Kathy Kelly Imprisoned after Delivering Bread and Letter to U.S. Military Base

Afri
Peace Activist Kathy Kelly (left) with Nuria Mustafa (centre) and Jack Hynes (right) at Afri's 2003 Famine Walk in Mayo.
Peace Activist Kathy Kelly (left) with Nuria Mustafa (centre) and Jack Hynes (right) at Afri’s 2003 Famine Walk in Mayo. Photo: Derek Speirs

Former speaker at Féile Bríde, Kathy Kelly has just begun a 3-month prison term, having been arrested when she went to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the commander of Whiteman Air Force base Missouri, which operates drones over Afghanistan.

Here is an update from Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the organisation of which Kathy is the Co-ordinator:-

Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kathy Kelly will turn herself in to the federal prison camp in Lexington, KY on Friday, January 23. She will begin serving a three-month sentence for her June 1, 2014 protest of drone killings at Whiteman Air Force Base, in Missouri. 

Kelly asserts that drone warfare jeopardizes the security of ordinary people and that the U.S. Constitution protects her right to assemble peaceably for redress of grievance.  She was arrested  when she went with Georgia Walker and other activists to the gates of Whiteman Air Force Base  to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the commander of the base, which operates drones over Afghanistan. At her trial in December, Federal Magistrate Matt Whitworth found her guilty and sentenced her to three months. Continue reading “Kathy Kelly Imprisoned after Delivering Bread and Letter to U.S. Military Base” →

There is No Military Solution to Fundamentalism

Afri

New IPB LOGOIPB Statement

Tackling the challenge represented by ISIS (Islamic State or ISIL) is a tough assignment, both for governments and for civil society. Their barbaric killings and rapidly expanding control of territory have resulted in precisely the reaction intended: military intervention by the US and its allies. Despite the failures of the recent wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere, those with hammers in their toolboxes once again see every problem as a nail. Continue reading “There is No Military Solution to Fundamentalism” →

War Games at Croke Park

Afri
A USAF F-16C over Iraq in 2008. Source: Wikipedia
A USAF F-16C over Iraq in 2008. Source: Wikipedia

I was planting a tree in the garden of my north Dublin home on Saturday afternoon when the silence was shattered by a sudden thunderous roar, the like of which I had never heard before, while I caught a glimpse of a black streak flashing across the sky. My wife ran from the house alarmed and fearful – thinking that an attack of some sort was actually taking place. In our local vegetable shop, a staff member reported customers instinctively ‘running for cover’ as they were overwhelmed by the deafening noise. A man in his 70s who was repairing a house nearby had to go inside for an hour as a result of the shock.

We later learned that the cause of our Saturday afternoon jolt was two F-16 war planes, performing a fly-past for the American football match in Croke Park. I thought of the fear that, if only for a few seconds, these war planes had generated. The vaguest hint, perhaps, of what it must be like for families in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere for whom this is a daily reality, except in these instances it is no propagandist fly-past as the war planes ‘deliver’ death, destruction and misery. I thought of what it would be like for my own children if this had been the ‘real thing’, and of those children for whom this sound is the last they will ever hear! Continue reading “War Games at Croke Park” →

Afri expresses outrage at the “fly past” by 2 U.S. jet fighters as part of the U.S. football match in Croke Park on Saturday 30th August

Afri

The justice and peace group Afri have expressed outrage at the “fly past” by 2 U.S. jet fighters as part of the U.S. football match in Croke Park at the weekend.

“Many people in the surrounding areas were shocked and frightened when the silence of a quiet Saturday afternoon was shattered by the thunder of 2 F16 fighter jets which, without warning or explanation, flew overhead in a “lap of honour” for the participating teams.  What would it be like if, as in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, they were firing the missiles which are their stock in trade?  Who gave consent for this invasion of Irish air space by elements of the U.S. war machine? Is it appropriate that the headquarters of Ireland’s national games, built over many years by the pence and shillings, cents and euros, of loyal supporters should be used as a backdrop for U.S. war propaganda?

If official permission was given, Afri would condemn the authorities in Croke Park and the Irish Government for collusion with this disgraceful display.  As with Shannon Airport, this shows a typically supine attitude by the Irish Government to U.S. power.  Is there no limit to our willingness to prostrate ourselves before the altar of U.S. militarism?   Sport should be a means of bringing people together and promoting peace, not a vehicle for promoting war and militarism,” said Dr. Iain Atack of Afri.

Should there be a recurrence of this event in future years, Afri stated that it will mobilise people to protest against such obscene conflation of war and sport.

Article in the Irish Times by Fiona Gartland: Croke Park Classic: fighter jet fly-past upsets people, dogs and anti-war group

Afri alarmed by Irish companies supplying US army and military industry

Afri

Shannon

Press release

The justice and peace group Afri has expressed alarm at the extent to which Irish companies are involved in supplying military equipment, including to the US army. Afri first brought this issue of Irish participation in  the military industry to light when it published the ‘Links’ Report in 1996, demonstrating the early stages of this trend of supplying such components.

Afri condemns the practice of companies making profits on the back of human suffering and misery caused by war and violence. Irish companies are supplying components, including parts for drones to one of the most aggressive military forces on the planet, the US army, which has been involved in the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. This, along with the use of Shannon as a war-port, places Ireland ever closer to the heart of the US war machine. Continue reading “Afri alarmed by Irish companies supplying US army and military industry” →

Afghanistan: The Forgotten War

Afri
Afri Intern, Ali Hanaf, wearing a "Fly Kites, Not Drones" t-shirt
Afri Intern, Ali Hanaf, wearing a “Fly Kites, Not Drones” t-shirt

Afri was privileged to host a meeting of Voices for Creative Nonviolence members Maya Evans and Ewa Jasiewicz in Dublin last evening. Maya and Ewa were part of a peace delegation to Kabul, where they lived and worked with the Afghan peace volunteers. They gave unique eye witness accounts of the experience of people in Afghanistan from a grassroots perspective,  based on their time spent with refugees, street children, widows, activists and civil society groups. Though disturbing in its content, it is very important to hear these perspectives – rarely heard in our mainstream media. They outlined the utter devastation caused by the US led war and its impact on people and the environment. They also gave eye-witness accounts of people and families torn apart as a result of assassination by drones. One of their creative nonviolent responses is a campaign entitled “Fly Kites, Not Drones”. Kite-flying is a national pastime in Afghanistan, but nowadays, unfortunately, when children look towards the skies in Afghanistan they sometimes see death-dealing drones, rather than dancing, colourful kites. Our photo shows Afri intern, Ali Hanaf, wearing one of the “Fly Kites, Not Drones” t-shirts.

Report by Afri Co-ordinator Joe Murray

Petition – U.S the military use of Shannon Airport

Afri

The people of Ireland are being pulled into wars we don’t support. Every week planes full of armed U.S troops pass through Ireland’s Shannon airport en route to conflict zones. The airport has been directly involved in the illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Over two million U.S troops have used Shannon Airport since 2002.

Ireland has even given an exemption to fees for these military flights. In addition, CIA rendition torture aircraft have regularly used the airport en route to the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp and other torture sites. Shannon’s use as vital cog in the illegal U.S. renditions programme has been highlighted by Amnesty International, the Council of Europe, the UN Committee Against Torture and others.

It’s time to show the world that we don’t support the bombing, killing and torture of innocent people.

With Shannon back in the news, we now have a real opportunity to put pressure on politicians to hear our voices.

Please sign and share the petition today.

http://www.change.org/petitions/petition-respect-ireland-s-constitution-end-u-s-military-use-of-shannon

Continue reading “Petition – U.S the military use of Shannon Airport” →

Peacemakers like Margaretta D’Arcy uphold the greater moral law

Afri
Photograph taken in solidarity with jailed Peace Activist Margaretta D’Arcy at “Airing Erris: The Media and Shell Corrib” in Ceathrú Thaidhg, County Mayo on the 18th January

Signs of hope and causes for optimism are still to be found amid the bleak picture often presented on the daily news. Despite the realities of war, climate change and hunger, we can find hope and inspiration in those who continue to resist, to struggle, to challenge, and even to celebrate.

Imbolc, the ancient Irish festival that marks the beginning of spring, is almost upon us. It represents a time of new beginnings after the long, dark winter. In Irish tradition, people celebrated this time on February 1st, and honoured Brigid, who was noted in legend as a strong and fearless leader that carried a torch for peace, truth and justice. Continue reading “Peacemakers like Margaretta D’Arcy uphold the greater moral law” →

Use of Shannon Airport by U.S. Military Implicates Ireland in Iraqi/Afghan Slaughter

Afri

Press Release

From left to right: Donal O’Kelly as an Irish politician, Dylan Tighe as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner and Raymond Keane as a US marine in a protest action to highlight the use of Shannon airport by the US military on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war earlier this year. Photo: Derek Speirs

The human rights group Afri has said it is dismayed but not surprised by the revelation, given in response to a Dáil question, that a US military aircraft “armed with a fixed weapon” stopped at Shannon airport early last month. Afri opposes the use of Shannon by US military because of the way it implicates Ireland in the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people in the US’s disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Afri believes, as confirmed by groups such as Shannon Watch, that weapons are regularly transported through Shannon, the only difference being that on this occasion the weapon was visible. The ongoing arrogance of the US was again in evidence in the failure by the Embassy even to answer questions about the type of aircraft or weapon where the aircraft had flown from or its destination.

Afri is appalled by the craven attitude of the Irish Government and by Mr Gilmore’s bending over backwards in an embarrassing attempt to explain and excuse this ‘administrative error’.

Afri once again calls on the Government to end this practice of participating in proxy war by handing our airports over to the US war machine.