For an Hour a Week, Make the Massive Passive Opposition to this War Visible!

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Sunday January 20, 2008 19:53 by Ciaron O'Reilly - London Catholic Worker

We are calling on all folks who are opposed to the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq to make their opposition visible for an hour a week - solo or with friends.

To vigil is to stay awake. Our society slumbers as our warships, fighter aircraft, troops and bombers unleash death and destruction on the people of Iraq. The body bags of British, Australian and American troops come home without causing a ripple beyond the immediate families of the deceased.

We have chosen to vigil - stay awake. We have chosen to vigil locally for a couple of hours outside the Dalston Kingsland overground railway station in London. We kicked off last Thursday with six of us. We expect at various vigils, over the weeks and months to come, there might be more of us or less of us, there may be times when only one of us is present at the weekly vigil. We expect to be joined by others who would like to vigil regularly and folks passing through who join us as a one off.

We live in the Catholic Worker house www.londoncatholicworker.org with what would be regarded as a lot of traditional enemies - we've got Irish & English, Christian & Muslim, Shia & Sunni, Pommie & Aussie, Persian & Arab, Black & White, Goddist & athiest, even Totenham and Manchester United (presently drawn in the 4th. round of the F.A. Cup!). So even with a lot of historic reasons not to get on, it's pretty peaceful in our house. It's peaceful because there is a collective commitment to justice and resolving our conflicts (and there's plenty of 'em) nonviolently. As Pope Paul 6th. said "If you want peace work for justice!" and as the crowds chanted as L.A. burned "No Justice: No Peace!". There's a relationship between peace & justice as there is a relationship between violence & exploitation!

But if you're not interested in justice and would rather maintain and expand an empire of global exploitation - you better be preparing for war.

The wars escalate and expand, the piles of bodies mount. There isn't much support for these wars, but their ain't much visible opposition either. The massive opposition expressed in Feb 03 to the invasion of Iraq, merely proved that they don't need popular support to have wars these daze. The anti-war movement was hijacked by micro left political parties, mainstream opposition parties & NGO's which saw the war primarily as a great marketting opportunity for their organisations, squeezed the short term phenomenon for what it was worth and moved on to other ambulances to chase. They were never serious about directly engaging or resisting the war or serious about supporting those who were serious about nonviolently resisting the war.

The protests of 03 did not lead to the next logical step of mass nonviolent resistance. If 1% of those who had marched against the war had gone into nonviolent resistance in the spirit of Ghandi & King to the point of imprisonment and the other 99% who marched had been in proactive solidarity - eg. helped feed the peace prisoner's cat, helped paid the rent, dealt with the freaked out parents) then we would have had a movement and the western governments would have had a problem prosecuting these wars. What we've got now is not an active movement but a remnant, otherwise biannual groundhog days of demonstration, cattle drives marching up and down the empty streets of the world capitals.

We need to strengthen the resistance that continues and build an anti-war resistance movement from the bottom.

We need to .......

1. Make the massive passive opposition to the war visible - we invite you to make your own sign, joining with others or solo, vigil against the war outside a government building, military base, on the high street, on campus, outside a church or cathedral for one hour a week.

2. Be in procative solidarity with nonviolent anti-war resisters
whether they are
-dissident soldiers like
Sgt. Kevin Benderman http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/368/86/
-bereaved parents acting up against the war like Reg Keyes and Rose Gentle http://www.mfaw.org.uk/ ,
-radical Catholic priests like Louie Vitalie & Steve Kelly www.tortureontrial.org
-peacenik parents before the courts like Scott & Maria Albrecht http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85631 Jim & Bryan www.pinegap6.org
-old school Socialists & Republicans www.raytheon9.org
-militant grannies like Helen & Georgina http://www.indymedia.ie/article/85780
-rad Salvation Army kidz Sarah, Simon & Krystal http://samuelhill5.blogspot.com/

Write these folks a letter inside jail, or as they await trial, and ask them what kind of help they need?. The more solidarity they experience the easier their resistance will be! The courts and prisons can be an experience of isolation and defeat or solidarity and empowerment, a lot of it has got to do with the solidarity you offer.

3. Begin to prepare for nonviolent resistance to the war....
simplify your lifestyle, free yourself up, join a group or form a community that will accompany you though nonviolent confrontation with the warmaking state, meet casualties of the war veterans and refugees hear their stories, meet other resisters who have been through the courts & prisons and hear their stories.