Today three people from the intentional international Vine and Fig Tree Planters Community were pleased to attend Newbury Magistrates Courts ‘convenience hearings of the Vine and Fig Tree Plantings’.

Along with the other F&V Tree planters I particularly liked being in court at the same time as four other lovely people (Southcoast Peace area activists) whose pre-trail hearing was on the same day. However, this is my reflection and I leave them to do their own if they so choose. I am indebted to them nevertheless, for showing me how to vary bail conditions and I offer my thanks here to them – being in court for proactive, creatively nonviolent purposes is like yummy flavoured shallow fried tofu.

So here’s my reflection on aspects of the day.
“Its not your convenience it’s the courts”, the magistrate tried to impress on me in the afternoon when the bench pontificated, in the court:

‘you have been more cooperative and forthcoming than on previous occasions and this being the case we will vary your bail because you live in Gosport not in the locality (of Aldermaston). We don’t accept your point about driving past. You have a clean record and no other offences so bail is varied to ‘unconditional’. (nb: not verbatim, from notes kindly scribed).

Firstly, I do want to be more cooperative, though to my knowledge the above statement is simply incorrect. I maintained that if I returned to Aldermaston it would not be for protest, and in doing so I choose to discard my unneeded ‘human right’ to protest, I recognise that many value this human urge/right. If you catch me ever doing it say ‘alternative thoughts’ and break out the pickles for me, please.

I did well in resisting the bail conditions (of staying 100metres from the fence at AWE Aldermaston) and getting them well and truly varied today; because I firmly hold that I would rather have an invitation to be somewhere, than to go uninvited anytime. I firmly believe that AWE Aldermaston INVITES people (non-violently is really the only way to do it) to be there and be ‘outside’ the base (or inside, according to your perspective). Now I must make it explicit that being ‘outside’ is not where you may think it is, though it may be where you think it is not.

About the other ‘conveniences’ I managed to go on two occasions I’m very relieved to say; however, I have to add that at all court session occasions I have been uncommonly passionate in voluntarily attending the court ‘convenience’ hearings for the vine and fig planters. I have managed to take the inconvenience of this well and this is because I feel strongly about the sustenance, which occurs in the ‘convenience hearings’ of the Vine and Fig Planters transformation of Aldermaston. This story is being told and retold inside and outside the court, in café’s; and hey even if its on a small scale it somehow has revitalising qualities.

Assertive outreach and dialogue with the court staff, the police, the duty solicitors and others members of the public in appropriate places and times is invaluable in terms of keeping alive the story of the delightful experience of plantings of vine and fig trees at the conversion site of the AWE Aldermaston container in August 2005 on the 5th August 2005.

Today was also the day that the for’s and against’s of the laser facilities were to be heard near Reading. Planning permission is being sought by AWE, however its not a room extension that is being discussed, be sure of this.

Instead I headed back to Southampton to friends for a film about the nomadic Kurds on the Iranian / Iraqi border (film is Blackboard). This film in Kurdish was made in Iran and it depicted many impoverished Kurdish people journeying amidst mountains amid gunfire from border gaurds, the teachers walked with their blackboards and chalks on their backs in the mountains looking for children to teach literacy and numeracy skills to. There were two scenes of people inconvenienced by being unable to pee as they travelled – it was I think some kind of metaphor for censorship. So if you see the film you’ll know more why the ‘convenience’ theme is one that has popped up for me today.

Background information on the event
 http://ickevald.net/vineandfigtreeplanters/

Conveniently the The Vine and Fig Tree Planters Court appearance is set for 7-10th February 2005 @ Newbury Magistrates Court.