Shannon Anti-War Demonstration

by 5 More U.S. Troops Killed Thu Oct 26, 2006 14:14

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061026/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

by Ciaron O'Reilly - Dublin Catholic Worker/Pit Stop Ploughshares Thu Oct 26, 2006 09:43 087 918 4552

Members of the Catholic Worker Movement from Brisbane, Chicago, Cork, Dublin & Notre Dame will be joining the convoy to Shannon Airport this Saturday.

In our tradition, the gatheirng falls on the eve of "All Sould Day" a time to remember the dead...the many young Americans who passed through that small departure lounge at Shannon Airport over the last few years to kill and be killed in Iraq & Afghanistan. Some of the other 10,000 who have returned home to never walk or talk again, who will unleash the violence of the Iraq War in domestic homicides and violence.

This Saturday is also the 2nd.anniversary of the U.S. assault on Fallujah and we will remember the 1/2 million Iraqis who have died in the last few years thanx to the ongoing refueling at Shannon and the over 1 million who preceeded them dying under sanctions in the '90's. Catholic Workers will be among those taking nonviolent direct action in London this weekend - Northwood & Parliament.

This will be the first time Deirdre and I have been back at the airport since we were arrested there following the Pit Stop Ploughshares disarmament Feb. '03 www.peaceontrial.com We will also be joined by Notre Dame Mike who works fulltime on "GI Hotline" advising young americans how to get out of the military amd Chicago Kori whose brother is presently in the U.S. military deployed in Iraq.

This is a link to an anti-war statement released by 300 Catholic Workers (from 50 houses/communities) who gathered in the U.S. last weekend.....
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/79286

Hoping as many folks as possible can make it down there on Saturday.
Solidarity
Ciaron O'Reilly

by éirígí Thu Oct 26, 2006 00:01

éirígí calls on all of those who believe in neutrality and the notion that the people and the territory of Ireland are sovereign to support the Anti-War Ireland (AWI) demonstration in Shannon, Co. Clare on Saturday 28th October, 2006.

At no time have the people of Ireland given the Dublin government the right to allow Irish territory to be used by US forces in their imperialist war for control of Iraq and the wider Middle-East. The fact that the government would do so in the face of the will of the people of Ireland, as expressed in poll after poll, is a direct affront to the notion that there is any degree of respect for democracy on the part of the ruling class in Ireland.

In fact, Bertie Ahern very clearly displayed the contempt in which he holds the people of Ireland when he had the nerve to declare himself as being in agreement with those who participated in the 100,000 person march against the Iraq war in 2003 at the very same time that he and his government were allowing Shannon airport to be used as a transit point for the weapons and personnel that were destroying human life in Iraq on a daily basis.

Ireland must bear its share of responsibility for the fact that, according to the Lancet, since the beginning of the Iraq war over 650,000 men, women and children have died in that country. When the Iraq war ends in defeat for the US forces and their Iraqi and international surrogates, as surely it will, there will be a stain on the reputation of Ireland that will be hard to remove; history will record that the authorities in Dublin viewed short-term economic gain as being more important than moral integrity and a responsibility to stand on the side of international law and the principle that countries have the right to territorial integrity, and their people the right to self-determination.

Support the demonstration in Shannon and show Ahern & Bush et al. that the people of Ireland do in fact maintain a keen sense of political morality & justice. Join with us in telling the world that the crimes of Basra & Baghdad are not committed in our name.

Imperialists Out Of Ireland!

Related Link: http://www.eirigi.org

by awibelfast - anti war ireland belfast Wed Oct 25, 2006 23:15 awibelfast at googlemail dot com

For anyone in the Belfast area:

The Anti War Ireland Meeting with Tony Lagouranis and Stephen Lewis (ex US vets and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War) will be held in G105 the David Keir Building (Stranmillis Rd) Queen's University.

Its on at 7.30 on Wednesday the 1st November.

Everyone very welcome!!

Anti War Ireland, Belfast

by Jonah Wed Oct 25, 2006 19:43 Washington DC, USa

http://www.jonahhouse.org/WHoct06.htm

by Update Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:25

http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id=7358&cate...y-Sun

by update Sun Oct 22, 2006 13:29

MichaelY first became active in the IAWM in late 2005 or very early 2006. January 2006 probably. He has a neck ticking people off for expressing their views on the IAWM's behaviour when he experienced none of that shit towards Mary and the Pitstop Ploughshares and all the others who had to put up with the sneaky underhand behaviour of the SWP/IAWM.

That said, there's an important demo coming up and perhaps this stuff should be hashed out some other time. Let's get everyone to Shannon for next Saturday.

by baffled Sun Oct 22, 2006 13:00

I'm a member (lapsed but on the list) of the iawm and I never received that mailout. When was it sent?

by peacemaker Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:59

Lets put aside differences for the moment and have a good turnout at Shannon regardless of affiliations and egos. Lets all groups give this event a good push over the next few days

We can all squabble about SWP / AWI / IAWM / whoever , and the righteousness of our particular "tribe" in the pub after the demo.

The issue is what matters here.

by . Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:51

Why do you have past 'crimes' in quotation marks, MichaelY? That reads like a sneering dismissal of what people are telling you about the IAWM's behaviour over a period of several years, during a time when you weren't even active. When did you get involved in the IAWM? Early 2005? Who are you to make sneering judgements about anything? Apart from your endless posts on indymedia, nobody knows you outside of Dublin. When Mary Kelly tells it as it is, you should listen. Unlike you, she risked years of jail and has been active since the beginning, and in Palestine before that.

by MichaelY - iawm Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:39

It's good to see that unity in the Irish anti-war movement is growing.

Below please find the text of an email sent by the Steering Committee to over 4,000 individuals in the IAWM database.
Attention to the last couple of paragraphs. The anti-war activists writing above must have overlooked them.

As for Mary Kelly's message above, thank you for the good, albeit watery, words.
4-5 of us tried to be at the trial on a continuous basis and attended most of the Ploughshare support meetings..

Not that all this 'excuses' , it appears, or justifies previous and past IAWM 'crimes'......

THE IRISH ANTI WAR MOVEMENT
PRESENTS:

ROCKING OUT THE WARPLANES
THE VILLAGE on WEXFORD STREET
MONDAY OCTOBER 23RD @ 8PM
featuring

UNITETRIBE,

SLAM POETS,

MARTY MULLIGAN & RAVEN
(Fresh from The Leviathan Think Tank @ Electric Picnic)

& THE HAPPY GANG.

TICKETS : €10
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT 087 2886646
You are all invited to come, rock and have a good time with us –
every € gathered will help the Irish Anti War Movement to continue its work against the use of Shannon and Baldonnel as warports.

Also to remind you that Anti-War Ireland is organising a demonstration in Shannon next Saturday October 29th
Assembly at LIDL Shannon Town Centre 2pm.

Buses leave Liberty Hall in Dublin around 9 am
Return fare is €15 (waged) or €10 (student/unwaged/low waged).
To book a seat, phone Anthony at 087 068 78 99..

by supporter Sat Oct 21, 2006 18:14

The main 'story' on the IAWM website is a minor fundraising gig that they're holding in Dublin. No appeal for people to join the Shannon rally, no downloadable poster or leaflets, no public statement of support.

The only postings related to the Shannon rally and the Abu Ghraib meetings are those put up by Fintan Lane of AWI.

Shouldn't the Shannon demonstration be the main story on their front page? Also, I'm on their mailing list (technically still a member in fact) but I've received no mailout advertising next Saturday's demonstration. The IAWM seems to advertise their own events and that's it! An important demo is happening in Shannon and it's as if it doesn't exist as far as the IAWM are concerned.

This is shameful behaviour.

by Mary Kelly Sat Oct 21, 2006 08:31

during the trial of the CW s final trial ( last July 06 )that resulted in unanimous jury acquittal, there was an anti war action meeting advertised which I went along to, one evening. It turned out to be an iawm "steering committee" event. All the focus was on preparing for the September march. I said what about attending and supporting the CW trial.? Michael Y made a watery appeal to them saying they should be seen to support these trials! The chairperson Kevin Wingfield had no interest in this subject. Clarity is great and cuts down on bullshit!

by Statin the Obvious Sat Oct 21, 2006 00:08

If they don't control it, it doesn't exist.
If they should get state power and you keep these criticisms up, you won't exist either.

by antiwar supporter Fri Oct 20, 2006 22:25

I just looked at the latest issue of the Socialist Worker, which carries articles by Roger Cole and Kevin Wingfield insisting that antwar activists prioritise next year's elections, and there's no mention of the Shannon demo or of the public meetings by the Abu Ghraib interrogators!!! Judging by the SWP paper, the Shannon demo doesn't even exist.

Do they only support antiwar marches that the IAWM (themselves) organise? Is that the sort of childish sectarianism behind their current political strategy? Disgusting.

by Dublin AWI Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:32

A bus to Shannon demo (and back!) will leave Liberty Hall at 9am on the 28th. We're getting quite a bit of interest so we'd encourage people to book their seats now! That'll give us a chance to judge whether a second bus should be ordered.

Return fare is 15 euros (waged) or 10 euros (student/unwaged/low waged).

To book a seat, phone Anthony at 087 068 78 99.

by Update Tue Oct 17, 2006 01:16

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/World/Iraq

by AWI Tue Oct 10, 2006 22:42

The three former soldiers are adding their voices to the call for the demilitarisation of this Irish civilian airport. Many of the hundreds of thousands of US troops who have passed through the airport have been responsible for carnage in Iraq and large numbers have also returned to the US in body bags. The Bush regime has brought horror and suffering to families across Iraq, Afghanistan and the United States.

The demonstration, which will assemble at 2pm outside Lidl in Shannon town centre, will take the form of a mock-funeral to the airport. The theme will be 'Remembering the Dead' and we ask people to consider wearing black for the occasion. Also, bring flowers which will be laid symbolically at the entrance to this pitstop of death in memory of those who have died.

Buses will run from Dublin and Cork to the demo (more information closer to the date), and the US vets will also speak at a number of Anti-War Ireland public meetings around the country. The focus throughout will be on our call for the demilitarisation of Shannon Airport.

The following is an outline schedule of the US vets speaking engagements. More information will be posted later.

THURSDAY, 26 October
AWI public meeting at the ATGWU Hall in Middle Abbey Street, Dublin. Beginning at 7.30pm. Chaired by Deirdre Clancy (AWI), the speakers will include Joshua Casteel, Stephen Lewis, Tony Lagouranis and a speaker from Anti-War Ireland.

FRIDAY, 27 October
The three US vets will each speak at lunchtime meetings in TCD, UCD and NUI Maynooth.

SATURDAY, 28 October
Assemble at 2pm in Shannon town centre to march on the airport. All three US Iraq War veterans will be among the speakers at a rally at the airport.

MONDAY, 30 October
8pm. Public meeting with Tony Lagouranis and Stephen Lewis in Limerick. More details later.

TUESDAY, 31 October
AWI public meeting in Cork with Tony Lagouranis and Stephen Lewis. 8pm in the Quality Hotel (formerly Shandon Court Hotel) on John Street.

WEDNESDAY, 1 November
AWI public meeting in Belfast with Tony Lagouranis and Stephen Lewis. 8pm. Venue to be announced.

For further information, email info@antiwarireland.org

Care/Act

Related Link: http://www.antiwarireland.org

by AWI Tue Oct 10, 2006 22:39 info at antiwarireland dot org

It has been confirmed that among the speakers at the Anti-War Ireland (AWI) demonstration at Shannon on Saturday, 28 October, will be three US Iraq War veterans, all of whom served together as interrogators at the infamous Abu-Ghraib prison. The three - who were in the same military battalion - have since completely rejected the war and are members of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Tony Lagouranis, Joshua Casteel and Stephen Lewis are travelling to Ireland especially for the Shannon demo on 28th October, but will also speak at AWI public meetings both north and south.

For information on Tony Lagouranis, a recent interview can be found at the following link:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/intervi....html

A profile of Joshua Casteel can be read at:

http://www.ivaw.org/user/47

by Update Mon Oct 09, 2006 04:31

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_on_re_us/marines...rsary

by MichaelY - iawm Sun Oct 08, 2006 13:33

We have already communicated to the organisers of the Oct 28 Shannon demonstration our full political support for this initiative.

IAWM members and affiliated anti war groups have been notified and intend to take part.
Let me also use this opportunity to invite AWI members to come to our meeting next Tuesday evening (Oct 10th) in the ATGWU Hall, give out their leaflets and encourage participants to take part in the Shannon demonstration.

Well done again

Fraternally

by cool j Sun Oct 08, 2006 04:33

Like events at Bellanaboy - the decent people of this country will show their obhorrance at the gross violation of yet another undelying principle of this so-called indepdent state - our neutrality!!

PS - In De Vales's time FF members use to carry booklets containing the guiding principles of the party namely Neutrality, self sufficiancy and a vibrant rural economy based on quality food production. They gone back on everyone of them with US troops treating the place as one big stop-over, the give-away of our Natural gas and the small farmer driven to ruin by the greed of the giant multiples and meat factories. FF sold out a long time ago!!!!!!!!

by Update Sat Oct 07, 2006 04:39

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061007/ts_nm/iraq_marines_...ea_dc