be used by US troops. Approximately 1,000 U.S. troops are now on the ground in Iraq, with more on their way. 2.25 million troops have passed through Shannon since 2002, which makes it a vital link in the US war on terror. Yet the role of Shannon as a military airport continues to be denied by the Irish government.”
The protest will also assert that the only way to deal with Da’esh is for western military intervention to stop.
Marnie Holborrow said: “The Irish government, instead of cheering on bombing campaigns, should be promoting a ceasefire. It should be advocating a political solution to allow the people of Syria, Iraq and Libya to begin building the political structures which will side-line Da’esh. Ireland should also stop repeating the EU refrain that the Paris attacks must mean closing the borders. If we are serious about helping people in Syria, we need to be offering the hand of welcome to its victims of war.”
END
Contact:
Jim Roche, PRO, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 087 647 2737 (not available Thursday)
Marnie Holborrow, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 087 988 9244
Edward Horgan, Steering Committee IAWM, 085 851 9623
Memet Uludag, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 087 7919307
John Molyneux, Secretary, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 085 735 6424
Michael Youlton, Chair, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 086 815 9487
Gearóid Kilgallen, Steering Committee IAWM, 01 2800866
For more information on the IAWM see:
Website – www.irishantiwar.org
@IrishAntiWarMvt https://twitter.com/#!/IrishAntiWarMvt
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