Derry Anti War Protesters Blockade Raytheon
derry |
anti-war / imperialism |
news report
Friday January 09, 2009 11:37
by George Row
Dawn Protest Outside the Firm that Makes the Bombs Raining Down on Gaza
A group of 70 -100 antiwar protesters staged a dawn blockade of Raytheon's Derry plant.
Early morning at Raytheon Derry: End the Bombing of Gaza.
A well attended meeting of Derry Anti-War coalition earlier in the week had voted to blockade the Derry Raytheon plant.
On Friday 9th January 2009, as Israel continued to rain bombs on the people of Gaza, antiwar protesters staged a dawn blockade of Raytheon's Derry plant.
Having gathered nearby, a group of 70-100 protesters arrived at 7:30 am and blockaded the Derry Raytheon plant with banners and plackards. On the pavement in front of the entrance they re-created, with tiny coffins and blood spattered clothes, the real end products of Raytheon's technology.
There was a heavy police presence. At first they tried to force the protesters out of the way ... this was greeted with chants of "if you are being pushed sit down. if you are being pushed sit down." The outcome was an even more blocked entrance.
After negotiation with a senior PSNI officer, agreement was reached about providing a clear passage for staff from other companies who share the complex with Raytheon. Most of the workers approaching the protesters appeared happy to declare their affiliation with a company other than Raytheon.
Up until 8:45 (when I left the scene) no staff from Raytheon had tried to enter the building.
There was coverage on BBC Radio Foyle and other local media.
The protests dispersed at 10:00 am their point having been made.
Early morning in Derry: Raytheon Kills
Raytheon Military technology - made in Derry is Murdering Innocent Civilians in Gaza
Raytheons End Product
End the Bombing of Gaza - guided by Raytheon systems.
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Comments (9 of 9)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Did anyone actually get a headcount of the PSNI there?
I would guess 50+ but I'm sure there were more waiting in the wings behind the scenes.
No Raytheon workers would have tried to enter because they were all given the day off, so nobody needed to come out in the freezing cold - just announce your intention to protest and then everyone - Raytheon workers and protesters alike - gets to have a nice warm lie in! Except those of us who work in the other companies around the site of course.
There were 2 or 3 cops at every entrance to the building and about 7 or 8 vehicles.
Nice pictures. Musta been freezing out there.
Great activism, fair play considering the weather,
John Hume is a big supporter of Raytheon being in Derry.....the Nobel Peace Prize, isn't it a strange award?
the atmosphere was great too, inspite of the cops best attempts to spike it. Henry-war-criminal-Kissinger is a nobel peace prize winner too, along with Mother-suffering-is-good-for-the-poor-Theresa. John Hume is in good company.
"The protests dispersed at 10:00 am their point having been made."
I'm not planning to give specific tactical advice from over 5K miles away in California, where the temperature almost never goes below 0 C. But I still feel free to point out that the point is not to make your point but to shut down production (at the point of production?). Of course, if the employees were given the day off, as reported, there would have been no point in staying at that point.
I hope that the point of my overly pointed commentary has not been missed. The point of my tongue may be in my cheek linguistically, but my point is meant quite seriously politically.
The Raytheon workers weren't there but it turns out they can in fact work from home. So no Raytheon work was stopped yesterday.
A voice of support from a Raytheon employee in the US .... stand up for your right to be a peaceful nation.
just like to say welldone .
and thanks for your protest.people like you do great work.
if there were more like you i think the world would be a better place
peace