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Catholic Worker Crew Set off to Confront State Terrorism in the Australain Outback
 international |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
 Friday November 25, 2005 12:59 by Bryan - Cjristians Against Terrorism
Wage Peace- Fight Fire with Water!
In the next few days, the Catholic Worker Crew are setting off from Brisbane in a Citizen's Inspection Vehicle, powered by recycled fish 'n chip vegetable oil, to confront the U.S. NSA Pine Gap Base near Alice Springs.
Pine Gap sattelite targets for U.S. first strike nuclear weapons and also recent drive by cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan, Sudan & Iraq.
Some of the folks go to trial Monday in Rockhampton, Queensland for blockading joint U.S./Australian military Operation Talisman Sabre exerecises this past June.
The Australian government erases civil liberties on the basis of anit-terror hysteria while hosting State terrorist facilities. The Australian Defence Minister has recently threatened the CW crew with svere punishment if they go ahead with their nonviolent action. *Christians Against All Terrorism*
On 28 November in Canberra, the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament will vote on the Anti-Terror Bill 2005. Also on that day the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee
will hand down the findings of its review of the Anti-Terror Bill 2005. Australia becomes ever more a security state.
On 28 November 2005 in Brisbane a small nonviolent affinity group is going to test the legitimacy of this fear-mongering rogue government.
Calling themselves Christians Against All Terrorism, seven nonviolent activists are condemning the state terrorism behind the US and Australia’s illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Christians Against All Terrorism (CAAT) cannot distinguish between the terrorist acts of a suicide bomber in Baghdad, or of a jet bomber in
Fallujah. In both cases innocents are murdered and maimed for a political objective.
We believe there is a better way.
Christ told us to love our enemies and our neighbours, forgive sinners their trespasses, and believe in redemption. Pope Paul VI said “If you
want peace, work for justice”.
CAAT seeks to disarm the US/Australian terror machine. In December 2005, our group will conduct a Citizen’s inspection of the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility outside Alice Springs.
*“Christians Against All Terrorism”* are:
*Jim Dowling*. A Catholic Worker from Mt Mee, Jim was arrested at the October 2002 actions at Pine Gap, organised by the Australian Anti-Bases
Coalition that condemned the base for its role in the forthcoming invasion and occupation of Iraq. Jim had a vision of returning to Pine Gap to carry out a Citizen’s Inspection of the facility.
Jim says “In 1991 Pope John Paul 11 called the first Gulf war "The seed of death". Since then and even more so since Sept 11 2001, that seed
has borne much fruit as our nation has more and more embraced the belief that violence and killing are the only things that will save us from our
"enemies".
In an act of demonic madness, at the same time as we have denounced violence and killing of one kind as terrorism, we have helped unleash
massive terrorism on the poor people of Iraq and Afghanistan”.
*Sean O’Reilly*. A registered nurse and Catholic Worker from Redcliffe, Sean recently took part in the Peace Convergence actions at Shoalwater
Bay, where Australian and US military forces practised invading foreign countries together.
Sean says “The Australian government’s complicity in the implementation of U.S. foreign policy reaches new heights of evil and moral cowardice. To do nothing in opposition to this is also unthinkable.
The facility at Pine Gap is instrumental in this ongoing suppression of the Iraqi people. Its surveillance capacity allows the U.S. military to
continue its destruction of Iraq and suppression of the Iraqi people.
From my roots in the Catholic Worker tradition, I believe it is important go to these places, hidden from the public view. I travel there with others to witness against the terror that is being
perpetrated in our own country against a people in another land”.
*Donna Mulhearn.* From Sydney, Donna was a human shield during the war in Iraq in 2003. She later returned to Iraq under occupation as a
humanitarian aid worker to set up a shelter for street kids in Baghdad and support refugee families. She is a former journalist and political
adviser who is now an independent writer and speaker on non-violence, spirituality and politics. Her latest Middle East trip included her
third visit to Iraq as well as four months in the West Bank of Palestine
Donna’s inspiration to join the human shields was the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi: /“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me bring love...”/
Donna joins the action to inspect Pine Gap with first-hand experience of
the damage the facility has done to innocent people. “While staff at Pine Gap pin-pointed missiles in Iraq, I experienced the impact of
them,” she said. “They call it a military strike; I saw it as murder of civilians”.
*Terry Spackman*. A peace, environment and social justice activist from Cairns, Terry Spackman comes from a military family where he, his father, older brother, and numerous uncles and cousins all served with the Royal Navy. Terry served in the Persian Gulf, conducting searches
of shipping in 1958/9, back when Gamal Abdul Nasser was the bad boy on the block.
Terry says “ I wasn’t told why I was there. The Americans were there too. We were searching dhows for weapons, and providing security for
British interests. The thing that really stood out for me was the vast inequality in wealth. I came to understand I was there to protect British and American oil interests“.
I’ve got personal experience of bombing campaigns (WW2 London) and their
effects. The human tragedy is enormous, to the benefit of very few. Most wars are fought for large corporations. The war in Iraq is evil. I’m going to Pine Gap to oppose this vital component of a ruthless war machine. It’s un-Australian”.
*Bryan Law*. A nonviolence practitioner from Cairns, Bryan (Pagan with Catholic tendencies) believes in taking responsibility for creating the
conditions of peace and social justice. Bryan has been involved in creating and supporting social justice campaigns for some 25 years and
marvels at the capacity of human beings for inspired creative action.
Bryan says “War is obscenity. By depriving present and future humans of a full measure of life and health, war is a sin. Any government which
launches an illegal invasion based on a lie is not legitimate. Nor are its policies or its legislation. Under the Nuremberg Principles the duty
of the ordinary citizen now is to interfere with the prosecution of the war, and bring those responsible for it to account.
Pine Gap is the biggest terrorist base in Australia, protected by secrecy and lies. I’m looking forward to taking strong action with my friends in this affinity group. Let the sun shine in”.
*Jessica Morrison*. Based in Melbourne, Jessica Morrison has been involved in church based social justice initatives for some years. From
a social work background, Jessica has become increasingly passionate about the way power works in our communities to keep people poor and powerless. Inspired by notions of community development and how we can work together to challenge injustice she has been involved in opposing increases in poker machines, and seeking justice for Indigenous Australians.
Jessica says “A recent trip with a Peace Convergence to Rockampton earlier this year to protest the Talisman Sabre war games with 10,000 US troops inspired me to think about the centrality of Australian land to the US's continued illegal war and aggressive worldwide tactics. Pine
Gap is an opportunity to directly challenge the use of Australia's land and airspace to facilitate the bombing of Iraq and others to come”.
*Adele Goldie*. Based in Brisbane, Adele Goldie is an artist who also works in a cooperative organic nursery, and was arrested on June 12
this year at Yeppoon while taking part in the Bi-annual Peace Convergence. Adele works on peace, anti-nuclear and refugee issues.
Adele says “Pine Gap is controlled by a terrorist organisation called the US Government. Pine Gap has played a major role in two illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is an illegal organisation and a terrorist organisation. It is illegal under International law and the Geneva Convention, and the Nuremberg charter”.
*Senator the Honourable Robert Hill*
(NOT a member of CAAT)
CAAT has begun a dialogue with the Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Hill - in the first instance to request his assistance and cooperation with a Citizen’s inspection of Pine Gap. In his reply of 7 November the Minister said
“I regret that I cannot support your request to visit Pine Gap because of security considerations. You should be aware that the facility has been declared a prohibited area under the /Defence (Special Undertakings) Act /1952. Under the provisions of the /Defence (Special Undertakings) Act /1952, any unauthorised entry to the prohibited area has a maximum penalty of imprisonment for seven years. I am sure you are aware that the security authorities take seriously their
responsibilities concerning unauthorised entry to prohibited areas”.
If we hadn’t believed this before, we sure would by now.
It’s standard practise in nonviolent actions to liaise with Police from early on. We do this to maximise safety, respect, and trust - so that our actions might go well and be clear. As Police liaison I wrote on 26 October to Superintendent Richard Bryson at the Alice Springs Police station, outlining our intentions and asking for dialogue. Because I’m unknown to Northern Territory Police, I referred them to Snr Sgt Sean Cryer, the Police Tactician in Cairns, for information.
In the past two weeks Snr Sgt Cryer has been contacted by two intelligence officers of the NT Police (from Alice Springs and Darwin),
and by the Australian Protection Service (the uniform branch of the AFP). He tells me that Cairns Police Intelligence has been contacted by
ASIO. All in response to our little inspection proposal. I’ve spoken at length with an intelligence officer from Alice Springs Police.
So we do believe Minister Hill in his reference to active security authorities and seven years’ imprisonment. In our reply, we’ll thank the
Minister for his advice and give him a final opportunity to change his mind.
We’ll then point out that in our opinion Australia’s continuing participation in the terrorist attack on Iraq makes him personally responsible for crimes against humanity, war-crimes, and crimes against
peace as codified in the Nuremberg Principles. The penalty for these crimes is life imprisonment (or in Iraq, execution).
The Nuremberg Principles also specify the responsibilities of the ordinary citizen/soldier when a state wants to commit crimes against peace. Every citizen’s responsibility is to obstruct the commission of such crimes, using whatever moral means are available to us, whenever
we have the opportunity. It is in this context that we intend to inspect the Pine Gape Joint Defence Facility for evidence of terrorist activity.
Our initial request for Minister Hill’s assistance is much like the standard Police invitation to a person to assist them with their enquiries – it’s polite. Of course, it always looks suspicious when a person declines the opportunity to explain their activities. Minister Hill may have a guilty conscience. It may become necessary in due
course to preventively detain him for questioning. Let’s inspect the base first.
*Itinerary*
CAAT begins its journey in Brisbane on Monday 28 November with a symbolic direct action. Assemble at King George Square at 12.15 pm. The Citizens’ Inspection Team, and the Citizens’ Inspection Vehicle will lead a procession to AFP headquarters, where we’ll “dob in” Pine Gap as
a terrorist base, and ask for an inspection. Street theatre may break out at any time.
That evening, at 7.00 pm, at St Francis’ Church Hall, 59 Dornoch Terrace West End, there’ll be a public forum and discussion on the topic
“Disarming State Terror”.
On Tuesday we drive the Citizens’ Inspection Vehicle (powered by recycled vegetable oil) to Rockhampton for a prayer vigil that evening
outside the Army Barracks there.
Rockhampton is nearby the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, presently being upgraded as a Joint Training Facility with the US. 11 activists were
arrested at Shoalwater Bay on Sunday June 12 2005 when they acted against Operation Talisman Sabre. One group entered the prohibited area
and conducted a vigil naming and remembering the civilians and service personnel who’ve died in the Iraq war. Another group blockaded access
to the base by military vehicles.
On Wednesday 30 November, those activists are on trial in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court. CAAT will spend the day conducting an information stall in front of the court building, alerting Rockhampton citizens to the militarisation of their district. That evening there’ll be a community gathering and documentary showing at the “the hut”, one Livermore street in the Haigh Park rose garden.
On Friday 2 December we’re in Townsville for another symbolic action during the day (details yet to be finalised), and a BBQ that evening at
21 Bullock St Wulguru, the home of Greens Convenor and Webdiarist Jenny Stirling. Jenny describes herself as ” a Christian first and foremost who thinks "the Australian government's involvement in Iraq stinks in the nostrils of God."
After that it’s onwards to Alice Springs, arriving on Monday 5 December for two days of preparation and local liaison. A principal focus of
this time will be to doorknock and letterbox the homes of base personnel and their families, as well as general public information stalls and
functions.
On Thursday 8 December, at a time and place yet to be determined, Christians Against All Terrorism will be praying for a miracle as they exercise their moral responsibility to witness for the transformation of evil into love, of hatred into peace, and of despair into joy. We will
hold the government accountable and inspect the Pine Gap Joint Defence Base. You are cordially invited to join us.
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Comments (22 of 22)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22I get your point the US government is evil and the Iraq war is an act of terrorism etc. - therefore your justifiable protests.
But you must to be consistent about all wars by all terrorists against innocent people
Al-Qaida and other Muslim terrorist groups have not chosen the path of forgiveness and love for their "enemies" but rather have attacked and killed thousands of people from New York, London, Madrid, Casablanca, Bali, Beslan, Baghdad, Amman, Beirut, Istanbul, New Dehli, Karachi, Tel Aviv, Moscow, Cairo, Algiers, Jakarta and recently attempted to blow up a nuclear reactor near Sydney which potentially could have killed millions of innocent men women and children.
Dictatorships, tyranny's, junta and Presidents For Life in countries from North Korea to Syria to Sudan to Zimbabwe to Burma to China are killing millions of people every year.
What the US is doing is truly evil and an affront to God but why doesn't the evils of other countries arouse your outrage?
On the streets of Dublin 100,000 people marched in opposition to the Iraq War but when Sudanese tribesmen supported by troops and helicopters and fighter planes kill more hundreds of thousands in Darfur or Mugabe starves his people for their opposition to his rule - there is not peep out the international Anti-War Movement.
Tell me why?
Because Americans aren't killing them they don't matter to you!
It boils down to effectiveness and responsibility. Ireland is playing a direct part in the illegal war of occupation in Iraq. We can stop that. It's our country and our government. We can call a halt to the transit of US combatants and munitions through our country. We are close trading partners with the USA and have many friends and relatives there. We can have an effect.
On the other hand I doubt there's anything we can do that will influence the Sudanese government.
So the next time that you see an international event that you are concerned about, think to yourself "can I affect this or am I just posturing ineffectively? should I divert my energy from complicity in a warcrime on my doorstep to something I have little chance of changing?"
I hope this answers your question and all other future "why don't you protest X?" type questions. Goodbye and don't bother posting again.
I guess they are prioritising Pine Gap as Australia remains a colony of the USA. They seem to be addressing the context they are living in.
You seem to overlook the longstanding CIA sponsorship if Islam fascists to wipe out the left throughout Africa, Asia & Middle East. The CIA own up to this fact terming their creations Bin Laden/ AQ as "blowback".....something they supported that has turned on them.
Also worthy of recognition of the role of Pine Gap in undermining the reformist Whitlam Australian Government concluding in the GG Coup. See film "Snowman and the Falcon"...if you're rushed for time. Christopher Boyce is still in supermax Fed isolation as consequence.
http://dimc.axxs.org/?action=newswire&parentview=4927
http://www.geocities.com/peaceconvergence/
America is responsible for the "blowback" from Al-Qaeda. That's a given.
But Al-Qaeda's target is not just America and Western politicians and capitalists.
They are targeting ordinary people like you and me for their deranged suicide bombings
Were the people who were blown to pieces in Madrid by suicide bombers - mothers, fathers going to work, schoolchildren, college kids etc. - had they a part in the cimes committed in Iraq?
Did the people of London deserve to be torn apart on the tube or on the bus?
The Australian clubbers and party goers in Bali were just having fun on their holidays a break from the dispiriting rat race when they were slaughtered. Were they responsible for John Howard's decisions?
Do you think that people who are prepared to kill innocents in that manner give a damn about the sympathy the peace movement has for Palestinians or Iraqis?
I don't think so.
I think they would kill you just as surely as they would kill an American soldier.
What are American soldiers being killed for?
They're just poor guys who joined the military so they could earn money and feed their families - they are human beings like anyone else - so why are the Iraqi insurgents killing them for?
Any attacks on American soldiers often result in civilian deaths too - passersby are blown up in the same bombs.
Why are Shias being targeted by Musab Al-Zaraqawi? What did they do?
Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi insurgency is as despicible as the US?
But why protest solely against the US?
Why are there no protests against Al-Qaeda?
Why are the crimes of Islamic terrorists ignored?
QUOTE: Why are there no protests against Al-Qaeda?
And what possible use are "protests" against Al Qaeda? Why on earth would they give a fuck if people protested in Ireland against them? Will they be afraid of the negative publicity? Will they take a step back and say "Oh! the Irish don't like us, we'd better stop, why didn't they say so before?".
Or will they say to themselves "the Irish? Aren't they the ones that allow the US to land their planes in their crappy little airport in Shannon so that they can kill us and kill Iraqis (who have NOTHING to do with Al Qaeda)? Why should we care they protest against us, they're already helping to kill us".
Your question is beyond stupid.
.
Isible, Ryan's list of questions were rhetorical. His point was that the Al- Qaeda are much worse than the war effort being protested against, yet it seems all you constantly hear about are protests against the war. Wouldn't it make more sense to have people out there doing their best to voice opposition against terrorism? Not a practical question at all, but it tries to make a point.
Try and take that into account when making a rebuttal, instead going off. Thx.
Catholic Worker Crew Set off to Confront State Terrorism in the Australain Outback
Personally I think you are very naive. You may be well-intentioned, but I suspect very much the need to identify yourself with either Catholicism or Christianity.
Why is such identification suspect?
Do you honestly think that Christians condemn the invasion of Iraq? Do you actually believe that the sotto voce condemnation of the Pope's was real. Bearing in mind that he was was the driving force in the Irish/Spanish/Austrailian/Christian invasion of East Timor, the preliminary test, how can you be so naive!
There is a kind of Christianity which loves to say things like: Blame the singer but don't blame the song. It is meant to keep the flock from ever looking at the history of Christianity objectively. According to this aspect of Christianity, I believe that the 'flock' are genetically incapable of knowing anything objectively. My reasons for saying this are at least two-fold. I could never meet any of my countrymen who , however objective they as Catholics imagine themselves to be, could actually digest the historical notion that a Pope sold them into British slavery for a penny a household. Even if the documentary proofs were pointed to, the truth of the event was still unacceptable. It was easier to live in denial. It reminds me of the second reason. After long discussions in the New Statesman some years ago I think it became perfectly proper to conclude that the Holocaust was very much a Christian thing. The hatred of the Jews was inspired by Christianity, as it was throughout the history of the Christian Conquest, which is, of course, ongoing. And it matters not whether you and I and all the other personally-minded Christians think otherwise. The Pope and his Curia are not even subject to democratic limitations,and in those countries that are, like Spain, Britain and the US , we can see -- as we have seen recently -- that even such democracy is an illusion. In Ireland the same thing applies. The Irish actually changed their constitution and swore to themselves that even in times of war , they would never again use capital punishment on criminals. They no sooner made the amendments to the constitution than George Bush announced that he wanted Saddam Hussein's head. The Irish, of course, looked around and saw their material comforts very much dependent on Microsoft and Dell, two American gifts , and what did they do with their constitutional and Christian and Cahtolic principles? The gave Bush Shannon and hoped the exectution would happen on TV.
Indeed, if one was to trace the history of terrorism, one would find the relentless effort of the Christian Conquistadores everywhere from the first Crusade to this , the tenth crusade agasint Islam. Christians -- and I know so many Catholics -- are such neurotic and unhappy people; they invariably want to force their views onthe world. Indeed, the island of Ireland has surrendered itself to a Christian war ever since the inception of Christianity: and all we ever hear is
"Us Christians Are Against All Terrorism. And if we terrorise children with the Stations of the Cross and the canabalism of the Mass, we don't mean to do it. Unlike others we're just so successful at convincing ourselves of anything we wish."
What is it that holds the hatred of Judaisers, Jews, Gaelic Pagans, Witches, Abligensians, Huguenots, Protestants, Gypsies, Bolsheviks, Communists, Socialists, Anarchists, Homosexuals, Irish Itinerants, Women, Sinners, in absolute and unrelenting hatred? Catholicism and its ally Christianity! The love of the One God that hates all others!
The Christian Conquest is the history of terror throughout the world. It is the triumph of fascism in the world. And since the Spanish Civil War it is fuelled by secret societies like Opus Dei. and in its conjunction with Anglo America, it hated Vietnam as much as Iraq as much as Afthanistan.
The Pope has been accused several times of his half-hearted defence of Jews during WW11. His post war interfernce with the US in South America in in keeping with his help to get George Bush elected and his engagement in East Timor, his direct interference in the German elections to shore up Merkel's exclusion of the Islam Turks from Christian Europe. And even though Europe is no longer Christian, it doesn't matter to the powers that be. It is like Spain; no matter how many people want the troops withdrawn, the governments proceed without listening to them. The notion of Parliamentary Democracy is no weapon by which the peoplel have their voices heard. It is as if we are back again with the Christian control of Spain, the indifference shown to the elected republic,and the Church's search for a Franco after Franco after Franco.
When, therefore, I hear of Christians I take them imediately to be terrorists and when I hear Catholic I know that they want to make propaganda images. I have yet to see a Catholic who does not want to put more chains on people that they already have. I have yet to meet one that makes life better than when he found it.
www.irishcriminology.com
Seamus Breathnach
QUOTE Douglas: His point was that the Al- Qaeda are much worse than the war effort being protested against,
In terms of sheer numbers of the ordinary innocent civilians being killed (Ryan is only able to list a few thousand western civilians murdered by the savages of Al Qaeda) the USA's war effort against Saddam Hussein and the Taliban has been MUCH worse.
Evidence?
Madelein Albright admitted that at least 500,000 Iraqi children had been killed by the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq. It is also reasonably established that at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the invasion and occupation of Iraq. These were all non-combatants. To paraphrase "Ryan":
The USA/UK are targeting ordinary people like you and me for their deranged bombings
Were the people who were blown to pieces in Falluja by US bombers - mothers, fathers going to work, schoolchildren, college kids etc. - had they a part in the cimes committed in Iraq?
Did the people of Baghdad deserve to be torn apart on the street or in their homes?
The Afghan mothers and daughters in Kabul were just having no fun under the US created Taliban regime, with no break from the dispiriting rat race when they were slaughtered. Were they responsible for Al Qaeda and George Bush's decisions?
Do you think that people who are prepared to kill innocents in that manner give a damn about the sympathy the peace movement has for Palestinians or Iraqis?
I don't think so.
I see they kill American soldiers just as surely as they would kill an Afghan peasant.
QUOTE Douglas: yet it seems all you constantly hear about are protests against the war. Wouldn't it make more sense to have people out there doing their best to voice opposition against terrorism?
And again you fail to read the two answers I've given above: it makes absolutely NO sense to make any sort of ineffective protests. Protest is only useful when it has the chance of changing something (which isn't often). In this situation Al Qaeda are not influenced in any way by protest in Ireland and protesting their actions is pointless and frivolous.
It makes far more sense for Irish people to stop the US murderers from abusing our country's neutrality.
You, "Douglas" and "Ryan", need to read the responses, think about them. Your "why don't you protest X?" question has been answered more than fully. Further repititions are mere trolling and will be treated as such.
I really can't take resposnibility for your cultivated ignorance, fine tuned prejudices & your wallowing in both - as radical Catholics from the Australian Outback to Dublin's Four Courts to the far reaches of the U.S. Empire confront the bloodstained face of history (as advised by Camus).
If you are trapped in the circle of certainity that it is the subculture of academe, I'd advise you to get off campus and meet some intellectuals. Mix it up a bit, get out their and mingle. See you in streets, if not before the courts.
If you are on a sincere search, the following websites could be a start....
www.catholicworker.org
www.plowsharesactions.org
www.soaw.org
and you didn't even mention how someone who openly belongs to a patriarchial and hierarchical organisation(roman catholic church) can in the same breath claim to be an Anarchist!.........
no doubt I will be referred to in the same derogatory manner which you were Seamus, however, the hot air and bluster leaves the questions unanswered!!!!!!! a point which will undoubtably be noticed by all who read this....
Jsee, you keep fighting freedom where ever it raises its ugly head in whatever fanatsy land you inhabit.
Seamus sounds like a bigot on an island where his genre of bigotry, anti-catholicism, has played itself out recently in many fatalities. Indeed it was often said in the 80's & 90's, Ireland and East Timor were the only places you could be killed merely for being Catholic.
Jsee, I'm not responsible for your ignorance either. Do some serious reading, do some resarch. The anarchist tradition is a focus of serious reserach. Try Marshall's "Demanding the Impossible, A History of Anarachism" a good recent work. Look up the index, find the Catholic Worker, find me! read , reflect, transcend your prejudice and misconception that anarchism is an attempt at hip pc isolation.
Don't do the anarchist tradition & movement a disservice by masquerading as one so illequipped. If its merely a phase you're going through, that's ok, we can wait you out, you can trust tthere will be a churlish replacement sent on as you exit.
Jsee celebrate serious nonviolent resistance to this war from whatever tradition it springs from. Take some responsibility for your country's involvement in this escalating war on Iraq, do something about it, get back to us when you do and let us celebrate it.,
Now, now. Let's all play nice, children.
The state benefits when anti-statists quarrel among each other: nothing gets accomplished and much progress is hindered.
Off to the farm I go...
It's nearly as laughable as belonging to Fianna Fail and claiming to be a socialist!
Christian Anarchist! logical
Roman Catholic Anarchist! total contradiction
OK Jsee we'll leave it there.
If your anarchist analysis matures you may realise that power is the problem rather than the traditions people spring from or identify with. Put Catholics, punks, republicans, secular humanists, Buddhists or Sufis in state power and your going to be dealing with the same problems. If you let go of your cheesey prejudices & bigotry you might see that.
This post was about my brother, my friends, Donna who was held hostage in Iraq & other courageous folks travelling a long way with interesting transportation to confront the U.S. empire in a pretty islolated place & time. If all the response or concern or solidarity you & Seamus can muster is the quality of the posts you have placed here, well that is pretty sad reflection on where your head is at.
While responding to you I have learnt a 75 year old Baptist pacifist friend has been taken hostage in Iraq today. That puts a lot of stuff in perspective in terms of priorities and scraps I should be getting into at this time. I'm still in the middle of a pretty big one with the Irish state & the U.S.Empire at present. So I guess you & Seamus will have to wait. Sleep well.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1653134,00.html
The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR) is saddened and shocked to hear of the abduction of one of its Trustees, Norman Kember, in Iraq
Norman was in Iraq as part of a small peace delegation to meet with those who are suffering under the terrible conditions that currently exist there. The delegation was hoping to meet with community leaders and civil society groups, to visit hospitals, schools and mosques and to talk to ordinary Iraqis. The delegation would then be able to give a first hand report on the conditions that they met in Iraq when they returned.
Norman is a thoughtful and caring man, a long-time Christian pacifist who has consistently been opposed to war and violence and has spent a great deal of his time speaking about and promoting nonviolence. Norman was well aware of the risks in taking such a peace initiative but has always been committed to the idea that peacemaking is a risky business and that if we want to build real peace and security in our world ordinary people have to do all they can to build bridges and to try to help opponents - enemies – have a better understanding of each other.
Chris Cole, Director of FoR said “The Fellowship of Reconciliation is praying for the safe return of Norman and his fellow abducted so that he may continue his life’s commitment to the work of peace and reconciliation.”
Today in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court, ten peace activists appeared to defend charges arising from Talisman Sabre Military Exercise at Shoalwater bay near Rockhampton, in June this year.
The court heard that a group of six described as ‘peaceful’ by police held a memorial service for those who had died in Iraq. The service, which included mock coffins, was held inside the entrance to the training facility and prevented the exercise from proceeding as the activists read out names of Iraqi and American dead.
The group argued that the military exercise coitravened Australuan and international law, including the Anti-landmine Convention Act which prohibits the use of cluster bombs and landmines. The use of such weapons in Operation talisman Sabre had been admitted by Defence Minister Robert Hill. Mr. Pass claimed that the protest, whilst possibly illegal, was necessary and morally correct in order to prevent a greater crime , which is the preparation for illegal military actions, such as the invasion of Iraq.
Mr Castle told the court that he saw a imminent threat of ecological damage from the continued use of Shoalwater Bay for military exercises and the possible use of depleted uranium shells.
June Norman, a 65 year old grandmother and aid worker in east Timor told the Court that having enjoyed the privilege of growing up in a war free Australia, she wanted the same for her children, grandchildren and their children. She expressed the view that our new doctrine of pre-emptive war and illegal invasion was sure to bring retribution and war to this country.
The Reverend John Smith, celebrated founder of the God Squad in Melbourne was called as an expert witness, and informed the court that Christian tradition called upon all believers to resist unjust war. He said that the example set by Jesus, John Wesley, Martin Luther King and Gandhi had all demonstrated the effect that could be achieved by committed believers acting against injustice and war.
The second group were four people involved in a much larger blockade of the main road accessing the Shoalwater Bay military facility. The blockade involved theatre, singing, and the making of a pedestrian crossing to ensure that pedestrians had right of way over the tanks. These protesters told tthe court that they felt they must stand in the way of the military training "and just maybe we can stop this war".
Several of the activists said that all legal avenues of persuasion had been exhausted, and that non-violent direct action was now a moral necessity as the only available avenue to halt the sin and injustice of this war of aggression. The court has reserved its decision for the first group until late January. The second group were found guilty of failing to obey a police direction, but with no conviction being recorded.
For more information, contact: 0439 353 587
on the Citizens' Inspection of Pine Gap go to:
http://www.whitepage.com.au/caat
AUSTRALIA - Catholic Workers & other activists in court for blockading Gallipoli Barracks/Enoggera in Nonviolent Resistance to the War on Afghanistan
*Historical note - two of the activists arrested, Jim Dowling & Sean O'Reilly, were part of the initial Catholic Worker project in Brisbane. An initiative that since 1982 has led to 30 years of experiments in C.W. hospitality and sustained nonviolent resistance to Australian warmaking and war preparations. Gallipoli Barracks, prsently undergoing a $770 million refit, is located in Enoggera, Brisbane has been serving up Australian cannon fodder for British and U.S. wars since 1908.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Barracks
AUSTRALIA - Catholic Workers & other activists in court for blockading Gallipoli
Barracks/Enoggera in Nonviolent Resistance to the War on Afghanistan
On 5 March five Christian activists-Cully, Jim, Christel, Andy and Sean, appeared in Brisbane Magistrate Court to face charges of “causing a public nuisance” and “disobeying a police direction without a reasonable excuse.” These charges arose from a civil disobedience action on 7 October last year outside Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane, to make the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. Gallipoli Barracks is one of Australia’s largest bases, from where the most troops have been deployed to Afghanistan.
Successive Australian Governments have fully supported the war, repeatedly arguing that we ‘are bringing security to the Afghani people’, ‘we will stay the course’ and ‘we will not cut and run’. Sadly there has been little public resistance to this stand.
However on the 7th October, 25 people gathered at the front gates of the base for a moving prayer ceremony. During the ceremony five people knelt and prayed on the roadway and blocked traffic for 30-40 minutes. Army vehicles, staff, and contractors’ vehicles banked up as the five, holding photographs of civilian casualties, recited the names of the dead along with those on the footpath. The five were arrested after repeatedly refusing to move.
In court this week, the prosecutor attempted to dismiss the group’s actions as having no justification. He focussed upon the group’s refusal to follow a police direction. In cross examination police and army witnesses all denied hearing or understanding what the protesters were saying in relation to the suffering brought upon the people of Afghanistan by a war that had raged for 10 years. In countering, the 5 argued that there was ‘reasonable excuse’. They spoke of their own personal journeys, being moved by the growing suffering of the Afghani people and the Australian government’s complicity through its military involvement.
ARTICLE CONTINUED............
http://workersbushtelegraph.com.au/2012/03/08/court-rep...five/