IN the front page article of the March 20 edition of the Shuttle/Times and News, there is a call for protesters against the war in Iraq to "shut up".

In Bewdley there has been a silent peace vigil every Tuesday evening since the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, to which everyone is welcome.

If this is a protest against war, it is also an act of witness for peace.

In the silence, I think of all those who are caught up in war and violence and - to use the Quaker phrase - "hold them in the light".

EDWINA NEWMAN

Callow Hill

Rock