Stand up for the young people wrongly charged with terrorist offences.
The activists who broke into the RAF facility at Brize Norton knew, that their actions were illegal. Political resistance such as the suffragettes, the gay rights movement, anti-apartheid and the right to vote involved intentional law breaking. These young people are against the genocide in Gaza and ashamed of the RAF for supplying intelligence to the IDF. They knew they risked being charged with criminal damage. What they didn’t anticipate was being proscribed as terrorists so that even supporting Palestine Action in words – as I am doing now – could constitute a serious legal offence, punishable with a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. Do these young protestors remind you of anyone?
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years on Robbin Island for direct action against the Apartheid regime. I was at the birthday party held on 17 July 1988 in Hyde Park. It was his 25th year as a prisoner on Robbin Island. We were demanding ‘Freedom for Nelson Mandela’. Norman Tebbit called us terrorist sympathisers. Mandela was released 2 years later and, until his death, supported the Palestinian Cause recognising that they too suffered from APARTHEID CONDITIONS. The Brize Norton Protestors are joining Zoe Rogers and others who raided the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit in Bristol .
In reality Elbit spreads terror in Gaza and Zoe harmed no one and is a threat to no-one. This kind of action has not been my chosen method of protest but ,when you are young and passionate, you are not always aware of the consequences of your action. All of us were young once and surely recognise that Zoe et al could have been us?
In her blog the author Sally Rooney quotes Martin Luther King Jr . He wrote from a Birmingham jail: “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” And the provision of weapons to facilitate genocide is more than unjust: it is an abyss of moral horror. Those brave enough to break the law in protest – many of whom are already serving time in prison for their actions – deserve our highest respect.
At Zoe’s age I joined the Birmingham Committee for Peace in Vietnam. In my memoir, I tell a story about how I could have been arrested.
One Saturday morning in June 1968, I had a phone call.
‘We have a loudspeaker van available. Can you help?’
The driver was a young man called Dave and I was in charge of the mike. He drove around the shopping streets while I talked about stopping the war. He joked that I sounded like the Queen. But the humour ceased when a police car flagged us down. We had to follow it to the central police station. Dave became increasingly agitated. I asked what was wrong. He’d protested against Polaris nuclear submarines based at Faslane, and been arrested and beaten up by the police. I tried to reassure him.
‘Look,’ I said, ‘leave this one to me. They’re not going to beat up a pregnant woman.’
When we arrived, I suggested Dave stay seated on the bench while I go to the desk. The committee hadn’t notified the police—it had all been naively spur of the moment. I apologised and promised we wouldn’t do it again without a licence. In 1968’s patriarchal society, there were occasions when it was advantageous being a woman.
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What I had done was illegal. I was young and idealistic and critical of Harold Wilson for not condemning the war. With the wisdom of age, when I compare Wilson to Blair and Iraq, I realise Harold was a genius. He kept British troops out of the war while not alienating the USA.
Older people are realising that it is better if we do the defiance of this cruel action of Evette Cooper. I took this poster to RAF High Wycombe last Saturday.
We pensioners have paid off our mortgages and don’t have careers to sacrifice. It’s no surprise that a lot of those arrested for supporting these young people are retired They include retired head teachers, doctors, nurses, priests, poets, magistrates, even a Sir, Sir Jonathan Porritt, and a retired Colonel – what a terrible danger they are to our society, Evette! They obviously need to be behind bars. We need to campaign for the release of the young people who may not face trial until 2026 but are on remand.
If you don’t want to march or be involved in protests and direct action how about you Sing4 Gaza? The composer Malcolm Atkins has written new lyrics to fit Renaissance chants. This is our first gathering but we would love the idea to be taken up all over the country.
Sing 4 Gaza
While the destruction of Gaza continues,
we ask people all over the country,
starting here in Oxford to Sing4 Gaza
The composer Malcolm Atkins has set peace lyrics to simple Renaissance chants.
Learn to sing them and share them @
The Quaker Meeting House
St Giles, Oxford OX13LW
On Wednesday 10 7.30-9.30
Everyone welcome