Civil disobedience/NVDA

A protest high up in the air

[March 12] A protest high up in the air: 16 people including Benjamin Monnet, Kim Seri and Angie Zelter were arrested in the Gureombi rock.

11a.m. Sunday, 11th and I am back in Gangjeong – it really feels like home. I had a quick change of clothes and then I was grabbed by a reporter for an interview and then told the SOS team (they are the ones that organise the boat and swimming actions of which I am a part) wants to meet me at 4p.m. But there is a press conference before that at 2 p.m. And loads of people to hug ….. so it is a good idea I had a nice rest in the police station! As there is no work being done on the site today there are no blockades – thank goodness.

I am so tired as the last 2 days have been very intense so excuse me if this is a bit rambling. The evening of 6th March was a busy time as the town was called for an emergency meeting to decide what to do as the dynamite was to be delivered the next day. The Mayor called on the whole village to come out with their cars and lorries and block the roads early the next morning to try and stop it being delivered. I heard later that around 20 vehicles were used by the village and several hundred people blocked the road at 2 or 3 places.

Professor Yang Yoon-Mo is now on his 27th day of hunger strike in prison on Jeju Island in South Korea. He is back in jail for interrupting Navy construction vehicles. Last summer Yang, while in jail for lying under a construction truck, nearly died as his 71 day hunger strike only ended when Jeju Island Catholic Bishop Kang convinced him to stop.

The days pass so quickly here. On Tuesday 28th February I was needed to give interviews with a progressive Korean military publication who asked searching questions about how South Korea can protect itself from North Korea and China without US bases, what I think about South Korea getting nuclear weapons to protect itself from North Korea (this is something being seriously considered!) and why I was here. It was an opportunity to discuss the ever expanding US military presence in north-east Asia, what real security consists of and ways to stop proliferation.

Three women painted the windows of the Army recruiting office in Glasgow yesterday, 1st March, in protest at the dishonest propaganda used to persuade young people to join up.

Yesterday we internationals went into Jeju City for a press conference so that the Mayor of Gangjeong could explain the situation and internationals could make statements as to why they were supporting the villagers struggle against war and for peace.

Angie Zelter is in Korea supporting the people of Ganjeong Village in their struggle to stop the destruction of Jeju Island where the South Korean military has begun construction of a naval base which will be the port for the US Navy’s Aegis Destroyers.

135 full bows of prayers for peace at Destruction Gate

Trident Ploughshares member Angie Zelter is supporting villagers in their fight to stop the building of a US nuclear base on Jeju, the South Korean “Island of Peace”. The new base just 300-miles from the Chinese mainland will become a port for U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers fitted with the missile defence systems that are key elements in Pentagon first-strike attack planning. Gangjeong village and endangered soft-coral reefs will be destroyed to build the base. Here is Angie’s first report.

Trident Ploughshares Press Release: 23rd February 2012
The anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares is among a number of international groups and individuals who are supporting villagers in their fight to stop the building of a US nuclear base on Jeju, the South Korean “Island of Peace”.

The anti-nuclear campaign group Trident Ploughshares is among a number of international groups and individuals who are supporting villagers in their fight to stop the building of a US nuclear base on Jeju, the South Korean “Island of Peace”.

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Gene Sharp researched and catalogued 198 methods of nonviolent action published in The Politics of Nonviolent Action, 1973. These methods are broken into three broad classifications: Protest and Persuasion, Noncooperation, and Nonviolent Intervention. These are further grouped into sections. The full list is available on this wiki page or at http://www.aeinstein.org.

 

1. Protests and Persuasion

Demonstrations – Many people expresses what they want by walking together in the street. –For example the demonstrations 15 February 2003, which was the biggest anti-war demonstration ever. There were demonstrations in more than 600 cities around the world. Just in London two million people demonstrated.

Protest lists – Signing your name on a list to express dissent with a certain politics, for instance a protest against Swedish weapons exports to the USA and UK during the Iraq war.

 

2. Non-cooperation

Boycott – To refuse to buy merchandise or a service to show dissatisfaction with the one selling it. For example the boycott of South African products during the apartheid regime. First individuals and organisations started to boycott South African merchandise and after a while entire countries boycotted South Africa

Strike – To refuse to work. For example during the first Intifada, the Palestinian resistance that started 1987, most Palestinians refused to work for Israelis. Israel lost a lot of money when they didn’t have access to cheap Palestinian labour and the economy stagnated.

Political non-cooperation – The refusal to do military service or to perform an extradition. War Resisters International is one of the organisations that supports those that want to refuse to do military service.

Refusal to cooperate – For example during the second world war Norwegian teachers refused to follow the Nazi curriculum for schools. They were sent to concentration camps because of their disobedience, but most of them were taken back when the Nazis understood that they wouldn’t give in.

 

3. Intervention

Blockades – To place your body in the way of something. For example Israelis and international solidarity activist that get in the way of Israeli bulldozers that are about to demolish Palestinian homes.

Preventive Presence – To protect endangered persons in conflict areas. For example peace observers in Mexico, Israel-Palestine or Colombia.

Plowshare Actions – To openly disarm weapon and to be willing to take your sentence. For example the disarming of Trident nuclear submarines in Scotland.

By Andreas Speck and Javier Gárate

It seems the year 2011 will end as it began – with huge social mobilisations all over the world and ongoing social protests. It is hard to take a break and to digest and reflect on everything that has happened this year. As we write, Tahrir Square is again full of protesters as in January and February, this time demanding not just the resignation of one man, but of the military dictatorship as a structure; the Occupy Movement is still going from strength to strength in many locations all over the world, and starting to think about its next steps, the student demonstrations continue in Chile and so many other social movement expressions continue to bring hope, showing that we have had enough of this economic and political system that benefits the very few and which does not represent the people. Many of these movements are still developing, and it is hard to evaluate them in terms of achievements of their end goals. We can only look at what impact they've had so far and look at how they have organised themselves.
One thing is for sure, no one can deny that there is a huge energy for change, and not just to demand change, but to actually be it.