Photo by JC Guillaume via LaLibre.be
A broad international coalition of peace activists, environmentalists, anti-globalists, and more were involved in a month of preparation and action for the NATO summit in Brussels at the end of May.
Archive for the 'Blog' Category
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Occupy Beale Photo
Thanks to Barry Binks for his report on the action.
On May 22 and 23, peace activists gathered at Beale Air Force Base for their monthly anti-drone warfare protest. On the morning of the 23rd, Air Force police had placed traffic cones in the entry road to separate traffic into 3 lanes – one lane to exit, one lane for the military entering the base and another for contractors and civilians going in. Just before 7 a.m., Elliott Adams, Shirley Osgood, Mauro Oliveira and Michael Kerr moved the cones so that they blocked the roadway, and then laid down across the road.
The contractors began to try to drive around the die-in blockade, and the activists moved their bodies and the cones closer to maintain the blockade. One big 18 wheeler drove down the shoulder of the road past all of the stopped traffic. When the angry driver came to the gate, he stopped just a foot and a half from Elliott Adams’ legs. Several protesters ran in front of the truck, yelling and trying to stop the driver from running over Adams. The driver started screaming and swearing, revving his motor, honking his horn and threatening to drive over Elliott’s legs. Finally, one of the Air Force police spoke to the driver.
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On Saturday, May 20, the 9th day of a continuous vigil and picket line at the entrance of the Iowa Air National Guard 132nd Drone Command Center in Des Moines, the Des Moines Catholic Workers and the Bill Basinger Des Moines Chapter of Veterans for Peace hosted the “Honor the Dead – Stop the Killing Arms Forces Day” Ezekiel 33 Watchman’s Witness.
Twelve protesters were present. The Iowa National Guard security and Des Moines police were ready for more, and the National Guard security had already closed down the main gate. This allowed the activists to set up on the drive in front of the closed Command Center entrance gate. Some of them shared reflections, including Gil Landolt and Ed Bloomer.
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Chelsea Manning @xychelsea
Here’s to freedom and a new beginning. https://www.instagram.com/p/BUNp_YDB54-/?taken-by=xychelsea87 … #chelseaisfree
from The Guardian
Chelsea Manning released from military prison
American army private is free after serving seven years of 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents and videos downloaded to WikiLeaks
Chelsea Manning, the army private who released a vast trove of US state secrets and was punished by the US military for months in penal conditions denounced by the UN as torture, has been released from a military prison in Kansas after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence.
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Photo by Julia Moras
In Germany, where nonviolent political blockades have been mostly decriminalized, an anti-nuclear activist who refused to pay a record €1650 fine has gone to jail instead.
In 2012, Hanna Poddig and others blocked a uranium transport train. The action was part of an international campaign targeting the production of uranium reactor fuel that involves several facilities across Europe. The train was forced to return to the fuel fabrication plant in Gronau. The Gronau plant has supplied fuel rods for a tritium production reactor in South Carolina, a direct link between civilian and military nuclear programs.
On May 11, Hanna Poddig turned herself in to the jail at Hildesheim, where she could serve up to 110 days in lieu of the fine.
UPDATE, June 2, 2017: Hanna Poddig was released from prison after the balance of her fine was paid.
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photo by Karol Milner
from the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
Fifty-five people were present on May 13, the day before Mother’s Day, at the demonstration against Trident nuclear weapons at the Bangor submarine base. Fourteen demonstrators attempted to block the main highway entrance into the base and were cited by the Washington State Patrol.
At around 3:30 p.m., six demonstrators entered the highway carrying a large banner stating, “THE EARTH IS OUR MOTHER—TREAT HER WITH RESPECT”, and briefly blocked traffic at the Main Gate at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. They were removed from the highway by the Washington State Patrol.
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April 26 highway blockade, Photo by Jerry Monroe Maynard
Drone warfare resisters gathered for the 3rd annual Shut Down Creech actions, April 23-29. Activists from across the United States joined daily themed vigils at the gate of Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, while two blockades shut down non-emergency traffic on Nevada State Highway 95, the main road leading from Las Vegas to the rural air base where lethal missions are remotely piloted for the Pentagon and CIA. Complementing the nonviolent actions were evening educational programs in Las Vegas, including one featuring two Air Force whistleblowers who worked in the drone program. A commercial aired on Las Vegas TV stations during the week, urging that drone pilots “refuse to fly.”
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photo of Good Friday, 2014 action at Lockheed Martin
from the Brandywine Peace Community
At noon on April 14, the Brandywine Peace Community held their annual Good Friday Stations of Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Resistance at Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Crosses laid between banners and signs, while a bell of peace tolled. Each station had a reading not of today, but for these times (for all times) ranging from Chief Sitting Bull to Sojourner Truth, Howard Zinn, Dr. King, Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, Daniel Berrigan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, William Penn, Gandhi, Jesus. The backdrop was war, forever more war: U.S. cruise missiles attacking Syria, a near-nuclear bomb (the mother of all bombs) dropped on Afghanistan, the threat of nuclear war with North Korea. Lockheed Martin, the U.S.#1 war profiteer, the world’s largest arms producer, was the obvious place for us to be on Good Friday. Understood?
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On Good Friday, April 14, Catholic Workers and other anti-nuclear activists went to the Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada nuclear Test Site) for a nuclear stations of the cross organized by the Las Vegas Catholic Worker. A nonviolent action at the boundary line of the site led to the arrests of four women and three men. They were processed and released on site.
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Photo by Lin Romano
by Art Laffin
From Holy Thursday afternoon to Good Friday afternoon, some 20 friends gathered in Washington, D.C. for a Faith and Resistance retreat and public witness that was organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and held at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Church. Those who participated in the retreat/witness included members of Jonah House, the Atlantic Life Community and students from Loras College from Iowa. The theme of the retreat was: “Standing With the Crucified–Stop Crucifixion Today.” Holy Thursday was a day of reflection, sharing, action planning and Liturgy. Good Friday was a day of public witness.
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