Programme of
the Wales Peace Festival 2008

Saturday, 18th October - Daytime sessions

09.30

Doors open. Assemble in the Forum (Computing Dept Common Room, through the link corridor). Coffee/tea

10.00-10.25

Opening: Stephen Thomas, Welsh Centre for International Affairs

10.30-11.30

Plenary session, lecture theatre

Speaker: Jill Evans MEP, Chair CND Cymru

In the 50th anniversary year of CND, Jill will discuss nuclear proliferation and the Middle East. Session in Welsh with simultaneous translation facilities.

11.30-12.00

Forum: Coffee/tea/biscuits

12.00-13.00

Choice of workshop sessions in seminar rooms

  1. PAWB (People Against Wylfa B) led by Dylan Morgan. Stop Wylfa B! The present campaign
  2. St Athan military academy. News, views and the campaign, led by James Maiden.
  3. Is religion the cause of war? led by Rev. Guto Prys ap Gwynfor, Cymdeithas y Cymod
  4. Shooting films - shooting people. War, peace and the cinema, led by Jonathan Ervine, University of Bangor.

13.00-14.15

Lunch break

People are free to take some fresh air and explore the wide variety of cafes, restaurants, coffee bars or pubs in Bangor High Street

14.30-15.45

Plenary session, lecture theatre

Speaker: Mark Curtis

We welcome a leading author who has over the years unpicked the many hidden histories of British government foreign policy past and present, to reveal some unsettling truths.

15.45-16.15

Forum: Coffee/tea/biscuits

16.20-17.30

Plenary session, lecture theatre

Speaker: Moazzam Begg

Many present will remember the moving address made by Azmat Begg in Aberystwyth (when his son Moazzam was still incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay); also after his release, Moazzam's own remarkable speech to Social Forum Cymru two years ago. Moazzam now returns to Wales to speak for the Cageprisoners organisation and his work for human rights, for the closure of Guantanamo, for an end to rendition and for an end to detention without charge.

18.00

Close of daytime session

Saturday, 18th October - Evening gig

Anglesey Arms, Menai Bridge (about a mile from Bangor, immediately over the Menai Suspension Bridge on the left, parking behind the pub, bar food available)

19.00

Informal meeting at the Anglesey Arms to discuss Wales Peace Festivals over a pint.

20.00-23.30

Bands: Trnstone, Bandabacana, DJ HippyAd

Entrance £7, concessions £5

Proceeds to Bustan Qaraaqa, a communtiy permaculture centre being developed in Palestine by environmentalists (led by former Bangor students and peace group activists).

Sunday, 19th October

09.30

Assemble in the Forum (Computing Dept Common Room, through the link corridor). Coffee/tea/biscuits

10.00-11.00

Plenary session, lecture theatre

Speaker: Greg Muttitt

Greg speaks for Platform and is an organiser of the Hands off Iraqi Oil Campaign. He will look at how the big oil companies are manoeuvering to claw back the oil they lost during the original nationalisation, in the context of the current global oil crisis.

11.00-11.30

Forum: Coffee/tea/biscuits

11.30-12.30

Plenary session, lecture theatre

Speaker: Mary Compton

Mary Compton, from Powys, is a leading light of the National Union of Teachers with a longstanding interest in Palestine and education in the Occupied Territories.

12.30 -13.30

Forum: Lunch

With most High Street food places closed at Sunday lunchtime, refreshments will be available for a small fee.

Singing by Bangor Community Choir

13.30 - 14.30

Plenary session, lecture theatre

Speaker: Dr Bianca Ambrose-Oji

Dr Ambrose-Oji works for the University of Bangor's Centre for Arid Zone Studies, and will address the question of how climate change may affect the resources and politics of Africa.

14.30-15.20

Workshop sessions in seminar rooms

  1. The new politics of Latin America led by Ben Gregory, Wales Nicaragua Solidarity
  2. More Power than We Know – the power of activism with Milan Rai, Peace News/JNV
  3. African perspectives. Discussion on current African politics, led by Nick Jewitt and Dr Ambrose-Oji
  4. War and imperialism led by Iain Dalton, Bangor Socialist Party

15.35- 16.00

Forum

Stephen Thomas, Welsh Centre for International Affairs

Summing up on the theme of building for peace

16.00

Close of Festival

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