London Indymedia

poppy protest outside ministry of defence this afternoon - lax security

rikki | 07.10.2007 18:54 | SOCPA | Terror War | London

earlier today, there was a peaceful walk by activists calling for the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan (report here later). 12 police followed and filmed the 22 peaceful protestors for nearly five hours. later outside the MOD, opposite downing street, four urban gargeners dug the earth and planted poppy seeds. they remained unnoticed in the 'government security zone'.






the poppy gardeners climbed over the barricades onto the ministry of defence lawn, and started digging with small forks and spades to plant their seeds.

nearby, the MOD security went for a piss, but didn't glance over. after the planting, the activists sat on the lawn with banners, and made a statement to camera about their actions.

they decided to wait another ten minutes, and if still not arrested then they'd go home. as they begun to pack their bags and return to the pavement opposite downing street, they were finally noticed by two guards, who looked a little bemused. a few minutes later, as they started to walk towards parliament, a police car drew up.

by then it was too late. very little to see. perhaps some misplaced turf? the detectives were flummoxed.

perhaps the FIT team should have stuck around? or maybe they didn't want to push their overtime scam any more for today?

it was lucky our plucky activists aren't real terrorists planting something more sinister than poppy seeds the day before parliament resumes!

here is their statement:

planting poppies for peace through non-violence

we come here today, sunday, 7th october 2007, to plant poppy seeds on the lawn of the ministry of defence, whitehall london. today is the sixth anniversary of the invasion of afghanistan in which british forces took a major part.

we plant poppy seeds to remember the dead of afghanistan, especially the innocent civilians, especially the children. we remember too all the dead military personnel on both sides. we also remember that "war is not about victory and defeat but about death and the infliction of death. it represents the total failure of the human spirit." (robert fisk)

poppies grow in soil which has been disturbed, which is why they grow on the battlefields of the first world war. the earth around the ministry of defence needs to be disturbed to symbolise the responsibility of the country for the battlefields of afghanistan.

poppy seeds can lie dormant for many years and then flower. our hope in planting these seeds is that true peace through non-violence may eventually flourish.



all who took part have given their permission for facial photographs to appear on indymedia

rikki
- e-mail: rikkiindymedia@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

Green coats

07.10.2007 21:36

Seems like any action however peaceful that seemingly goes against 'the well being of the state' these days is being well documented by those traitors (that we let live in our communities!) that call themselves "police" are recording intensively all so called "subversive" actions to log info gathered into a massive database of so called "subversives" or those showing any tendency.

No??? Oh Yes!! God praise Neo Labour and Herr Brownfinger and lackeys.

These lackeys of the state (Green coats = police) only sleep at night within our communities cos we fucking well let them!!

How does your neighbour earn their keep??

Neighbourly love


Poppies

08.10.2007 14:05

'Our' allies in Afghanistan are opium poppy farmers. There has been much-publicised recent footage of British troops posing in front of poppy fields left undestroyed there. It's estimated that 95% of the heroin in Europe now comes from Afghanistan. The Taliban had ordered a ban on opium production shortly before the invasion, removing £60 billion dollars from the world's black economy. I could go on, please check these stories yourself.

So...much as I support any anti-war protest, I did find the poppy theme a bit strange and the banner the chap was holding a bit silly!

Hypnotised


morphine

09.10.2007 02:29

i think the point about the poppies is that, like so many things, you can't solve the problem of heroin by declaring a war on drugs.

far better than spraying chemicals on the afghan poppy crop from the air, killing many farmers' only source of income and causing additional human health and environmental hazards, is for the poppy crop to be used to produce morphine for use in hospitals.

the senlis council has been arguing this for years. they call if poppy for medicine, which apart from sounding suspiciously like oil for food, is fair enough:

 http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/Opium_licensing/opium_licensing_FAQ

the tain


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