3rd Aniversary of the Shannon Peace Camp

by Global Women's Strike Ireland Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:21 Ireland at allwomencount dot net 087 7838688

The Global Women’s Strike in Ireland sends love and support to everyone gathering at Shannon on 7th January, for Women’s Christmas vigil and camp. Your presence speaks for all of us who refuse to accept as normal, moral or legal the stopovers at the airport of CIA flights taking kidnapped people to torture and the US military flying troops to rape, torture and kill or be killed themselves.

With very few exceptions, the media try to tell us that the anti-war movement has gone away, mistaking the movement for the day when everyone marches, reducing and hiding the extent of its power. The anti-war movement is women whose survival work caring for families and whole communities is a fundamental and never-ending action against war and occupation; it’s the refusenik soldier who won’t get back on the plane and testifies to expose torture and rape by the US and Iraqi ‘government’ collaborators; it’s the men and women who live near an airport and fight to publicise illegal landings by CIA planes transporting people to torture; it’s the families and communities who demand money for better health care for loved ones, demanding caring not killing priorities; it’s the communities who struggle to stop multi-nationals like Shell in their pursuit of oil and gas profit at the cost of human life.

We are all still here. In fact our global movement is growing. Will the media tell the truth about what we are doing, even if they don’t join in, or will they stay embedded with the government, any government, but always ultimately Bush’s government? Will they report that we intend to win this fight to end the US-led terrorist war on all of us and its use of Shannon, and that our survival is at stake?

by Ciaron - Ploughshares Thu Jan 05, 2006 01:04 087 918 4552

Mmmmm sounds like the black op boyz in service of Prez & Empire are getting a little nervous with your retun to Shannon.

There is mass passive opposition in Ireland to the role of Shannon Airport in this war. The state takes your return to Shannon very seriously, they treat it as a national security issue whenever dissent is expressed there. The disarmament actions and other nonviolent interventions are very fresh to them and as mentioned were intensely humiliating. Regardless of numbers Shannon was most probably the site where the most serious disruption to the mobilisation for this war took place.

At this stage we remain a prophetic anti-war remnant rather than a movement. We will know we have an anti-war movement when Irish war criminals can't appear publicly without being nonviolently challenged with their ongoing complicity in this illegal invasion and daily buthchery of the forces they service at Shannon.

Our biggest enemies remain resignation and cynicism. For their lies to be accepted as logic, dissent has to evaporate. What you do this weekend at Shannon is very significant. They have no popular support for this war, which goes to show in these times they don't need popular support to have a war. They only require our silence and sedation at the imperial centres.

For those of us who are bailed away from Shannon we will gather on Friday at the Aviation Authority on Burgh Quay, Dublin

Much solidarity for those heading to the peace camp. If in Dublin consider joining us....
*FRIDAY 4pm-6pm
*Aviation Authority, Burgh Quay
*Vigil for the Demilitarisation of Shannon Airport

In solidarity with those gathering at Shannon Airport the following evening and with all those active against the war, before the courts & in military brigs & prisons for resisting the war.

Say no to the Irish Aviation Authority & Irish Government's role in the ongoing illegal invasion of & war on Iraq, the kidnapping & torture flights through Ireland.
http://www.peaceontrial.com

by b Thu Jan 05, 2006 00:42

Brits out, Yanks in.. Ireland does its bit for empire building........ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4577906.stmin.....

by Ciaron O'Reilly Wed Jan 04, 2006 19:25

Mr. Jinx, well it looks like failure to master capital letters isn't one inadquacy we share.

Shannon facilitated the death of Cindy Sheehan's son Casey. Your smack dealer ethics of - if it wasn't me dealing or Shannon it would be someone or somewhere else - are sad.

by Michael Y - IAWM (personal capacity and not affiliated to any political party)) Wed Jan 04, 2006 13:37

Well done to Cosantoiri Siochana. As long as Shannon continues to be a Warport and while the FF/PD Coalition goes on skating on thin ice....initiatives such as the Peace Camp deserve our support and solidarity. Cindy Sheehan's recent visit and all the publicity it received, Ed Horgan's tireless work coupled with Noam Chomsky's forthcoming visit and the mobilisation to follow to make March 18th an anniversary to remember......they all point out that the direction of the wind is changing. In Ireland along with the situation in the US and the UK.
The invasion will end....not if but when.....
One final point...people like Jinx and the tireless warriors and mud slingers against the SWP please abstain from responding. The struggle against the war and Ireland's complicity are much too important for us and our children to bother with the likes of you.

by Justin Morahan - Peace People (personal capacity) Wed Jan 04, 2006 11:59

Mr Jinx.
Suppose that you, being a well-known upstanding member of society, are approached by a Mr Trueman who is planning a car-bomb atrocity. The powerful and wealthy Mr Trueman who has helped your company in the past requests the use of your garage to park the car that will later be used in the atrocity. There are other garage owners he might have asked, but he chose to ask you. Let us say that you agree. Let us also say that he pays for your services.
Later a Mr Pat O'Malley drives the car into your garage. Overnight your security men see to it that no-one approaches or inspects the car.
On the following morning Pat O'Malley drives the car with bomb out of your garage to its intended destination, and kills and maims several people with the car bomb, including himself.
Along with the powerful and wealthy Mr Trueman, you, Mr Jinx, have now played a signifiicant role in the deaths of these people. You have also played a significant role in the death of Mr Pat O'Malley.
That is a fair statement. However, it would be ludicrous for someone to state: "Pat O'Malley's death was due to him using Mr Jinx's garage".
.
Similarly, Ciaron O'Reilly did not suggest that Casey Sheehan's death was due to him passing through Shannon airport. It is unfair and even malicious of you to twist his words so that you can knock down an argument he hasn't made.

The personal antipathy evident in your comment is also unfair. Ciaron is not the only one who has an issue with our Government's decisions to allow the use of Shannon for US military and other more nefarious purposes, to guard their secrets and allow no inspections. To his credit, he took issue with it early in the day (literally). Now, however, the cloak of secrecy of happenings at Shannon is being removed and all those compliant with wrongdoings there might well be worried.
These should include the Irish Government, the Garda authorities, the airport authorities and unfortunately all those who work for them and who knew or know the facts about our complicity in any or all of these wrongdoings.

by mr jinks Wed Jan 04, 2006 07:42

o reilly... are u really serious when you bring up that cindy sheehens sons death was caused by him stopping in shannon? cop yourself on and realise that if he didnt stop here then he would have stopped elsewhere. although i dont condone the war your statement is an insult to mrs sheehens son. just because you have an issue with shannon airport dont use his name to highlight your inadequacies.

by Aron Mon Jan 02, 2006 22:29 087 2895036

We are bringing a marque, the bitchin kitchen will be cookin and we'll be staying the night so all welcome we don't want to feel lonely.

by Damien M Fri Dec 30, 2005 15:23

Solidarity to all from Warsaw, Poland. I will be with you all in spirit. Our temperatures may be similar, though not our location.

Been excluded from an 8 kilometre radius of the airport for the past 3 years and up to the next Ploughshares trial in July '06 makes me curious as to the state of the original patch of peace camp land.

But the seeds of peace planted there 3 years ago have borne much fruit. I wish to thank you all in advance for keeping aflame a light in the midst of Ireland's moral darkness.
I pray and hope that other Irish people will make New Years resolutions to nonviolently resist our ongoing complicity.

The Polish gvt., fresh from it's rejection of allegations the CIA had established gulags on it's territory for terrorism suspects, has just announced Polish troops will remain In Iraq for another year. Allegedly their brief will only be to train soldiers for the new Iraqi army.

The PiS (Law and Justice) Party elected to power recently, replacing SLD ( the Social Democrats), promise to be more than a shoe-shine boy to U.S. Imperialism.

'The Guardian' recently reported U.S. officials have requested Polish authorities allow them construct ballistic missile launching sites in the Carpathian mountains as a detterent to Mid-East baddies. Despite Russian objections it is likely this will occur, as will, according to an extensive article published last Summer in the 'Warsaw Voice' weekly magazine, the transformation/expansion of a military base in Bydgoscz, Western Poland, to accommodate thousands of NATO forces. Nothing seems to be definite regarding the latter, but all political indications are that the Polish centre-right gvt. is warmly embracing every opportunity towards insatiable capitalism-militarism.

So as Stalin's cultural palace in Warsaw city-centre begins to close it's 50th birthday celebrations; as the lights on the largest Christmas tree in Europe begin to dim beside it; President Kaczyinski alongside his Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz, who have extended warm Christmas blessings to their pseudo-Christian friends in the White House, have undoubtedly decided that Washington will remain closer than Brussels when it comes to Polish foreign policy.

Please post up pics. and a report of your gathering.

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Pit Stop Ploughshares (personal capacity) Fri Dec 30, 2005 13:54 At Large! 087 918 4552

Solidarity & much appreciation for this initiative.

Speaking with Cindy Sheehan in Dublin recently and learning that her son stopped over at Shannon shortly before his death in Iraq brings it home once again. Chomsky's reference to Ahearn as a shoe shine boy for Bush's illegal war is too kind. Ahern, Willy & the lads have had a significant, sychophantic & profitable role in the deaths of many young Americans such as Casey Sheehan and untold Iraqis.

It's refreshing to know that you will be down there making this on going crime visible again. For those of us bailed away from the scene of the crime we wll do what we can do at other significant sites.

However many gather do not underestimate its significance. The Irish government are skating on such thin ice on this issue, they take any dissent at Shannon as a national security issue. They take anti-war dissent seriously, it's time those of us against the war take our dissent seriously.

We really have to move beyond the 6 month co-dependent tokenism of marching in Dublin to grassroots initiatives such as this one.

by c murray - at home Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:57 dotliath at eircom dot net n/a 4978026

Another Nollaig na Mban is almost here,
I will light a candle in Dublin for the vigil.
I encourage everyone opposed to
the war, globalisation and the twisted languageof propaganda to use Women's
Christmas to remember the victims
of this war.
With good wishes, Chris.

by Eoin Dubsky Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:11

Perhaps a Dublin-based group could organise a similar event at Baldonnel.