Plowshares movement: Difference between revisions
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Other actions followed. As of 2000, some 71 such actions happened on several continents, sharing these elements: 1. absolutely nonviolent to people, 2. each actor claimed personal responsibility for her or his actions, never fleeing the scene but rather standing accountable, 3. making some effort, big or small, real or symbolic, to turn swords into plowshares. There have been several more such actions in the new millennium. Over the years, some of these have resulted in acquittals and the vast majority end in prison time for the actors, the longest of which were those meted out to the 1984 group, the Silo Pruning Hooks (after the Biblical verse admonishing people to turn swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks--both Micah and Isaiah), two of whom earned 18 years in federal prison.<ref>[http://www.plowsharesactions.org/webpages/SILOPRUNINGHOOKS.htm Silo Pruning Hooks]</ref> The "swords" have included live nuclear weapons, components of the nuclear arsenal, and even armed forces personal field weapons. |
Other actions followed. As of 2000, some 71 such actions happened on several continents, sharing these elements: 1. absolutely nonviolent to people, 2. each actor claimed personal responsibility for her or his actions, never fleeing the scene but rather standing accountable, 3. making some effort, big or small, real or symbolic, to turn swords into plowshares. There have been several more such actions in the new millennium. Over the years, some of these have resulted in acquittals and the vast majority end in prison time for the actors, the longest of which were those meted out to the 1984 group, the Silo Pruning Hooks (after the Biblical verse admonishing people to turn swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks--both Micah and Isaiah), two of whom earned 18 years in federal prison.<ref>[http://www.plowsharesactions.org/webpages/SILOPRUNINGHOOKS.htm Silo Pruning Hooks]</ref> The "swords" have included live nuclear weapons, components of the nuclear arsenal, and even armed forces personal field weapons. |
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A recent Plowshares action occurred in August of 2009 when Carl Kabat entered a missile silo in Colorado. |
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''Swords into Plowshares'' a chronology from 1980- 2003- is a good book on the movement- edited by Arthur Laffin with a foreward by Daniel Berrigan. |
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The Plowshares movement built on various actions against the draft or military or U.S. imperialism dating back to 1967 with the "Baltimore 4"- such actions as the Catonsville 9- in which both Berrigan brothers were involved, the Milwaukee 14, DC 9, Camden 28, to name but a few. |
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As of 2009, Jonah House in Baltimore maintains a web site that keeps up dates on such actions. |
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The Plowshares Movement actually takes action against nuclear and other weapons- as opposed to diplomats who, usually, only talk about reducing such dangerous stockpiles. The movement states that non-volent civil disobediance need not be passive and can be very militant. The participants in such actions are activists- albeit non-violent- in the manner of Gandhi and Martin Luther King in the 20th century. Other prominent forerunners of the movement include Simone Weil, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A. J. Muste, Gene Sharp (still living in the 21st) in that century, although there are many precedent activities through out history- such as Jesus, Roman soldiers protesting in northern Africa, movements in the Middle Ages in Europe, etc. etc. History (written by the victors) seems to want to write about the battles and bloodshed- and the non-violent victories get short shrift. In the United States, the civil rights movements of the 60's contributed much inspiration for Plowshares. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 18:57, 30 August 2009
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The Plowshares Movement is an anti-nuclear weapons movement that gained notoriety in the early 1980s when several members damaged government property and were subsequently convicted.
On September 9, 1980, Daniel Berrigan, his brother Philip Berrigan, and six others (the "Plowshares Eight") began the Plowshares Movement. They illegally trespassed onto the General Electric Nuclear Missile facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where they damaged nuclear warhead nose cones and poured blood onto documents and files. They were arrested and charged with over ten different felony and misdemeanor counts. On April 10, 1990, after ten years of appeals, the Berrigans' group was re-sentenced and paroled for up to 23 and 1/2 months in consideration of time already served in prison. Their legal battle was re-created in Emile de Antonio's 1982 film In the King of Prussia, which starred Martin Sheen and featured appearances by the Plowshares Eight as themselves. [1]
Other actions followed. As of 2000, some 71 such actions happened on several continents, sharing these elements: 1. absolutely nonviolent to people, 2. each actor claimed personal responsibility for her or his actions, never fleeing the scene but rather standing accountable, 3. making some effort, big or small, real or symbolic, to turn swords into plowshares. There have been several more such actions in the new millennium. Over the years, some of these have resulted in acquittals and the vast majority end in prison time for the actors, the longest of which were those meted out to the 1984 group, the Silo Pruning Hooks (after the Biblical verse admonishing people to turn swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks--both Micah and Isaiah), two of whom earned 18 years in federal prison.[2] The "swords" have included live nuclear weapons, components of the nuclear arsenal, and even armed forces personal field weapons.
A recent Plowshares action occurred in August of 2009 when Carl Kabat entered a missile silo in Colorado.
Swords into Plowshares a chronology from 1980- 2003- is a good book on the movement- edited by Arthur Laffin with a foreward by Daniel Berrigan.
The Plowshares movement built on various actions against the draft or military or U.S. imperialism dating back to 1967 with the "Baltimore 4"- such actions as the Catonsville 9- in which both Berrigan brothers were involved, the Milwaukee 14, DC 9, Camden 28, to name but a few.
As of 2009, Jonah House in Baltimore maintains a web site that keeps up dates on such actions.
The Plowshares Movement actually takes action against nuclear and other weapons- as opposed to diplomats who, usually, only talk about reducing such dangerous stockpiles. The movement states that non-volent civil disobediance need not be passive and can be very militant. The participants in such actions are activists- albeit non-violent- in the manner of Gandhi and Martin Luther King in the 20th century. Other prominent forerunners of the movement include Simone Weil, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, A. J. Muste, Gene Sharp (still living in the 21st) in that century, although there are many precedent activities through out history- such as Jesus, Roman soldiers protesting in northern Africa, movements in the Middle Ages in Europe, etc. etc. History (written by the victors) seems to want to write about the battles and bloodshed- and the non-violent victories get short shrift. In the United States, the civil rights movements of the 60's contributed much inspiration for Plowshares.
See also
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- The Saint Patrick's Day Four
- Harrisburg Seven
- Catonsville Nine
- The Baltimore Four
- Pitstop Ploughshares
- Trident Ploughshares
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External links
1 Plowshares Eight on September 9, 1980
2 Plowshares Number Two on December 13, 1980
4 Trident Nein on Independence Day, 1982
9 Sperry Software Pair on August 10, 1984
11 Silo Pruning Hooks on November 12, 1984
12 RESISTANCE In CAPTIVITY
13 Plowshares Number Twelve
14 TRIDENT II PRUNING HOOKS
15 MICHIGAN ELF Disarmament Action
16 PANTEX Disarmament Action
17 WISCONSIN ELF Disarmament Action
18 MARTIN MARIETTA MX WITNESS
19 Silo Plowshares
20 PERSHING To Plowshares
21 EPIPHANY Plowshares
22 PAUPERS Plowshares
23 WHITE ROSE Disarmament Action
24 TRANSFIGURATION Plowshares (WEST)
25 TRANSFIGURATION Plowshares (EAST)
26 HARMONIC Disarmament FOR LIFE
27 AUSTRALIAN Plowshares ACTION
28 NUCLEAR Navy Plowshares
29 KAIROS PLlowshares
30 KAIROS Plowshares Too
31 CREDO Plowshares
32 DUTCH Disarmament Action
33 NF-5B Plowshares
34, 36, 37 Other Dutch Disarmament Actions on February 9, 1989, on the Good Friday, March 24, 1989, and on July 16, 1989
35 Stop Weapons Exports - Plowshares 2
38 Thames River Plowshares on Labor Day, September 4, 1989
39 Eskiltuna
41 [DOVES OF PEACE Disarmament Action]
42 [ANZUS PEACE FORCE Plowshares]
43 [ARMS FACTORY Plowshares
44 [AEGIS Plowshares]
45 [DARWIN Plowshares]
46 [SOLDIER DISARMS RIFLE]
47 [GOOD FRIDAY Plowshares
48 [MISSILE SILO WITNESS]
48 [HARRIET TUBMAN-SARAH CONNOR BRIGADE Disarmament Action]
49 BAe Plowshares on January 6, 1993
50 [GOOD NEWS Plowshares]
51 [JAS INTO Plowshares]
52 [PAX CHRISTI-SPIRIT OF LIFE Plowshares]
53 [ANARCHIST Plowshares]
54 [GOOD FRIDAY- APRIL FOOLS DAY Plowshares]
55 [JUBILEE Plowshares]
56 JUBILEE Plowshares EAST on August 7, 1995 (the 50th anniversary of the use of the atomic bomb)
57 JUBILEE Plowshares WEST on August 7, 1995 on the west coast, Susan Crane, and Steve Kelly, SJ entered the Lockheed-Martin Corporation in Sunnyvale, California, builder of the Trident II D-5 missile. They approached, entered a large assembly building, and proceeded to hammer and pour blood on missile casings.
58 SEEDS OF HOPE - EAST TIMOR Ploughshares
59 LAURENTIAN SHIELD TRIDENT ELF Disarmament Action
61 WEEP FOR CHILDREN Plowshares
62 CHOOSE LIFE Disarmament Action
63 GODS OF METAL Plowshares
64 MINUTEMAN III Plowshares
65 JABILUKA Plowshares
66 HMS VENGEANCE Disarmament Action
67 ALDERMASTON WOMEN TRASH TRIDENT
68 BREAD NOT BOMBS Ploughshares
69 Three Disarmament Action wherein on June 8, 1999 Ellen Moxley, Ulla Roder, and Angie Zelter used an inflatable boat and boarded a floating laboratory barge operated by DERA in Loch Goil, Scotland. Upon boarding, they unbolted a window and cut their way into the lab using chisels and wrecking bars. They proceeded to damage 20 computers, other electronic equipment and circuit boxes, jammed machinery with superglue, sand, and syrup and dumped logbooks, files, computer hardware, and papers overboard. They then draped banners over the lab, reading “Stop Nuclear Death Research,” and “TP2000 Opposes Research for Genocide.” The action commenced in a picnic of sandwiches and grapes as they awaited arrest. This group became known as the Trident Ploughshares [3]
70 Plowshares vs. Depleted Uranium wherein four activists: Philip Berrigan and Susan Crane, both Plowshares activists from Jonah House; Fr. Steve Kelly, SJ (who non cooperated with probation restrictions upon his probation for the Prince of Peace Plowshares action); and Elizabeth Walz, entered the Warfield Air National Guard Base (adjacent to Martin State Airport in Middle River, Maryland, then hammered and poured their blood on two A-10 Thunderbolt II planes targeting these craft for their use of Depleted uranium armor-piercing shells.
71 Trident Plowshares on June 24, 2000 wherein two activists entered an ELF site in Clam Lake, Wisconsin and used handsaws to cut down three wooden poles supporting the transmission lines for the US nuclear submarine communication system, taking the transmitter off-line.
72 Earth and Space Plowshares of September 9, 2000 wherein five activists entered Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado and proceeded to hammer and pour their own blood on a Milstar Communications satellite and an F-18 Hornet fighter plane used extensively in Iraq.
73 Ploughshares 2000 wherein two activists entered Wittering Air Force Base and proceeded to disable a convoy truck being prepared to carry nuclear warheads for Trident nuclear submarines to Faslane, Scotland.
74 Vanguard Disarmament Action wherein at midnight, April 26-27, 2001, Ulla Roder, swam undetected for five hours past police launches and obstacles into the high security berth where Tridents are docked at the Faslane Submarine Base in Scotland and proceeded to spray paint "Useless" onto the HMS Vanguard sub, succeeding in physically contacting the sub wherein previously the Ministry of Defence police had believed the feat impossible.
75 Earth and Space Plowshares II wherein activists entered Minutemen missile silo site N-8 near Greeley, Colorado and hammered and poured blood on the silo and silo tracks.
76 Shannon Plowshares on January 29, 2003 wherein Mary Kelly hammered on US Navy C-40 Boeing 737 aircraft from the 59th Fleet Logistics Squadron.
77 Pitstop Plowshares wherein five activists poured their blood on the military runway of Shannon Airport, built a shrine, then malleted the runway then attempted to dismantle the hangar wherein Mary Kelly had hammered on the C-40 Clipper earlier that year. This group became the Pitstop Ploughshares.
78 NATO Plowshares on February 9, 2003 in Vokel, Holland, wherein a Dutch activist smashed three satellite dishes with a sledgehammer in protest to the anticipated war in Iraq [4]
79 RAF Leuchars Plowshares wherein Ulla Roder entered RAF Leuchars AFB and hammered on Tornado fighter jets then awaited arrest.
80 Riverside Plowshares on May 25, 2003 wherein activists boarded the USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), proceeded to the Tomahawk missile section of the ship, poured blood and hammered on the missile hatches.
100+ Waihopai Anzac Ploughshares on April 30, 2008, Ploughshares activists entered the GCSB Waihopai base near Blenheim, New Zealand and deflated a large kevlar dome covering a satellite dishes utilized by the ECHELON System. [5]