June 11 'War with Iran? Nonviolent alternatives: eyewitness reports on an art & peace delegation to Iran'
Emily Johns and Milan Rai, co-editors of Peace News will speak about their visit to Iran in February on a grass-roots US-UK peace delegation. Visiting four cities (Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd and Tehran), the group engaged in person-to-person diplomacy and held spontaneous peace demonstrations.
Drawing on their forthcoming book 'Drawing Paradise on the "Axis of Evil"' Emily and Mil will explore a hundred years of intertwined Anglo-Persian history, dismantle myths about the current nuclear crisis, and talk about nonviolent alternatives to war with Iran.
Brian Jackson House, 2 New North Parade, Huddersfield HD1 5JP (2 minutes walk from bus and railway stations)
7.30pm Free admission - all welcome
May 9 2013 Huddersfield Quaker Peace Lecture: Peace Stories: Inspiration from the past - Patterns for the future speaker Philip Austin
Philip Austin is Co-ordinator for Northern Friends Peace Board. He has worked with Quakers for more than 20 years and this year is joining with past and current NFPB members in marking that group's centenary. He will reflect on the different strands and stories of peace activity that he has encountered through these, consider what can be learned from them and suggest how they can help us in our future approaches to working for peace.
Venue: Huddersfield Quaker Meeting House, Church Street, Paddock HD1 4TR
Time: 7.30pm - free admission
REGULAR EVENTS
- Evening Meeting for Worship every Thursday: 7.30 - 8.15pm at the Meeting House - all welcome.
- Shared lunch is on the last Sunday of each month - all welcome to share vegan/veggie food, friendship and conversation.
- Sanctuary Supper every 2nd Saturday of each month 6pm to 9pm, food, conversation and games for sanctuary seekers, refugees and people of all-ages.
Directions to the Meeting House: http://www.huddersfieldquakers.org.uk/how-to-find-us/
SOME EVENTS WE HELD IN 2012
'Nonviolence for a Change: George Lakey in Conversation' Wednesday 25 July NB revised time 12.30pm Huddersfield Methodist Mission, Lord St HD1 1QA. We are really pleased to host this public meeting with veteran US peace activist, trainer and Quaker, George Lakey. This is George Lakey’s first visit to the UK since 1970 and will be a unique opportunity to draw on 50 years of activism and training with one of the most experienced cross-cultural activist trainers in the world. http://peacenews.info/node/6452/making-nonviolent-revolution
June 13 'Drone warfare: Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond. With the use of drones increasing around the world, what legal, ethical and moral concerns does this raise?'
Speakers: Chris Cole (Drone Campaign Network) and Fakhara Rehman (Kirklees Faiths Forum, speaking in a personal capacity)
Drone technology has changed the face of modern warfare.The CIA is currently launching attacks with unmanned fighter planes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia without ever announcing a state of war or setting foot on enemy soil. British forces have carried out over 200 drone attacks in Afghanistan.
Chris Cole is the founder of Drone Wars UK and blogs at http://dronewarsuk.wordpress.com/. He co-authored 'Convenient Killing: Armed Drones and the Playstation Mentality', the first in-depth independent UK report on drone warfare. Chris is Convenor of the Drone Campaign Network and regularly speaks to local groups and the media on drones and the growth of remote warfare. He was formerly Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Coordinator of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).
May 10 'Nonviolence in international affairs: nonsensical dream or urgent necessity?' Diana Francis; 2012 Huddersfield Quaker Peace Lecture
Diana Francis, a Quaker, is a former President of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation and was Chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support for most of its life. She is an associate of Conciliation Resources and Responding to Conflict, a former Chair of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support, and has worked for twenty years as a consultant facilitator, mediator, trainer and adviser, with experience in many countries, particularly the former Yugoslavia and the Caucasus region, the Middle East, Africa and South and East Asia.
As a writer Diana has published many articles, and three books with Pluto Press: People, Peace and Power: Conflict Transformation in Action (2002), Rethinking War and Peace (2004) and From Pacification to Peacebuilding: A Call to Global Transformation (2010).
