Planned Direct Action Is Premature

Tuesday February 25, 2003 22:08

by Peace Campaigner

Arguements against the planned direct action on Saturday

What happens this Saturday at Shannon Airport is of the utmost importance to the future direction of the campaign against the US and Britain’s plans to bomb Iraq and the Irish governments complicity with them. Thus far the campaign has won over the majority of the Irish people thanks to the tireless campaigning by certain political parties, ngo’s and individuals. However, this campaign would never have received such widespread attention had it not been for the direct action taken by certain individuals.
There have been times throughout this campaign where the mass of the population have been either apathetic or convinced by the governments lies and thereby rendered inactive. Certain incidents, most notably Eoin Dubsky’s spray painting of the plane, shook people out of their lethargy and brought focus to practices the powers that be sought to cover over. To date the campaign has moved at a pace that the people of Ireland have been able to keep up with. Otherwise non political or doggedly Fianna Fail or Fine Gael supporters have been convinced by our arguments and our modus operandi. It is thus with regret that I read on IndyMedia that certain groups plan to ‘storm’ the airport on Saturday and wreck havoc inside the fence. To my mind this action will have the following consequences…
· There will be mass arrests and possible Garda brutality followed by an increase in the security clampdown at Shannon Airport and the banning of future marches.
· Sections of the media will use these incidents to fall back on lazy stereotypes to describe anyone anti-war.
· The establishment parties will use the acts to attempt to tar all protesters with the same brush and endeavour to frighten sections of the anti-war supporters.
· Certain people currently on our side will be scared by the actions and discontinue their support for the campaign.
· These actions will have no effect on the build up to war on Iraq nor will it alleviate the sufferings of the Iraqi women and children.
· Barring a full scale nationwide revolution, the power axis in this country, the business community, the establishment parties and the security forces, will become strengthened and emboldened.
I therefore ask those people planning to jump the fence, cut down the fence or engage in any incursions onto the runway to think about the bigger picture. Western society has been sustained by the Christian notion of the glorious martyr heralding the dawn of a new era by self sacrifice. In Ireland we have suffered especially from this belief. We must move away from this over romantic and counter-productive idea. Being arrested may well look good on your revolutionary CV and imbue you with a badge of righteous dedication but your interests should not be paramount in this campaign. It must always be remembered that this is a campaign aimed at stopping the bombing of innocents in Iraq. Will jumping over a fence and getting arrested help this cause?
In my opinion the only way to stop innocent lives being taken in Iraq is to generate such a global momentum that governments are scared to go against the citizens wishes. We must get more people on our side. Ill advised and premature direct action will lose us support. If we were to be sensible then we should channel our direct action into marching to the gates of the Airport and then staging a three hour sit-down protest. This would hinder business at the airport and send a clear signal to the government without alienating current supporters.
I appeal to all those planning direct action to ask themselves two things.
1: What will this achieve?
2: For who’s benefit am I doing this?
If you are convinced that the action will be beneficial and that your motives are pure, then proceed but please do so in a manner that is clearly independent of the main march. I hope that the campaign continues to grow as it has done. I am not naïve enough to believe that the government here and abroad will easily bend to our will and in this respect I feel that direct action, taking the form of a mass sit down on the runway, will be necessary at some point in the future when the will of the people is behind it. As of now there is no general appetite for such action. Acting unilaterally out of a belief in ones own righteousness is against what we should be standing for.
Yours in peace………..