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

[jonathan lawson]

approve. I might suggest excerpting further.

jl
At 10:54 PM 3/26/2003 -0800, growfood at riseup.net wrote:
>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>
>
><P>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.
>
><p>'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)
>
><p>Our government has waged an unjust and illegal war on a foreign nation
>that poses us no threat;<br>
>has financed the tyranny of many and varied foreign dictators;<br>
>has worked to erode our own cherished civil rights;<br>
>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;<br>
>and has, while spending untold billions on the machinery of war,<br>
>allowed our schools to fall into disarray,<br>
>allowed millions of our people to suffer hunger and homelessness,<br>
>perpetuated violence against ethnic and gender minorities,<br>
>and allowed the utter degradation of our natural environment.
>
><p>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.
>
><p>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."
>
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