Anti-War Prison Solidairty Workshop Report/s
dublin |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report 
Tuesday July 18, 2006 09:18
by Prison Solidairty Workshop
They're in Jail for Us, We're on the Streets for Them!
Following the conclusion of the court scene of Trial Day 7 (J17). Pitstops & solidarity activsts gathered at the Franciscan Church opposite to the Four Courts. Patriticpants included Catholic Workers (Dublin, London, New York City, Ithaca NY, 4 Pitstop defendants, Anarchist Prison Solidarity, Voices in the Wilderness/Chicago, Peace People, PSP trial solidarity activists, a homeless person, 2 independent film makers, punks hippies, priest & Nipponzon Myohoji Buddhist nun, AWI. More detailed input will be added to ths report as posted comments......
The workshop reflected on.....
a) Share experiences of prison & solidarity
b) Reflect on how we can support our present anti-war prisoners (both civilaian & military
c) Discuss how we can best support anti-war activists (present company excluded hopefully) during future prison time.
a) Kathy reflected on her approx 2 years of U.S. County Jaisl & Fed Prison time in the U.S. & the experience of being hogtied (www.soaw.org archives)
-Carmen (NYCW) on being set up by the NYPD for assault & a week in Rikers Island (pop 10,000) & receent experience of The Tombs (NYC)
-Martin on his 2 years in Rikers & 2 years in English prisons.
-Fr. Martin on his 4 months in Bedford Prison & 2 months in Belmarsh (London) max security.
-Scott on nights in police stations & a night in the Milton Keynes supermax.
-Eamonn on being bashed in police custody.(Ireland)
-Karen, Deirdre & Damien (Pitstops) on their time in Limerick Prison (www.peaceontrial.com).
-Justin on 6 months in Mountjoy Prison in the ' 70's (Ireland)
-Ciaron on his 13 months (USA) in Texas & New York County Jails & Louissiana & Oklahoma Fed Pens ("Bomber Grounded, Runway Closed", Rose Hill Books USA 1993), 5 months in Darwin Jail & short stints in Boggo Rd. (Brisbane) max security n the '80's. How prison solidarity work contributed to the closure of that barbaric prison. (Australia)
-Fintan on his 60 days in Limerick Prison following outbreak of the war (Ireland).
-Teresa (www.stpatricksfour.org) on her recent release from 4 months in U.S. County Jail & Fed Detention.(USA)
b) Solidarity from the outside anti-war movement was seen as basic to sustain the imprisoned anti-war resister & make it safer from attacks by prison staff & hostile (proactive minority,usually younger, fellow prisoners.) Acknowledgement as anti-war resistance grows within the militaries & civil society there will be more anti-war prisoners.
The "Prison Addresses" section of the following website was recommended as the best source for updated prison addresses primarily for U.S. anti-war prisoners & some internationals.
www.jonahhouse.org
c) Proposals & Suggestions
-that a group of 4 (Joe, Dave, Cathy, Fintan) be set up immediately if Ireland gets 5 new anti-war activist prisoners real soon! The 4 would coordinate outreach to sympathetic groups to politicise the imprisonment as a resistance to the war, nourish the activists in terms of the basics (visits, money for stamps, support during crisis etc), vigils (weekly at Mountjoy, monthly at Irish embassies), sustain the website (imprisoned activists encouraged to write reflections on war & custody).
-Similar solidarity collectives to be set up in Australia, England, Poland Scotland, U.S.
-to ask folks to do what they do best for the imprisoned resisters (punk musos & gig organisers to do benefits, artists to do posters, stickers, writers to wrote articles publicisng the incarceration as statements against ongoing Irish complicity in the war, walkers to walk, vigillers to vigil, priests to celebrate mass outside the jails, samba folks to make some noise outside the jails etc. Eamonn to finally finish his film!
Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Taken from Trident Ploughshares
7.8.1
Prison & How to Cope Link
http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article1078#p772
One of the most updated prison address lists primariy for U.S. antiwar prisoners can be found ion the Prison Addresses section of
www.jonahhouse.org
Peter DeMott isthe sole remaining member of the St. Patricks Four detained. His address can be found at
www.stpatricksfour.org
The School of the Americas prisoners can be found on
www.soaw.org
Photos from the Four Courts today.
Supporters are briefed on day's proceedings in court.
Kathy Kelly who gave crucial evidence in trial today.
Eamonn Crudden, director of 'Berusconi's Mousetrap'
Deirdre Clancy
Damien Moran with his parents from Banagher, Co.Offaly
I'm hoping other folks from the workshop will write up their reflections they shared. (forgot to announce that outside the court today!)
Some of us shared our scariest times. The last time I saw Nathan "The Colosus of Boggo Rd." Jones, he was getting his throat slashed by Brad Pitt in the opening scenes of"Troy". The first time I saw him I was in my 20's and in Boggo Rd. (max security) Jail Brisbane , for refusal to pay a fine for nonviolent civil disobedience. The screws tried to intimidate me by leaving me solo in a yard with Nathan for the day.
In the meantime Nathan finished his 8 years for a series of armed robberies in Tasmania (go figure? Tassie population 400,000, Nathan is 6' 10"....not sure how he was planning to blend into the crowd?), got himself an agent and ended up in WWF and now he's in the movies.There's a photo of Nathan here on this link....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Jones_(wrestler)
Part of the spin off of Brisbane actvists refusing to pay fines and doing jail time was prisoner solidarity work which climaxed with us (prisoners & advocates) closing Boggo Rd Jail down. As prisoners took action on the inside we were able to speak on the outside about conditions, start a Prisoners radio Show that is still going & do solidarity demonstrations outside the jail and street speak downtown when there were hunger strikes and guys on the roof. One of the best prisoner activist on the inside I met was Gary Gray. He died to young. here's an obituary I wrote at the time....
obithttp://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2000/414/414p12.htm
The longest stint I've done so far has been 13 months in New York & Texas County Jails & Oklahoma & Louissiana Federal Pens. I was in the ANZUS Plowshares community with Bill, Sue & Moana we had disarmed a B-52 Bomber ('91 Rome AFB, upstate New York) on the eve of the Gulf War. I ended up being flown on Con Air to the Texas border & shipped into the outback.
I was the only white guy in the jail & was in a cage with 23 other men for 9 months. I found the first month very difficult. the amount of support mail I recieved made the guards back off from harrassing me and made me popular with the stamp collectors. The next 8 months were manageable. I was pretty disciplined about spiritual & physical exercise, serious & light reading & writing and trying to be helpful to other prisoners. Out of my correspondence came a journal that produced a book "Bomber Grounded, Runway Closed" that was published in the U.S. here's a chapter from the early period of the sentence....
http://vof.cat.org.au/visions/cairon.htmDNA
The 5 months jail time following the Jabiluka Poughshares was also interesting for a white australian as Darwin's Berrimah Prison was approx 95% aborigine inmates/ 95% white staff. This is an article about a small resistance action I pulled off in jail against DNA testing......
http://www.serve.com/nukeresister/nr119/nr119ciaron.html
The last stint was in Limerick Prison remanded after the Pit Stop Ploughshares. The old Dan Berrigan maxim "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!" makes a lot of sense following a serious action. The five of us entered jail and fasted for 5 days, staying put soaks up the seriousness of the nonviolent resistance to the war and fasting tells your body your in a different place. here's aletter I wrote at the time...
http://www.themanifesto.co.uk/witness/articles/letterCi....html
I lived with Phil Berrigan at Jonah House (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) for the best part of a year. Phil would say "friends in jail for peace speak to our conscience, which is the way God speaks to us". here's some articles by & about PhiL who spent 11 of his last 30 years in prison for nonviolent resistance to the war machine
http://www.jonahhouse.org/phil.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Jones_%28wrestler%29
http://vof.cat.org.au/visions/cairon.htm
The Nuclear Resister newsletter, published since 1980, chronicles anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance arrests in the USA and encourages support for the women and men jailed as a result of these actions.
While our website is not always up-to-date wih current addresses, if you send an e-mail to nukeresister(at)igc.org, we are happy to send you a current list, as plain text or .pdf attachment for reproducing at events.
The next issue, #142, goes to the printer 24 July, the day the Pitstop Ploughshares are to be sentenced.
We will be happy to send a free sample copy and invitation to subscribe to anyone who sends their postal address to us at nukeresister(at)igc.org.
What others say about the Nuclear Resister:
“Thanks so-o-o much for your faithful reporting.”
Kathy Kelly, founder, Voices in the Wilderness
“Thanks to you for helping
us keep hoping
coping
hopping!”
Fr. Dan Berrigan, activist and poet
“...when you check out the stories in
The Nuclear Resister ... when you keep your eyes open for unorthodox sources of information, you can begin to realize how many people in this country and all over the world do not accept the political and economic system that now dominates.
So, yes, I am encouraged."
Howard Zinn, radical historian
I meant to write:
The next issue, #142, goes to the printer 24 July, the day the Pitstop Ploughshares verdict is expected!
[and of course, there should be no sentencing as they deserve acquitttal!]
Jack
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