Vine & Fig Tree Planter in prison

August 2005, I spent two days in the same jail as Lizzie for planting vines and fig trees at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, UK. She is the first one of us going to prison for our planting.

This is from Indymedia, UK

Southampton vine & fig tree planter Jailed

Gregor Samsa | 19.09.2006 23:11

Activist jailed by Reading Magistrates' Court.

Reading, Berkshire. Tuesday 19th Sept 2006

Southampton-based artist and peace campaigner Lizzie Jones was today jailed by Reading Magistrates' Court.

In August 2005, Lizzie had taken part in a symbolic planting of vines and fig trees (see Micah 4:3 - part of the "swords into ploughshears" chapter) inside the grounds of the AWE, Aldermaston, and was subsequently ordered to pay £201 compensation to the Ministry of Defence for criminal damage to the wire fence.

Lizzie has refused to pay the MoD on principle, but had written and offered to pay "in kind", namely by offering her artistic services by painting a mural or decorating a room at the Establishment. However, the MoD had not replied.

The Court obviously did not find this acceptable, and as a result of her courageous refusal to pay, jailed Lizzie for seven days. It is hoped she will be free by the week-end.

Photos and the background story:

http://ickevald.net/vineandfigtreeplanters/

Les Gibbons reflection:

'PORRIDGE TIME'. for Lizzie Jones - Planter Artist

Planter Les Hoppstubbe Mor | 19.09.2006 23:24

Vine and Fig Planter sent to Prison after having 'art to art' with magistrates - 19th September 2006

on 29th August 2006 – Reading Magistrates Court
2 Vine and Fig (Post Protest) Planters risked a rainy day at Reading Magistrates Court ton 29th August to initiate changes they wanted to occur and so avert the payment of a compensation claim at AWE Weapons Establishment Aldermaston. Painter Planter L said she would not pay the compensatee on matter of principle, though added that being accountable was also on her agenda and that she wanted instead to offer the MOD / AWE Aldermaston staff alternative options to the non negotiable desire they had for payment in monies. The fines officer after friendly banter agreed to write to the compensatee (the MOD) and offer the listed alternatives for the money they were told that they would not be getting. The very real options made were to offer AWE Aldermaston staff / MOD staff an invitation to view [as special guests] an art exhibition which contained a large painting of the 2005 Vine and Fig tree planting intervention, to complete a commission for AWE Aldermaston of fruit trees or to gift to AWE Aldermaston a cushion for their quiet room ofr contemplation / reflection.

TODAY (19/09/2006) SHE RETURNED TO FIND THERE WAS NO RESPONSE FROM THE ministry of the fence (MOD) or the Atomic Weapons Aldermaston in the allotted period for them to respond. TODAY SHE REINSTATED TO THE COURT THAT SHE WOULD NOT PAY THE COMPENSATION MONIES. LIZZIE HIGHLIGHTED THE ALTERNATIAVES SHE WANTED TO OFFER (see above) - THE COURT RECOGNISING THAT SHE WANTED TO PAY IN KIND art, DID NOT TAKE IT KINDLY TO HEART & DECIDED TO GIVE HER A 7 day holiday break in HMP BRONZEFIELD, MIDDLESEX.

PLANTER ARTIST L WAS PREPARED FOR THIS AND HAD BELEIVED IT WAS HINTED ABOUT BY HER BREAKFAST THAT MORNING - FUNNY HOW BREAKFAST IS A GOOD TIME TO FACE YOUR FEARS - 'FREEDOM TASTES GOOD LIKE PORRIDGE'. She had a good book with her to take to court.

THERE IS NEVER A GOOD TIME TO GO TO PRISON, BEST TIMES ARE WHEN YOU ALREADY FEEL FREE, THAT INNER GLOWING WARMTH INSIDE THAT SAYS ALOUD - 'PORRIDGE TIME'.

PAINTER PLANTER L - A real 'prisoner of love' IS THE FIRST VINE AND FIG PLANTER TO BE IMPRISONED POST THE 2005 SENTENCING OF 9 NONVIOLENT CALM INTERVENTIONISTS FOR INITIATING A PEACE GARDEN AT AWE ALDERMASTON ON THE 60 ANNIVERSARY OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI.

SEE HER ART

Liz Jones' piece, 'vine and fig tree planting', comes from the planting August 2005 at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston. The public are encouraged to kneel on the kneeling cushions and look through the police evidence albums. A prophecy was lived out in the action as it was brought into being. The art tells the story, broadens the audience and explores resonances around the action.

NB: In proactive resistance change is initiated by the nonviolent calm interventionist, it is not left to the state or to institutions to decide, dominant narratives are replaced by creative live giving alternatives which make for change to happen. Planter painter L took it upon herself to be freed up, to be at Reading magistrates’ court to deal with the compensation claim being made by the MOD and bailiffs - she needed holiday too.

Create your own narrative for wholeness, initiate the change you want to see.

Planter Les Hoppstubbe Mor

Positive resistance vs. proactive resistance

… from the Vine & Fig Tree chat 2006-09-11

Question from Les in England:

morning you all - have just got in after a bit of early morning fresh air - cut my hair and now going to bathe, however first ....on other matters, I am considering being included in some resistance in London which is largely protest orientated - however we (our affinity group) would like to have a post protest angle perspective. Our affinity group are planning to put up a tent with art all over it (post protest art) in a restricted area for free spirit camping and maybe plant a few trees (who knows). The overall plan was to make a peace camp in Parliament Square area. Any feedback on how to make sure this is proactive and we do not get into the trap of protesting would be most welcomed from you guys (guys as in gender non-specific word).

Response:

My morning in Sweden is not fresh, yet …

I think it is important to differ between positive resistance and proactive resistance. At the Disarmament camps 92, 93 and 95 in Sweden, we had our own rule against all protest and negative messages, which made the camps more positive and attractive for the workers from the attack plane company. It was rather with the Vine & Fig Tree plantings we started experimenting with a more consistent proactive approach.

The strength of proactive/postprotest, from what I understand, is that you are solving the problem (for an hour, or in a specific place, or by disarming weapons, or dismantling machines constructing weapons).

Positive resistance is not solving but promoting a solution. Positive resistance is indirect like negative protest (being against).

Proactive resistance usually includes positive resistance, but positive resistance doesn't have to include the proactive part: be “doing the solution”.

So the proactive question would be. Are we solving the problem (for a moment)?

The positive question would rather be: is our vision, the message, positive - are we promoting a happier world?

Peace, love and salsa,

Per Herngren

Liz' art on Vine & Fig Tree planting at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston

An art exhibition by Liz Jones on Vine & Fig Tree planting at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, England, 2005:

 

You can also find photos on the action and some reflections on the philosophy of postprotest and proactive resistance.

Frida Berrigan on weapons trade as entertainment.

By Frida Berrigan, August 2, 2006

”… Like American entertainment, American arms are a multibillion-dollar industry that leans heavily on foreign sales. In fact, the United States exported $18.55 billion in fighter planes, attack helicopters, tanks, battleships, and other weaponry in 2005. All signs point to 2006 being another banner export year. Just as in the movie, TV, and music businesses, we dwarf the competition. Russia is the next largest arms exporter with a measly $4 billion in yearly sales. In fact, U.S. arms exports accounted for more than half of total global arms deliveries -- $34.8 billion -- in 2004, and we export more of them ourselves than the next six largest exporters combined….”

 

http://www.alternet.org/story/39761

Civil disobedience a duty rather than a right

from judgement: The Law of the Charter The Nuremburg Charter 1945

“…the very essence of the Charter is that individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience imposed by the individual State. He who violates the laws of war cannot obtain immunity while acting in pursuance of the authority of the State, if the State in authorising action moves outside its competence under international law.”

Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal 1945

http://home.earthlink.net/~platter/nuremberg/judgement-law-of-charter.html

http://www.actionagainstwar.org/legaldutytobreakthelaw.html

http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/imt/tgmwc/judgment/j-law-charter-02.html

classical texts on resistance and nonviolence

I have just published some classical (from 1548-) and new texts on resistance on our plowshares website in Sweden.

http://ickevald.net/resistance/

Beyond protest-resistance

By Stephen Hancock and Per Herngren

In March of this year we attended the first trial of the Pit Stop Ploughshares in Dublin (see PN 2460). Despite the eventual mistrial, it was an inspiring scene, both inside and outside court. Harnessing the momentum generated by the stand of the five defendants, we met in a pub opposite the courts to plan further nonviolent resistance. We decided to mark the 60^th Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries by planting vines and fig trees at a British nuclear base. With another friend we drew up an international invitation to act, which included the following:

“This will not be a protest action. We will not use the language of protest: we will not say "No!" nor will we ask leaders to do the job for us. Instead we will use the language of creative nonviolent resistance: that of invitation, dialogue, conversion, poetry.”

We returned to our respective countries excited both by the prospect of acting, and by our proposed non-protesting approach. What exactly was a protest-free action? What different understandings would people bring to this element of the invitation? What would such an action look like in practice? How would it be received?

Nine others eventually responded – from Australia, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands and England – and all twelve of us met in Oxford at the end of July to begin a week of community building, political discussion, nonviolence training and action planning-and-preparation.

We discerned several elements to protesting: protesting is by definition against something rather than for; it involves a tone of complaint; it appeals to others – usually political leaders – to do something about the issue. Protest reinforces both our passivity and the hierarchy’s power. It leaves us, at the end of the day, with dog-eared placards and our fate still in the hands of distant leaders reassured by our protesting that they are the ones in power.

In the anti-war protests of 2002 and 2003 a dominant slogan was “Not In My Name.” The powers that be concurred, and launched a war that wasn’t committed in our names. They also used the fact of permitted protest to bolster the reasonableness of their cause, whilst millions of protesters went home, deflated, not sure what to do next.

We also realised a further distinction needs to be made between protest-resistance and creative nonviolent resistance. Protest-resistance might break a particular law, but, like lawful protest, it suggests that the power to change lies in someone else’s hands, and concentrates on a negative rather than positive vision.

Applying our discussions to our planning, we decided not to use banners or placards on our action, instead to concentrate on the power of the planting. We would not ask others to do something on our behalf, nor would we be apologetic about our action – instead we would invite others to join in with us. We decided to carry grapes, fig-biscuits, grape juice and wine to offer to our arresting officers.

We also challenged and outlawed protest within our own group dynamics – especially the ways in which we drained the energy of the larger group by voicing complaints that could be dealt with directly or with the help of one of our sub-groups. We realised that protest is a disempowered and disempowering mentality that affects many areas of resistance life. It stops us being imaginative and innovative, and instead makes us both reaction-ary and conservative.

Sometimes protesting felt a bit like an addiction and it took quite a bit of writing and rewriting to come up with our protest-free action statement:

“‘They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Instead, everyone shall sit underneath their vine and fig tree and none shall make them afraid.’ (Micah 4:3)

Disarmament, economic conversion and nonviolence are vital ingredients for creating a just world in which everyone enjoys the earth's abundance.

In these fearful, suspicious times, we invite people all around the world to transform military bases into gardens of peace in which beauty and life shall flourish.”

On the Thursday 4^th of August we went to AWE Aldermaston and planted vines and fig trees outside the base, familiarising ourselves with the place and the police and informing the latter that we would soon return to carry on the planting inside the base. The following dawn we kept to our word, cutting a garden gate in the perimeter fence and entering with a disarmoury of garden tools, twelve young vines and fig trees and various thematic picnic items.

During our subsequent arrest and imprisonment for a night at nearby Newbury Police Station we tried, in a variety of ways, to maintain community not just between one another but also with the police and security personnel we came into contact with. Some of us assisted with finger-printing, others informed junior officers of correct procedure; we expressed gratitude for good and friendly practice and avoided complaining. The police and security were an important part of our process. And neither of us found one person who disagreed with our planting. One of the officers rightly chastised us for not bringing fairly-traded grapes. At times Stephen found himself missing the old feelings of us and them – the reassuring self-righteousness that comes with oppositional identity and practice – “but some quiet hours in a solitary cell helped me pull through another phase of protest-withdrawal.”

After we were all eventually released from custody, we finished the first phase of our community process by planting our last vine and fig tree at nearby AWE Burghfield – with four new pairs of hands particularly attracted to the non-negativity of our approach. It was good to see and feel the vision spreading.

The main problem some of the police and court officials have had with our action is the fact that we cut the fence to gain access. And, to be fair, they’re not the only ones who got hung up on that fence. When the MoD police arrived to arrest us, several of us quickly climbed the inner security fence to delay capture, in the moment forgetting our agreed spirit of non-defensiveness and non-apology.

The fence comes to symbolise a self-fulfilling protest mentality that both “sides” find hard to let go of, and which easily distracts and detracts from the work at hand: the collective, creative conversion of these vineless and figless places.

At our last court appearance we signed over the apprehended vines and fig trees to the Scene of Crimes officer, who promised to replant and look after them. In return we were handed back a bottle of wine, which we promptly drank in tired celebration on the merry banks of the Kennet and Avon.

The case continues.

Stephen Hancock and Per Herngren

Arun Gandhi interprets Mahatma Gandhi

Quotes from “Nonviolence in the 21st Century: Challenges and Choices” by Arun Gandhi (Gandhis grandson) The whole article:

 

”The four essential principles of Gandhi's philosophy are quite simple to understand and implement. 
At the public level the four principles are: Truth, Ahimsa, Trusteeship and Constructive Action.

While at the personal level the four principles are: Respect, Understanding, Acceptance and Appreciation.”

 

 

”This attitude persists everywhere.  We still accept injustice because we are afraid of suffering and losing our possessions or our security?  True liberation comes when we can liberate ourselves of the FEAR that controls our lives.  In the final analysis that is the key.  In reality, this is not something impossible that nonviolence demands.  When we are forced by law tosacrifice our lives to protect our country in war we don't ask who is going to take care of the family or what will happen to my possessions.  We just go with the knowledge that we may not come back again.  This is a sacrifice that is forced upon an individual by a government.  Then, why is it so difficult for the same individual to make the same sacrifice to stand up for justice, ethics and values?

"I am prepared to die but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill,"  Gandhi said.”

  

”CONSTRUCTIVE ACTION is the natural corollary to trusteeship.  It means getting involved in finding constructive solutions to problems.  We are usually so pre-occupied with the Self that we don't have time for anyone or anything.  We usually want to hang the responsibility on someone's shoulders.  Usually the Government's shoulders yet they have severe limitations.  Bureaucrats or paid social workers don't always have the compassion needed for this kind of work.”

  

“He said: "Violence has two children -  Physical and Passive. “

International easterplanting of vines and fig trees at Ericsson arms factory in Sweden

Translated by Coilín ÓhAiseadha, Indymedia Ireland,   See pictures.

On Good Friday, six vine- and figtree planters were arrested after planting an orchard at the Ericsson Microwave arms factory in Mölndal [just south of Gothenburg]. The planters came from The Church of Sweden, the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden and the Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation. They planted a vine by the fence, then climbed over and continued the planting of fig trees and vines on a green area by one of Microwave’s buildings. At the same time as a conversation between guards and planters was initiated, the vine- and fig tree planting continued.

“We have read the prophet Micah’s vision that each of us should sit under his vine and his fig tree, and nobody should threaten him or her. As Christians, we believe that the prophet’s visions are something we must begin to live here and now, and not wait passively,” says Klaus Engell-Nielsen. “The planting is a way to connect our Christian faith to our resistance to injustices.”

“Everything went very calmly,” says Ulla from Denmark, one of the planters. “The planting was the beginning of a dialogue between us, the guards and the police,” Annika Spalde, deacon in Gothenburg, adds. The police arrived after a brief interval, six planters were taken into custody and one of them was still being held by the police overnight.

“Vines and fig trees are in the Bible powerful symbols for peace, security, freedom from oppression. Through our planting, we want to begin on the transformation of this area that we think must occur, from weapons production to an enterprise that manufactures something that gives people security,” says Annika Spalde.

“This is proactive resistance – not a protest action,” says Les Gibbons from the United Kingdom. “We are not saying ‘No’ or asking our leaders to do the job for us. We want to begin on the change that we want to see and invite others to take part.”

The group consists of nine persons and works with non-violence and civil disobedience.

Contact person: Annika Spalde, tel. +46 (0)76-246 1994 (or Per Herngren, tel. +46 (0)70-88 77 211).

The vine & fig tree planters
Annika Spalde, deacon The Church of Sweden, 36, from Gothenburg, Ulla Röder, 51, from Denmark, Pelle Strindlund, The Church of Sweden, 34, from Gothenburg, Les Gibbons, 41, from the United Kingdom, Per Herngren, Mission Covenant Church, 44, from Gothenburg, Klaus Engell-Nielsen, The Church of Sweden, 37, from Tidaholm.

Read the original press release in Swedish.

See pictures.

 

 

How many protesters does it take to convert a president?

How many protesters does it take to convert a president?

The answer: Only one, but the president has to got to want to change.

 

So no need for mass actions …

Have plowshares disarmed more explosive force than what have been used in history?

My estimation is that plowshares has disarmed more explosive force than what have been used in all wars from stoneage until now, including the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

Emma Goldman against mass actions and mass movements

The whole text

Emma Goldman: "IF I WERE to give a summary of the tendency of our times, I would say, Quantity. The multitude, the mass spirit, dominates everywhere, destroying quality. Our entire life--production, politics, and education--rests on quantity, on numbers."

…

"In politics, naught but quantity counts. In proportion to its increase, however, principles, ideals, justice, and uprightness are completely swamped by the array of numbers. In the struggle for supremacy the various political parties outdo each other in trickery, deceit, cunning, and shady machinations, confident that the one who succeeds is sure to be hailed by the majority as the victor. That is the only god,--Success."

New blog on nonviolent resistance and the plowshares

This blog is on civil disobedience, nonviolent resistance and plowshares movement.

I am active in the plowshares movement which nonviolently disarms weapons using hammers inspired by Mike 4:2-4. Beat swords into plowshares. Mostly, I write in Swedish, but here is some of my English texts on nonviolence. I have published one book in English on civil disobedience: Path of Resistance (Per Herngren, 1993, p 214, New Society Publishers, ISBN USA 0-86571-253-0)