Ploughshares Coming Up To Trial (Again!)

by Jonah Sun Oct 16, 2005 23:12

http://www.topia.net/kevinbenderman.html

by Jonah Sun Oct 16, 2005 23:09

Military Refusers

Kevin Benderman
P.O. Box 339536,
Ft. Lewis, WA 98433-9536
(more) Due to many restrictions placed on mail for the military prison system Kevin has asked that you send your letters of support to Kevin Benderman, c/o Benderman Defense, POBox 2322, Hinesville, GA 31310.
Kevin also asks that you understand that, while he values your support and appreciates every letter individually written to him, it is more important that we continue to address our concerns to people in his chain of command. He would ask that you write letters on his behalf to:
Sen. J. Isakson, One Overton Pk, 3625 Cumberland Blvd Ste. 970, Atlanta, GA 30339
Dr. Francis Harvey, Sec. of the Army, 101 Army Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-0101
Donald Rumsfeld, Sec. of the Defense, 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301
Col. John Kidd, 42 Wayne Place Ste. 203, Ft. Stewart, GA 31314
USA


Dale Barteli (four months, in 7/12/05)
Building 1490
Randolph Rd,
Fort Sill, OK 73503
USA
(refused duty and missed deployment after CO declaration)

Pvt. Blake Lemoine (seven months, in 3/28)
Building 1490
Randolph Road
Fort Sill, OK 73503
USA

Spc. Dale Bartell (four months in 7/ 12)
Building 1490
Randolph Rd
Fort Sill, OK 73503
USA

by Jonah Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:03 USA

http://www.jonahhouse.org/Kobasa_conscience.htm

by Ciaron Sun Oct 16, 2005 11:50 087 918 4552

Sun Oct 16
6pm Catholic Worker Liturgy faciiltated by Farah (Voices in the Wilderness USA)
7pm Soup & Open House
Text or Call 087 918 4552 before you come so we have an idea of numbers
WHERE- DCW HOUSE 518 South Circular Rd. (Opposite Mannnions Hardware-Green Building)
Luas to Rialto or 19 bus from O'Connel, Dame or South Georges St.

Mon Oct 17 - Fri Oct 21st
4pm-6pm
Pre-Trial Anti-War Solidarity Vigil at GPO
Text 087 918 4552 if you can commit to a day or just turn up

*Call for Solidarity. At our March trial we had 80 international activists turn up to do support and solidarity. Presently we are looking at approx 25 internationals. We are lot more dependant on solidarity from local anti-war activists.

If you can prioritise our small group (strung along by the state on bail for 2 1/2 years with jail sentences hanging over us) -for the next couple of weeks - it would be much appreciated.

by RobbieS Sun Oct 16, 2005 01:38

This interview is with Mark Colville, a veteran Ploughshares activist in the US, and a Catholic Worker in New Haven, Connecticut.

It was done on September 19th, 2005 at another Ploughshares trial (at the Federal Court in Binghamton, New York) where the St. Patrick's Four had a complete moral victory, and almost a complete legal one (getting off with misdemeanour convictions).
http://www.StPatricksFour.org

to listen on directly broadband click
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/2005.9.19-10.mark_colville.mp3

to download on sny vonnrvyion, right-click the link...

by Ciaron - Ploughshares/Catholic Worker (personal capacity) Sun Oct 16, 2005 00:23 see you in church! 087 918 4552

Gave the homily at the local church tonight. Only
three people stormed out (that's a minimum record!)
Here's the gist.....

Good evening, thanx for having me! My name is Ciaron O'Reilly. My Dad comes from Clara, County Offaly and I'm from Brisbane, Australia. I have spent my adult life in the Catholic Worker Movement. The Catholic Worker was started by Dorothy Day in New York City in 1933, during The Depression. Dorothy left us with the brief "To Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable". The Catholic Worker attempts this in three ways 1)Living in Faith Based Community like the
early Christians in "Acts of the Apostles"
2) Practising the "Works of Mercy" feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the imprisoned
3) Nonviolent Resisting the Principalities & Powers, governments & corporations that cause famine, death, poverty, war.

Five of us from the Catholic Worker go to retrial on
October 24th charged with $US 2.5million "criminal damage" to a U.S. navy war plane en route to war on Iraq.

Our lives together are sustained by a rhythm of
prayer & bible study. The gospel reading tonight
Matthew 13-17 is one that people often decontextualise & hurl at us, but one we have reflected over often.

"They sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod's party, with the purpose of trapping him in his own words. They came and said to him "Master, we know that you are true, you are not influenced by anyone and your answers do not vary according to who is listening to you but you truly teach God's way. Tell us, is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?" Mk 13-14

This is not the first time this scenario has occured
in Mark's narrative. In Mk2 the Pharisees attempt to
prosecute Jesus for harvesting grain on the sabbath to feed the hungry. Jesus responds "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. So the Son of Man is master of the Sabbath"Mk2:28
Which implies that all human law is relative to the sanctity of human life, which is made in the image of God (Genisis). In Mark 3 Jesus is cased by the Pharisees while healing a man with a paralyzed hand on the Sabbath and asks "What does the Law allow us to do on the Sabbath. To do good
or to do harm? To save life or to kill."Mk3:4 But as
soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod's (The Jewish king client of the Roman Empire) supporters looking for a way to destroy him."Mk3:6

"(Back to Mark Ch12)
"But Jesus saw through their trick and answered "Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin and let me see it"
Jesus does not carry the coin with the Emperor's
image, like most Jews he would regard this as
idolatrous. Caeser claims dominion over the known world. Jews believe God has given them the land. The Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus in the vice between Caesar's occupation and the growing Jewish insurgency (An insurgency that grows so strong after Jesus death, at the time of writing by Mark, that the Jews drive Rome out for 3 years. Rome returns and levels Jerusalem!) Jesus does not carry the coin, his opponents do!

"They brought him one and Jesus asked "Whose head is this, and whose name? They answered "Caesar's" Then Jesus said, "Return to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God's". And they were greatly astonished" (Mk12-17)
Jesus poses the question, where do your
allegiances lie?

So the Pit Stop Ploughshares returned to Texas what was Texas's. The U.S. Navy War Plane enroute to the war on Iraq to service hi tech Navy killing machines didn't make it, it was turned around and went back to Texas! The U.S. Navy had killed a million Iraqi children at the time of our nonviolent disarmament action at Shannon Airport. The U.S Navy was mobilising to kill a lot more Iraqi kids when we intervened by enacting the prophecy to "beat swords into ploughshares" and disrupted their preparations.

In our first trial, the Irish state like the Pharisees
were not in a sincere search for the truth. As the
Quakers say, "Truth is always the first casualty of
war!" They wished to strip our nonviolent intervention of context and package it as criminal damage. They state would like you to think that the war on Iraq was irrelevant to our act. They would like you to think that the militarization of Shannon as the major pit stop for the invading U.S. war machine (to such an extent that 35,000 U.S. military past through Shannon Airport this past month) was irrelvant to our act.

Since we acted on February 3rd "beating swords into ploughshares" over 100,000 Iraqis mostly women and children have been slain (Lancet Report), 2,000 U.S. military personnel (most who would have travel led through Shannon) have been killed, those who have suicided or died of injuries sustained on return to the U.S. have not been counted. Over 11,000 U.S. military (most who would have passed through Shannon) have been evacuated with loss of limb and mind.

Since we acted on February 3rd., all the lies that
were used to market this war have been exposed 1) No weapons of mass destruction 2) A swampland of terrorism created in Iraq 3) exporting democracy in the form of sexual & physical abuse as policy, the theft of Iraqi resources by transnational corporations

We return to trial on October 24th. we will be joined
by U.S. veterans of this war, veterans of other wars, a mother of a soldier killed in this war, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a Catholic Bishop, Buddhist monks, peacemakers from around Ireland & many countries. We invite you to join us on each or any morning of our trial as we gather from 8.30 am to vigil for peace at the Spire in O'Connell St. and at 9.15am as we walk silently in single file to the Four Courts in memory of all those killed in this war and in opposition to
continued Irish participation in this war. A war
declared illegal by the U.N secretary-general and
immoral by the Pope.

by A Hunch Sat Oct 15, 2005 22:58

My guess is that there are so few people left on the streets in Ireland speaking out against the war, that your going to see the same faces popping up a lot on reports. Anonymous could improve this situation by getting off his sorry ass and getting out there. Contrast this with 35,000 fresh faces in U.S. military uniform transiting through Shannon (largely not photographed) last month and you see the sorry situation we're all in!

The Ploughshares are not on trial for our vicarious entertainment. This post looks like a call for solidarity
I'm sure the defendants aren't thrilled that they have to do most of their own solidarity work while preparing for trial. So give them a beak Mr. Anonmyous & your legion of cynics. If your not going to offer any solidarity take my mom's advice and "If you can't say something nice (to these folks at risk of the hands of a state complicit in mass murder), maybe don't say anything at all!"

by Anonymous Sat Oct 15, 2005 21:45

Why don't we ever see pictures of the other three defendent? The guys seem to have a love affiar the cameras but the females don't have any visibility. very weird.

Anyway what's the point of pictures with no info?

by Elaine Sat Oct 15, 2005 20:34

...In The Lower Deck, Portobello.

Banda Zingara

Paul O'Toole

Whirligig

by Elaine Sat Oct 15, 2005 20:24

.

Pat Sez 'Get Yer Leaflets Here'

Raymond With Mark And Laurence Of Cosantoiri Siochana ( Ah Lads, I Said 'Smile' )

Life Immitates Art - That's A Realistic Banner, I Swear The Eyes Were Following Me