 December/January 2004-2005
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, 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. |
Civil Disobedience in Washington: "Our Hands are Full of Blood" Two times in as many days, members of a faith-based community of activists breached security at two of the most heavily guarded buildings in the country during nonviolent anti-war protests. On December 28, about 75 people gathered outside the metro entrance to the Pentagon at 7:00 a.m., to protest the continuing slaughter of innocents in Iraq. While 17 activists blocked the entrance, a banner appeared over the side of the Pentagon roof: "Bring the Troops Home Now." As supporters who had been pushed behind metal barricades encouraged employees to recognize that "there is blood on our hands," guards debated how the banner had arrived. Those blocking the doors were arrested. The next day, close to 100 people filed across Lafayette Park, past the newly constructed inaugural viewing stands, and formed a semi-circle in front of the dignitaries' entrance to the White House. Eight people held a long banner in front of the entrance. It read: "The Massacre Continues; Our Hands are Full of Blood: There are No Innocent Bystanders." In front of the banner lay a black coffin labeled "US and Iraqi War Dead." For an hour they read the names of dead US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. The names were then placed in the coffin. During the presence, two of the resisters, Susan Crane and Gary Ashbeck, both of Jonah House community in Baltimore, followed a man through the pedestrian entrance and into the White House compound. When guards realized Susan and Gary had not been cleared to enter, they insisted the two leave immediately. Susan and Gary demanded to speak to a White House official about the situation in Iraq. "We've been waiting outside for years," said Susan. "We want someone to deal with us now." The two were arrested, held overnight and charged with "unlawful entry." The eight people holding the banner in front of the entrance were also arrested for refusing to move. At both sites, passers-by, including Pentagon soldiers, thanked the protesters for being there. The Atlantic Life Community, a close-knit group of resisters from Maine to Florida, gather in DC three times a year to reflect, pray, play, and perform acts of nonviolent resistance at sites of institutional violence.
For more information on the court cases of
these resisters, contact Jonah House, 1310 Moreland Ave., Baltimore
MD 21216; 410/233-6238; www.jonahhouse.org
Previous Article Next Article
|
|
|