Skip to content or view screen version

Park the Car, stop the machine

sm | 18.03.2003 16:39

A simple, somewhat costly NVDA to bring the machine grinding to a halt. Your participation could save lives.

Block the War : NVDA NOW

Dear friends,

With war-mongers unremitting in their pursuit of devastation, many groups are considering a preemptive strike against the war. NVDA must begin NOW, not "when the war starts". As we look around, it is clear the war is on, though history may record another start date. But what history will record is up to us to decide now.

Over the past few months, peace activists from around the world have converged on Baghdad to stand against the war, as friends of the Iraqi people and, whether they like the name or not, as "human shields". These people are putting their lives on the line in opposition to this war. The deplorable murder of Rachel Corrie by the IDF, by which we are all saddened and outraged, may be repeated a hundred-fold if Bush is allowed to bomb Iraq. These amazing individuals will suffer whatever the world allows to befall 24 million others in Iraq. Their action is a tremendous statement of human compassion and international solidarity, but still the B's ignore us. As a friend and admirer of the shields, I ask you to think of the sacrifices they are making in standing against this war.

If we are going to stop this war, we must all give of ourselves: we ourselves must suffer. Many have expressed their admiration for the conviction of the shields, yet say they feel helpless. That is a weak excuse to do nothing. It is time to express your own conviction, to DEMAND that this war be stopped. This is no time for a walk in the park, folks. So I ask you to take your car, bike, or body and BLOCKADE.

Try this: drive to your local gas/petrol station, fill up, take your keys, and walk home (or get on a bus). Drive to work, and leave your car across the driveway, with a big NO TO BUSH'S WAR sign in the
window. Take the keys, and walk.

Or do it at the train station, the stock exchange, the shopping centers, the base.

Your car will be towed, at least those in the front lines. You may be fined. SO WHAT? There are people in Iraq who are going to die, lots of them, some of them your neighbors and friends, and none of them have asked for it. So you'll take a fine, and you can refuse to pay, and we can let them chase us and lock us up until they are tired and weak and they fall. And then they will recognise the power of the people.

You can do this with a group of bicycles, leisurely cycling along throughfares during rush hour. Or march, now, in the middle of the road. Take a fine. Get arrested. This is our world's future at stake.

As I write this, we have some 30 hours to stop Bush. A lot can be done in 30 hours.

PLEASE send this email/article on to everyone you know who says they want to stop the war. And start the blockade now.

In peace,
sm
Amman, Jordan

sm