The Nuclear Resister networks the anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance movement while acting as a clearinghouse for information about contemporary nonviolent resistance to war and the nuclear threat. Our emphasis is on support for the women and men jailed for these actions. This blog is the online companion to the quarterly Nuclear Resister newsletter, a more comprehensive chronicle. » Read more…
photo by Lin Romano
by Art Laffin
From Wednesday evening to Good Friday, some 30 friends gathered in D.C. for the annual Holy Week Faith and Resistance retreat sponsored by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and Jonah House communities. We were especially blessed to have with us students from Loras College from Iowa and members of the New Jerusalem community from Philadelphia. The theme of the retreat was: “Put Away the Sword.”
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2004 poster
Ten years ago, on April 21, 2004, several hundred of us from around the world waited with great anticipation outside the gates of Israel’s Ashkelon Prison, holding up signs saying “Thank you, Mordechai Vanunu: Peace Hero, Nuclear Whistle-blower”. After many years of campaigning for his freedom, the day had finally arrived: Mordechai Vanunu would walk out of the prison where he had spent each day of his 18 year sentence (12 of those years in solitary confinement) for blowing the whistle on Israel’s then secret nuclear arsenal. We were there to welcome him to freedom.
Our excitement had been somewhat dimmed a couple of days earlier, when Israel announced a list of oppressive and unjust restrictions on the soon-to-be-released whistle-blower. These restrictions continue to this day, having been renewed each April: Mordechai Vanunu remains under restrictions which require him to report and gain approval for any change in residence, to avoid diplomatic missions, to not speak to foreign nationals and which prevent him from leaving Israel, a thing Mordechai has wished to do ever since his release from prison.
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photo by Steve Tawa
from Brandywine Peace Community
About 25 people gathered in front of Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania in a Good Friday peace observance and protest, particularly of the U.S.’s #1 war profiteer’s ever growing role in drone war technology and spying, which includes: » Read more…
- the production of remote-controlled drone aircraft,
- the Hellfire missile they launch against people thousands of miles away,
- and the space-based satellites through which the drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Yemen, are enabled from the continental U.S.
photo by Chrissy Nesbitt
During Holy Week in Hampton Roads, Virginia, some 40 people walked part or all of a 53 mile Stations of the Cross, visiting 12 military bases, an Army recruiting center, and Lockheed Martin, as the 14 stations. At each military installation walkers remembered the crucifixion of Jesus, the crucifixion of humanity in war, and the Christian call to disarmament, nonviolence, and peacemaking.
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Photo by Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group
by Jeremy Thomas, Contra Costa Times
LIVERMORE — A group of 40 anti-nuclear activists, including a Dominican nun, were peacefully arrested at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory at the conclusion of an annual Good Friday protest organized by local interfaith groups.
An estimated 115 protesters gathered at Vasco and Patterson Pass roads for a worship service and speeches on nuclear weapons, proceeding to the lab’s west gate at 8:30 a.m., where those who chose to do so were arrested by lab security. Those arrested were cited for obstructing a public roadway and released.
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Photo by Marcus Page-Collonge
On Good Friday, April 18, members of the 2014 Sacred Peace Walk took part in a ritual commemorating war victims and nuclear victims at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Afterwards, River Victor and Ming (Nevada Desert Experience Council members) were married by Western Shoshone Chief Johnnie Bobb. They then joined 18 others in crossing the line onto the U.S. nuclear test site. All 20 activists were processed and released.
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On April 18, internationally recognized peace activist Kathy Kelly was detained with ten other anti-drone demonstrators at Beale Air Force Base in California following a Good Friday prayer service.
Organizers said that they gathered at Beale, “in the shadow of killer drones, modern day equivalents of the cross, to pray, to act, and to build a community of peace.” There have been frequent anti-drone demonstrations at Beale, home of the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that assists in finding targets for armed Predator and Reaper drones.
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photo by Susan Crane
From the Redwood City Catholic Worker website
About 50 people gathered at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California to reflect and pray about the consequences of war and empire to the earth and all life on the earth.
Under the umbrella of the Pacific Life Community, Catholic Workers, people in religious orders, students from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, and many, many friends gathered to remember those who suffer today.
Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest military contractor and a full-service weapons maker. Lockheed makes, among other things, missiles that carry Trident nuclear warheads, and hellfire missiles that are used by drones.
After the Stations of the Cross, three people walked up to the Lockheed Martin gates. When stopped by police, they knelt down in prayer.
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photo by John Amidon
On Wednesday, April 16, 2014, at about 8:10 a.m., nine anti-war activists were arrested at Creech Air Force Base (AFB) when attempting to serve a War Crimes Indictment (see below) to Creech AFB Commander Col. Jim Cluff. The nine are part of the Nevada Desert Experience’s 2014 Sacred Peace Walk, which will end at the Nevada National Security Site/Nevada Test Site on April 18, 2014.
The illegality of the CIA “secretive cluster of units within the wing call the 732nd Operations Group” can no longer be denied or covered up. Hundreds of children have been murdered along with thousands of innocent men and women. The CIA is using Creech Air Force pilots to carry out drone strikes in Pakistan. The War Indictment could not be delivered at a more timely moment.
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photo by Mike Schillingby
by Jane Stoever
Tamara Severns was arrested unexpectedly during an April 6 protest of drone warfare at Whiteman Air Force Base, near Knob Noster, Missouri. A member of the PeaceWorks, Kansas City Board of Directors and a Co-member of the Loretto Community, Tamara was walking toward the Visitors’ Center to use the bathroom. She and other resisters had used those facilities with no problem during about five earlier protests. On April 6, Tamara and several others had arrived at the base entry after authorities had warned the resisters not to step across the white line on the entry road. Unaware that “the rules” had changed, Tamara crossed the line to go toward the Visitors’ Center, was taken into custody with no warning, and was handcuffed, searched, and detained on the base about an hour.
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