earthfirst – Page 175

Come to a Picnic

A Family Picnic Day to Stop Tesco Building at Titnore Woods, in West Sussex.

On Tuesday 22nd September, we will meet at 12 noon at the roundabout in front of the existing West Durrington Tesco Extra. It’s the where Romany Road joins New Road. At about 1230 we’ll move to a better picnic site in the fields behind the Tesco car park, where building work for the new Tesco has begun. Bring food to share and anything else that you think will help make the point that we don’t want Tesco destroying our landscape and our communities! Please tell your friends and bring them along.
The protest camp is nearby and they welcome visitors and donations.

http://www.titnore.wordpress.com

Eco-Anarchists Attack Luxury Car in Guadalajara, Mexico

Communique:

“Arson attack on a luxury car by eco-anarchists in Guadalajara, Mexico

In the early morning hours of August 18 our cell once again decided to attack the machines which destroy the planet and its inhabitants; this time our protest was against the automobile, and why do it if not to luxury cars. We entered a bourgeois area of our city and we set fire to the front tires of a luxury car; unfortunately the fire did not spread because of the rain; it only melted the tires, but it created a psychological fear in all those who choose to invest their money and spend it in the destruction of our planet.We will return to destroy their machines!

ECO ANARCHISTS GUADALAJARA MEXICO”

Source: ELF Press Office

Ride Planet Earth

Dear all,

I hope you are well.

My name is Richard i am the British coordinator of the Ride Planet Earth project.

I hope you can take a moment to read this message.

Dear all,

I hope you are well.

My name is Richard i am the British coordinator of the Ride Planet Earth project.

I hope you can take a moment to read this message.

Ride Planet Earth is encouraging action to prevent dangerous climate change. The project culminates on 6th Dec 09, the day before the Climate Change negotiations begin in Copenhagen, with a series of simultaneous cycling events in cities, towns, and dirt tracks around the globe. The message we are sending is that ordinary people can and will take action to stop climate change so our governments must do the same. Start Cycle Change: Stop Climate Change.

Ride Planet Earth began as a journey from Brisbane to Copenhagen by bicycle, to highlight the current impacts of climate change on the planet’s most vulnerable communities. The Cycle Change Convoy has now reached Georgia and over the next 4 months will cross europe to Denmark.

To find out more visit

www.rideplanetearth.org

At present the 6th Dec will see events occurring in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. But to make a stronger statement we need more. The UK has a huge potential to help.
That is why I am writing to you.

Please contact me at richardkimberley8@hotmai.com, if you, your organisation can or know of any individuals or organisations who have the capacity to put on a ride, large or small. Your help will be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Lets spread the word

Yours sincerely,

Richard Kimberley

British Coordinator
www.rideplanetearth.org
richardkimberley8@hotmail.com

Start Cycle Change Stop Climate Change

RBS glued shut by the ELF

The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of the largest investors and profiteers of environmental destruction and the international arms trade. They destroy natural habitats, therefore unbalancing the ecosphere, by using genocidal methods against the species populating the Earth.

Whilst holding shares in arms dealer ITT, who supported the Nazis and now make wars possible in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, RBS are also the largest financier of the arms industry, having loaned £44.6 billion in the last ten years and holding £36.4 million shares.

In response to the call for action against the arms trade, in the run up to the DESi arms fair, their locks were glued shut in Somerset.

ELF

Five activists walk straight into Faslane nuclear weapons base – breaking news

Trident Ploughshares, Monday August 17, 2009 – 16:40pm – for immediate release

This afternoon five peace activists from nonviolent direct action group Trident Ploughshares walked unchallenged straight into Faslane naval base in Scotland, the home of Britain ’s nuclear-armed Trident submarines, making a mockery of security for Britain’s “strategic nuclear deterrent.” The five are currently still inside the base.

The activists, one man and four women, released the following statement:

“We invite others to follow us through this gate to restore humanitarian law.”

Further information to follow.

Notes to editor:

Trident Ploughshares is a campaign initiated in 1998 to disarm Britain ’s Trident nuclear weapons system in a non-violent, peaceful, safe, open and accountable manner

Website: http://www.tridentploughshares.org

Trident Ploughshares Media
tridentp.media [at] yahoo.co.uk

—–

Statements from the citizen inspectors; arrestee details

17.08.2009 17:25
The five Trident Ploughshares citizen inspectors, who are now in custody after the “bandit alarm” went off at Faslane for around half an hour, are as follows:

Brian Larkin 49 American , unemployed teacher living in Scotland

Sylvia Boyes 65 Peace Campaigner from Keighley

Mary Millington 61 Retired welsh language tutor – lived at Greenhan for 5 years

Angie Zelter 58 Human Being!

Penny Stone 25 Musician

They issued the following statement:

Dear Friends at Faslane,

A group of us from Trident Ploughshares have entered the base today to call for the process of disarmament of Trident nuclear weapons to begin. We are here to remind all concerned that the UK government, as signatory to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty undertook more than 40 years ago to complete the disarmament of its nuclear weapons. The continuing deployment of Trident seriously threatens global security and peace, encouraging further proliferation. In 2009 Judge Bedjaoui, President of the International Court of Justice, gave an opinion on “the legality of a nuclear weapons system that deploys over 100 nuclear warheads with an approximate yield of 100 kilotons per warhead.” He stated: “Bearing in mind that warheads of this size constitute around eight times the explosive power of the bomb that flattened Hiroshima … and killed over 100,000 civilians, it follows that the use of even a single such warhead in any circumstance, whether a first or second use and whether intended to be targeted against civilian populations or military objectives, would inevitably violate the prohibitions on the infliction of unnecessary suffering and indiscriminate harm as well as the rule of proportionality…. In my opinion, such a system deployed and ready for action would be unlawful.”

The Scottish government formed a working group for a future of a Scotland without nuclear weapons nearly two years ago but has failed to release a report let alone take any relevant action while the people of Scotland overwhelmingly oppose the presence of nuclear weapons in these waters. As long as the governments fail to begin a process of disarmament members of Trident Ploughshares are committed to whatever nonviolent action possible to begin that process. We invite others to join us or contact us to discuss your concerns.

The process of disarmament would not have to mean the loss of jobs in the area. We urge the government to redirect the resources currently allocated to Trident to meet real human needs. The skills of people working at this base could well be employed in the area building the infrastructure for renewable energy, alleviating the threat of climate change, among other possibilities. We invite you to contact us so that we can enter into planning for the future of a Scotland and world without nuclear weapons.

Rather than continue to threaten other nations and millions of innocent civilians with nuclear weapons Scotland and the UK could lead the world by scrapping Trident.
We entered the gate fully aware that we might be charged with violation of SOCPA. That laws was established ostensibly to deter “serious organized crime.” But it is the presence of Trident submarines each carrying 48 warheads ten times more destructive than the Hiroshima bomb which constitutes a serious organized crime. We invite others to follow us through this gate and restore humanitarian law.

In peace and hope,

Sylvia Boyes Contact:
Mary Millington 07768 312675
Penny Stone
Brian Larkin
Angie Zelter

Members of Trident Ploughshares 17 August 2009

Mary Millington additionally issued the following statement:

“Having recently moved to Glasgow, I am so proud that Scotland has decided we do not want Trident or any other nuclear weapon.

“I have entered Faslane Naval Base today to express my sense of urgency for this weapon of mass destruction to be gone, for just the very possession of it, let alone its potential use, is immoral, illegal and causing proliferation and danger across the planet.”

Trident Ploughshares Media
tridentp.media [at] yahoo.co.uk
http://www.tridentploughshares.org

——-

All five arrestees were released at around 9pm on Monday evening (17 August) and charged with criminal trespass under the Serious Organised Crime and Police (SOCraP) Act 2005 (also known as SOCPA) s.128 and under the Ministry of Defence byelaws (entry to the base without authority). A report is being sent to the Procurator Fiscal who will decide whether or not to prosecute.

The five were in Scotland to take part in the Trident Ploughshares disarmament camp at Coulport, near Faslane. The camp is a week long gathering during which peace activists share ideas, plan actions and enjoy themselves. The camp will run until the 23rd of August and everyone is invited to come and participate. Details can be found here: http://www.tridentploughshares.org/article983

Whats going on in Mayo? Rossport Update

Overview of the Rossport Solidarity campaign in the last few months: the Solitaire, actions, on-land section, arrests, assaults, strategy, planning appeal, mobilising and more!

What’s going on in mayo?!

Overview of the Rossport Solidarity campaign in the last few months: the Solitaire, actions, on-land section, arrests, assaults, strategy, planning appeal, mobilising and more!

What’s going on in mayo?!

The last few months have been difficult times for the Rossport campaign but have also seen some great collaborations with activists from across Ireland, internationals and the local community.

This summer the Solitaire laid the first section of pipe in Broadhaven Bay. Dredgers are in the process of back filling the first section of the pipeline, coming and going from the bay depending on weather conditions…. IRMS, the private security firm employed by Shell, continue to target and assault protestors. Earlier this year they sunk the boat of local fisherman Pat O’Donnell, one of the ‘Rossport 5’ and attacked Willie Corduff, another campaigner, during a non-violent protest. Both were hospitalised.

Several international anti-Shell campaigners were recently remanded for a blockade and bailed away from Mayo. This is a worrying development enforced by corrupt judges colluding with Shell. Maura Harrington, and Niall Harnett, both well known Shell to Sea campaigners were both given 4 and 8 months respectively, after refusing to comply with a good behaviour bond which stated that they would keep the peace, and stay away from any Shell related infrastructure.

Maura appealed her conviction, and was released from prison on bail pending appeal. Niall served 15 days in Castlerea prison for refusing his extremely restrictive bail conditions, which effectively stopped him from being in his home. He is now out on bail.

In the last two weeks alone there have been 2 accidents involving Shells boats, one causing an oil spill, another damaging a supply ship to the pipeline. According to Shell neither had any environmental impact, despite substances leaking into the sea. This further proves the mockery that is the risk assessments on the environmental impacts that they are conducting.

Despite the success of the Solitaire and pressure from the gardai and IRMS the fight is by no means over!! In August the oral hearing was held where Shell sought to obtain a compulsory purchase order for land needed across the bay to lay the on-shore pipe section…and the decision has been put back till the end of October.

Resistance in Glengad is still strong, with plans for the next phase in the battle against Shell….with the on-shore section comes a new wave of challenges (and opportunities) for campaigners fighting to stop the pipeline… We will be continuing to challenge Shell’s intimidation tactics in order to stop this illegal, unsafe, and environmentally catastrophic project. The situation in Rossport is a line in the sand for new methods of intimidation, human rights abuses, and environmentally disastrous gas extraction and must be stopped. International links in the campaign have been developing over years, especially with the Ogoni tribe in Nigeria where Shell’s tactics have caused many humanitarian crises, and famously led to a trial against Shell for the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Most recently the Shell guilty campaign will see a collaboration between activists from across the globe fighting to stop Shell.

On camp and up at the house we are doing maintenance work on the boats, garden and equipment, and people are always very welcome! The Irish Shell to Sea network is mobilising people ahead of the next section of the campaign, organising actions and demos, and developing strategies for action… in the UK there’s loads that can be done: organising film nights, benefit gigs, taking action in your local area against Shell and the other companies profiting from the pipeline, and mobilising ahead of the next phase. With people being bailed away from Mayo, it’s more important than ever to have people coming to take action against Shell!

To find out more keep an eye out for workshops at the EF gathering, Climate Camp’s and festivals across the UK..

The struggle continues!

For more information see
www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com

www.corribsos.com

www.shellguilty.com

or email rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com

China villagers storm lead plant

17 August 2009
At least 600 children have excessive amounts of lead in their blood

Hundreds of Chinese villagers have broken into a factory that poisoned more than 600 children, reports say.

Villagers tore down fencing and smashed coal trucks at the lead smelting factory in Shaanxi Province.

17 August 2009
At least 600 children have excessive amounts of lead in their blood

Hundreds of Chinese villagers have broken into a factory that poisoned more than 600 children, reports say.

Villagers tore down fencing and smashed coal trucks at the lead smelting factory in Shaanxi Province.

Local authorities have admitted that the plant is responsible for poisoning the children. More than 150 were in hospital.

Air, soil and water pollution is common in China, which has seen rapid economic growth over the past few decades.

Toxic metal

The villagers broke into the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Company, near the city of Baoji in western Shaanxi on Monday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

About 100 police officers were sent to the plant to restore order.

The villagers are angry because medical tests revealed that at least 600 children under 14 from two villages near the plant have excessive amounts of lead in their blood.

About a quarter of them were taken to hospital for treatment.

Environmental officials from Baoji city government admitted on Sunday that the plant was “mainly to blame” for the children’s lead poisoning, according to Xinhua.

Checks found that water, soil and waste from the factory – a major local employer – all met national environmental standards.

But the lead content in the air around the factory was more than six times the level found a few hundred metres away.

The smelting plant has now been closed down.

Local officials had promised to relocate all residents living within a 500m ( 550 yard ) radius of the factory within three years of its opening, but that plan stalled.

Xinhua said only 156 families had been moved; three times that number are still waiting.

Villages are also worried that the new homes are still not far enough away from the plant to prevent their children from getting sick.

Lead is a toxic metal that can get into the air and water supplies.

It can cause a range of health problems, from learning disabilities to seizures. Children under six are most at risk.

ELF Torches Development Water Truck in Mexico

16.8.2009
Earth Liberation Front Torches Development Water Truck in Mexico

Communique:
In the clandestine darkness, on a tranquil and hot night, we assembled our dream with gasoline that would soon be fire.

We walk under the ghosts of the trees already destroyed, only our breathing and steps we could hear. During this night, everything went well.

16.8.2009
Earth Liberation Front Torches Development Water Truck in Mexico

Communique:
In the clandestine darkness, on a tranquil and hot night, we assembled our dream with gasoline that would soon be fire.

We walk under the ghosts of the trees already destroyed, only our breathing and steps we could hear. During this night, everything went well.

We arrived at our objective, a truck full of water, utilized to squander hundreds of liters of water for the earth that civilization would later lick, urbanizing it and leaving it completely infertile, all for the construction of streets where zombies wander.

We placed our device in the front rim of the truck and we hid behind urban flora. A small spark of happiness suffices to illuminate a sad night of agony.

Our dark clothes camouflage with the shadows, and the luminous and round moon lit the truck that in some minutes would begin to burn. The incendiary was lit and began to burn the the rim, the chest, and later, slowly, the cabin of the truck would be eaten. A great cloud rose to the skies, as we felt a great emotion in our bodies. The flames were large, as large as our desire to see the dying civilization burn.

In the company of the stars, we admired our completed action, behind the trees, just as the panther visualizes its prey.

Suddenly, the deafening noise of chaos, of neighbors, and of sirens were heard. An ambulance arrived, firemen arrived and the cars that were near the smoke began to flee. The deafening sound was the sound of the motor of the truck exploding.

The social peace had been destroyed. Exploiters of the earth received their punishment, the truck was rendered useless and we once again struck without leaving any trail.

Revenge for the land, the trees, the mountains, the water and everything that signifies wild nature turned into merchandise for the anthropocentric human!

We will continue in the fight.

Earth Liberation Front/Mexico

info@elfpressoffice.org
http://www.elfpressoffice.org

Police raid eco-protest camp

16.08.2009
POLICE bullies have invaded Camp Titnore near Worthing and intimidated the protesters, who have been peacefully occupying the threatened Durrington woodland since 2006.

Coming just a few weeks after Tesco got permission for its disgusting new abomination on neighbouring fields, it is feared this heralds an all-out attack on the camp by the usual unholy alliance of profiteering capitalist scum, corrupt local authorities and the taxpayer-funded thugs-in-blue.

Strong rumours are circulating that Worthing Borough Council planners are to meet very soon to give the final go-ahead for the 875-home housing development at Titnore Woods and that the camp will be cleared by force before work starts, possibly as soon as October.

The campers are appealing for all those who have supported them during their three-year marathon protest to make the effort to come and visit them now – before it is too late – and show the authorities that they cannot mistreat them with impunity as they enjoy public backing.

If people can go and stay at the camp for any amount of time, no matter how small, that would obviously be even better.

The latest police raid on the camp came under the the pretence of a “health and safety check”. Up to 18 tooled-up ‘officers’ intimidated the environmentalists with video cameras, as they were in-terror-gated. This included a young woman with a 4-year-old child who was visiting friends at the camp. The police then search and video’d all areas of the camp despite being told to leave the campers’ home.

Clearly even after all the criticism of the police by government ministers following their behaviour in London in April they are still out of control.

The campers now expect more harassment in order to get them to give up and leave.

Warning of a possible move to give the housing development the OK imminently, campaign group Protect Our Woodland! says: “A lot has to be done in a very short time. First please could you sign the petition at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TitnoreWoods/ and ask all in your address book to do the same. Next it is still very important to send an e-mail of objection to the council, please find all the details at www.protectourwoodland.co.uk then if you’ve still got the energy write to the papers.

“Yes we know there’s been very little reporting in the local papers – except for the Tesco part of the development – that’s because editors get fed up with the same old suspects writing in endlessly. So let’s see if a new hand will get results. All the details are on the website.”

Meanwhile the campaigning Durrington and Northbrook Times reports that work on the massive new Tesco Extra will start tomorrow, Monday August 17, with residents’ concerns bulldozed out of the path of the monster that they like to call progress.

It reported in a special email bulletin:

“At a public meeting in the Durrington Community centre, Robert Curtis Project Manager for builders Kier revealed that although disturbance to local residents would be kept to a minimum there would be some inconvenience.

“He admitted to a stunned audience, that one maximum weight multi-wheeled truck would have to come through the existing Tesco car park every 7 minutes as negotiations had broken down with the owner of land north of Fulbeck Ave, previously earmarked. The route to the car park indicated on the handout was through residential roads such as New Road (From the Lamb) and Romany Road.

“It was further revealed that apart from rainwater harvesting NO other sustainable features are to be incorporated. Not even one solar panel.

“So there we are then, our council has allowed this mega rich conglomerate to build a shed that will be a blot on the landscape, create a traffic nightmare, destroy local residents right to breathe clean air and enjoy peace and quiet. Thank you councillors you will be remembered at election time.

“What a shame not one reporter from either the Worthing Herald or Argus felt it necessary to be present to report on this. However you can rely on The Durrington and Northbrook Times to report what’s going on to residents.”

http://www.protectourwoodland.co.uk/tea.htm

Day of the Broken Promise

Benny Wenda, West Papuan independence leader and chairman of the Koteka Tribal Assembly, and most of the rest of the small handful of West Papuans living in Britain demonstrated opposite the Netherlands Embassy in London on Fri 14 Aug, to mark the anniversary of the ‘Day of the Broken Promise’, 15 August 1962.

The western half of New Guinea became a Dutch colony in the nineteenth century, but by the 1950s they were moving towards giving it independence. However the Indonesian goverment claimed the country and threatened invasion after then Dutch set up an elected government of West Papua in 1961.

Indonesia was backed by military aid from the Soviet Union, and the Kennedy administration in the USA wanted to prevent further movement of the country towards the Soviet bloc, so pressured the Netherlands into signing the ‘New York Agreement’ with Indonesia in August 1962. This allowed Indonesia to take over the administration of the country but provided for all the adult population of West Papua to vote at a later date on whether they wished to become independent.

The Indonesian army moved in on 1 May 1963 and began a programme of repression and human rights abuse against the people. In 1969 they rounded up and detained just over a thousand West Papuans as representatives of the people and enusured that they voted for rule by Indonesia by threats, including at least in some cases that they and their families would be killed unless they did so.

The Indonesian government made it impossible for the UN represenatative who was supposed to oversee the election to operate properly, and banned most foreign reporters. Although it was clear that the vote did not reflect the will of the West Papuan people – and had failed to meet the terms of the agreement – which had been ratified by the UN – it was approved by the UN General Assembly.

Since then there have been many reports of repression by Indonesia in the country, including murder, political assassinations, torture, rapes, dissapearances and bombing. The government also had a programme of resettling migrants from Indonesia in the country, apparently aimed at producing an Indonesian majority population.

West Papuans have engaged in both civil disobedience – particularly around cermonial raising of the West Papua flag (the Morning Star) as well as armed resistance.

Wenda was jailed for displaying the West Papuan flag (on his chest and at top right of picture) but managed to escape and gain asylum in the UK. Estimates of the number of West Papuans killed by Indonesian repression are in the hundreds of thousands (400,000 according to the Free West Papua Campaign), and in 2006, 43 refugees landed in a traditional canoe in Australia, claiming the Indonesian military was carrying out a programme of genocide.

Despite a widespread recognition of what has been happening, there is little international support for West Papua. The country has the world’s largest copper and gold mines, largely owned by US Compnay Freeport-McMoRan with UK based Rio Tinto Group also involved.

Today’s demonstration was peaceful and tuneful, with Benny and Maria Wenda and others playing instruments and singing traditional West Papuan songs opposite the embassy.

A Dutch diplomat came across the road to talk to the demonstrators and receive a letter demanding that the Netherlands and other governments insist on the proper implementation of the 1962 agreement, with a free and fair independence referendum involving all West Papuans overseen by the UN. Papuans feel they were let down by everyone involved, but particularly by the Dutch; “We trusted you and we believed in you. But you betrayed us.”

The diplomat spoke for a few minutes with the demonstrators and was interested to see a feature on the rebel army there which appeared in today’s Independent on display.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/bows-arrows-and-a-dream-of-liberation-1771884.html

After the demonstration at the Netherlands Embassy the protest was moving to the Indonesian Embassy in Grosvenor Square, where the West Papuans hold regular protests.