February 2000
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor
2161 Massachusetts Ave.
Telephone number:
Fax number: pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Arrested for Peacemaking New Hampshire On December 19, Ruth McKay (80), Donald Booth (84), and Harriet Nestel (60) were found guilty of criminal trespass for crossing onto the property of Sanders, New Hampshire's largest weapons manufacturer. Nestel was also found guilty of littering for pouring blood (her own) on the Sanders driveway to symbolize the blood of the victims of the weapons the company makes. All three were sentenced to six days in jail. Wisconsin Two homeless shelter providers were fined after being found guilty of trespassing at the US Navy's Project Elf facility during an October demonstration. The facility is the site of a transmitter that sends messages to nuclear-armed submarines around the world, and has been the site of dozens of anti-war protests. Connecticut On January 17, fifty people gathered at the gates of Electric Boat in Groton, to call for the cancellation of the planned upgrade of several Trident submarines. While 12 demonstrators entered the Engineering building and attempted to distribute leaflets and speak to workers, 7 others wove cloth and yarn over the outside of the door, symbolically closing the building. All were arrested on charges of criminal trespass. Arizona Three Tucson anti-war activists, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, were arrested on January 17 at Raytheon after plant managers again refused to talk to them about possible corporate involvement in war crimes. The members of Raytheon Peacemakers told plant security officers and receptionists that they would patiently wait until a meeting with senior management could be arranged. When arrested, they left behind a notice for management that explained their concerns and cited the Nuremberg principles. Maryland Philip Berrigan and three others were arrested in Essex on December 19, after having disarmed two A-10 Thunderbolt planes (nicknamed Warthogs) at Warfield National Guard Base. Two of them worked on each plane, hammering on the Gatling guns in the noses of the planes and on the pylons under the wings, and pouring their own blood into the engines. They also hung their banner: PLOWSHARES VS. DEPLETED URANIUM. At press time, they activists were awaiting trial and were held on bail from $11,000-75,000. |
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