Atom Bomb-free Buchel & Pressenza.com & International Peace Bureau – 2018-07-20 01:03:17
Peace Activists Gain Entry to German Air Base that Holds US Nuclear Bombs
International Peace Activists Gain Entry to
German Air Base that Holds US Nuclear Bombs
Atom Bomb-free Buchel & Pressenza.com
BUCHEL, Germany (July 15, 2018) — On Sunday, July 15th 2018, eighteen people from four different countries cut through fences to reclaim German Air Force Base Buchel, which hosts about 20 US nuclear bombs. The activists are from the USA (7), Germany (6), The Netherlands (4) and England (1).
The peace activists cut through razor wire and some other fences and several made it to the runway; three activists walked to a nuclear weapons bunker, and climbed up to the top where they were undetected for an hour. All 18 were eventually found by soldiers, handed over to the civil police, ID checked, and released from the base after 4-½ hours.
This action was part of the international week during the 20 weeks of protests by the German campaign ‘Buechel is everywhere! Nuclear weapons-free now!’ The campaign demands the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Germany, the cancellation of the upcoming nuclear modernization and compliance with international treaties.
On this air force base, German pilots stand ready to fly Tornado fighter jets with US B-61 nuclear bombs and could even drop them, on orders from US President Donald Trump on targets in or near Europe.
This “nuclear sharing” within NATO is in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which does not allow Germany to take nuclear weapons from other countries and forbids the US from sharing its nuclear weapons with non-nuclear weapons states. The activists demanded of their governments that they sign the new UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, of July 7th 2017, which was supported by 122 UN members.
“Civil disobedience is often necessary to make important changes possible, like the abolition of slavery, the women’s rights to vote, and the civil rights movement,” said John LaForge, co-director of Nukewatch, the Luck, Wisconsin peace group, which helped organize a 9-person US delegation to the protest.
The nonviolent campaign is part of the ICAN network, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, and recently called for nonviolent direct actions on nuclear bases to urge more countries to sign the treaty ban. The Dutch activist Frits ter Kuile said:
“My motivation is the commandment to love one’s “enemies”, and the Nuremberg principles stating that everyone is responsible for the crimes their government commits. We have the duty to take down the fences that protect nuclear mass destruction, and reclaim the land for the people and their real needs”.
September 14, 2017 Blockade of the Buchel Air Force Base
AN ACTION WEEK AGAINST THE AIR BASE RAMSTEIN
International Peace Bureau
(July 2018) — A week of diverse actions gathered people from all over Germany and other 11 countries to stand united against war, illegal drone strikes and military spending and motivated for further engagement for peace and justice.
Werner-Liebrich- Football Tournament
The week started with a football tournament, where 10 teams played the whole afternoon on Saturday, June 23. The aim was to promote sports, fairness and anti-racism — all these only possible in peace.
Peace Camp
A fundamental part of the annual actions against the Air Base Ramstein is the one-week peace camp, from 24.06.-01.07.2018. It was a melting point for 600 people wanting to discuss actual political topics, go to interesting workshops, eat delicious vegan food or just relax with family and friends. All this wrapped in a friendly and peaceful atmosphere.
4-day workshops
From June 25 to 28 several workshops were held. The topics differed from nuclear weapons, gender equality, and whistleblowing to specific insight into the British and the US peace movement — so everyone could find something suitable. The workshops motivated for discussion and action and were a wonderful networking platform.
International meeting against
foreign military bases & evening public event
On June 29, around 40 representatives and activists from 12 countries met at the international meeting against foreign military bases, discussion the situation in their countries, common actions and possible common further steps. At the end of the meeting, the participants adopted a declaration “Stop the wars and not the refugees!”
Additionally, a public event with Ann Wright, Pat Elder, Kai Ehlers and Ekkehard Sieker. Several hundreds of people were interested to listen to them carefully.
Demonstration against the Air Base
June 30 — a sunny day — invited around 2,500 people to demonstrate against the Air Base in front of it. After the rally finished, 300 activists participated in a civil disobedience act. They blocked the base gate for 45 minutes!
Conclusively, all demonstration participants were invited to party in the camp.
Declaration of the International
Meeting against Foreign Military Bases
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (June 29, 2018) — Attendees from Germany, Netherlands, France, UK, South Korea, Spain, Italy, USA, Ireland, Greece, Austria, Switzerland agree to the following
Whereas:
* The EU/US/NATO plays a key role in the creation of unequal economic conditions, wars and armed conflicts, and environment destruction that cause people to flee from their homes, seeking safety and sanctuary in Europe;
* Increasing levels of military spending are contributing to these conditions;
* Security and defence interests focusing on the security of states, power elites, and cooperate interests comes at the expense of individuals’ personal security;
* Over 30 000 people are estimated to have lost their lives attempting to find sanctuary in Europe over the last 25 years and countless thousands, possibly millions, have died in their own countries;
* The EU has put measures in place for open borders for weapons and soldiers, but not for people.
We oppose:
* The militarization of EU border security that serves the interests of the military and security industry and endangers the lives of people seeking sanctuary in Europe;
* The aims and actions of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, tasked with border control of the Schengen Area, in coordination with national border and coast guard bodies;
* All migrant detention and long-term processing centres inside and outside Europe’s borders. And we call on the EU to:
* Ensure safe and legal crossing of sea and land borders around and within Europe, thereby opening the borders for people fleeing from conflict and famine;
* Reduce military spending and invest in fair, just and equitable conditions for development and trade;
* End the sale and export of arms and weapons’ components.
Stop the wars and not the refugees!
Contact:
Aktionsburo Stopp Airbase Ramstein c/o IALANA
Marienstr. 19/20, 10117 Berlin, Germany
info@ramstein-kampagne.eu
PROTEST AGAINST THE NATO SUMMINT
See photos of the actions in Brussles and Ramstein on Flickr
(July 7, 2018) — The demonstration against the NATO Summit was colorful and powerful, sending strong messages of peace. The press release from the No-to-War No to NATO Network, explains why this demonstration is important and describes the event.
Disarmament and a
stop of wars is the order of the day
On July 7th thousands protested against the coming NATO summit in Brussels. The protests were called for by Belgian peace, environment, development and human rights organizations, as well as unions and the international network “No to war — No to NATO.”
At the protest, Ludo De Brabander, member of the coordination committee of the network “No to war — no to NATO,” declared: “NATO wants to increase military investments up to 2% of GDP for each member state. For Europe we are talking about 100 billion Euro extra, annually. This is madness. We need the money to fight poverty, for social and environmental investments.”
On July 8th the counter summit was held in Brussels by the international network “No to war — no to NATO” and by organizations from the Belgian peace movement, in particular Vrede.
100 participants came from 15 NATO member countries and 5 No NATO states:
The participants of the counter summit agreed upon the rejection of:
* The massive armament that is pushed for by the NATO states. They oppose the 2% GDP goal for armament and instead demand a widespread disarmament of the global military expenses of 1.7 trillion US dollars to the benefit of social and environmental investments, for education and for the overcoming of poverty and hunger.
* The modernization of nuclear weapons. Essentially this is about the acquisition of a new generation of nuclear weapons that are supposed to lower the threshold for a nuclear war and make regional nuclear wars possible. “The abolition of all nuclear weapons and even broader coalition in support of the ban treaty remain our goal,” said Arielle Denis, form ICAN and IPB
* The monstrous and deadly arms exports. Arms exports have to be outlawed in general.
* The drone warfare and a further automatization and robotization of war. An international convention against drones has been demanded again and again.
“NATO is, in spite of its repugnancies, the military alliance of the world, stronger and more comprehensive than every other war alliance in history. It encompasses not only Europe and North America but extends over the whole world, Asia in particular.
“The encirclement of Russia and China is the goal. “Wars of intervention are a daily, murderous method and against international law,” said Kristine Karch and Lucas Wirl, co-chairs of the network “No to War — No to NATO.”
The participants agreed that the long-term goal of peace work has to be the dissolution, resp. overcoming, of NATO. National withdrawals from NATO are an important step in this.
The network “No to war — No to NATO” is especially alarmed by the militarization of Europe, which is connected to NATO but also detached from it, which is further increasing the dangers of confrontation and war in the world. Europe has to return to a policy of “mutual security,” in particular with Russia.
The international network will, alongside many other forces for peace, prepare for the 70th anniversary of the founding NATO in April 2019 with many actions. “NATO belongs on history’s midden heap,” this was the collective conclusion of the counter summit in Brussels on July 8th 2018.
Banning Nuclear Weapons
This month — on July 7 — we celebrated the first anniversary of the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Up to now, 59 stated have signed the Treaty and just a few hours ago, Nicaragua became the 12th country to ratify the Treaty.
Disarmament, in particular nuclear disarmament is crucial in global security. While the global policymakers are talking about increasing the military budgets and more armament, it is our duty to remind them and the people of the importance of non-proliferation and disarmament.
The Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons represents an important step on the path to ban nuclear weapons. We call on all states to sign (if they have not done so yet) and to ratify the Treaty.
IPB Marienstraße 19-20, 10117 Berlin, Germany. www.ipb.org
