Tuesday 7 July 2009

Rockhamton Army depot blocked


A blockade of Rockhamton Army Depot successfully delayed supplying Talisman Saber with arms.

The gates of Australian Army at Rockhampton Airport were blocked yesterday by a group of Christian anti-war activists. The depot is presently deploying US and Australian military personnel to the Talisman Saber exercise, taking place at nearby Shoalwater Bay.

There was Melbourne activists Rev. Simon Moyle (Baptist, Urban Seed, Insipiral), Jacob Bolton (Jahworks), Craig Farrel (Salvation Army) Phil and Leanne Yew (The Cave) lay blocking the gate.

They were joined by Catholic Workers Jim Dowling, Ciaron O’Reilly and Cully Palmer holding a large banner "In the Name of God Stop the Wars".

Military security responded to the blockade by closing, locking and guarding the gate while the 14 anti-war activists read the names of Afghani civilians, Australian and US soldiers killed in the ongoing war on Afghanistan Rev. Simon Moyle said.

"This morning we spent an hour and a half blockading one of the gates to the Western Barracks in Rockhampton. In an act of repentance for our own complicity, five of us lay prostrate on the ground before the gates while others held a banner saying 'In the name of God stop the wars', and others prayed the rosary," he said.

Police stayed back this time and were going to direct protesters to move when they decided to move on voluntarily.

"A lot of media attention was gained and directed towards what is going on inside," Rev Moyle said.

11 comments:

Margaret Pestorius said...

Family Fun Day with the Military Might of Empire

A military "Family Fun Day" with the people of Rockhampton was challenged by a group of Christian activists based at the Martin Luther King Jr House in Yeppon. In a piece of prepared street theatre, the group posed in front of a Howitzer canon for a family photo. The drama unfolded when the photographer said "Ready, aim, fire." In slow motion our family of 4 fell to the ground covered in blood red clothe. For 5 minutes we lay still and silent depicting the innocent victims of the current wars in Afghanistan, and Northern Pakistan. The names of people killed in the Afghanistan war were then read out. The piece ended with a call for people to resist war in the name of Christ.
Why engage in nonviolent direct action? The MLK House Christians, believe we are called to act against war. Some of us are new to taking direct action that engages the wider Australian community, but our belief that war is sin emboldened us. We had spent time together in prayer and scripture reading in an effort to discern the most appropriate action.
There was a diverse group from Christian house communities in Melbourne and some Cairns Catholics. Amongst us were some young people who showed leadership by organising the action. Phil, Leanne, Jake and Craig created the street theatre around the idea of a family photo during a peaceful day out. They willing took the lead and engaged in negotiations with the local police. These young people have shown great strength, courage and initiative by moving outside of their comfort zone to challenge the community of Australia to re-engage with wars being supported by the Australian defence forces.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, but violence takes life away.

cutting hedge said...

mr outlaw , what you say is correct in regards to priests molesting children , an old boss of mine was on his way to america and was seated next to a lawyer , catholic priest , he told my boss his fulltime role was flying around the world defending priests on moelstation charges.
Also my brothers boss was an elder in his local church ,was also thrown out of the victorian police force for being a peeping tom ,snr sgt peepe they called him.
Also agree nearly all wars are wars over whose god is greatest.

Thaddeus said...

Sheeesh, are you ignoramuses still back in the Crusades? Let's see, the English Civil War was essentially a battle for democracy; the Crimean War (the first modern conflict) was basically over imperialism; the Boer War was imperialist; the First World War was sparked by nationalism, militarism and imperialism; the Second World War resulted from the first; the Korean War was a "cold war" flexing of muscles; the Vietnam War was a nationalistic war....the Iraq War was an imperialistic venture by the USA (to grab oil).... None of these conflicts were "Holy" wars, surely?

Old Cairns bloke said...

You're all missing the point here, and that is that Rockhampton is great!

Thaddeus said...

america is great - Could it be that the protestors are protesting a CURRENT war, in which AUSTRALIA is involved and that they as AUSTRALIANS, not Chinese, Sri Lankans, Ugandans etc oppose our AUSTRALIAN involvement in a CURRENT war? Try and be rational if you can, puh-leeeeze.

Pat Macquarie said...

If it was not for the Americans upholding democratic freedoms around the world for the past 60 years or more, those protesters lying on the road could expect to get the Tiananmen Square treatment.
Without strong armies repeatedly willing to fight for such freedoms, the tanks would simply roll over those who lie in front of them.

nocturnal congress said...

Re-writing history hey Pat Macquarie? Either that or you are fundamentally un-Australian. Did anyone ever tell you (since you obviously don't read) that AUSTRALIAN troops have fought in almost every major battle since we were first colonised? Hmmmm??? Did it ever cross your tiny, narrow mind to THANK the Aussie diggers! Why don't you take your American flag, wrap yourself up in it, and piss off to the USA. You're no Aussie mate. While you're there volunteer for Afghanistan or Iraq. They could do with some more cannon fodder...oops, grunts.

Thaddeus said...

I agree with noc above. Why is it that Australians gush and drool and piss their pants in praising the yanks, while NEVER giving thanks in the same breath to our OWN courageous soldiers? What is it that many Australians just NEVER NEVER embrace the fact that we AUSTRALIANS fought for our own freedoms? Is it some sort of sick loathing of our own nation?
The likes of the Pat Macquaries always make me feel ill, like watching them gob asputim all over the Australian flag.

Unknown said...

Nocturnal and Thad, maybe not a good idea to post on this forum while under the influence..

And what the hell does " un-Australian" mean ? It is one of the most stupid, ignorant expressions I have ever heard. In all the contexts that it has been used , a person who is NOT "un-Australian", is some weird saintly hero.

I think Australians have a great deal of respect for their armed services, so I don't know what you are getting so excited about.

I mean, it's sort of very "un-Australian" to fly of the handle like that.

cutting sick said...

Un australian noc and thad would be more at home praising hammas ,alqaida and every other anti usa country and I agree you should be half sober to post on here on a saturday night hiccup !

Thaddeus said...

It's very un-Australian not to thank our forebears for our freedoms we have today. It's very un-Australian to credit the Americans. The freedom to demonstrate was maintained in Queensland by the Queensland people in 1977-1979 when tens of thousands of Queenslanders took to the streets of Brisbane to protest Joh Bjelke-Petersen's anti-march laws. Bryan Law therefore has the freedom to demonstrate thanks to Queenslanders, NOT Americans.