NATO'N MY WATCH!
Last Monday, a small group of activists descended on a meeting of NATO delegates in Steyning, West Sussex. The meeting was held at Wiston House, a stately manor set in huge grounds surrounded by a golf course, and was intended to set the agenda for the larger summit in September. It was also to set NATO's “strategic narrative” (ie lies and propaganda) they'll sell to joe public. Anti-militarists were up at the crack of dawn in order to drop banners off the main roads leading into Steyning, and then managed to blockade the main entrance (due to a total lack of cops and security). Holding banners saying “GAME OVER NATO” and “No war between nations, no peace between classes”, activists held up traffic for nearly an hour. Before long the land owner arrived and tried to convince people to move out the way because he wasn't actually in NATO.
He couldn't seem to grasp that as he owned the building NATO were meeting in, he was facilitating them. Another worker told activists that if they didn't move, NATO delegates couldn't get it and therefore wouldn't see the banners. Missing the point much? Eventually plod did arrive, before long vastly outnumbering activists and forcing them back onto the verge. Once the workers were in, protesters attempted to give police the slip and went round the the back entrance of the manor, within shouting distance of the house. Forming a picket, activists yelled at delegates and workers entering the meeting, constantly blocking the road and being forced back by the massed ranks of Sussex's finest.
At lunch there was a brief sojourn around Steyning town to hand out fliers which FIT camera cops felt the need to constantly record, after which activists resumed picketing the back entrance. This time the mood was much uglier, with far more police who were visibly losing their rag. Before long a snatch squad formed up and aggressively nicked one activist for 'using threatening words or behaviour'. After a few more hours, everyone left to organise arrestee support for their imprisoned activist, who was bailed that evening awaiting charge.
Parts of the official statement from Stop NATO Cymru explain why they're being protested against on the next summit:
“As it stands, NATO is a nuclear armed alliance with over 5000 nuclear weapons. It was supposedly established for mutual defence during the Cold War, and should have been disbanded when the Soviet Union ended. Instead, it has expanded and become an aggressive alliance force, engaged in wars with a crusader mentality.
This year NATO will have their next summit at Celtic Manor Resort, in Newport, south Wales. In early September 2014, "world leaders" - all directly responsible for untold death, illegal torture flights, and wars fought purely to protect Western business interests and resource supply routes - will gather on the edge of this historic Welsh city. Many people from Newport, Cardiff, Bristol and beyond, will oppose the summit and use a diversity of tactics against it. We, an anti-capitalist, anti-militarist network in South Wales, plan to facilitate mobilisations and provide space for workshops, skill-shares and social events. We are organising without leaders as we do not agree with bosses or bombs.
The USA, under the banner of NATO, is still working to place a “missile defence” system in Europe, which is provoking an unsettling arms race with Russia. However, we do not have to agree to their plans for us. People in communities around us are building resistance to military bases in their area. Including in Aberporth, Ceredigion, Menwith Hill in Yorkshire, RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, Faslane near Glasgow, smash EDO in Brighton, local people are mobilising and opposing militarism.”
For photos
For more info on the upcoming NATO summit in September in Newport, south Wales
https://www.anarchistaction.net/call-to-action-from-stop-nato-cymru/
I'd imagine SchNEWS haven't written much about it because it's a pretty messy situation and they don't have anyone on the ground there. Certainly the Ukrainian demonstrations were heavily influenced by the far right, but writting an ill-informed, pro-Russian puff piece would be about as worthwhile as the pro-uprising articles in the mainstream press.
Presumably you're there or have intimate knowledge of Ukrainian politics? In which case you should write about it or be interviewed by SchNEWS, but something tells me you won't.