West Lancs Peace and Justice Group is a campaign group based in Ormskirk. The group comprises  of people with different backgrounds but with the common concern for peace and justice throughout the world. Each year we focus on a limited (manageable) number of issues.

Our main aims are:

to increase awareness, in the hope that people on the whole are good and will do what they can to reduce injustice where they know it exists, whether this means using their vote, writing to their MP or simply giving their time.

to campaign for change for a more peaceful world, in the knowledge it is difficult to achieve peace without justice.

We set to achieve these aims through public meetings/presentations, leafleting, vigils, peace & justice awareness days, open debates  and lobbying MPs and the government.

Over the past few years we have been focusing on the Israel/Palestine conflict, amonst other issues. Some of  our members have visited Palestine and witnessed the suffering and humiliation endured by the Palestinians. We have been fortunate in hearing Israeli peace activists, such as Yehudit Keshet, a founding member of Checkpoint Watch (see: http://www.machsomwatch.org/en) address one of our public meetings. We have also twinned with a Al Wadi, Palestinian village west of Bethlehem. It has become enclaved by two Israel settlements. Many houses have been demolished by the Israelis and Palestinians have found themelves cut off from their farmlands. You can read the background here:  http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=933

On May 12th, 8.00pm,  one of our members,  Susan Murphy who joined the Viva Palestina convoy to Gaza in her camper van, will be showing her slides and giving an account of conditions in Gaza.  Susan had visited Palestine before and shared with us her photographic evidence of what it means for Palestinians to live under the Israeli occupation.