THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS?

As millions in the United States will soon cast their vote for one evil or another it would seem important to keep perspective on the limits that that power currently has to effect real and meaningful change.

Two Articles presenting cautions and criticisms are excerpted here.

Follow the links for the full articles.

Excerpt from an article by Kwaku Kushindana:

"One of the most vociferous cries raised against African Americans who consider the possibility of not voting is: People died for your right to vote. I've concluded that this is only partially true. It is correct that the civil rights establishment championed the right to vote, but what has been forgotten is that there was no consensus within that movement about the way to promote the advancement of African Americans. The SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and the black power movement sought to change the fundamental power dynamic in this country, not simply to win the right to vote. How then did electoral politics get pushed to the top of the African American agenda? It was with the rise of black elected officials and the emergence of a privileged black community (who, by the way, had the most to gain) that the unthinking mantra developed. "

....

"Is there anybody to vote for? President Bush was correct when he spoke before the National Urban League and suggested that Democrats take the black vote for granted. Oh, the Democrats have done a good job of persuading African Americans that they are our "friends." But with friends like these, there is no need for enemies. With Democrats believing they have blacks in their pocket, they fail to put a high priority on our concerns and thus fall short as an affirmative choice."

Read the full article HERE.

Excerpts from an Article by Ricky Baldwin:

"...award-winning sociologist and activist Francis Fox Piven says the antiwar movement may have expected too much for too little. "War-making is never determined by anything like a democratic process," she says. "War is something that governing elites undertake, and they don't undertake it in response to popular opinion. If that were the case, we would probably never go to war, because ordinary people pay for war with blood and with their wealth."

......

"So do we just keep doing what we are doing and look forward with bated breath for that fateful day? Hardly. What the current antiwar movement has done so far, she says, is express opinion. "They marched in large numbers, they rallied, and it was a kind of voting, voting in the streets. I think a successful antiwar movement has to act in ways that throw sand in the gears of the war machine. Resistance has to be more serious."

Read the full article HERE at Common Dreams

The Pitstop Plowshares have continued to organize and resist while they await a trial date that has now been delayed into 2005. For updates on their ongoing activities visit their website : Pitstop Plowshares

You can find their entry in the plowshares chronology HERE.

REMEMBERING PHIL:

Frida Berrigan recently offered some reflections on her father at the unveiling of a monument celebrating his life.

Excerpts:

"What was it like?" is a question I am often asked. What was it like to have these larger than life people as parents. I don't have any other parent experience to compare it to* The thing is, my dad was not an icon to me. He was- and still is even though he is dead- my father. The man who pushed back my cuticles, rolled up my too long sleeves and was always telling me to comb my hair and get my bangs out of my eyes.

My dad was a man with an easy laugh, shit eating grin who learned some hard lessons about war and greed and the need for people to take responsibility. He passed them on to us without too much sugar coating.

My dad was a man whose expectations of himself- and by extension his children- were sky high and biblically rooted. "From those to whom much has been given, much will be required." He said. We were gifted, he said, in family, love, skills, talents, insights- and we had a responsibility to use those gifts in the service of others.

.....

...On April 20, 2002 there was a huge peace march in Washington , DC and Dad was asked to speak at it. We all drove down from Baltimore together. We brought a folding chair because dad was due for hip surgery and it was hard for him to stand.

....

Behind the big stage, the organizers had set up a tent for all the "luminaries." Dad was greeted with deference and respect by people like Martin Luther King the Third, lefty movie stars, union leaders, and organization directors. But he really wanted to talk with the young people who were making it happen, the kids in the headsets and walkie talkies.

He was so energized to see how many thousands had turned out to protest how the attack of September 11th had been used as an excuse to wage war.

When it was his turn to speak, he got up on the stage and saw for the first time how huge the crowd was. He was silent for a second, and mustered up new energy to be heard.

He started off by saying, "you are the answer, you are the answer. Don't get tired, don't get tired."

I was sitting on the side of the stage watching him. I had helped him up the stairs, and I knew he was in a lot of pain, that bone on bone grind of his hip and socket. I knew he was tired. Tired of pain, but mostly tired of bullshit and half-heartedness. And that in front of all those thousands, that tired was melting away, being replaced by the energy and hope of tens of thousands.

His "don't get tired," was an injunction, an order, but it was also a plea.

"May this be the first of many new beginnings aimed at sending the bosses and warriors packing."

Read The Full Reflection HERE at the Jonah House Community Website

MARTHA STEWART MOVES IN WITH THE PLOWSHARES NUNS:

Stephen Kobasa writes on Martha Stewart, The Earth and Space Plowshares, and Good Housekeeping.
 

Read the article HERE.

SHANNON PLOWSHARES UPDATE:

The trial of Mary Kelly got off to a false start as her defense counsel resigned in the midst of proceedings. A postponement has been given until the 19th of October.

June 17th press release:

In a shock development today, the second day of hearings, Mary Kelly’s legal counsel, Brendan Nix, Antoinette Simon and John Devane withdrew themselves from the case in an application to Judge Carroll Moran at 2pm.

Mary Kelly’s response to this is: “This is the very last thing I would have expected from legal professionals. I am shocked because I did not think it were possible that counsel could abandon their client moments before the prosecution opened with its case.”

A late sub-poena made yesterday by Mr. Devane on behalf of Mary Kelly was dismissed this morning at the request of senior counsel for the Attorney General. The sub-poena demanded the appearance of the Irish Attorney General and his documented advice to the Government on the illegality of the US military use of Shannon Airport.

International observers and prominent witnesses in the case commented: “We’ve seen this before – it is not unusual for lawyers to let peace activists down.”

One of these, Mr. Ramsey Clark, the former US Attorney General under Kennedy, will be speaking against the war and in support of Mary Kelly tonight at Dánlann an Chláir, Coláiste Muire, Ennis at 7:30 pm – press and public are most welcome.

Other speakers are: Mr Denis Halliday, former UN assistant Secretary General, Mr. Tim Hourigan, peace activist and Ms. Maggie Ronayne, Global Women’s Strike

Visit the Mary Kelly Website to learn more about this case.

Read Mary Kelly's statement Here.

Posted by Erin

MORE COURT AND FURTHER DELAYS:

The Pitstop Ploughshares appeared in court most recently to challenge a ban from Co. Clare. They still have yet to reach the trial stage in their court proceedings as delays and postponements continue.

Visit the Pitstop Ploughshares Website for further updates and information.

An excerpt from a recent update:

Deirdre Clancy, Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran & Ciaron O'Reilly are awaiting trial charged with two counts of criminal damage ($US 2.5 million & 200 euros). Charges arise out of their 3/2/03 nonviolent disarmament of a U.S. Navy War Plane at Shannon Airport en route to the invasion of Iraq. Shannon Airport continues to host 10,000 U.S. troops a month, enroute to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. On March of this year, the figure rose to almost 17,000 troops.

In December 2003, (trial) Judge Mathews ordered the Prosecution to provide further discovery to the Ploughshares defendants. The discovery ordered relates to the nature of U.S. military flights stopping off at Shannon in the six months preceding to the action. The Prosecution are keen to strip the disarmament of any military context and reduce it to vandalism.

One working day before the discovery was due (26/1/04) the Prosecution team was replaced and moves began to get Judge Mathews to reverse his December decision. The Ploughshares have returned to the Four Courts five times in February as these Prosecution machinations played themselves out. On Feb. 29th. Judge Mathews ruled "it is as it was" on the discovery question. The Prosecution subsequently indicated they were initiating a judicial review on Judge Mathews discovery rulings.

The nature of this Monday's hearing (April 19th) is an attempt by the defendants to get their ban from Co. Clare lifted. Chief Superintendent John Kerin will testify for the prosecution in an attempt to prevent the ban from being lifted.

 

Posted by Erin

THE ONLINE TALE FROM THE WHALE:

Jonah House, the longtime center for faith-based resistance and community, is now online with a frequently updated website. Visit the website to find updated news and writings on Faith based resistance, as well as letters and writings from Jackie Hudson O.P., Carol Gilbert O.P, and Ardeth Platte O.P. ; all three Dominican sisters are serving  2 1/2 -3 1/2 years in prison for their participation in the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares 2.

Posted by Erin

UPDATE ON  THE PITSTOP PLOUGHSHARES:

The Pit Stop Ploughshares are due to appear before Judge Mathews at Green St. Special Criminal Courts in Dublin on Monday January 26th.

Read the press release Here.

Visit the PitStop Ploughshares Webpage Here.

Posted by Erin

SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES II UPDATED/REVISED

The Chronology has been updated with Art Laffin's revised account of the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II.

Updated Prison Addresses for the Nun's are now Available on the page as well.

Saturday, December 27,2003

Posted by Erin

UPDATE ON  THE PITSTOP PLOUGHSHARES:

A Favorable Decision At Pre Trial And a Visit To the Aviation Authority

Read The Court Report By Damien Moran Here.

Visit the PitStop Plowshares Webpage Here.

INFILTRATION: A PRIVATELY RUN COINTELPRO?

The European SUNDAY TIMES recently unveiled the sinister activities of a privately run counter intelligence agency that sells information on left wing groups to Government agencies and Military contractors. From the reports of affected activists however, these activities appear to have also involved 'disruption' as well as spying.

In addition to the many other campaigns and efforts for a more just world, several European Plowshares groups and at least one Catholic Worker appear to have been affected by these activities (read O'Reilly's reflection below).

Excerpts from the Original Sunday Times Article:

Le Chene has been named as the mastermind of a vast private intelligence-gathering network that collated the identities and confidential details of nearly 150,000 left-wing activists and offered them at a price to British industrial companies.

...Among her clients was the defense giant British Aerospace, now known as BAE Systems, according to a source intimate with the company’s security operations.

...Insight has seen computer files and thousands of pages of reports from the widespread spying operation carried out for BAE. Bank accounts were accessed, computer files downloaded and private correspondence with members of parliament and ministers secretly copied and passed on.

...According to a source, Le Chene infiltrated an agent known as “Brough” into a Humberside offshoot of CAAT called Hull Against Hawks.

...Le Chene invoiced BAE for the £280 a month rent for Brough’s flat in Hull, and there is evidence that he was the secretary of the Hull group and used the name Alan Fossey.
 

...His sound counsel was valued by other members of the group. When, at one meeting, a campaigner had suggested leaping over a fence to “occupy” an arms fair, Fossey had cut the subject dead by claiming he had heard the event was being guarded by paratroopers.
 

...Quite how he knew, nobody asked. But then nobody knew the truth about who really paid the rent on his fully furnished flat, where they met, or who was really picking up the bill for the phone he used to arrange all the group’s business.

Read the Full Article HERE

Ciaron O'Reilly of The Pit Stop Plowshares offers some reflections on his experience with the man known as "Alan Fossey" to Non-violent activists across England.

Fossey moved his operations from Hull to Liverpool - as by the end of '96 the Liverpool Catholic Worker became the most significant base during this period  for non-violent direct action against BAe. There was also a full scale infiltration and undermining of lobbying attempts from London based groups at this time. Special Branch's agenda was to close us down and Fossey was to play a significant role in this through the years of '97 and '98.

On my return to Australia in '98 to participate in the Jabiluka Ploughshares, Fossey dovetailed into the agenda of a couple of resentful parishioners and some recently arrived opportunists to wipe out what had become a significant organizing base against BAe and a rare experiment in radical Christian resistance praxis in England.  Much of the destabilization had to do with discrediting my character in my absence and marginalizing the working class supporters who had been the source of much of the hospitality and resistance organizing.

....That Fossey could  over the course of two years infiltrate, operate within, betray, and profit from an environment that contained East Timore (who on many occasions fed, watered him) who  had been tortured, witnessed massacres and lost many family shows the depth of evil we are encountering in this work.

Read the Full Article HERE

More Government Groups have Recently Admitted to Using The Spying and disruption services of the Privately Run Counter Intelligence Organization R&CA Publications.

Excerpt from The Sunday Times:

...Group 4, whose clients range from the prison service to the royal family and the government, and boasts of its ability to guard its customers against espionage, sabotage and subversion, has also admitted paying for information obtained by the spy network.

Le Chene, a member of the exclusive Special Forces Club in London, claims to corporate clients that she has a database containing the names of more than 148,000 people who belong to left-leaning pressure groups such as CAAT, Reclaim the Streets and CND

Tape-recorded conversations involving Le Chene reveal that she regularly passed information from her network of agents to Group 4. She said she had agents posted permanently at Newbury and passed on highly confidential personal information about protesters to the company.

These included accommodation addresses, vehicle registration details, National Insurance numbers, unemployment benefit details and income support information.

Read the Full Article HERE.

Posted by Erin

NEW ADDRESSES FOR THE  NUNS AND JONAH HOUSE IN JAIL

Jonah House has released an update on the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II as well as the news that Liz McAllister and Susan Crane Have been put behind bars for holding a banner at the Christening of a Navy Destroyer in Bath. Maine.

Excerpt:

Sisters Carol and Jackie of Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares have arrived at Federal Prison Camps. Sister Ardeth is still at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. We expect Ardeth will be moved to Danbury, CT when they have room for her.

Send only cards or letters- do not include stamps, money, envelopes or other items. Magazines and paperback books can be sent but less than five in one mailing and write "Authorized by BOP policy" on the outside. Hardcover books can only be sent from the publisher or bookstore.

Read the full Update and get the new prison addresses Here

Visit the Jonah House Webpage Here

SITE UPDATE:

The Statements page has been removed.

All statements and group documents have now been incorporated into their relevant plowshares entries in the Chronology

Posted by Erin

ANALYSIS FROM THE NUN'S DEFENSE

Anabel Dwyer Esq. offers some post trial Analysis On the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II:

Excerpt from Jonah House's YEAR ONE Publication:

The Court’s pre-trial order prohibited the Nuns from raising any affirmative defense. The order was based on charges not brought - trespass, vandalism and political protest. The Court thus canceled the basic requirements of notice of the charges and relieved the Prosecutor of his burden to prove all elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Court relied on inapplicable cases and inaccurate dicta and its own quoted-out-of-context experts. The Court thus relied on “expert witnesses against the Nuns whom the Nuns could not cross-examine.

While not addressing the fact or substance presented in the Nuns’ Motions to Dismiss and the Motions hearing, the court dismissed the defense experts as “mavens” and prohibited any defense expert fact or law testimony at trial. Most bizarre was the Courts finding that the Nuns had no “standing” to raise U.S. violations of the laws of war in a criminal proceeding involving alleged sabotage and depredation against a nuclear weapon whose threat or use plainly violates the laws of war in any circumstance.

Read the Full Article HERE.

Posted by Erin

Site Updates:

Arthur Laffin's Introduction to Plowshares Actions has been brought up to date with the recently published Book based On the Plowshares Chronology.

The GE Five Plowshares Has been  re-added to the Chronology after falling off the books a while back.

ULLA ON TRIAL SEPTEMBER 22

A new trial date for Ulla Roder.

Ulla Roder has been on remand since 10th March, when she was arrested after disarming a Tornado jet, preventing its use in the war against Iraq. On 8th August, Ulla was released without bail conditions by Edinburgh High Court after a legal complication.

Her trial is now due to be the 22th September. There will be a pre-trial diet on the 9th September
 

Read More about Ulla Roder And The RAF Leuchars Plowshares at the "Free Ulla" Website.

Posted by Erin

ULLA ON TRIAL AUGUST 25

Ulla Roder of the RAF Leuchars Plowshares is scheduled to appear before the courts on August 25 for Disarming a Tornado Jet in March.

Update from the Free Ulla Website:

Following a court appearance today peace activist Ulla Roder has been given a new trial date –25th August.

Ulla (48), from Odense in Denmark but currently living in Scotland, is on remand in Cornton Vale prison in Stirling for damaging a Tornado jet at Leuchars in March. Today at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court her solicitor, Aamer Anwar, sought an adjournment of her trial and this was not opposed by the Crown. There will also be a first diet on 12th August.

Posted by Erin

ART, POLITICS, AND FAITH

New link added. The Gerald and Maas Community website features art, essays and resources for Resistance and social change. Some of the Classic Press posters from the Plowshares Eight can be found here as well.

SITE UPDATES:

The GODS OF METAL PLOWSHARES page has been reformatted. Statements, articles and a story by Democracy Now! have been added.

Excerpt From An Article by Anabel Dwyer Esq. On International Law:

The Gods of Metal Plowshares Five...were the first in the U.S. to rely upon the International Court of Justice opinion on nuclear weapons for legal authority to disarm a B-52 "in service" at the Andrews Air Force Base open house...

...In 3 hours of testimony by Francis Boyle whom the Court qualified as an expert on international law U.S. criminal law and nuclear weapons reaffirmed the Gods of Metal Five evidence that the B-52 is a strategic nuclear weapon which the binding rules and principles of humanitarian law renders illegal and criminal in any circumstance.

...The Court erred in failing to require the prosecutor to prove that the B-52 is legal under US law. The Gods of Metal Five and Francis Boyle testified that the B-52 is a strategic nuclear weapon designed and planned to unleash "powerful and prolonged radiation" with horrific effects well understood and documented by the US government itself.

Read the Full Article HERE.

JACKIE HUDSON O.P. PRE-SENTENCING STATEMENT

Sister Jackie's Pre-sentencing statement is now available On THE SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES 2 page.

Excerpt:

We went to the silo site because of a burden of knowledge. We have studied the various treaties declaring the threat to use or the use of nuclear weapons as illegal. I refer today to the Nuremburg Principles and the Tokyo Tribunal, which our government was principally responsible for writing after WW II. They declare that:

"Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience.... Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring."
-- Nuremberg War Crime Tribunal, 1950

We brought the evidence to prove that our action was legal. Two eminent International Law Professors testified on the stand at our motions hearing that what we had done was legal and that we should be released from our jail cells in Clear Creek County.

Read the full text HERE.

CRITICAL COMMENTARY

Carol Stonemetz from N.Y. takes issue with a Denver Post Article On the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares 2

Read Carol's response HERE.

Read Jim Spencer's Denver Post editorial HERE.

PIT STOP PLOWSHARES TRIAL DATE IN 2004?

The Pit Stop Plowshares are scheduled for a court appearance on November 3rd but their trial may not commence until 2004.

Read Deirdre Clancy's report from their recent Bail Hearing HERE.

Friday July 25, 2003

Posted by Erin

SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES 2 IN COURT TODAY.

Sisters Jackie, Carol and Ardeth sentenced to prison

Three Dominican sisters were sentenced in Federal Court in Denver, CO this morning for their action of October 6th, 2002. Judge Blackburn, influenced in part by an overwhelming display of local, national and international support for the activists, took the unexpected step of a "downward departure" from the prosecutor's recommended prison sentences.

After facing a range of 6-8 years, the Plowshares women were handed sentences between 2.5 and 3.5 years. Combined with three years of probation and over $3,000 in restitution each, these sentences still reflect a harsh response by a judicial system which protects the legality of the weapons and punishes people of conscience who seek to symbolically disarm them.

Excerpt from an account of the proceedings from the Jonah House community:

Today, Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson were sentenced for breaking into a federal missile silo in Colorado, smearing it with their own blood and pounding on it with hammers. The Dominican nuns said the act symbolized that they would rather pour out their own blood than have U.S. weapons take the blood of another.

The day began in Colorado with a press conference in front of the Federal building at which the nuns read their pre-sentencing statements; they would not read them in court. Instead, in solidarity with women around the world, they decided to dress as Women in Black and remain mute in the courtroom. It proceeded with the Judge deciding to consolidate the sentencings -despite his prior refusal of that motion.

Once in court, arguments were made by both sides on the length of sentence. The prosecutor and the probation office requested sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years in prison.

Sr. Jackie Hudson was sentenced to 30 months in prison
Sr. Carol Gilbert was sentenced to 33 months in prison
Sr. Ardeth Platte was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

Read the full account HERE

Posted by Wendy

SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES 2 PRE-SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Carol and Ardeth's Statements read before the Courthouse are Now Available

Excerpt from Ardeth's Statement:

With a vision for disarmament, a mandate to speak truth, and a mission to halt the sinfulness, illegality and criminality being touted in my name, I march to the Drummer of my soul Who instills faith rather than fear, trust not hopelessness, and love instead of hatred and enemy relationships made through endless threats, innuendos, propaganda, and permanent war-making.

Read the full statement HERE.

Excerpt from Carol's Statement:

We have read in the press and in our pre-sentencing reports that the lengthy sentence is for deterrence - both for ourselves and others. But, what the government fails to recognize is that long prison sentences will only energize the movement. As a tee shirt in upstate New York reads, "You can jail the resister but not the resistance." We will not be silenced.

Read the full statement HERE.

Posted by Erin

ON THE NECESSITY DEFENSE:

Two articles are now available about the 'Necessity Defense' which is sometimes used to defend Plowshares Actions in court.

Excerpt from an Article by Thomas Lumpkin:

...On a number of occasions in recent years nuclear resisters and protesters of U.S. Central American policy have claimed a legal justification for their acts. Most often they have presented their cases as clear and obvious applications of what is known in U.S. civil law as the defense of necessity or duress. In response, some judges have simply refused the claim. In several instances, however, a defense of necessity was allowed in theory, but in fact a judge or jury imposed so narrow an interpretation on its meaning that it was inapplicable to the acts of resistance. In a very few cases the necessity defense has been the basis for sane and heartening judicial statements and decisions of acquittal.

Read the full article Here

A much shorter Article based on work done by Robert Aldridge can be read Here.

Posted by Erin

SENTENCING FOR OUR SISTERS THIS FRIDAY

Sisters Carol, Jackie, and Ardeth of the SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES II will be facing potentially harsh sentences this Friday ( 7-25-03) in Colorado for their acts of resistance to America's Weapons Of Mass Destruction.

From a press release on the Grand Rapids Dominicans Website:

Three Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters will be sentenced on July 25 in the Denver Federal District Court for a Plowshares action at a Colorado nuclear missile site last fall in which they symbolically inspected and disarmed nuclear weapons. In April, the Sisters were found guilty of obstruction of the national defense of the United States and injuring the property of the United States. They face sentences ranging from 5-10 years based on federal sentencing guidelines. The Sisters explain their action in this way:

As Roman Catholic sisters, we feel an urgency to break our complicity and sound an alarm to the madness of these times. We must abide by God's law, which challenges the United States government on both the national and international levels. We in the U.S. are losing our humanity. We pray that this action may bring us back to our human hearts.

Read the Full Press Release Here

...The nuns have never hurt anyone. They never will. They're sort of like angels. If the whole world adopted their sacrifice and respect for humanity, terrorism and war would cease. So would crime. It would be heaven on earth.

Read the full text Here or Here.

TALKING POINTS

Grand Rapids Dominicans Website has written up a page of 'talking points' for people organizing around the  Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares 2.

Get the Document Here or Here.

Posted by Erin

PLOWSHARES: THE MOVIE

A Theatrical Documentary on the SACRED EARTH AND SPACE PLOWSHARES II is in the making by ZertoSixty Productions.

Excerpts from the project description:

The United States of America v. Carol Gilbert, Jackie Marie Hudson and Ardeth Platte elucidates legal, social and religious divisiveness in the wake of the events of September 11 and raises questions about tolerance and freedom in America in wartime. Interviews with leaders of the religious right, those at the forefront of the non-violent activist movement, scholars in the international law community, and the Sisters, juxtapose the issues in such a way as to challenge our understanding of faith and resistance, as well as the American legal system and policies surrounding national security. . .By developing the personal story of the Sisters as our primary characters and examining their motivations, this documentary will attempt to expose, understand and answer the question-what forces are at play today that led a Colorado federal jury to convict three nuns of sabotage? Is the judicial system in this country undermining democracy or is it providing safeguards for a nation under siege?

Visit the Film's Website and read the full description Here.

To help support this project:

...We are a not-for-profit organization so all donations are tax deductible. To contribute, please view our WEBSITE at: www.Littlevoice.org Click on PROJECTS and USvGilbert, Hudson and Platte. You will see a task bar for edonations or checks as well as a detailed description of the project and what other people/organizations have contributed to date.

Posted by Erin

SHANNON PLOWSHARES NEWS UPDATE:

Hung Jury, Re-Trial Possible in October

Excerpts from a report by Deirdre Clancy:

Speaking to Mary by phone soon after the trial’s end, I asked her for her reaction to this outcome. “It’s a great victory for Ireland,” she said, quietly, obviously deeply moved. “The people, having heard the evidence, could not find me guilty of a crime.” Not only is it a victory for Ireland and for the peace movement as a whole, but it is also a victory for Mary and her legal team, given the efforts of the prosecution, and indeed the judge, to try to suppress both highly distinguished and experienced defense witnesses and evidence for the defense

...Day two was a day in which the jury’s patience was tested by the prosecution. They continually had to leave the courtroom while the prosecution team went away to find evidence that they had forgotten to bring to court. According to plane-spotting activist Tim Hourigan, the jury were “up and down like the Assyrian Empire”. However, the comic highlight of the day has to have been when Commander Shady of the U.S. Navy (yes, that’s his real name, by the way) revealed that as project manager for the fleet of C40s (the ill-fated plane was part of a new fleet), he had performed a damage estimate of the plane via video satellite link from Kansas.

...Ramsey Clark (former U.S. Attorney General and longtime peace campaigner) testified for 30 minutes about the adverse effects of U.S. foreign policy, stating facts and figures about the effects of long-term low-intensity conflict in Iraq since 1991. He expressed deep concern about the sanctions, with at least 585,000 young children dead as a direct result of them. He also compared Mary’s action to somebody removing the bullets from a gun that would otherwise be used to kill someone. The prosecuting counsel strenuously questioned the relevance of Clarke’s testimony, and asked him the following question: “If someone broke into your house and did 1.5 million euros worth of damage, how would you feel?” Clarke replied that if his house was capable of complicity in the murder of innocents, he’d be actively offering invitations to people to come and damage it.

Read the full report Here.

Posted by Erin

Gagging Ulla

A news update on Ulla Roder of the RAF Leuchars Plowshares.

From the Trident Ploughshares Website:

Ulla Roder Faces Legal Hurdles Before Trial Even Begins

The trial of Ulla Roder for damaging a Tornado jet at Leuchars airbase in March, is now scheduled to be heard sometime during the two weeks beginning 28th July, following another hearing on 22nd July...

...The basic legal point at issue appears to be that the Lord Advocate's Reference 2000(1) is interpreted by the Scottish legal establishment as ruling out any justification for damage to property, for whatever reason, including an attempt to prevent the killing of innocent people.

Does this mean the Scottish legal establishment also rules out this justification for the war makers?

Read the full story Here.

PERSHING PLOWSHARES 1985

The Pershing Plowshares page has been reformatted and updated with new photos and an article link.

Excerpts from the interview with Patrick O'Neil:

Seated in a spartan conference room, with a guard conspicuously posted outside the door, O’Neill, 29, talks rapid-fire, his voice betraying an edge of a New York accent that still lingers. The bluntness of New York conversation remains intact as he hammers away at any sentimental ideas that might attach themselves to him as a peace activist.

...“The actions we took may be viewed as outlandish or outrageous,” he said. “Extraordinary actions are sometimes necessary when facing extraordinary evils.” “I consider myself a patriot,” he continued. “I’m not un-American. I’m not a Communist. I’m not an apologist for the Soviet Union.”

...O’Neill says, “There has been no glory to being a convict.”

“It has been lonely, it has been stressful, it has been painful,” he said. On the other hand, he rejects any attempt to spotlight his sacrifices or those of other Plowshares activists who are jailed. O’Neill who has hundreds of people corresponding with him in jail says, “The worst thing I ever hear is ‘I have so much admiration for you. I can never do what you did.’”

Read the full article Here

FREE ULLA!

The RAF Leuchars Plowshares page has been updated with a link to the Free Ulla Rodar Website.

An Account of the action by Ulla Roder Has also been linked.

Excerpt:

The echo of the hammering was still in the air when I started on the wings. The hard surface resisted my attempts...

...Lies! Disarmament treaties and negotiations -thirty years! International law! Ignorance! All lies to buy time for the weapon industries and military to re-arm for the warfare of the 21st Century. Shame! Shame! Shame on all nuclear weapon states. Shame for all the time the courts have ignored the arguments of ordinary people. Now really tired, I slammed the bolt-cutters down on the back of the plane. This for all the arrogance from intelligent, learned people, who have never glanced long enough into the eyes of a young drug addict to understand why they suffer...

...No more will anyone face the horrors of war from that plane. One more war machine was disarmed. I felt a deep inner peace.
 

Read the full account Here.

Posted by Erin

Mom and Dad on the Plowshares Kid

From an article by Kay Dibben in The Sunday Mail, (England):

Read the full story Here.

Posted by Wendy

Debating D.U.

This aired a couple of weeks ago on Democracy Now!

Is Depleted Uranium Creating a New Nuclear Danger in Iraq?

A debate on DU between Nuclear Policy Research Institute President Helen Caldicott, radiation physicist Geoffrey Sea and Dr. Thomas Fasy

During the first Persian Gulf War, the U.S. used 320 tons of munitions made with depleted uranium. The Air Force fired roughly 750,000 rounds from A-10 aircraft. The Army fired over 50 of DU ammunition from Abrams tanks.

This munition and its primary delivery vehicle, the A-10 Warthog was the focal point for the Plowshares vs. D.U. Action.

Listen to the debate Here.

Tuesday June 24,2003

Posted by Erin

RAF Leuchars Plowshares News

Two bits of news From the Trident Ploughshares website:

June 20, 2003 Scottish High Court Quashes Peace Activist's Supervised Attendance Order

Today the High Court in Edinburgh quashed a Supervised Attendance Order (SAO)* that had been imposed on peace activist Ulla Roder by a lower court after she had refused to pay a fine incurred for a protest action.

Read the full story Here.

June 17, 2003 Ulla Roder Trial to be Adjourned

The trial of Ulla Roder for damaging a Tornado jet at Leuchars airbase in March, which was due to begin on 30th June, has been adjourned, possibly until late July.

Ulla (48), from Odense in Denmark but currently living in Scotland, is being held on remand at Cornton Vale prison in Stirling. When she appeared at a plea hearing today in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court a defense submission to adjourn the trial was accepted by Sheriff Liddell. The plea hearing was continued until 24th June in the same court, when a new date for the trial will be set.

Supporters from across Scotland gathered outside the courtroom and gave Ulla a resounding send-off as she left the court in a police vehicle. A spokesperson said: "Lots and lots of people have signed the petition of support for Ulla. They applaud her for disabling a plane that was about to be involved in killing innocent people. She did it in our name."

Read The Full Story Here.

Counterpunch on the Pitstop Plowshares

I was recently sent links to these two articles posted on Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St.Clair's Counterpunch website.

From The Pitstop Ploughshares- Late Date in Court for Irish Activists By Harry Browne

"They won't actually get put in prison, will they?" Call it a postcolonial hangover, but Irish people have a healthy skepticism about high-minded concepts such as "an independent judiciary". So when you mention to ordinary friends and colleagues that the five Catholic Worker activists arrested in February for damage to a US Navy plane at Shannon Airport...are going to face trial for their actions, the response is often based on the implicit belief that the Irish government will somehow avoid making prison-martyrs of them. Sure, they'll have to be prosecuted -- the Yanks would expect no less -- but not locked up; that would be a national embarrassment, not to mention a focus for dissent.

Read the full text of Harry Browne's article Here.

From  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Iraq, By Harry Browne

In a country that is ostensibly secularising, and which was never too keen on mixing enthusiasm with religion anyway, the Shannon activists' commitment ­ which smacks of actual belief ­ has been surprisingly popular, despite some government and media spinning against them. The papers particularly enjoyed O'Reilly's response to the question of whether he was the group's 'leader': "The Holy Spirit led our group."

Read the full text of Harry Browne's article Here

Posted by Erin

American Political Prisoners

Here's Some excerpts from an article by professor James R. Bennett at the university of Arkansas.

...From Henry David Thoreau's refusal to pay taxes to express his opposition to slavery and the Mexican War (defended in his essay "Civil Disobedience") to the protesters who shut down the San Francisco Bay Bridge to express their opposition to the Gulf War of 1991 (the protest defended upon the Nuremberg Principles and the First Amendment), citizens have refused to obey government rules or laws they believed unjust. During the Civil Rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements, thousands of people were jailed for protesting leaders and laws considered profoundly contrary to truth and justice. These protesters defied authority and were consequently subjected to the force of the state in trials and imprisoning, which the state denies is political

...Countless individuals throughout U.S. history have been arrested in defense of their ideals, while the government has resolutely denied the category "political prisoner" or "prisoner of conscience," thereby preventing a political defense

Steven Barkan (1985) identifies two kinds of political trials and prisoners...In the second category of political trials and prisoners, the initiation of criminal proceeding rests with persons who deliberately break the law in acts of civil disobedience. Their purpose is often polemical and educational by attempting to convey to the public the political and moral issues during a trial. The Plowshares nuclear protesters (the Berrigans, Helen Woodson, Molly Rush, and many others) illustrate this kind of challenge to the state.

Read the full text here

INTERNATIONAL PIT STOP VIGILS

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY FOR PIT STOP PLOUGHSHARES HEADING FOR TRIAL IN DUBLIN

On June 24th. the following vigils will take place in solidarity with the Pit Stop Ploughshares & in opposition to Irish complicity in the continuing war on Iraq

- It is hoped that folks will deliver letters of protest to Irish consulates & embassies

- It is hoped that this will be the beginning of international postcard (& other campaign) aimed at the Irish government concerning issues raised by the Pit Stop Ploughshares disarmament witness.

The full list of contacts in your city and state is available here

The Pitstop Plowshares Statement and Brief Bios are now available.

Posted by Erin

The support website for the Pitstop Plowshares reports that the upcoming trial has changed date and location:

The Judge acknowledged that his duty was to guarantee that the accused had a fair trial and not to consider the evidence of the case at this time.  He stated that the perception that the accused would receive a fair trial was important.  He conceded to the defense application for a change of venue to Dublin.  A trial date is to be set by the Dublin Circuit Court, most likely for October or January sittings

Ciaron O'Reilly from the Pit Stop Ploughshares stated,

"We look forward to carying the spirit of nonviolent disarmament into court and putting the issues surrounding our act of conscience at Shannon Airport before the consciences of a jury."

Read the full story here.

Posted by Erin

Earth and Space Plowshares II:

A bunch of additions to the Nun's page today. Both their statement and brief biographies are now available, as well as a couple dozen articles and essays.

The Disarmament Race heats up:

Five more plowshares actions added to the Chronology

Riverside ploughshares, Shannon Ploughshares, Pitstop Ploughshares, NATO Ploughshares, and the RAF Leuchars Plowshares.

The Riverside Plowshares has some fairly dramatic photos.

Wednesday June 18, 2003

Earth and Space Plowshares II:

The Chronology has been brought up to date with the latest on the nuns. The sisters are due for sentencing near the end of July. They face 6-8 years. Your prayers are appreciated.

contact here for support information

Wednesday June 18,2003

DEMOCRACY NOW! has had some fantastic coverage of recent Plowshares Actions. Read and listen to their coverage here.

Tuesday June 17, 2003

A sitewide update is in progress. Check back frequently for new content.