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Action Update
news
issue 86 november 2002
South Pacific Solidarity!
Serious sabotage and damage
committed during an invasion of New Tribal Missions HQ in the UK.
On 11 October more than fifty people took direct action against the New
Tribes Mission (NTM) UK Headquarters in Grimsby, in solidarity with resistant
indigenous people of the Philippines, West Papua and Bougainville.
NTM have stated that they intend to preach to every tribe on the planet
by 2025, such as the Agta of Northern Luzon and tribes in Mindanao. NTM
build airstrips in jungles, have their own planes to ferry first missionaries
and then businessmen, Coca-Cola and the military. First comes Christianity
and then corporations. The indigenous people of West Papua have declared
missionaries one of their 4 biggest threats: they are as responsible as
mining or logging companies for ecological and cultural destruction.
The activists visited NTM wearing West Papuan masks, invaded and occupied
the offices. They severely outnumbered the missionaries working there.
Essential information and equipment was removed which will prove valuable
to research for resistance to NTM. Other people sabotaged and damaged
essential computer hardware, software and other office equipment; Others
argued with workers; Others demonstrated outside or in the village nearby
with banners.
All the protestors left the scene without arrest, although missionaries
attempted - and failed - to stop people leaving.
Rio Tinto company blockaded
Anglesey Aluminium Metals (AAM) at Holyhead, North Wales, was blockaded
for six hours by 15 people making novel use of a clapped out minivan and
a tripod. The action was in solidarity with the OPM - the Free West Papua
Movement. 51% of AAM is owned by the infamous Rio Tinto (RTZ), which has
a major interest in the disastrous Grasberg mine in West Papua.
The van, laden with two concrete-filled barrels, was towed in at 8.30am
before ‘breaking down’ outside the main entrance to the plant.
Someone stuck their hand through a hole in the side panel and locked onto
one of the barrels. The other barrel fell through a hole in the floor
of the van, and another person locked on. A long tailback rapidly ensued.
Meanwhile a scaffold tripod was erected at the back entrance to stop anyone
slipping out that way. After a couple of hours a previously overgrown
third entrance was opened by AAM, allowing light traffic access, but articulated
vehicles were prevented from passing for another 31/2 hours. The activists
received support from AAM workers and local contractors. Workers and redirected
traffic were leafleted. Local TV and newspapers covered the blockade.
No arrests were made.
The Grasberg mine is one of the largest producers of gold and copper in
the world. Indonesia gains 20% royalties from it, providing 47% of West
Papua's GDP. The mine has turned the local river system into a poisonous
slurry channel. As a result of which hundreds of children have died from
copper poisoning, and the river and the trees on its banks are biologically
dead. Protests by the local people have been met with severe repression
by the Indonesian military, paid for in part by Rio Tinto and supported
by their security forces.
Embassy occupied
The Indonesian Embassy in London was occupied in solidarity with the people
of West Papua. Occupiers chained themselves to railings in a third floor
window shouting "Papua Merdeka" (Freedom for Papua) to the on-lookiong
crowd. The Indonesian flag was pulled down and the Papuan 'Morning Star'
flag was about to be raised when Indonesian officials dragged the flag
raiser who had climbed up the side of the building back into the embassy
using unnecessary force.
Another group of activists gathered outside with banners reading "Free
West Papua" and "Victory to the OPM". The building remained
occupied for 3/4 hour whilst the demonstrators made their demands. Enraged
staff pushed people about and eventually the police arrived and cut people
from the railings. Four people were arrested and charged.
Solidarity South Pacific
ssp@eco-action.org
c/o SDEF!
Prior House, 6 Tilbury Place, Brighton BN2 2GY.
Tel: 01273 695505
www.westpapua.net
Anti-capitalism
rides again…
Anarchist Travelling Circus: a UK-wide series of
actions, projects and events, and a mobilisation against the G8 Summit
taking place in Evian (Lake Geneva, on the French-Swiss border), June
1st-3rd 2003.
Recent summit-hopping protests have built and revitalised the anti-capitalist
movement, strengthened international solidarity, created new links, and
mobilised people and ideas. This process is important, but mobilising
around one-off events isn’t enough. The Anarchist Travelling Circus
attempts to reconcile mass mobilisations with local projects and actions;
create links between anti-capitalist and daily struggles in our communities
and workplaces; involve those who cannot/do not want to travel around
getting tear-gassed; and emphasise that our multiple struggles against
war and militarism, the destruction of the earth, debt and lack of housing,
the treatment of asylum seekers, the mind-numbing, soul-destroying monotony
of wage labour and many other issues cannot be won until the fight against
capitalism is won, daily, constantly, everywhere. The idea is a 5-6 week
tour of the country, perhaps beginning on Mayday, and culminating in Evian
on June 1st at the G8, with a possible ‘No Border’ Camp en-route.
As the Circus progresses around the UK, people could join and leave at
will, staying on till Evian or never leaving their home town. At each
city, town or village people would organise actions, open social centres,
or stage cultural events. The idea is for anybody interested to set up
local groups to organise events and transport and network the idea locally.
An internet discussion list has been set up, to subscribe, send a blank
email to: anarchisttravellingcircus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
If you are setting up a group in your area and would like a speaker, please
email anarchisttravellingcircus@yahoo.co.uk
and let us know. The web address is www.g8circus.org.uk.
Local updates
Nazis out!
Anti-fascists have attacked a shop in central Burnley owned by Steve Smith,
BNP organiser for Burnley. The ‘shop’ sells little beyond a
bit of Nazi memorabilia and is instead mainly used as a base for BNP organising
in Burnley, and as a distribution point for BNP and Countryside Alliance
propaganda. Anti-fascists smashed windows and graffiti’d the front
of the shop.
Happy Meal
A new McDeath in Reddish has proved unpopular with locals. Since opening
it has been robbed once, broken into several times with the burgers thrown
about and friers opened (meaning they might be contaminated and it can't
open next morning) and the doors and windows are kicked in on a weekly
basis...! It's hardly surprising considering the outlet was built despite
local opposition and with planning permission gained on the sly (by applying
under the name of Warburton’s), not to mention McDonalds’ reputation
for worker and animal exploitation.
At the palace
The fence enclosing the top of Crystal Palace Park has been torn down.
At a candle-lit vigil protesting Bromley Council's enclosure of part of
the park people pulled off the plywood hoardings and entered the park.
Around 50 people, mostly local residents, joined in, and before long a
long stretch of the fence lay on the ground. For info see: http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=40531
Teeing off
Victory – for the local campaign against Reddish Golf Club's
plans to tip waste in Reddish Vale. The club had planning permission dating
from 1965, and stood to make £15-30,000 contracting the tipping
out. Local campaigners made it very clear to the Club that they would
be reporting it to the Environment Agency for not declaring earlier dumping
of toxic substances, and suggested that there might be other serious repercussions
should they go ahead with the scheme, which would send 5,000 waste lorries
to the Stockport beauty spot, past schools and other community sites,
over two years.
Scotts Fucked
Two-thirds of Scotts’ peat stock destroyed in one night
On the night of the Saturday 31st August a small group of people visited
Hatfield Peatworks near Doncaster and slashed ¾ of Scotts’
bagged peat. Based on figures by Scotts’ lawyers for a previous action
of this kind we estimate that over £100,000 worth of damage was
done.
Southend
Activists took to the trees in response to plans for a £3.5million
road widening scheme. Two climbers scrambled up trees on the route of
the planned dual carriageway and held an eight-hour vigil. Campaigners
for the group, Parklife, fear the road widening scheme will destroy more
than 100 mature trees and a large shrubbery area. Parklife claims 25,000
residents have backed its protest through petitions and letters to newspapers.
European NewsREAL
A `new tool in globalisation activists' armoury’ was launched
at the European People's Global Action Conference in Leiden. The European
NewsREAL is a half hour monthly video magazine of news stories produced
by grassroots video activists. The project has a centralised translation
system so copies can be made in different languages. The NewsREAL will
be screened to audiences of up to 8 million viewers on US Freespeech TV,
and in small cinemas, universities, cafes and squats across Europe. Contact:
abragga@hotmail.com or Undercurrents Alternative News 01865 203661
New publication
Free copies of "Sexual Assault in Activist Communities"
are available (help with postage appreciated). Email activistsagainstsexualassault@hotmail.com,
including info on how many you need and whether you can make any financial
contribution. Postal address: Local Affairs Commissioner, CSA Main Office,
University Centre- level 2, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1,
Canada
Casualisation debate
There is an online discussion forum on casualisation and workers’
right abuses, in the campaigns section of Billy Bragg’s website.
See www.billybragg.co.uk
This seems all the more vital after a week (September 13th-20th) during
which six men, one woman and a child were killed on construction sites
across the country.
Israeli action
22nd September: two hundred activists demonstrated opposite the Ministry
of Defense in Tel-Aviv against Israeli violence in the West Bank. The
action was called by Gush Shalom, the radical Israeli Peace Bloc. This
was the first Israeli demonstration against army action on Arafat's compound
in Ramallah. Demonstrators shouted: "Get Out of Ramallah!" and
"Fuad, Fuad, (Ben-Eliezer), Minister of Defense, How Many Children
Have You Killed?"
Sumac picnic
A few weeks ago the Sumac centre and friends went for
a picnic in woods near Nottingham. It was the first time in a year and
a half, since the closure of the old Rainbow centre, that almost everyone
got together without the pressure of getting the new centre open. Not
everyone was there - a few people were back at the centre running the
cafe and the Veggies crew were off doing an event as they almost always
are. Everyone played rounders and an amazing, amusing game of three frisbees
and football was invented. We sat down to a vegan picnic and much wine
was consumed. After sunset, a fire kept the day going into the early hours.
The Sumac centre is finally open, meeting the only deadline we have managed
to keep, which was to open the weekend before Glastonbury and the summer
exodus to fields across the country. Volunteers were up til early hours
the week before finishing off the building work. We only finished at 2am
the night before our opening day, when over 100 people came for free tea
and cakes, a kids’ ceilidh by Monster Massive and a bring-and-buy
sale.
The vegan cafe is open three days a week (Fri-Sun 10am-6pm) and the number
of customers is building up. Our library is starting to emerge from its
boxes and the shock of living in garages and cellars across Nottingham.
Work still needs to be completed on the bar, which we hope will be open
for Christmas. And thoughts have turned to our out-buildings, which are
derelict and full of everything we had to get out of the way to open the
main building. In our heads is a new grand ecologically sound office and
workshop block. The volunteers who have been working on this for two years
(sven days a week at some points) are exhausted, but new volunteers are
starting to come in to turn this part of our dream into reality.
More information from www.veggies.org.uk
or info@veggies.org.uk or 245
Gladstone street, Forest fields, Nottingham NG7 6HX 0845 458-9595. Donations
welcome.
Animal rights
North-West SHAC Day of Action:
Activists easily gained entry to a “secure” building to invade
WorldCom’s offices and halt work, whilst workers from other offices
were informed about WorldCom’s involvement in horrendous animal cruelty.
Many wished us luck in closing Huntingdon Life Sciences. We then paid
a visit to Marsh, HLS’ insurers. Activists stormed the building and
locked themselves into a conference room. A megaphone was directed out
of the window and for an hour passers-by informed of Marsh’s support
of HLS. Police tried to arrange a meeting between us and the manager,
but he was too ashamed to speak to us. Eventually police piled in and
we were escorted out. Manchester Animal Protection - tel 07932 547785
Revolutions Per Minute has published
‘The Rich at Play,’ an analysis of hunting with hounds. It concentrates
on the historical basis and cultural context, beginning with the Norman
Conquest. Hunting is examined as part of the laws and practices enabling
the ruling class to control space. The author analyses the peculiarly
non-rural composition of the Countryside Alliance, and the populist, libertarian
politics whereby it gathers public sympathy for hunters, which it portrays
as part of a 'rural dispossessed'. Available from Revolutions Per Minute,
BCM Box 3328, London, WC1N 3XX. www.red-star-research.org.uk
revopermin@ukonline.co.uk
Winter Moot
2003
The EF! Winter Moot is the annual
network gathering to discuss UK-based ecological direct action; our strategy,
tactics, campaigns and actions. The next one is being held in Nottingham
from the evening of Friday 7th to Sunday 9th of February 2003. There will
be cheap vegan food available, accommodation, and a creche. The building
has disabled access.
Venue details, a map, and other
information will be sent out in January 2003. If you want to receive these
please send an SAE to: EF! Moot c/o South Downs EF!, Prior House, 6 Tilbury
Place, Brighton, BN2 2GY.
For specific enquiries please contact us by email: efmoot03@hotmail.com
or leave a message on: 07763 552627
International solidarity
Demonstrations and harassment
in San Cristobal, Mexico
On September 10th civil society groups from across Chiapas took to the
streets of San Cristobal to protest at the intimidation, harassment and
interrogation of people who work with local organisations. See chiapas.indymedia.org
for updates. There have been protests in Barcelona, Geneva, Paris, Madrid,
Argentina, the Basque Country, Canada and the United States over the Mexican
government’s continued human rights abuses in Chiapas. Suggested
actions include organising protests at Mexican Embassies and Consulates,
and at the offices and headquarters of companies investing in Chiapas.
Zapatista communities are also calling for emergency human rights delegations
to Chiapas. See www.chiapaslink.ukgateway.net
for information and advice. Some communities have also been forced off
their land and are in need of financial support: if you can raise money,
e.g. through a benefit night, contact Global Exchange's Mexico program
for more information. Email mexico@globalexchange.org
Close the School of the Americas!
Stop US training of terrorists!
On November 16th 1-4 pm: vigil/rally outside the US embassy in London
in memory of those murdered by SOA graduates in El Salvador, and in solidarity
with the action outside the SOA in Fort Benning, GA. The SOA is a US military
school that trains Latin American soldiers in counter-insurgency and now
counter-narcotics. Opened in 1945 in Panama, it was a major foreign policy
tool in the U.S. fight against communism. In the early eighties, the SOA
moved to Georgia because a major newspaper in Panama dubbed it the "School
of Assassins." The school is notorious for training some of Latin
America's most brutal dictators; several years ago manuals were released,
showing curricula including techniques of torture and rape. The school
is now named the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation.
See www.soaw.org.uk
Starbucks settlers
Berkley, California 17th August: About 25 queer ‘settlers,’
imitating the actions of illegal Israeli settlers in Palestine, descended
on Starbucks, claiming Berkeley as "a city without people for people
without a city." The group, organized by Queers Undermining Israeli
Terrorism (QUIT!), posted a banner proclaiming the cafe "Queerkeley
- A Prophecy Fulfilled." They erected homes, lawn furniture and signs
reading "It Works In Palestine, Why Not Here?" and "It's
Ours Because We Say So" and gave patrons tracts explaining their
religious claim to the land: “And the Lord saw that the queer people
were harried in this land. And the Lord spake unto the prophet Harvey,
"You will lead your people across the wide waters unto a new land."
Harvey was fearful, and cried, "How will we cross the wide waters?
For they are cold, and they are filled with all manner of hazardous substances
and raw sewage and other pollutants." And the Lord responded, "I
say, Lo, I have promised the land of Berkeley to the lesbians and to the
gays, and the bisexuals, and to the transgenders and the intersexed, and
all gender variant peoples. And this land shall be blessed with fruits
and nuts, unto 50 genderations." - Book of Reclamations and Realty,
4.0. The group selected Starbucks for their settlement because founder
and CEO, Howard Shultz, is a major supporter of the Israeli state and
Starbucks has become the prime target of an international boycott of corporations
with ties to Israel www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-israel.html.
See www.quitpalestine.org.
or email quitpalestine@yahoo.com
Russian anti-nuclear actioncamp 2002
In response to the Russian government's decision to import 20,000
tonnes of high-level radioactive waste, environmental groups organised
protest actions, including an action camp, in Siberia. The June camp took
place near the prohibited zone around Krasnoyarsk-26, Russia's largest
high-level radioactive waste store and plutonium-producing reactor. Early
in 2002, local citizens and environmental groups collected nearly 100,000
signatures calling for a vote on whether to ban nuclear waste imports
into the region. For more information, or to donate, contact:
+7 (095) 7766281 (English speaking). e-mail: ecodefense@online.ru,
alni@online.ru
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