Thursday January 01 1970
Vocal Protest for Obama's Speech in Dublin: "Close Guantanamo Bay!"
dublin |
anti-war / imperialism |
event notice 
Thursday May 19, 2011 22:26
by anti-war activist - (not as active as I'd like to be any more)
You dont need banners, you wont need placards - just bring yourself, and let your voice be heard.
Barack Obama arrives in Dublin next Monday. May 23rd.
He will give a speech to the Irish public at College Green in Dublin's city centre.
It is likely that his speech will commence around 8pm.
Members of the public will have to pass through security gates. No protesting paraphenalia will be allowed. But they cannot stop you going to listen to the speech - and voicing your own feelings.
Guantanamo Bay - internment without trial, "extraordinary renditions", torture, waterboarding, sensory deprivation, jury-free military trials, extended detentions with no access to lawyers - is still open despite Obama's promise at the beginning of his presidency to uphold the rule of law and close the camp.
Ten minutes into his speech, at a quiet moment, please shout "Close Guantanamo Bay", and repeat it so others can hear you too.
The "war on terror" goes on - Obama was elected on the promise of "Hope", but Guantanamo only offers despair. Ireland experienced the misery and repression of internment before - lets speak out again now another state is practising it.
"Close Guantanamo Bay" - a simple message. Say it loud, and say it proud.
Comments (4 of 4)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4This is a good idea. Simple yet effective - standing up to the leader of a massive global military machine in a dignified and direct way, the voice of the people heard, the garda and their precious ring of steel powerless to stop it.
Good idea but how about putting a little bit of heat on Obama and at the same time raising awareness for Bradley Manning (who has an Irish grandfather!), the US Marine who is accused of releasing footage of a US Army massacre of civilians in Iraq and is consequently in prison for it awaiting a military trial, by shouting for the release of Bradley Manning as in "FREE BRADLEY MANNING!"...Obama is coming under fire in the States for this detention of a truth teller despite promising to protect such people before he got elected and despite saying he would end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...a simple yet significant demonstration of solidarity for someone who had the courage to resist the wars from within the belly of the beast!
Why would Irish people want to protest at wars they are complicit in ?
According to a leaflet being distibuted by the Irish Anti war Movement ahead of Obama's arrival , the Irish gvernments support for Obama's war makes the Irish people complicit in those wars:
"Now we are all complicit in gross violations of human rights , the killing of innocent civillians and unending cycles of suffering for millions of people"
"We" are not complicit in the crimes of the Irish government over the use by NATO of Shannon or Aldergrove airports anymore than "we" are complicit in giving away billions to the banks . That is the sort of "they're all the same" rationale that the war criminals using Shannon employ to justify the murder of non-combatants in the countries they are bombing .
This Irish- people-as-willing-executioner type rationale actually reinforces the notion that Ireland is for all its faults a democracy whose people have a choice about the use of Shannon by the US military . It helps make the case for those who say that we the Irish people have expressed our will through the ballot box and have made our feelings about bombing Afghanistan and Iraq clear through the democratic process . It is essentially the same argument put forward by the government. .
Surely opponents of war in Ireland need to be advancing the exact opposite argument . The continued use of Shannon , despite the overwhelming opposition of the majority of people in Ireland to war ,is an expression of the lack of genuine democracy in this country .
If it was only here it wouldn't be so critical. You are probably up to speed with this, but it might interest the democratically inclined.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24886
A nice succinct summation, methinks.
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