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DE-FENCE SITTING
While the police are keen to know what peaceniks at Fairford are
eating this time of year, they seem less keen to act when US military
personnel forcibly evict and intimidate residents of the peace camp.
On Monday afternoon US soldiers ripped down banners on the fence
and started constructing an extension to the Gate 10 perimeter fence
on Gloucestershire County Council Land without planning permission,
forcing the peace camp to move a few feet around the corner. The
police just looked on and did nothing. However the camp is getting
lots of support from locals, with one camp resident, Jill Chadwick,
commenting, “In a way I’m surprised at the amount of support,
given my experience at Greenham Common and the vigilante attacks
we experienced there.”
* The Peace camp and bomber watch need more support, people, tarps,water
and a chemical toilet if anyone has one. 07754064146 or 07736964653.
* An Oxford student told SchNEWS about getting into Fairford “If
lazy students like me and my mates who spend most of our time getting
drunk can get in, anyone can. And if lots do we can stop the planes.”
Last Saturday about 20 people got onto the runway.
* Disobedience are holding a series of workshops in Hackney, London
this Saturday (15) in preparation for the big day of action at Fairford.
Workshops will include legal advice and group self-defence. For
details email: disobedience@riseup.net
** Gathering of Grannies at Fairford on Monday (17) 11am main
gate. For info on women’s actions: tabitha@gwi.org.uk
** Next Saturday (22nd) is the Fairford Free Festival with Rinky-Dink
and Lardy-Dar Cycle Powered Sound Systems for The Party At The End
Of The Runway. SchNEWS hopes that The Collateral Damage Orchestra
and Friendly Fire Quartet will also be there. This is followed by
a party at the Axe & Compass Pub, Kempsford 8pm - late. Free
camping in the pub garden/peace camp.
** If you’ve been searched on spurious grounds, unlawfully
arrested, detained without reason, or even assaulted at Fairford,
get in touch with Berkshire Citizens Inspection Agency. They can’t
offer legal advice, but are collating all incidents of harassment.
berkshirecia@hotmail.com
** If you are going to demos it may be worth getting clued up about
your rights if you get arrested, check out www.activistslegalproject.org.uk
* Help is needed to keep an eye on RAF Welford, near Newbury in
Berkshire, one of the USAF’s biggest munitions dumps in Europe.
The base stores bombs for use at RAF Fairford. Contact Berkshire
CIA, 0118 966 8328, or berkshirecia@hotmail.com
* An anti-war protestor in Canterbury was arrested under the Terrorism
Act - for throwing an egg at Tony Blair. He was charged under Section
5 of the Public Order Act, which means the crown has to prove via
witness statements that he caused distress. He’s hoping to get
a statement from Tony Blair.
 
War Briefs
- Nine people cut their way into American airbase “RAF”
Lakenheath last week, then cycled around the base to disrupt
preparations for war against Iraq.
- Celebration of Iraqi culture, Sat 15th - music and speakers,
St Columba’s Church Hall, Chantry Road, Moseley, B’ham.
7.30-10pm Bring food or £2.50.
- Remembering Anfal & Halabja public meeting, Mon 17th
Grand Committee Room, Houses of Parliament, Westminster 7pm. Kurdistan
National Congress 020 7250 1315 knklondon@gn.apc.org
- 800,000 people gathered to pray for peace in Indonesia’s
second-largest city, Surabaya, last weekend.
- The SQUALL website has new anti-war related stuff that’s
worth a look. Check out human shield Jo Wilding’s excellent
dispatches from Bagdhad and the whole 1997 statement from New
American Century, (right wing US think tank, many of whom have
since become key members of the Bush administration) advocating
a war on Iraq as a step towards US world domination. www.squall.co.uk
- Mon 17th starts a week of non-violent actions against
the war. Die-ins in Southampton (02380 550159), Oxford 01865 794504,
London 0845 458 2564, Birmingham sarahteversham@yahoo.co.uk
and Hastings andreaneedham@onetel.net.uk
- Tues 18th Hastings Against War meeting 7.30, Electric
Cinema, Old Town
- Use the media to get your anti-war message across: ‘Activists’
guide to exploiting the media’ from ARROW, 5 Caledonian
Road, London N1 9DX £1.50 or online at www.antenna.nl/eyfa/resources/media.htm
- On 26 Feb, protestors against war on Iraq barraged the White
House and Senate offices with tens of thousands of phone, fax
and e-mail messages as part of a “virtual protest march.”
New EU hacker laws could make protests like this a crime, removing
all distinction between online protestors, hackers, spreaders
of computer viruses and terrorists.
- Brighton Demo against the war, meet 5.30pm, 21st Mar, Churchill
Square.
Crap Arrest of the Week
For Wearing a T-shirt!
A shopper at Crossgates Mall in New York was confronted by security
guards demanding he remove his T-shirt as the slogan was ‘unacceptable’.
He declined, so they returned with a cop who arrested him. Later
in the week, 100 people marched through the store protesting his
arrest all wearing the same T-shirt. And what was the illegal slogan?
‘Peace on Earth’ on the front of the shirt and ‘Give
Peace a Chance’ on the back.
Section 44
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 extends the usual
stop and search powers. The search is supposed to be “only
for the purpose of searching for articles of a kind which could
be used in connection with terrorism”, but they don’t
need to actually think you have any! If stopped and searched, ask
for a written record of the search. You do not have to give your
name, address or any other details.
WWC Out of the Closet
Sinking to new depths of greed and corruption, the Transnational
Corporations (TNCs) are now getting all wet about water. Water’s
running out all over the planet (last week a UN report estimated
that some areas may be bone dry as early as 2025) and could soon
be a more valuable commodity than oil.
Under the guise of trying to sort out the global water crisis,
the 3rd triennial World Water Forum (WWF) will take place in Kyoto,
Japan, March 16th-23rd. Only problem is that this international
debate on the subject will be run by the World Water Council (WWC),
a think-tank created in 1996 by the World Bank and some of the world’s
largest Transnational Water Corporations. You get the picture?
Top of the agenda, naturally, is privatising the world’s water
supplies - especially in the developing world. When they last met
in 2000, the WWF came up with a pro-privatisation manifesto entitled
“World Water Vision” which, the WWF claimed, reflected
the global consensus on solutions to the water crisis. Of course
it did nothing of the sort—there was of course no grassroots
representation at the 2000 meeting (especially from the developing
world) and the whole conference was stridently opposed by activist
groups (who set up their own alternative conference). Despite its
own legitimacy being deeply questioned, the WWF say the time for
debate is over. This 3rd conference in Kyoto will not be about “if”
but about “how” to force privatisation on unwitting or
unwilling populations whose governments have been bought or coerced
by the World Bank.
* To find out more about the WWF and protest plans: ASEED Japan
- www.aseed.org
So just what are the alternatives to letting the TNCs privatise
the world’s water supplies? It’s true that many public
water utilities are bureaucratic dinosaurs out of touch with the
people they are supposed to serve, but there are many publicly owned
supplies that are accountable to the needs of the population.
One example can be found in Porto Allegre, Brazil. The local water
company DMAE is publicly owned, but it is financially independent
from state control and is fully financed through water bills paid
by the 1.4 million inhabitants of Porto Allegre. All profits are
re-invested in the water supply. The daily work of DMAE is controlled
by civil society representatives, while operations and investment
decisions are subject to a participatory budget process and community
members directly decide the budget priorities of the water company.
Through a process of public meetings, every citizen can have a say
in which investments should be made first.
This participatory model has massive success – awareness about
water and sewage is raised and the people’s needs are prioritised.
As a result, 99.5% of Porto Allegre’s population now have access
to clean water (the highest rate in Brazil) and DMAE’s water
price is one of the lowest in Brazil, while overall consumption
has gone down.
In the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, a proposed privatisation was
strongly opposed by the water workers’union. So the Dhaka Water
Authority contracted out one zone to the union, while another zone
was given to a private water company for a one-year trial. The union
co-operative’s results were so much better than the private
sector’s that the contract was given to the union. The union
co-operative’s achievements included a considerable expansion
of the number of people with access to running water as well as
a sizable reduction in water losses.
* Corporate Europe Observatory has prepared briefs around key issues
of the global water debate: www.corporateeurope.org
SchNEWS in brief
- RADIO 4A Brighton’s Shambolic Pirate Radio is back
this weekend with diverse sounds, political commentary, comedy
and news. 101.4 FM and webcast www.radio4a.org.uk
- Sunday 16th picket the Ideal Homes Exhibition, sponsored
by the Daily Mail, who have recently been stepping up their campaign
of hate against refugees and asylum seekers. 12-2 pm, Earls Court,
London. 01273-540717
- SEASoN alternative National Science Week. 12-5pm, Sunday
22nd on the Commons, Church Road, Tunbridge Wells. It’s not
too late to register for a stall at the event. 01892 863941 http://geocities.com/seasonscience
- No money for new oil – stop UK government support
for the Baku oil pipeline. Demo Tues 25th. Meet 11.45am, Crown
Place, London EC2. 020 7566 1673 www.baku.org.uk
- Blatant Incitement Project - day of sharing facilitation
and groupwork skills and experiences. 24th March, 10am-5pm, Hebden
Bridge, West Yorkshire. Free. Vegan food £3 01524 383012
dowhatyouretold@breakthelaw.co.uk
- The A-Infos website contains a massive directory of anarchist
organizations around the world. www.ainfos.ca/org/Anarchist_Organizations.html
- ‘Drowned Out’ film about an Indian family resolving
to stay at home and drown rather than make way for the Narmada
dam. March 27th, 9.30pm, The Other Cinema, 11 Rupert Street, London
W1. 020 7437 0757 £5/4
- SchWoops. The screening of ‘Women in Black’
on Saturday is at the Pheonix Theatre, East Finchley, NOT the
Ritzy, Brixton. 6.30pm www.hrw.org/iff
SHAMAN ON YOU
Marcos Veron, Brazilian Indian shaman and leader of the Guarani-Kaiowá
tribe, was brutally killed in January. The 70-year-old was beaten
to death by thugs in the pay of ranchers who had taken over his
homeland, Takuára, in 1953. The Guarani-Kaiowá have
been exiled from their land for the last fifty years. Many live
by roadsides. Without land they can’t grow their own food or
hunt. In their own words, without their land they have ‘nothing
to live for’. The Guarani-Kaiowa tribe have been trying to
get their land back recently, but to no avail. For the last few
months, many have lived camped on the side of a highway, and this
January, they tried to move peacefully back onto their land. The
attempt sadly failed - the tribe was attacked and Marcos murdered.
This month, the last of those who had accompanied Marcos were again
ordered off their land by the courts. www.survivalinternational.org/marcos.htm
WIZKIDS OF OZ
The Australian Department of Defence has decided to withdraw advertising
from all student media in Australia because of an “adbust”
by a student newspaper. The Defence Department had been repeatedly
requesting advertising space in the magazine, who kept on saying
no and got a bit tired of repeating themselves and decided to run
the following ad instead:
“Why settle for an ordinary office job when you could have
an extraordinary and challenging career as a pawn in the power games
of politicians? Not only will you get to take orders from arrogant
pricks with buzz-cuts and ego-complexes, but on special occasions
you’ll get the chance to repress your moral integrity and accept
orders to bomb the shit out of dark-skinned, tea-towel-wearing foreigners.
Officer positions are open in many specialised fields from engineering
and logistics through to carpet-bombing and cannon fodder. You will
receive over $44,700 per annum upon completion of initial training,
which should just about cover treatment for Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder and Gulf War Syndrome…”
Inside SchNEWS
On Tuesday, Trident Ploughshare activist Ulla Roder managed to
get into a hangar at RAF Leuchars in Fife and do some serious damage
to a Tornado plane that had been left unguarded. Ulla later said,
“I took my hammer to the nose-cone, the cockpit, the fuselage,
the wings, the tailplane and other parts of the plane which it was
safe to damage. I don’t see it flying again”. She’s
currently on remand until her next court appearance on the 20th
March. Write to: Ulla Roder, HMP Corton Vale, Stirling, FK9 5NY.
www.tridentploughshares.org
SCHOOL’S OUT II
5 kids from Blatchington Mill School, Hove, were baffled when they
got suspended for joining nationwide student demos against the war
on Iraq last Friday. The head said they were very naughty children
for disobeying teachers and leaving school without permission. But
the kids (15 - 16) were under the misapprehension that recent government
initiatives promoting citizenship meant taking an active interest
in our so-called democracy. Other kids have been telling SchNEWS
about their walkouts, with one 14 year-old girl in Birmingham saying,
“We were accused of truanting but we were standing up for our
political views about the world we’re growing up in.”
More than 1000 in Leicester took part in what one local councillor
described as the “most effective anti-war demo to date”.
As one 16 year-old demonstrator put it, “Tony Blair has only
succeeded in one thing as far as we’re concerned – politicising
a whole generation.” Nice one!
CASTLE KEEPERS
Last Friday, an English judge found that activists in Littlemoor
who built a big pink castle on a field about to be sown with GM
seeds were acting reasonably in order to try and prevent damage
to neighbouring crops. They were acquitted of all charges against
them. The magistrate noted that the activists, “acted reasonably
by locking themselves onto tractors because simply standing in front
of them would not have prevented the crop being sown”.
** Crop Pullers from GM-Free Wales facing similar charges are in
Chester Crown court 31 March – 3 April. Supporters welcome.
0845 456 9327 www.fraw.org.uk/gs
** Public meeting: The Future of Food and Farming in Wales, at
the Daniel Owen Centre in Mold, nr Chester. 3 April, 7.30 pm
...and finally...
So what do you do if you’re a ‘concerned member of the
public’, or more to the point, a paranoid reader of the Daily
Hate Mail, calmly minding your own business in the public library
when suddenly you see a foreign-looking student viewing pictures
of ‘tall buildings’ on the internet? You call the police
of course!!
Which is exactly what happened recently at a library in Plymouth.
Embarrassingly for the concerned member of the public, the ‘tall
buildings’ turned out to be the logo of an internet radio website.
The police involved, however, still had the cheek to ask if the
library service could start keeping a log of any and all internet
activity by asylum seekers. The head of Plymouth Libraries, Chris
Goddard, “gently but firmly” refused, citing data protection
and human rights issues. Way to go Chris! But is there any way we
could start keeping a log of the internet activity of bored, brain-washed
Daily Mail readers with way too much time on their hands…..
pretty please?
Disclaimer
SchNEWS warns all readers walking around Gloucestershire or Wiltshire
not to fill their lunch-boxes with something substantial and finger
licking good that the police can get their teeth into! Honest.
SchNEWS Annuals
SchNEWS Round
issues 51-100 - nearly sold out - £5
SchNEWS Annual issues 101 - 150 going for £3!!
SchNEWS Survival Guide issues 151 - 200 and a whole lot more
- also at £3
The SchQUALL book - almost sold out - at only £7
SchNEWS and SQUALL’s YEARBOOK 2001 - bargain £5
SchNEWS Of The World issues 301 - 350. 300
pages of adventures from the direct action frontline. £7 You
can order the book from a bookshop or your library, quote the ISBN
09529748 6X
If you can help distribute the new book by taking a few boxes from
Brighton or East London round the country, call the office and ask
for John, Thanks.
Add £1.50 p&p for each book, cheques to Justice? Honest!
In the UK you can get 2, 3, 4 & 5 for £20 inc. postage.
(US Postage £4.00 for individual books, £13 for all
four).
In addition
to 50 issues of SchNEWS, each book contains articles, photos, cartoons,
subverts, a “yellow pages” list of contacts, comedy etc.
Subscribe
to SchNEWS: Send 1st Class stamps (e.g. 10 for next 9 issues)
or donations (payable to Justice?). Or £15 for a year's subscription,
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