Anti-War Resistance in the U.S.

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Monday August 16, 2004 07:24

by Brain Terrell - Catholic Peace Ministry

Iowa, USA

CIVIL LIBERTIES DEFENDED AT THE STATE FAIR

Des Moines ( activists at a previous year's sate fair protesting the presence of the Iowa National Guard - at the fair & in Iraq - defended the right of free speech at this year's fair,

Saturday, August 14, at 2 in the afternoon, nine concerned
citizens arrived at the exhibit of the Iowa National Guard at the Iowa
State Fair to protest the Guard's role in the occupation of Iraq and
the presence of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle at the exhibit. We brought
with us a large banner reading "BRING THE IOWA GUARD HOME," a sandwich
board sign and leaflets describing the Bradley Fighting Vehicleís role
in ìfriendly fireî deaths of American soldiers and the more deadly
effects that the Bradleyís depleted uranium munitions and armor has on
Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, veterans and their offspring.

The Guardís exhibit being conveniently situated next to police
headquarters, we were soon met by Des Moines City Police and State Fair
security who were apparently caught unaware of our coming, though we
had informed both the fair board and the Guard that we would be there.
In a previous telephone conversation, Sgt. Gary Waters of the Guard
told me ìthatís your rightî when I told him that the presence of the
Bradley would be met with protest. The fair board never answered a
letter I sent them with our concerns and our plans, but Kathie Swift,
spokesperson for the fair, made a statement to the press, Pointblank,
8-4-04, about me that "He has the right to protest as long as he is not
interfering."

The police told us that we were violating fair rules and could not be
there with our signs and leaflets. I told them that I had read the
rules and did not believe that we were violating them, but pointed to
the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with its cannon a few feet away and cited
the fair rule that clearly forbids weapons on the fairgrounds, spelling
out that persons found in posession of weapons would be expelled and
could face criminal prosecution. My suggestion that the police might
act on this violation of the rules was not given positive
consideration. Neither the police nor the fair security guards had a
copy of the rules that they were enforcing on hand nor did they seem
familiar with them. What we had was an obvious disagreement of
interpretation of fair rules. I had an advantage in this debate in
that I had read the rules, the police had an advantage in that they
could throw us out or arrest us, which is what they finally threatened
to do if we would not desist. When it was made it clear that some of
us, at least, would continue our protest and risk arrest, the police
retreated and came back with someone from the fair authority who told
us we could remain so long as we stayed outside the Guard exhibit.
This gave us two sides of a very small space and gave us access to
anyone entering the exhibit, so for the rest of our two hour
demonstration we complied. With Americansí rights of free speech being
whittled away to shrinking ìfree speech zones,î this tiny reversal of
an oppressive trend is a victory to celebrate.

It was a sad scene- the Bradley was open and soldiers helped kids to
climb inside, which they clearly enjoyed. My thoughts went to Iraq,
where the bombed out and highly radioactive wrecks of Bradleys and
other tanks left from the past and current war there are equally
attractive to childen and how many of these Iraqi childern have since
died or are dying now of cancer after playing in them. I asked some of
these soldiers what they knew about the Bradley. No one seemed to know
much or admit to having been trained about this weapon, but were just
there to show it off. One soldier, however, told me he knew ìall
aboutî the Bradley, that he had been to Iraq and would go again if he
could. Asked how long he served in Iraq he said ìtwo years,î an
astonishing tour of duty, considering the invasion of Iraq occured 17
months ago. This conversation ended when I told him that I had been to
Iraq and asked him where in the country he had been. Another sergeant
responsble for the Guardís recuiting laughed when told that 8,000 Gulf
War veterans have died of diseases possibly linked to depleted uranium,
"we all have to die of something!" Also on the site was another
vehicle, a 'Patriot Hummer' painted red, white and blue, fitted with a
TV screen and blaring rap videos. Clearly, this exhibit is making a
playground for kids out of a deadly weapon and any educational
component to the exhibit was what we protesters provided.

Some of the soldiers were obviously uncomfortable with their role of
pushing the war on kids at the fair and some discretely agreed with us.
The fair going public did not seem to react much to our little
protest
in this scene of sensory overload, but those who did react to us were
either effusive in their gratitude for our speaking our or just as
effusive in their anger at our daring to confront the prowar line.
Most seemed to ignore us, but those we reached were touched deeply and
reacted in kind. Dan Berrigan paraphrases Isaiah, ìjust because the
truth is not heard doesnít mean that it doesnít exist.î

The fair continues through next weekend and other demonstrations may
take place. Please join us on Wednesday afternoon at 3 pm outside the
Grand Avenue entrance to the fair. The Des Moines Catholic Worker and
others have for some months been at the STARC armory, the Iowa National
Guard headquarters in Johnston, on Wednesday afternoons holding large
photos of Iowans who have died in Iraq, reading their names and
standing in silent remembrance of these and all victims of the war.
This vigil will be moved to the Guardís exhibit at the fair this week,
from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. All are asked to meet at the Grand Ave entrance
on the West side of the Fair. Some may choose to remain outside the
gate.

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Comments (4 of 4)

SOLIDARITY-Consider sending a letter or postcard to anti-war prisoners

by Jonah House

Mon Aug 16, 2004 07:34

Baltimore, USA

Political prisoners in prisons and jails for their witness for peace:

Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares

Jackie Hudson 08808-039 (30 months – out 7/05 or with good time 3/05)
Federal Prison Camp, Victorville
P.O. Box 5100
Adelanto, CA 92301

Carol Gilbert 10856-039 (33 months – out 10/05 or with good time, 5/05))
Alderson FPC
Box A
Alderson, WV 24910

Ardeth Platte 10857-039 (41 months – out 6/06 or with goodtime, 12/05)
Federal Correction Institution
331/2 Pembroke Station
Danbury, CT 06811

Nuclear Resister

Helen Woodson 03231-045
c/o Bates County Jail
P.O. Box 60
Butler, MO 64730
(Protest at federal courthouse, Kansas City, Missouri, 3/11/04 violates parole following 3/9/04 release from prison.)

Carl Kabat 03230-045
Federal Detention Center
9595 W. Quincy
Littleton, CO 80123

Native American Political Prisoner

Leonard Peltier 89637-132
POB 1000
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Overseas, These Nuclear Resisters Are Known To Be In Prison:

Yuri I. Bandazhevsky (8 years – in 6/01)
Valiuk for Bandazhevsky Y.I.
231318 Grodnenskaya oblast
Lidski raion
Peskovtsy, ul, Oktiabrskaya 2
Belarus
(Chernobyl researcher and whistleblower fraudulently convicted of corruption, 6/01)

Igor Sutyagin (15 years)
c/o Irina Petrovna Manammikova (wife of prisoner)
Zvezdnaya, d, 1A, kv. 82
Obninsk, Kaluga region 249039
Russia
(imprisoned since 10/27/99, now convicted of espionage for researching public nuclear weapons information for disarmament research)

The Following People Are Now In Prison For Anti-War Related Activities
Vieques

José Vélez Acosta 23883-069 (33 months – in 9/5/03)
USP POB 1033
Coleman, Florida 33521

José Pérez González 21519-069 (5 years – in 9/05/03)
Montgomery FPC
Maxwell Air Force Base
Montgomery, AL 36112

Néstor de Jesús Guishard 21716-069 (14 months – in 12/04/03)
and
José Montañez Sanes 26317-069 (18 months – in 1/30/04)
MDC Guaynabo
P.O. Box 2147
San Juan, PR 00922-2147

Jorge Cruz 26318-069 (18 months – in 2/28/04)
FCI Edgefield
501 Gary Hill Road
P.O. Box 723
Edgefield, SC 29824

School Of The Americas:

Donald Beisswenger (six months out 10/04)
# 92091-020
Manchester FCI
PO Box 4000
Manchester, KY 40962

Cynthia Brinkman (six months out 10/04)
# 92092-020
FPC Pekin
PO Box 5000
Pekin, IL 61555-5000

David L. Corcoran (six months out 10/04)
# 90282-020
FPC Oxford
PO Box 1085
Oxford, WI 53952

Frances E. Lamb ( out 10/04)
# 92100-020
Danbury FCI
33 1/2 Pembroke St.
Rt. 37
Danbury, CT. 06811

Richard J. Wekerle ( out 10/04)
# 92109-020
Sheridan FPC
PO Box 6000
Sheridan, OR 97378

Fr. Jerry Zawada ( out 11/04 )
# 04995-045
FPC Oxford
PO Box 1085
Oxford, WI 53952

Military Refusers

Camilo Mejia
Building 1490
Randolph Rd.
Fort Sill, Ok 73503
(National Guard member went AWOL after 2003 Iraq duty, turned self in as conscientious objector, 3/15/04, sentenced to one year)

Sgt. First Class Abdulla Webster (14 months, in 6/04)
we don't know address yet.
(refused Iraq dity convicted after CO petition rejected)

Voices in the Wilderness Calls for Nonviolent Resistance

by Voices in the Wilderness

Mon Aug 16, 2004 08:03

Chicago, USA

Dear friends,

As the fighting and crisis intensifies in Najaf, Voices in the Wilderness calls
for nonviolent acts demanding an end to the fighting. Call your Congressional
Representative, US Senator and John Kerry’s campaign headquarters in your state
to demand that they publicly call for an end to all US military actions in
Najaf, against its citizens and at the Imam Ali Mosque. Call candidates for
federal office in your state and issue the same demand. If they don’t respond
positively, initiate nonviolent direct actions at their offices. Such nonviolent
actions can include: an occupation of their office; a daily vigil outside of
their office; a fax campaign to their office demanding they issue the statement;
or a phone call campaign to their office. Also, write letters to the editor of
your local newspapers and hold vigils in your local community. The time to act
is now.

Our country’s military now declares preparations to attack the Shrine of Ali in
the city of Najaf in Iraq. Our country stands on the precipice of declaring war
on Islam. An attack on the Shrine of Ali is an attack on the heart of Islam and
must be nonviolently resisted in our country.

The US military is urging civilians to leave Najaf. We take this as a signal
that our country is preparing to turn Najaf into a free fire zone, in which all
who move, civilian or not, are targeted for attack. A free fire zone and an
attack on the Shrine would significantly escalate the violence throughout Iraq,
increasing the danger for all Iraqis.

Voices in the Wilderness calls upon all US government officials—elected or
appointed—to publicly declare their opposition to any attack by US military
forces against the Shrine of Ali. We further call upon US military forces to
withdraw from the holy city of Najaf and to cease all military operations
against the city, its citizens and at the Imam Ali Mosque.

The Shrine of Ali is the holiest of shrines in Shia Islam. It is the burial
place for Imam Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. The shrine is
sacred to both Shia and Sunni Muslims. Attacking the Imam Ali Mosque is akin to
bombing the burial site of Jesus for people of the Christian faith or the
Western Wall for people of the Jewish faith.

An attack on the Mosque would also replicate the history of oppression of Shia
under Saddam Hussein. In 1991, Shia rose up against Saddam Hussein, at the
urging of the first President Bush. As US warplanes flew overhead, not
intervening, Saddam’s helicopters massacred Shia on the ground below. Saddam
attacked the Imam Ali Mosque during this time, killing those inside.

As US citizens we must say "no" to this threatened attack on the heart of Islam.
We will use all nonviolent means available to us to resist it.

The violent overthrow of the Iraqi government and the subsequent military
occupation of Iraq have not lead to freedom, security, and prosperity for the
Iraqi people. Neither have they created the conditions in which freedom,
security, and prosperity can be sown and nurtured. Quite the opposite: the
threat and reality of violence is commonplace. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have
been killed or injured. To this threat of violence, add the increased threat of
water-borne disease and the weight of a collapsed electrical grid.

The Iraqi people are our sisters and brothers. Our humanity demands that we
begin to act as if lives of Iraqis and their faith truly matter to us. As US
citizens we must respond without equivocation and act to end this war and
occupation.

Voices in the Wilderness was formed in 1996 in response to the US economic
sanctions against Iraq. Voices has sponsored over 70 delegations to bring
humanitarian supplies to Iraqi citizens despite US law. Voices currently faces a
$20,000 fine for delivering medicine and other humanitarian supplies to Iraq.

Kathy Kelly, Tess Kleinhaus, Jeff Leys, Danny Muller, Chuck Quilty, David
Smith-Ferri, and Scott Blackburn for the Voices in the Wilderness Chicago office

Explanation of the "fair rules" issue

by Mike

Mon Aug 16, 2004 14:07

As a dweller in a rural part of the US (where these fairs are held) let me try to explain why an otherwise ordinary protest COULD be considered a violation of fair rules. Here's how the fairs work.

a) There are competitions. SOME of the competition classes are for exhibits. You don't pay a fee for entering one of these competitons but your entry must meet the requirements of the class being entered (size, what elements must be included, etc.). As a person experienced in competing in indivual classes (like various veggies, who has the best looking green beans, etc.) and having been "judges assistant" (so I know how the rules get interpreted) I have for YEARS tried to interest groups into entering a n exhibit . With little success (these are a LOT of work).

b) There are paid exhibits. You can pay for a given amount of exhibit space and now there are no rules about what has to be in the exhibit. Could be commercial exhibit or could be a political exhibit. YES -- that booth of the Republican Party has been PAID FOR and so has that of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or that food stand sellign hot dogs raising money to buy eyegalsses for poor kids (Lions Club). Again there are usually categories, different rates for what, and presumably there would be a rate for walking around with a "sandwich board".

SEE THE PROBLEM? If a group wants to do a protest at the fair, why should the other groups be charged for their "political" exhibits but not the protestors?

c) There are often invited exhibits. These might not be asked to pay because the cost to the "exhibiter" is already very high and with negligible gain. Thus some of the wool growers might be "asked" to put on a "shearing demonstration". These are NEVER "political" in nature (would cause an immediate outcry of "unfair").

4 Catholic Worker Kidz Appeal Sentences

by Ithaca Catholic Worker - Ithaca, New York

Tue Aug 24, 2004 00:02

The Oral Arguments for the Appeal for Anna, Oona, Ana and Marie are on Wednesday, August 18th, at 9:30 am. The hearing will be at the Tompkins County Courthouse on the Corner of Court and Tioga Streets in Ithaca. Everyone is invited to come and listen. Their Lawyer, Lance Salisbury is expected to lay out their arguments for about 15 minutes and then the District Attorney will do the same. We do not expect Judge M. John Sherman to make a decision on Wednesday.

The defendants can be contacted for more information: (area code 607)
Anna: 280-2496
Oona: 272-4166
Ana: 273-7437
Marie: 277-6932

Statements written soon after the action on Dec. 21, 2002. To be read by those who are new to the email list.

By Ana Grady Flores

On Saturday, December 21st, 2002, thirteen
of us participated in a "die-in" at the Military Recruitment
Center in the Cayuga Mall. Out of the 13 arrested,
four of us were under eighteen years old. We lay
there with red paint smeared on our faces, symbolizing
blood, the blood of Iraqi's, soldiers and civilians
and our own US soldiers. We lay there for about an
hour. During that time a few members of the group
were able to take turns reading different parts of "A
Christmas Sermon on Peace" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We were eventually all arrested and brought to
the State Troopers Barracks in Lansing where they
processed us all. Some of the State Troopers were
very nice and one even told me that he agreed with us
and that we should do the same thing at the White House.
It was kind of funny to hear him say that as he proceeded
to take my finger prints. We were all released with the
charges of Criminal Trespass 3rd degree and a court
date set for January 9th. We might face a year in prison.

I think the highlight of the day for me was being
released and hearing young people my age telling me that
next time they would definitely join me and do the same.

I am sixteen years old and I am the youngest of
four. I have three older brothers, two who registered
for selective service and one who has not yet fallen into
the trap of the military institution. I did this action
for my brothers. I am currently a junior at Ithaca's
Alternative Community School and have many friends that
are my age and older. I know that they could also be
lured into the military, only because they are told that the
military will pay for all their education and instead be
forced to fight in a war that is full of lies and deception.
I did this action for them. I took the liberty to speak
for the voiceless people of Iraq, for all the
innocent men, women, children and babies that have been
killed by US bombs since the Gulf War and will continue
to be killed in this next war. I did this action for them.
I lay there in the recruitment office for the men and women
who are currently in the military, so they don't have to be
sent off to war to kill and be killed in this war. Like
my uncle Peter DeMott said, "We're here to recruit you into
the Peace Movement"!
Peace,
Ana Grady Flores
Age 16, Ithaca, NY

By Anna Ritter

On Saturday, December 21, myself and 12 others went to the recruiter's station at the mall and refused to leave. We lay on the floor, and had a "die in", symbolizing victims of war. I was there because as a 16 year old, recruiters target people my age. I do not believe that our country should invade Iraq, especially since the people in charge of making those decisions will not be sent to combat, they will be sitting in an office deciding how many young people should be sent to fight and kill and be killed. Out of the 13 of us, 4 were minors. If there is a war, there may also be a draft. Therefore, the draft would effect not only us, but everyone around us. Even if a draft would not apply to me directly, I do not want anyone to be sent to war and kill others in my name. I do not believe that going to war is an acceptable way of securing our safety and "fighting terrorism", as we are so often told. George Bush tells us that going to war is necessary in order to keep the Americans safe. However, by bombing Iraq, he will be doing just what he says is evil, killing innocent people. The truth behind it, as we already know, is that this is an oil war. So, if Bush is ready to send troops to fight and kill and die, they must know why they are doing it. If he wants to sit in Washington and spill the blood of Americans and Iraqis so that we can have cheap oil, can we support that? Is that worth killing innocent people over? I, for one do not think so. I do not think it is worth human lives. So, as a small thing I could do, I got arrested with everyone else that day. I was not protesting the young people joining the military, I was protesting the military targeting young people. The recruiters do not tell their prospective recruits that they could be killed if they sign up, and once they do sign up, they cannot get out. They could be in the military for the rest of their lives. And the end of their life may not be far away if they are sent to war. I hope that I could have been effective in the eye opening of all people involved in war making, and prevent even more destruction and death.

Anna Ritter, 16 years old.
.

By Marie DeMott Grady

As I was feeding my baby sister her dinner, I was thinking about what I
should say about why I was a part of the action on Saturday. What it all
boils down to is this. I know that there are big sisters in Iraq right now
who are helping to feed their baby sisters and I wonder what they are
thinking. The U.S. government is hot to trot. They want to bomb Iraq as
soon as possible. I hope that what I did will help to stop this war. I
think of the big sisters here, who's little brothers are going to be sent
>to kill the babies of Iraq, and the sisters and brothers, and fathers and
>mothers too for that matter. And the Iraqi sisters and brothers who'll be
>sent to fight the American sisters and brothers. I just want to say wait a
>minute! All this is going to get any of us is killed. Maybe it will get
>George Bush more oil. But why should anyone have to die for oil? I don't
>think that Saddam is a good person, but this war will hurt many people, and
>I don't know that it will hurt Saddam. It WILL hurt the people, the sisters
>and brothers. We went to the recruitment office on Saturday with pictures
>of children, some of whom are probably dead. We went and laid down on the
>floor as if we were dead. We went to bring that ugly, disgusting face of
>needless and premature death, to the place where it all starts. You don't
>see the kind of pictures we brought, in the shiny brochures that they hand
>out there. So I went for all the Iraqi kids, especially the older sisters
>who must be worrying about what will happen if we bomb them even more than
>we already have. Will they get to watch their baby siblings grow up? Or
>will they all be dead in a couple of months? If I were in their position I
>would want somebody to try to stop the war, and so I have to do everything
>I can to stop it. For them, and for me.
>
>Marie DeMott Grady
>Age 17, Ithaca, NY
>
>
>
>By Oona Clare GradyDeFlaun
>
>In protest of the impending war on Iraq, I, as well as 12 other people, "died in" at the local army recruiters office. As the president speaks of the war as not "if" but "when," and that "when" seems to come closer every day, our group met for many weeks to come up with an action to show our opposition. We started off the day at the local mall with a group of 300 people, dressed in black, with small signs reading, "NO WAR ON IRAQ," and "PEACE ON EARTH." The group walked single file, silently, trying to show another voice in this season that has become synonymous with materialistic consumerism. After half an hour the sheriff escorted us out and we proceeded to hold banners up at the main road.

At this point our small group broke off and we crossed the road to the other mall where the recruiters office is. We went into the lobby and took down army and marine posters and put up pictures and signs of our own. Two of our group, our "spokespeople" went back into the recruiters office and introduced us. The recruiter, a young man, was shaken and upset by our presence and wanted us to leave, but we made it clear that we were there, not to protest him personally, but to protest the work he was doing. We wanted to educate him and all the recrutees about the horrors of war, not to mention "Gulf war syndrome," most likely caused by depleted uranium and/or anthrax vaccines.

As we were lying on the floor, with red paint smeared on our faces, we read a fact sheet about depleted uranium and Martin Luther King JRs Christmas sermon from 1967, given just months before he was killed. In it he tells us that we don't have to like everybody, that would be very difficult, but we do have to love even our worst enemies. "Love is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all people." "Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you." The state police were called and they let us know that we had to leave within five minutes or face a year in prison. After giving us numerous warnings, we were arrested. We were taken to that state police office and processed, which took a couple of hours and eventually we were released with court dates.

We will continue the witness on January 9th, 2004 at court, and keep on speaking the truth.

Oona Clare Grady DeFlaun, age 18, Ithaca, NY

As many of you have heard.... at our sentencing on
December 16th, Judge Buren sent us to Tompkins County Jail for four
weekends (from Friday 6pm to Monday 6am). We were
scheduled to start our sentence on Friday, January 9th
but on Monday, January 5th, the four of us filed an appeal.
Two lawyers, Bill Quigley and Joni Brandon helped us immensely with this.
On Wednesday we found out that we have a hearing
scheduled for Monday, January 12th at 4:15 pm, and we
are not spending this weekend in jail. This will be a
preliminary hearing, where all parties are put on notice
that the appeal is happening. We will try to keep you up
to date as the process unfolds.

Mary Anne Grady Flores
Ithaca Catholic Worker
Vieques Support Group
514 N. Plain St.
Ithaca, N.Y. 14850
USA

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Comments (4 of 4)