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Monday March 17th
Anti
war protestors stage Die Ins accross the country in day
of anti war action.
Monday 17th March
8 am. London MOD 15 ARROW supporters stage Die in on steps
of MOD, painted No War on pillars. Pics on www.j-n-v.org
Call 0794 783 992/ 0845 458 2564 8 am. (see below)
RAF Stafford, 5 folk lay down in Die In at 8 am, including
a vicar. 3 folk vigilled 'Body' contacts: Malcolm Carroll
212270 Nigel Hill 214902 Roger Oldfield 664328 Jenn Pardue
812070/07780 556159. (see below)
9 am London ARROW supporters moved on and staged a Die In
at Downing St for 30 minutes, then at Parliament Square.
12pm London 25 anti war students occupied part of the British
Museum Rm 9, near east section, Assyria (modern day Iraq)
for 30 mins. oereye@essex.ac.uk 07813 940104.
12:00. Southampton 45
people staged a Die In outside the offices of Vosper Thorneycroft,
warship and military equipment manufacturer, closed the
gates for 1 hour. They carried a giant fake bomb, played
a soundtrack of the sounds of war and drew body outlines
with chalk on the road. At the end they sang the song "I
am a witness to your war
crimes, I will remember your name." Their local MP, John
Denham, whose constituency Vosper Thornycroft is in, resigned
from the government soon after the action, showing courage
and the willingness to represent the views of his voters.
Telephone 02380 550159 Giullia Gigliotti.
12pm Edinburgh 150 anti war protestors staged Die In at
entrance to Edinburgh Castle, a military base. They moved
on to Princes St after 45 minutes for a sitdown, then had
a demonstration on Calton Hill. 0131 478 7896
1pm Oxford 100 people
took part in a Die In Cornmarket, 01865 794504/ 07796 430141
1pm Sheffield .Protestors from Women Against war and Sheffield
ARROW pledge group staged a die-in outside the Armed Forces
Careers Office in Sheffield (UK) today. see pics on http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=57466&group=webcast
http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=57465&group=webcast
Claudia - (0114) 2555586
13:45 London. Twenty anti war protestors from Infernal Petroleum
Experience. phone: 07952720535 infernalpetroleum@yahoo.co.uk
walked into the International petroleum Exchange (IPE) in
London and peacefully disrupted trading for a few hours,
tying a "No war for oil" banner to the trading board. Some
of the traders decided to take a lunch break while others,
despite pleas fron the demonstrators to keep calm, started
to lash out at the visitors.
2.30pm London 50-100 people. from Roehampton University
War Concern Coalition staged a Die In in front of House
of Commons where they remained until 4pm. 07786 868615 (Andy
).
4pm London Downing St 50 people staged a Die In Whitehall
before and during the emergency Cabinet meeting. 07786 868615
(Andy ). Joined by several hundred people from a mixture
of groups.
Other Die Ins were staged in Birmingham, Hastings (Call
07986 155 352), Norwich, USAF Molesworth (Call Tom 01933
622 125) in Cambridgeshire, Aberystwyth (07811 358407),
Cambridge, Penzance and Scarborough.
Richard Byrne, press spokesperson
for Voices said "Attacking Iraq risks killing tens, or maybe
even hundreds of thousands of civilians. Indeed according
to Oxfam ' military action could devastate the lives of
millions of people and trigger a humanitarian catastrophe."
"This attack will also fly in the face of the public will.
As has been widely noted 70-80% of British people oppose
an attack on Iraq without a second resolution. We want to
see those people come out on the streets now and take a
stand against the war. "
For details of anti war nonviolent direct action planned
in the event of war see here.
Monday, March 17, 2003
12:04 PM
Blood
on the steps: reality of war at the MOD
This morning at 8 am, staff
arriving at the MoD on Whitehall were met by a "Die In"
against the war on Iraq. 15 protestors from ARROW (Active
Resistance to the Roots of War) painted "No War" on the
pillars at the entrance and lay down on the steps, covering
themselves in fake blood, simulating the impact of the war
currently being planned in the MOD.
After lying there for an hour the protestors then found
new life, making their way to Downing Street, where they
staged another "die in" for aboutr 30 minutes.
Gabriel Carlyle, a communication support worker, 27, said
"Attacking Iraq risks killing tens, or maybe even hundreds
of thousands of civilians. Indeed according to Oxfam ' military
action could devastate the lives of millions of people and
trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.
The action was organised by a quick phone round of a dozen
anti war activists, more actions are likely this week, regardless
of whether the war starts or not. For photos call 0845 458
2564 /0794 783 9992 and see www.j-n-v.org
At least two more Die Ins are planned for central London
today 12pm. London Meet reporters and photographers in front
of Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London,
WC1E 7HU at 12 noon, Monday 17 March. Oscar Reyes oereye@essex.ac.uk
07813 940104. London 2/2.30pm. There will be another Die
In near Parliament Square at 2/2.30pm as close to House
of Commons as possible organised by Roehampton University
War Concern Coalition. Contact Andy Treenier on 07786 868615
For details of other actions around the UK call 0845 458
2564
PRESS RELEASE:
'BODIES' OUTSIDE RAF STAFFORD
SHOW THE REALITY OF WAR
In a peaceful and dignified action, eight
local people today drew dramatic attention to the fact that
an attack on Iraq could lead to the deaths of military forces
and innocent civilians on the same scale as the Gulf War
of 1991, when an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died. Shortly
after 8.00 a.m., as traffic was pouring in and out of the
base, five of the group lay down in positions of death on
half of the entrance road. Salt poured round the 'bodies'
produced a series of graphic images of death on the tarmac.
The action was one of many 'die-ins' being
held today throughout the country (see Justice not Vengeance
www.j-n-v.org). A letter was handed in to an RAF representative,
emphasising that 'our main concern in taking this action,
which is one of many nation-wide, is to demonstrate to the
government the depth of opposition to its policy' and saying
that 'we therefore again plead with you to urge your superiors
to redouble their efforts to persuade our political leaders
away from the path to ruin and destruction.'
From their sprawling positions on the tarmac,
some of the 'bodies' spoke of their motives:
Gareth Smith: 'I am doing this to highlight
that it's not just innocent Iraqis who will be killed. We
are putting the lives of servicemen and servicewomen at
risk.'
Rev. Malcolm Carroll: 'The Pope and the Church
of England are against this war. Nothing Tony Blair or George
Bush have said meets the conditions for a 'just' war which
the churches have thought through for centuries. No one
is going to tell me that as the one third of remaining oil
supplies can be secured via Iraq the Americans do not have
an eye on that.'
Nigel Hill: 'Tony Blair will not support us
- he supports the Americans. Whilst they have a vast military
machine, we've only got our bodies and our voices. If a
small group can do this, what could 100,000 achieve?'
Roger Oldfield: 'Whilst lying in our corpse-like
positions we have chatted with personnel from the base and
with security police, and they have been very courteous.
The representative from the base said that all our letters
are being passed to his superiors at Headquarters Strike
Command for their consideration.'
Police from the base rerouted traffic in order
to keep it moving. The action lasted for about two hours.
There are plans for more local actions of a similar type
if Iraq is attacked.
Groups from Stafford are travelling this weekend
to two national
demonstrations. The first is at USAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire,
where American B52 bombers set to bomb Iraq are based (anyone
interested should ring Nigel Hill on 214902). The other
group will go to Menwith Hill in Yorkshire, the communications
centre which will play an important role in war - some participants
will be flying aluminium kites in an effort to disrupt communications
(anyone interested should ring Malcolm Carroll on 212270).
In the meantime Stafford Peace Council is
appealing to the people of Stafford to go to the Market
Square at 6.00 p.m. the same day if war is declared, and
at 6.00 p.m. the next day if war starts after 4.00 p.m.
Demonstrators are invited to bring candles. Some participants
are planning to hold a silent vigil for peace.
'Body' contacts: Malcolm Carroll 212270 Nigel
Hill 214902 Roger
Oldfield 664328 Jenn Pardue 812070/07780 556159
17/3/03
Aber made aware of death, mourning
and pain of war.
Members of the Aberystwyth Peace Network today (Monday,
March 17) held a Die-In at the bottom of Great Dark Gate
Street to show their opposition to a war against Iraq.
A dozen members participated in the event to create awareness
of what would happen to innocent civilians in Iraq in the
event of an un-just war by Britain and America against Iraq.
Pippa Gallop, a member of the Aberystwyth Peace Network
and an organiser of the event, said: "The United Nations
estimates that 500,000 Iraqi people could die or be injured
as a result of this war, and many more would be harmed by
disruption to water and food supplies.
"We're drawing attention to what war really means for
those who
experience it first hand. It's not glamorous, it means death,
mourning and pain."
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