Waging Peace: From Shannon to Baghdad

by Cork Anti-War Campaign Tue May 27, 2003 23:50

Excellent...and remember the demonstration at Shannon on 21st June! Assemble at 2pm in the town centre.

by Padraig Wed May 28, 2003 00:11 flannbui at yahoo dot com

I heard the Catholic Workers tonight in Limerick talking about their direct actions and upcoming trials. Its very interesting stuff and anyone with the vaguest interest in the antiwar movement or in defending Irish Neutrality should hear them. Some of the catholic workers are going on trial in Killrush next month around the 21st if anyone wants to get involved in helping their campaign, publicity, postering/leafleting etc you should get in contact with them.

by Nursery Rhyme Fan Wed May 28, 2003 00:18

Mary had a little bag,
and in it was a hammer.
For Mary was a Catholic Worker,
for peace she used to clammer.
She smashed up an aeroplane one night,
like any naughty boy.
Then a garda came along,
now shes headed for Mountjoy.

(Please note this is ment as satire/humour. Im not some rightwinger whos trying to make fun.)

by Confused Wed May 28, 2003 00:25

...you may not be a rightwinger, but you seem a wee bit confused if you're talking about Mary Kelly. She most definitely is not a part of the Catholic Worker group!

by John in Galway Wed May 28, 2003 01:06

The original verse was better. I agree, however, that Mary Kelly, Eoin Dubsky, the Catholic Worker five, and a few others showed something of the spirit of the suffrage movement. We should all rally round for the trials in June.

This, by the way, is the original fromn c.1912:

Mary had a little bag,
And in it was a hammer
For Mary was a suffragette,
For votes she used to clamour.
She broke a plane of glass one day,
Like any naughty boy,
A constable came along,
And now she's in Mountjoy.

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Dublin Catholic Worker Wed May 28, 2003 08:47 087 918 4552

Contact for further detail of this event 087 918 4552

Caoimhe Butterly recently returning from occupied Iraq will also be speaking at this event.

by Pit Stop Ploughshares - Dublin Catholic Worker Wed May 28, 2003 09:08 087 918 4552

Ciaron O' Reilly be speaking at a public meeting in Clonakilty/Cork tonight Wed May 28 th.

He will show a video of the trial and acquittal of 4 wmen accused of £2.5 million of criminal damage to a British Aerospace Hawk Fghter.

Meeting organised by the local anti-war group.

by Barry Clava Wed May 28, 2003 10:30

but only if I can wear my mask in peace

by Ciaron Wed May 28, 2003 17:16

No worries, bring your mask

by pat c Wed May 28, 2003 17:30

Got this on RTS

**************************
S.O.S. – Solstice Over Shannon

PRESS RELEASE (one page)

Date: 27th May, 2003

SUBJECT: Major festival to take place at Shannon on June 21st, 2003

Hundreds of people from across the country are expected to attend a huge festival that is being planned for the solstice (21st June, 2003) at Shannon Airport.

There have been a number of anti-war protests at Shannon over the winter. This event will be something quite different. Rather than allowing U.S./U.K. warmongers to push us to react and focus on what we DON’T want, S.O.S. will be an opportunity to focus on what we DO want (ie. peace, love, music, beauty, truth, understanding and diversity, etc.). S.O.S. will allow people who might not normally get involved in political events to party for a cause. It will be an all day event with roots reggae, courtesy of Revelation Sound and a second sound system provided by the Protest and Play Collective and featuring DJs Fiasco and Classic Eugene. We also hope to have free vegan food courtesy of Food not Bombs, a drumming circle, and plenty of activities for children, including face painting and balloon animals, etc. We will also be launching Cork’s new “Green Garage”, which aims to assist interested parties in converting their vehicles over from diesel to bio-diesel.

S.O.S. is brought to you by the same team who organised last summer’s highly successful “Diversity Day” event in Cork. This event will have similar multi-cultural, multi-lingual and environmental themes. All are encouraged to attend. It should be a very special day.

Reclaim the Skies!

The only firepower we want over Shannon is the Sun!

S.O.S. spokesperson, Nico, said:
“The message we want to send to the youth is that unity means more than just not passing racist comments. Sometimes it means standing up to your own government when they want to participate in the slaughter of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. But we must always take it to the next level: instead of reacting in anger, we will raise it up – raise consciousness, raise awareness, raise spirits, and create, for one day at least, the kind of world we want to live in.”

Further information: Nico (021) 454-1455.

by clare Wed May 28, 2003 20:20 cork

Hey Hey
sounds like a great day.

the boys from revelation whippin it up...nice one!!!

so is this to co-incide with the protest or is it for afterwards or what?

will there be buses leaving later and all that jazz?? any more info??

will i bring me tent

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Dublin Catholic Worker Fri May 30, 2003 07:48

An Invitation from Voices in the Wilderness Chicago
Summer 2003

Spotlight Iraq

A Season of Truth-telling, Community-building, and Nonviolent Resistance

Who we are

Since its founding in 1996, Voices in the Wilderness has campaigned to end economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people. We have done this mostly by organizing delegations to Iraq in deliberate violation of U.N. economic sanctions and U.S. law, to publicly deliver medical supplies to children and families in need. Our primary focus has always been ordinary Iraqi civilians and the most vulnerable of Iraqi society, especially children. We have witnessed this ongoing warfare through the everyday lives of families we have come to know as friends over the course of seventy visits to Iraq.

We are volunteers—teachers, veterans, social workers, artists, health care professionals, trades people and people of faith—who, in the tradition of Mohandas Gandhi, practice and advocate nonviolence as a means for social change. As nonviolent war resisters, we oppose the development, storage and use by any country of weapons of mass destruction, be they nuclear, chemical, biological, or economic. Many of us refuse to pay taxes for war.

Voices in the Wilderness functions as a network for nonviolent education and action: developing and practicing ways of nonviolent resistance.

Where our actions have led us

Prior to the spring 2003 invasion of Iraq, we joined others to build an international antiwar movement that came closer than ever before to achieving the critical mass needed to stop a war before it started. Tens of millions of people throughout the world, including millions in the United States, publicly opposed this war. Though this movement did not prevent the invasion, these efforts have generated a community of grassroots education and resistance not seen in decades. Through Spotlight Iraq, a season of truth-telling, community building, and nonviolent resistance, we hope to build upon the local, national and worldwide momentum generated before the war.

Why we must keep the spotlight on Iraq

Some of us were present with Iraqi civilians to witness the cruelty and depravity of “shock and awe.” Throughout the war, embedded journalists’ reports were touted as fact while independent eyewitness accounts were often omitted or underplayed by mainstream U.S. media. We expect further evasions and distortions as Washington pursues its economic and military interests through the occupation of Iraq.

Why we propose a season of truth-telling, community-building, and nonviolent resistance

We must reaffirm that the millions of people who marched, leafleted, protested, lobbied, refused to pay war taxes and committed acts of civil resistance were right: this invasion should not have happened, and the U.S. occupation is unjust and inhumane. We must not let the story of war, sanctions, and invasion be rewritten by the architects of the “New American Century.” We must illuminate the experiences of Iraqi people under occupation after enduring two brutal wars and thirteen years of economic sanctions. If we want to end war, we must engage in human contact and truth-telling to counter the sensationalism of war propaganda.

As we Spotlight Iraq during the summer of 2003, let us work towards:

* compliance by the U.S. with the Geneva Conventions requiring that they, as the occupying force, meet the immediate humanitarian needs of Iraqis. We assert that the U.S. should then step aside to allow humanitarian relief to be done by the UN and qualified NGOs working with Iraqis.

* replacement of US/UK occupation forces by an independent, international peacekeeping presence, working in cooperation with the Iraqi people and independent NGOs to stabilize the country and quickly establish a legitimate Iraqi government, subject to the needs and interests of Iraqis, not to the political and economic interests of the U.S.

* cancellation of debt and compensation demands from the 1991 Gulf War. The Iraqi civilian population should not be forced to pay for the debts accrued by the Ba’ath regime.

* recognition that Iraq’s natural, cultural, and economic resources belong to Iraqis, not to any U.S. administration or corporation. The lifting of economic sanctions does not in and of itself guarantee self-determination for Iraqis; U.S. corporations see a gold mine in Iraq, and the recent resolution pushed through the UN Security Council not only lifts sanctions but guarantees US/UK occupation for at least a year, giving these administrations and their corporate entities free access to Iraq’s potential wealth. We demand that the appropriation of Iraqi assets be concentrated within Iraq and supervised by a transparent, non-governmentally-aligned body until the people of Iraq can select a new government of their own.

* renewal of UN efforts to certify that Iraq does not possess weapons of mass destruction; we emphasize that such standards must be applied to all nations. Never again should weapons inspections be linked to economic penalties imposed on a civilian population, as was done in Iraq.

* payment of reparations from the U.S. and UK to families of Iraqi civilians killed over the last 13 years of military actions and economic sanctions.

* clean-up of all cluster bombs, mines and depleted uranium used in Iraq and an end to the development, production, distribution or use of these weapons by any country. We hold US/UK weapons companies accountable to Iraqis and demand compensation for damages done.

Voices in the Wilderness Chicago projects:

It has been said that world public opinion, “the other superpower,” is the only force capable of challenging the impunity of U.S. militarism. A tremendous grassroots opposition movement blossomed over this past year through the efforts of countless community organizations and peace groups; eventually, the mainstream media had no choice but to recognize the overwhelming public opposition. The events of the past year show that human contact is the only proven method of eclipsing the spin of mass propaganda; we must continue to speak the truth from the bottom up through personal outreach, community building, and organizing. Here are a few projects that we will be coordinating to spotlight Iraq during the summer of 2003.

* Wheels of Justice Tour. In collaboration with our friends from Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), we will co-coordinate a national bus tour to further education, organizing and action around war and occupation in Iraq and Palestine. On this tour we will offer academic and eyewitness perspective to the conflicts in Iraq and Palestine as we cultivate and promote nonviolent resistance in the U.S. to war and occupation. Email [email protected] for more info.

* Creative Resistance Summer Camp. We are hosting a creative resistance summer camp in New York City to communicate the issues that are outlined in VitW's Spotlight Iraq using traditional and emerging forms of activism. For a period of 30 days, artists, media activists, and grassroots organizers will take part in creative forms of direct action using NYC as their canvas. We will use methods of nonviolence and alternative forms of communication as a means to counter the massive U.S. government propaganda campaigns. Email [email protected] for more info.

* An ongoing presence in Iraq. We continue to witness firsthand the aftermath of this latest war and the present reality of occupation. We will continue to gather the stories and experiences of Iraqis living under this military and economic occupation.

* Nonviolent Direct Action and Civil Resistance. Recognizing that the United States provides 46% of the world’s weapons and 90% of the weapons used in conflict, we pledge our nonviolent resistance to Boeing Corporation’s weapon production and war profiteering in Chicago. As has been done all over the U.S. at the headquarters and factories of Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon and other institutions of war-making, we confront the institution of militarism in our back yard.

* Internship and training. We will host volunteers in Chicago to research, share, and produce training and outreach materials to further grassroots organizing and community-building. Our seven years experience in organizing and action may serve useful to those working within their own communities.

* Nonviolent education and counter recruiting. We cannot practice nonviolence and effect social change without speaking to domestic social conditions; we recognize that militarism exploits the particular circumstances of communities marginalized by racism and poverty in the U.S. The No Child Left Behind Act threatens to cut federal money from schools that do not offer their rosters to military recruiters. In the hope of providing a desperately-needed service to youth yearning to be better-informed, we aim to counter-recruit through providing nonviolent education and alternatives to military service.

* War Tax Resistance. “Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes.” –Alexander Haig, US Secretary of State, June 12, 1982. Voices in the Wilderness is not aligned with any governmental agency and does not file taxes; as individuals, many of us are war tax resisters. We refuse to pay the fines imposed by the US Treasury Department for traveling to Iraq and distributing medicine to those in need. To find out more about war tax resistance, contact [email protected], the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, (800) 269-7464; email: [email protected] or the War Resisters League (800) 975-9688; email [email protected]

* Humanitarian Aid and Restorative Justice. At the minimum, we consider all “aid” from the U.S. and UK as reparations for years of war and economic sanctions. However, humanitarian assistance must also pursue accountability, restorative justice, and truth-telling. While supporting organizations such as Bridges to Baghdad, CARE and LIFE for Relief and Development, who facilitate humanitarian aid to Iraq, we also challenge the systems of oppression that brought about these deplorable conditions. The U.S. administration and its corporate allies must be held accountable for the dangers facing Iraqis from unexploded munitions, sickness caused by contaminated water, environmental destruction, and the fallout of depleted uranium weapons.

Spotlight Iraq tactics: Here are some other good ways to reach out to your neighbors:

* Cultivating relationships, initiating dialogue, and building supportive communities so that our peacemaking can grow.
* Practicing and refining persuasive arguments and nonviolent communication.
* Canvassing door-to-door and doing neighborhood leafleting.
* Urging local referenda and resolutions regarding war, civil liberties and weapons proliferation.
* Challenging elected representatives publicly.
* Doing poster campaigns, guerilla art, and creative resistance.
* Confronting the very institutions of war and terror in our cities, states, towns and nation.
* Organizing vigils, civil resistance, phone-ins, petitions, letter-writing campaigns, public meetings, rallies, demonstrations, lobbying.
* Pressing for divestment from war profiteers by universities and schools.

Please help us Spotlight Iraq with this plan of action for the coming months.

Sincerely,

VITW CHICAGO

Amy Holcombe Mooney
Angela Garcia
Bitta Mostofi
Ceylon Mooney
Danny Muller
David Smith-Ferri
Gabe Huck
Joe Proulx
John Farrell
Kathy Kelly
Laurie Hasbrook
Mary Meyer
Stephanie Schaudel
Sue Mackley
Tom Walsh

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Pit Stop Ploughshares Sat May 31, 2003 00:07 087 918 4552

We hope to organise a meeting with Mary Kelly in Limerick, Kilrush or Ennis on MOnday. We know it's a bank holiday and it's short notice bu if you can help get in contact 087 918 4552
Thanx
Ciaron

by BlackPope Mon Jun 02, 2003 02:16

*******************************

Mary had a hefty axe
the blade of gleaming steel
and every time she buried it
warmonger's face would squeal

She axt'ed-up a plane one night
embarassed mercenary fools
who had the bombers tanking there
despite judicial rules

The Irish People, sore abused
by governmental mystery
were thankful of this cunning ruse
reminder of their history

Now she's heading for a trial
ask 12 jurors what they thunk
if people with a human heart
may hack murd'rous trash to junk

Though proxy-imperialism's pimps
have clamoured for her hide
still true men like you men
recall her deed with pride

*******************************