DISRUPT THE MASTERS OF WAR
18-19 January 2003
A weekend of nonviolent
protest and civil disobedience against war on Iraq, at the
nerve centre of UK war plans: Northwood military base, London
including
OPERATION INTERNAL LOOK
on Saturday 18 January meet 12 noon,
Northwood main gate
and
MASS BLOCKADE & PROTEST
on Sunday 19 January meet 11am, Northwood
tube (Metropolitan Line) Northwood is near Watford,
North London.
IMPORTANT TRAVEL INFO: Please
note that there will be no Metropolitan Line service between
Harrow on the Hill and Watford this Sunday, so if you are
planning to travel to Northwood by tube you will need to change
onto the replacement bus service at Harrow on the Hill. London
Underground warn that 'journey times may be increased by up
to 40 minutes' so please bear this in mind. The Circle line
is also not working this weekend.
Please don't let this put you off - it just takes a bit
longer to get there but works fine.
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See
reports of the events
from
Saturday pm.
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Contact: voices in the wilderness
uk: email
or phone 0845 458 2564.
Download:
Publicity leaflet in PDF format
- includes map and other important information.
Northwood briefing in PDF
format.
Legal Briefing in PDF
format.
Affinity
Group briefing in PDF format.
Crashpad accommodation will be available on Saturday night
for those coming from outside London. Contact voices.
Please contact Voices if you are willing to take on a support
role e.g. stewarding, leafletting etc.
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Introduction - the role of Northwood on
a war on Iraq
Public meeting to mark the 12th anniversary
of the start of the Gulf War - 17 January
Planned
events - 18-19 January
Directions for Kingsley Hall and Northwood
Arrestable actions
Organising groups
Civil disobedience
Nonviolence
Possible penalties
Affinity Groups
Continuing protest
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protestors temporarily close Northwood in March 2002 |
Those who profess to favor
freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without
plowing up the ground ... Power concedes nothing without a
demand. It never did and it never will.
Frederick Douglass, African-American
abolitionist
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Introduction
The role of Northwood on a war
on Iraq
Northwood is the Permanent Joint Headquarters of the British
Armed Forces. As the command post for British rapid deployment
forces, it will play a key role in directing British forces
in any war on Iraq. Officers from Northwood are already in
Qatar participating in a US wargame preparing for the invasion
of Iraq.
On the 12th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1991 war,
and in parallel with US mass demonstrations, we invite
anti-war groups and activists to come to Northwood for a weekend
of nonviolent resistance, to express the strength of our opposition
to war, through direct action or through non-arrestable forms
of protest.
For futher info about the role of Northwood go to: http://people.freenet.de/ask/e_northwood.html
or download the Northwood briefing
in PDF format. |
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If you go to one demonstration
and then go home, that’s something, but the people in power
can live with that. What they can’t live with is sustained
pressure that keeps building, organisations that keep doing
things, people that keep learning lessons from the last time
and doing it better the next time.
Noam Chomsky
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Public
meeting to mark the 12th anniversary of the start of the Gulf
War.
With sanctions- breaking auction!
Friday 17 January 7.30pm at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square,
London.
Organised by Voices, ARROW and Act Together: Women against
War and Sanctions on Iraq. |
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Planned
Events
Saturday 18 January
Guided Tour around Northwood
Base
Find out what goes on in there.
Meet 11am at Northwood Tube
Operation Internal Look
(arrestable action*)
Break the Official Secrets Act with us as we observe the business
at Northwood HQ.
Bring cameras, binoculars, etc (real or fake).
Meet 12 noon at Northwood main gate.
Nonviolence workshop
2-5.30pm at Kingsley Hall, Powis Road, London E3 (tube Bromley-by-Bow).
Post training action/protest
in solidarity with the big anti-war protests in the US
Meet early evening at Kingsley Hall.
Social event and film show
From 9pm at Kingsley Hall.
Sunday 19 January
Multifaith service
Meet 11am at Northwood Base side gate
(Call Chris 07939 101381 for more info.)
Mass Blockade & Protest at Northwood
Base
Assemble 11am at Northwood tube.
Bring props, banners etc ...be creative.
(the Blockade will be an arrestable action*) |
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Directions
for Kingsley Hall and Northwood
Kingsley Hall (from Bromley-by-Bow tube station): exit,
turn left and walk downhill. Turn off (left) into St Leonards
Street and then left again into Grace Street. Powis Road is
at the bottom of Grace Street and the Hall is on Powis Road!
The whole journey should take 5-10 minutes. If you get lost
call 07980 748 555.
Northwood: Northwood is 30 mins from Baker Street on
the Metropolitan line. The base is near Watford, just North
of London. |
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Arrestable
actions
Participants in civil disobedience actions risk arrest and
confiscation of cameras (use disposables!) etc. Supporters,
not wishing to risk arrest, are welcome. |
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One country wants to bully
the world. We must not allow that.
Nelson Mandela, 17 September
2002
Bombing Iraq would lead to a humanitarian disaster for
which the international community would bear a heavy responsibility
... Any attacks that targeted sectors used for ration distribution
(eg transport) or for public health (eg water, sanitation,
electricity) would be an attack on children’s ability to survive.
Save the Children Fund
UK, March 2002
We deplore any military action that regards the deaths
of innocent men, women and children as a price worth paying
in fighting terrorists, since this is to fight terror with
terror.
Archbishop Rowan Williams
and 3000 others, Pax Christi Declaration, August 2002.
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Organising
groups
voices in the wilderness
uk is a campaign of civil disobedience against the
economic sanctions on Iraq. Since February 1998 voices uk
has sent 11 sanctions-breaking delegations to Iraq with medical
supplies and textbooks. voices uk, 5 Caledonian Road, London
N1 9DX. tel: 0207 837 0561, email: voices@viwuk.freeserve.co.uk
Active Resistance to the Roots of War (ARROW) is a
small nonviolent action affinity group. Over the last twelve
years ARROW has campaigned on a wide range of issues including
East Timor and the arms trade and has held a weekly vigil
outside the Foreign Office against the economic sanctions
on Iraq since July 1991. ARROW., c/o NVRN, 162 Holloway Road,
London N7 8DQ. tel. 0207 607 2302. e-mail: lrcndnvrn@supanet.com
D10 uses
nonviolent resistance to campaign against militarism. |
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Civil
disobedience
We believe that civil disobedience and nonviolent action are
powerful tools that we can use to resist an illegal and immoral
war. In using these tools we are drawing on a rich tradition
of protest and dissent that includes not only Gandhi and Martin
Luther King but also the ‘People Power’ revolutions in the
Philipines and Eastern Europe, the Suffragettes, Danish resistance
to Nazi occupation during WWII, the Argentinian Mothers of
the Plaza de Mayo and many others. |
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Nonviolence
The act of civil disobedience which voices
uk, Active Resistance to the Roots of War (ARROW) and
D10 have helped organise on 18-19 January is an attempt to
respond creatively, and nonviolently, to the massive violence
of the threatened war. We therefore ask everyone who takes
part in the actions and protests in a spirit of nonviolence.
For the purposes of this action participants are asked to
abide by the following guidelines: NO threats / violence (including
pushing), verbal abuse, property damage, drugs, alcohol or
flags. |
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Possible
penalties
Download the Legal Briefing
in PDF format.
Click here to read the Legal
Briefing.
Legal support
There will be legal support for everyone arrested, until everyone
is released. There will also be legal and court support for
everyone charged until the end of their legal process (acquittal,
fine paid, or sentence served). |
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Affinity
Groups
Download the Affinity Group Briefing
in PDF format.
Affinity groups are small groups of people, usually between
three and fifteen, who come together to support one another
during nonviolent actions. Sometimes the group disbands after
a particular action, sometimes it carries on meeting.
We are encouraging everyone wishing to risk arrest on this
action to be part of an affinity group.
Safety and support
If you’re by yourself, it is easy to get lost, especially
in a police station when nobody outside knows who you are,
or even that you’ve been arrested. Also, it is good to be
around people you know and trust, especially when arrests
begin to happen.
Strength and flexibility
Affinity groups help stop the action being a crowd which can
be manipulated. Each group has an identity, as does each person
within it.
Decision-making
Rather than grand debates being dominated by the few, a collection
of affinity groups can use more democratic decision-making
processes - in which everyone is involved. The action is unlikely
to go exactly as planned, and the group may well need to make
decisions on the hoof.
Support roles
An affinity group can contain one or two support people who
are not risking arrest, who can witness events. Support people
can give the Legal Support Unit accurate information, and
wait for arrestees to be released (a vital job). You may also
consider having a local press contact feeding information
to your local media during the day.
Forming an affinity group
An affinity group can be a collection of friends, or it can
be a group who meet for the first time at a nonviolence and
legal preparation session. There will an opportunity to form
affinity groups at the preparation session in London on 1
December (see p. 3). |
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Continuing
protest
Roughly 4500 people in Britain have
now signed the Pledge of Resistance
committing themselves to taking part (or supporting) acts
of nonviolent resistance to the war, should it take place.
Contingency plans for action
in the event of an attact now exist for London, Scotland,
Brighton and several other places.
See Events and Actions for more. |
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| Further information on Non-Violent
Direct Action can be found on our Resources
for Activists pages. |
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