9 Arrested planting Vines & Fig Trees on Aldermaston Nuclear Weapons Factory

by Ciaron - Ploughshares Sat Aug 06, 2005 00:25

* of the arrested peace activists remain in custody. They have been charged with ciminal damage and are due to appear in court Saturday morning

Send solidarity texts 0044 7717 324 057

Check website for further updates

www.figs-and-vines.poijoy.urevised.com
Aldermaston MoD Police Station: 0118 982 6286

by FROM sTEPHEN Sat Aug 06, 2005 00:43

International peace gardeners arrested planting vines and fig trees
inside Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, UK;
first court appearance on Hiroshima Day, Saturday 6th August

In the early hours of Friday 5th August, nine peace gardeners from
Europe
and Australia planted vines and fig trees inside and outside the Atomic
Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, UK, transforming it into a garden
of
peace and justice.

Calling themselves the Aldermaston Vine & Fig Tree Planters, the group
arrived at dawn, cut a garden gate in the perimeter fence and entered
carrying spades, trowels, watering cans, five vines and five fig trees,
which they proceeded to plant. Arriving police were offered a choice of
grapes, fig rolls, grape juice or wine. Some of the police chose the
grapes
and then arrested all nine on suspicion of criminal damage to the
perimeter
fence.

After a day’s questioning in nearby police cells, all nine were charged
that
“without lawful excuse, [they] damaged a section of the outer perimeter
fence… to the value of £500 belonging to The Ministry of Defence”. One
gardener was released, whilst the other eight, who all gave their
address as
“Aldermaston,” were remanded in custody overnight. The eight will
appear at
Reading Magistrates Court at 9.30am on Saturday 6th August – Hiroshima
Day –
for a bail hearing.

The previous day, Thursday 4th August, ten gardeners had planted a vine
and
a fig tree outside the main gate of AWE Aldermaston and informed the
authorities of their intention to return and continue the peaceful
conversion of the base.

The nine arrestees are: Sr Susan Clarkson (England), Per Herngren
(Sweden),
Mike Hutchinson (England), Barbara Smedema (Netherlands), Treena
Lenthall
(Australia), Martin Smedjeback (Sweden), Les Gibbon (England), Lizzie
Jones
(England), Stephen Hancock (England). The two non-arrested peace
planters
are Orla Cunningham (Ireland) and Thomas Helgeson (Sweden).

In a joint statement given to police on both the 4th and 5th of August,
the
eleven say:
“On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the bombings of the people of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we come to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at
Aldermaston, UK, to plant vines and fig trees.

‘They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall
they learn war anymore. Instead, everyone shall sit underneath their
vine
and fig tree and none shall make them afraid.’ (Micah 4:3)

Disarmament, economic conversion and nonviolence are vital ingredients
for
creating a just world in which everyone enjoys the earth's abundance.

In these fearful, suspicious times, we invite people all around the
world to
transform military bases into gardens of peace in which beauty and life
shall flourish.”

Supporters will gather outside Reading Magistrates Court at 9.30am,
Saturday
6th August.

Messages of support are welcome, and the eleven extend their love,
support
and action to all those remembering the bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.

Contact: Stephen Hancock on 07766 904547 (or 07717 324 057)
Email: [email protected]
Photographs available: www.figs-and-vines.poijoy.urevised.com




"and everyone shall live underneath their vine and fig tree and none
shall
make them afraid..."
Micah 4:3
Vine & Fig Tree Planters: [email protected]
www.figs-and-vines.poijoy.urevised.com

____________

by a planter - aldermaston vine & figtree planters Sun Aug 07, 2005 18:53

the nine 'gardeners' have been given bail until wednesday 10th august when they are to appear at newbury magistrates court.

by From Stephen Mon Aug 08, 2005 00:04

Dear friends,
Short update: Les is on remand; everyone else is out; all nine of us
due in
Newbury Magistrates Court at 9.45am on Wednesday 10th August.
Possible action:
(a) write to Les first class: Les Gibbon, 19 Cambridge Road, Bristol
BS7 8PS
(b) pass on below release to friends and contacts
(c) come to Newbury on Wednesday (although it will be a brief
appearance)

The below release isn't that different from the previous two, so you're
welcome to read no further...

Thanks for everyone's support
One Love
Stephen


Vine & Fig Tree Planter remanded to prison;
Next court appearance before Newbury Magistrates, Wednesday 10th
August,
9.45am

On Saturday 6th August, Reading magistrates remanded Vine & Fig Tree
Planter
Les Gibbon, from Southampton, to Bristol Prison for five days.

by Stephen Hancock - Aldermaston Vines & Fig Trees Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:50 Oxford, England

Beyond Protest
Stephen Hancock

Who is responsible for disarming and transforming the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston?

On Saturday 6th August I found myself in front of three Reading magistrates for planting vines and fig trees at the nearby Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. It felt an appropriate place to be on the sixtieth anniversary of the mass incineration of one hundred thousand civilians in deliberately hitherto undisturbed Hiroshima.

Along with ten others – from the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland and Australia – I had, the previous dawn, planted five small vines and fig trees both outside and inside Aldermaston’s perimeter fence. Arresting Ministry of Defence police were offered a choice of grapes or fig rolls; some accepted. The bottle of wine we carried with us was bagged as evidence.

The vines and figs came, so to speak, from the prophet Micah. Many will be aware of the first lines of the prophecy that inspired us – “swords into ploughshares” being a direct prophetic crib of the words of Isaiah made particularly famous by their inscription on the Isaiah Wall near the UN Headquarters in New York. Micah fleshed out Isaiah’s vision into a poetic manifesto that still burns urgently thousands of years beyond its writing:
“They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
Every [one] will sit under [her] own vine
and under his own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid.” (Micah 4, 3-5, NIV)

In these times of mutual threat and violence, in which unexamined fears seem capable of manifesting themselves with uncanny precision, it’s worth considering any advice, however old, for getting to a place where “no one will make [us] afraid.”

First up: disarmament. The nuclear swords should be hammered, the cluster-bomb-tipped spears too. Taking that responsibility upon our shoulders – and within our elbows – means risking prison.

Second: the military economy should be converted, into ploughs and pruning hooks, into peaceful and appropriate technologies and skills, into health and education and leisure – into whatever tickles our fancy. To update the postcard that adorned so many fridges in the eighties: “It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the military has to collect Tesco vouchers in order to buy a new bomber.”

Third: no more fighting. And no more threats of fighting. There’s enough understanding and experience of creative conflict resolution, enough good people willing to offer their services, enough will and imagination in the world to sink the need for battleships once and for all.

Fourth: no more training for war. Demilitarise our culture, de-glorify war for our children, teach ourselves basic emotional literacy and conflict-solving skills, offer working class men and their higher class superiors genuine forms of “travel and adventure”.

Fifth: give people back their vines and fig trees. Especially in Israel/Palestine. We’re all longing to eat your surplus grapes and figs with a clear conscience. Two of our arresting officers wore “Make Poverty History” bracelets; one of them chastised us for not offering him fairly-traded grapes. Quite right. Fair trade means fair land ownership – resources in the hands of the people who handle them.

Sixth: don’t forget to spend time sitting underneath your vine or fig tree. When we first arrived at AWE Aldermaston we actually lay underneath our small plants and looked up at the clouds in the sky. With the full potential and fear of the base right there next to us, it was a naïve act, a sweet and wishful glimpsing.

There’s a seventh step we noticed in the prophecy too: no protest. Protest has for me involved too much complaining and asking others to act on my behalf. It reinforces both my passivity and the hierarchy’s power. It leaves us, at the end of the day, with dog-eared placards and our fate still in the hands of distant leaders invariably seduced by the heady culture of power. A healthy and democratically fluid definition of leadership is: whoever takes responsibility for this situation.
If you spell-check the word nonviolence, Microsoft will suggest a hyphen. But its hyphenlessness is a deliberate compression and synthesis on our part. The “non” to violence is a good start, but we have to go further, beyond protest, into the realms of resistance and creation. Gandhi used such terms as satyagraha (loosely, Truth Force) and constructive programme. We’re also making it up as we go along.

In the anti-war protests of 2002 and 2003 a dominant slogan was “Not In My Name.” The powers that be concurred, and launched a war that wasn’t committed in our names. Just imagine if even a tenth of the million of us who marched in London had crossed out the “Not” and instead had engaged in creative nonviolent action…

Literally as I write the C.I.D. officer in charge of our case phones and says the Scene of Crimes Officer is happy to look after the plants we left inside.
Let a hundred thousand vine and fig trees bloom.

Stephen Hancock
[email protected]

by From Steve Tue Aug 09, 2005 12:24

Tuesday morning. Nagasaki Day. 2005

Dear friends,

First: Many thanks for all your support - we have got messages, and news of
other actions, from all around the world. We are a grateful community within
a Community of communities...

Second: Les is still in remand in Bristol Prison. Lizzie and Treena and
Barbara are going to visit him this afternoon. Hopefully he will be released
tomorrow.

Tomorrow: we are all in Newbury Magistrates Court Wednesday 10th August at
9.45am for a probable plea hearing. It is not a major appearance. We will
keep you informed of the trial proper.

As a community, we are still in Oxford, meeting, reflecting, evaluating,
planning. After tomorrow's appearance in court we will all head home -
Netherlands, Sweden, Southampton, Oxford...

by Jonah Wed Aug 10, 2005 10:46

August 9, 2005

In Remembrance of the bombing of Nagasaki 60 years ago, people at the Faith and Resistance retreat in Washington D.C. went to the Pentagon
early this morning. Dressed in sackcloth, some 40 protesters held signs, prayed and sang. They held a banner that read: "We sit in sackcloth and ashes to repent the sins of war and nuclear weapons."

Those risking arrest wore sackcloth and sat in ashes they poured on or around themselves while blocking the way of workers going into the
Pentagon.

Arrested were Steve Baggarly, Kathy Boylan, Brian Buckley and Susan Crane, Art Laffin, Liz McAlister, and Bill Frankel-Streit. The Pentagon police were unusually rough, reminding us all that we never know what to expect when we engage the powers. They told us that they had been expecting us since Friday a.m. and were mustered by 3:00 a.m. each day. All those arrested have a court appearance
on November 18.

As we were blocking the entrance way, some of us were remembering a video of footage taken directly after the bombing of Hiroshima, where
we heard in detail that school children were killed in their classrooms, prisoners were killed in their cells, half the medical doctors died in hospitals, people were killed going to work. After this description of the bombing of Hiroshima and of Nagasaki, we wonder how we don't see our own terrorism in the world.

The resistance at the Pentagon creates hope. That was manifest when one of the arresting officers (one not using compliance holds or
gratuitous violence) said that he agreed with most of what we were saying.





--

by Vine & Fig Treees Thu Aug 11, 2005 11:56

Les released; vine and fig planted at AWE Burghfield; Vine & Fig Tree
Planters head home

News and reflections by Stephen Hancock

On Wednesday 10th August the nine arrested Vine & Fig Tree Planters appeared before Newbury Magistrates. All nine of us entered pleas of “Not
guilty” to charges of criminal damage to the perimeter fence of Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston. Les Gibbons, fresh from Bristol Prison, told the magistrates that our action had “enhanced the base.”

The magistrates committed all of us to trial, and imposed the bail condition that we do not go within a hundred metres of the Aldermaston perimeter
fence. Les Gibbons was released from prison, and the group was briefly united outside court before the three Swedes went to catch the train to
begin their journeys home.

We were blessed inside and outside court with supporters from both Southampton and Oxford. The Ministry of Defence CID police officer in
charge of the case was also present. He returned our bottle of wine and told us that the Scene of the Crime officer was very happy to replant and look
after the vines and fig trees that had been planted on August 5th. Susan Clarkson signed the vines and figs over.

After a picnic by the river – which included the returned wine – we then travelled to nearby AWE Burghfield, Britain’s nuclear bomb factory to
plant the remaining vine and fig tree. The MoD officer there said he looked forward to eating the figs. A vine – called St Francis – was planted to
the right of the entrance, and a fig – called St Clare – was planted to the left. The jaws of a nearby dead fox were placed at the base of each
plant and Rachel and Susan from St Francis House, Oxford, gave a blessing. This Burghfield planting included several new gardeners, and it was good to see the peace-planting spreading and growing.

We watered the plants and headed home for rest. Thirteen days in community. A rich chapter closing.

When we have a court date, we will inform you.

We have been moved and sustained by support from our Oxford base and from
all around the world.

Let’s keep communicating and conspiring and planting.

One Love
Many thanks

Stephen Hancock



A brief chronology:

March At the Dublin trial of the Pit Stop Ploughshares, Susan Clarkson, Per Herngren and Stephen Hancock discussed the idea of vine and fig tree planting around the time of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing anniversaries.

June Invitations to act are sent out. The main ingredients were: Inspiration of the words of the prophet Micah; a commitment to nonviolence;
a commitment to forming community; a willingness to risk arrest; a commitment to not protesting; a commitment to using positive language and action.

July 29-31 The Vine & Fig Tree Planters community is formed, eleven-strong:
Community building, nonviolence training and decision making.

August 1-3 Action preparation.

August 4 The first planting. Vines and fig trees planted outside AWE Aldermaston. Police are informed that we intend to return to carry out
further planting.

August 5 In the early hours, six of us enter AWE through a freshly-cut garden gate. Vines and fig trees are planted inside and outside the base.
Police arrive and arrest nine of us in total. Eight planters give their addresses as AWE Aldermaston, and so are held in police custody
overnight.

August 6 All nine arrestees appear before Reading Magistrates. Eight released on bail; Les Gibbons remanded to Bristol Prison for declining
to give his date of birth – instead saying that “August 6th is the only important date to remember.”

August 7-9 Reflection, evaluation, prison visits, court preparation.

August 10 All nine appear before Newbury Magistrates. Les is released. Bail conditions not to go within 100m of AWE Aldermaston are imposed on all nine. Old planters and new instead go to AWE Burghfield and plant the remaining
vine and fig tree. Everyone heads home.

to be continued…