Bolton Town Hall Lobbys Home Secretary To Ban EDL Rally Later This Month.

Bolton Town Hall Lobbys Home Secretary To Ban

EDL Rally Later This Month.

TOWN hall chiefs
have this week sent an appeal to Home Secretary Alan Johnson asking him to ban the proposed English Defence League rally later this month.The two-page letter, signed by political, civic and faith leaders on Bolton Vision letter-headed paper, was sent to the Home Office on Monday.Bolton Council’s legal department has spent a fortnight putting the proposal together.

Copies of the council motion — which was unanimously passed last week — and a statement signed by the Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Rev Chris Edmondon, on behalf of the Bolton Faith Leaders Forum were included in the appeal, as was a copy of the One Bolton Pledge, which was launched on Saturday and promotes community cohesion.

Mr Johnson, as Home Secretary, is the only person with the power to stop static demonstrations such as that planned by the EDL for Bolton on Saturday, March 20.

The signatories of the letter state they do not want to prevent freedom of speech or freedom of assembly by asking for the rally to be banned.

They say past EDL events, such as those in Manchester and Stoke, have led to outbreaks of violence and disorder and that they want to prevent that happening in Bolton.

Sean Harriss, Bolton Council chief executive, said: “This has the full support of all the party and faith leaders and we are hoping for a positive response from the Home Secretary.

“We will also be seeking a meeting with Alan Johnson, or his representatives, so that we can put forward our case in person.”

Bolton Against Racism has already announced it plans to hold a “celebration of unity” event on the same day.

According to a number of websites, protesters against the rally, plan to arrive in numbers from as far away as Aberdeen and Dover, as part of a counter-demonstration.

Palestinian Cooperative To Attend Fairtrade Fortnight 2010

27th February, 2010

Palestinian Cooperative To Attend Fairtrade Fortnight 2010.
Zaytoun is a pioneering Fair Trade initiative selling Palestinian products in the UK and Ireland. We are a cooperative Community Interest Company and an World Fair Trade Association member. Zaytoun was established to support marginalized farming communities in Palestine. As a purpose beyond-profit company our primary objectives lie with the welfare of the producing communities. We invest in empowering farming communities and developing the agricultural infrastructure in Palestine. Since it inception in 2004 Zaytoun has imported more than 170, 000 litres of Palestinian olive oil into the UK which translates to more than £1.5 million reaching farmer cooperatives.

 We have worked closely with the Fairtrade Foundation since 2004 with the aim of certifying Palestinian Olive Oil. We are proud to announce that the first ever Fairtrade Certified product from Palestine was launched during Fairtrade Fortnight 2009.  Zaytoun’s range of Organic and Fairtrade Certified Olive Oil’s and Olives are the first Fairtrade Marked products in this category; this is a very exciting time for Zaytoun and the Palestinian farmer co-operatives that have been working to achieve Fairtrade status for 5 years.

We have invited Taysir Arabasi to the UK during Fairtrade Fortnight 2010. Taysir is Zaytoun’s Director in Palestine. He lives in Salfeet district which is an area highly dependent on olive cultivation and one which has seen much of its rich agricultural resources stolen through the construction of the illegal settlements. He has been working with community agricultural projects for the last ten years and has been instrumental in the grass roots campaigning against the building of the illegal annexation wall in the West Bank. Taysir is a passionate speaker about the rights of the small farmer and of the Palestinian people and an advocate of the power of fair trade.

This is positive story for change in Palestine with Fairtrade as the core message.
www.zaytoun.org contact@zaytoun.org  0845 345 4887
guildfordpeaceandjustice@talktalk.net