[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: Lock-Down in Olympia

Wed Mar 26 22:54:53 PST 2003

Hi folks,

Wow -- this post just knocked me out. For several reasons, I'd like to
advocate for letting it run longer than our typical center-column feature
format. Here's why:

* They say it all well, and succinctly. There's not a lot of extra
rhetoric here.

* It's Olympia, and the activists down there have been wanting more
exposure on the site.

* It's a powerful follow-up to the Rachel Corrie story, and to the 'What
next?' questions that the local anti-war movement has been asking.

It's still a bit excerpted, and I'll link to the full, unadulterated
version. It might also be good to link to some of the CD precursors
mentioned (something salient from Thoreau, MLK, Ghandi, etc. -- Image?

Meanwhile, we're still in strong need of a feature that highlights the
last week of activism. I'll start plucking away on something unless/until
I hear that someone else is interested in putting it together.

Power to the peaceful!

- Susan

================================

subtitle: QUESTIONING THE LEGITIMACY OF POWER
title: Protestors Lock-Down in Olympia; Proclaim Civil Disobedience as Duty

26 March:  Ten anti-war protesters locked down this morning for three
hours in front of the state Senate building in Olympia, Washington. The
protesters locked their necks together with u-shaped bike locks, which
were eventually cut off by the police with an electric grinder. The
protesters were charged with disorderly conduct and failure to disperse.
They were taken to the Thurston County Jail, booked, and released with
$250 fines and two court dates.  One protester was a juvenile and was not
charged at all.

<p>The protesters used the lock down to communicate the following message
(excerpted):

<p><b>"A Manifesto on the Duty of Civil Disobedience.</b>

For the sake of creating a peaceful dialogue with those who may
misunderstand or disagree with our intentions and tactics, we must offer
an explanation. In reaction to the Nazi atrocities of the 1930's and 40's,
the world community came together to create an international system for
the purpose of governing the behavior of nations. This international
system has for its foundation the fundamental human rights to the freedom
of speech and beliefs, and the freedom from want and fear. Governments
that violate these human rights bring into question the legitimacy of
their own legal power.

'Individuals have international duties which transcend the national
obligation of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to
violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against humanity from occurring.'
(Nuremberg Trials)

Our government has waged an unjust and illegal war on a foreign nation
that poses us no threat; 
has financed the tyranny of many and varied foreign dictators; 
has worked to erode our own cherished civil rights; 
has turned the media, once a valuable tool of democracy, into a propaganda
machine, designed to instill fear and a dangerous, militant nationalism in
the people; 
and has, while spending untold billions on the machinery of war, 
allowed our schools to fall into disarray, 
allowed millions of our people to suffer hunger and homelessness, 
perpetuated violence against ethnic and gender minorities, 
and allowed the utter degradation of our natural environment.

These all constitute crimes against peace and humanity, rendering our
government and its laws invalid. We declare, as citizens of the global
community, that civil disobedience and non-violent direct action are the
duty of every decent American, until such time when America complies with
international law, and that obedience to the U.S. government implicates
complicity in its crimes.

In doing so, we join a long standing and rich tradition that includes
the likes of Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas Gandhi, the Industrial Workers
of the World, Martin Luther King Jr., ACT UP, Earth First, and our dear
friend, Rachel Corrie. The life and death of our comrade, Rachel, has
inspired us and destroyed all human limitations for us."