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Billy King

Editorial

Nonviolence News

 

Readings

May 2007

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'Readings in Nonviolence' features extracts from our favourite books, pamphlets or other.

Pacifists and anti-war peace people are coming from different parts to Faslane to protest in a non violent way against Trident's nuclear weapons. We have been connected to this one year action in different ways. It is in this context that I asked MOC from Bilbao to write an account of their action that took place on March 17th. I was sent the pictures of the action which seemed specially creative and active and thought that it would make a good piece for our Readings in Nonviolence section. Maybe other groups can get new ideas and join in. As the piece came in Spanish I translated it so that we can all have it.
We invite you to also go to the cited webs that give us a direct insight of what the action was all about.

When shall we meet there?
Roberta Bacic

Faslane ‘in the red’ - A blockade against Trident missiles by AA-MOC (Alternative Antimilitarist-Movement of Conscientious Objection)

A group of 12 antimilitarists from the State of Spain went to Glasgow, Scotland, on 17 March to blockade the naval base at Faslane. The news that prompted this action was the decision by Parliament to renew the British nuclear arsenal at a cost of millions, including the submarines that transport the Trident missiles.

There are protests against that decision. For more than 25 years, the Faslane Peace Camp has continuously demanded nuclear disarmament and the dismantling of the base. Pushing for a commitment from the government not to produce any new nuclear weapons, the international Faslane 365 Campaign started in October 2006 with the aim of keeping permanent and continuous blockades in front of the base for a whole year.

The State Network of Alternative Antimilitarist-Movement of Conscientious Objection (MOC), the group to which we belong, decided to get involved in this civil resistance activity. So we came with the firm determination to obstruct the access to the military installation. We brought banners with the inscription “Trident is terrorism”. The Faslane 365 activists offer good technical and legal support to the groups that are willing to participate in its campaign. This support is relevant as, by the time we took our action, around 600 people had already been arrested.

On the morning of the 17th March, half an hour before going to the base, some of us rehearsed our action in a wood close to the camp while others were to join us at the gate. We knew that the police were waiting for us because each action is publicised beforehand on the campaign’s web. Near the north gate of the camp, the police approached us and took away from us the bucket of red paint with which we planned to decorate our banner on the suspicion that we wanted to “redecorate“ the entrance fence to the base. They didn’t believe our denials!

As we walked towards the gate, a car stopped in front of us. A companion from the camp had secretly brought the rest of the group so that we all arrived at the same time. We quickly took out our banners and, hidden among them, our buckets of red paint. We walked along the road at a steady pace, but the police had noticed that we were hiding something and they barred our way. Quickly, one of our group picked up a bucket and poured red paint all over himself. From head to toe!

The police were perplexed. They stepped back while three others poured red paint over themselves. We all continued to walk to the north gate. For about 45 minutes, four people totally soaked in red paint and a few dozen others were singing, dancing and shouting against nuclear weapons: “no to war”... “trident is terror”... “trident is blood! We also announced that, on that very day of 17 March, several protests were taking place in the Spanish State commemorating the start of the war against Iraq.

We heard the loudspeaker on the base report that the north gate was closed!

We felt happy, we felt proud. The four of us covered in red were arrested and taken to the police station, accused of “disturbing the peace“ and “vandalism“, but were freed without charge that same night. Later on the fire-fighters cleaned the streets of the colour that so much resembles blood.

The Faslane 365 campaign will last until September 2007. Campaigners are looking for more activists to become engaged, especially from Europe. We feel great satisfaction to have participated. Actions against Faslane are a symbol of civil resistance for all of us, a way to expose and denounce where the real weapons of mass destruction are.

We urge everyone to support the Faslane 365 campaign with all your imagination and enthusiasm.

To look at or download photos: http://www.box.net/shared/1d8sqy8gcy
The campaign’s website: http://www.faslane365.org
Support manifesto:http://www.faslane365.org/support/statement.php

Copyright INNATE 2016