A ceremony held beside Newcastle University's war memorial, 8th May 2009

On 27 May 2007, forty-seven Afghan civilians were killed when a US war plane bombed a wedding party in Afghanistan. In response, the British peace group Justice-Not-Vengeance is today calling on people to organize 'naming the dead' ceremonies at war memorials around the UK. J-N-V is opposed to both the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent US-UK military responses in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.

Over the past 24 hours, the deaths of four more British soldiers in Afghanistan have been announced. This Wednesday, scores of Afghan civilians were killed by US/NATO forces in a bombing raid in Afghanistan's Farah province, over which US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, has expressed 'regret'. Thousands have been killed by US/NATO forces since the October 2001 invasion: the United Nations reckons that 2,000 were killed in 2008 alone.

As a group of Newcastle University staff and students, we are conducting a simple and solemn naming ceremony beside the university's memorial to its dead of the First and Second World Wars. We will read out the names of 50 UK servicemen killed while serving with the NATO force in Afghanistan, and 50 Afghan civilians killed by that force.

In so doing, we grieve all the dead of this conflict. We avoid a form of commemoration that marks out 'our' dead as worthy of mourning, but leaves those whom they killed invisible and unknown. We hereby state our desire that a just and peaceful solution to this conflict be sought. As names are read out one by one, please remain in the silence of your thoughts or prayers.

(The names of 40 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan and 40 Afghan civilians killed by the NATO forces were read out alternately, each at the toll of a bell).

After these names were read out, the ceremony concluded with the following words: We are all aware of the political debates around this war, which is now in its eight year. Yet it is sobering and distressing to hear the names, occupations, and ages of those killed, from aged 79 down to age 1 - the same age as the little boy with us here this morning. We have taken half an hour out of our busy days teaching, doing admin, researching, and preparing for exams. But as we have been reminded this week, in Afghanistan the killing continues. Let this ceremony and these names lead us to redouble our efforts and recommit ourselves to creating a world without such tragedies.