On the Fourth of July, friends and fellow activists accompanied Frits ter Kuile to Wittlich Prison in Germany, where he began serving a 30-day sentence for his resistance to nuclear weapons. In the summer of 2018, ter Kuile and 17 others entered Büchel Air Base, which is home to 20 U.S. nuclear weapons.
His supporters held banners at a vigil outside the prison. Frits, a Catholic Worker from Amsterdam, spoke of his action and decision to go to jail rather than pay a fine. He warned of the powder keg of nuclear weapons already deployed across Europe, and the imminent arrival of new ones. By his actions, Frits seeks to promote alternatives to armaments and war, namely the Way of Jesus who advises us to pray for those who persecute, occupy and oppress us, to overcome evil with good. Then no cities, countries or even whole continents will be reduced to ashes, but each one, from young to old, can participate to win the opponent with love to work together for peace, justice and the preservation of creation. This way of struggle is also not without suffering, but much more “beautiful” suffering than trying to kill each other and destroy each other’s land.
Send a card or letter of support to ter Kuile at the address listed here.
And of course Frits will be most happy if his time behind bars contributes to you also trying out and propagating this alternative way of dealing with conflicts, questioning the concept of military ‘defense’ and the enormous armament that is taking place now, and if you, yourself, also step into the stream of creative nonviolent resistance!
Frits ter Kuile addresses supporters before entering prison.
