England: at least 22 antimilitarists arrested in nonviolent action against nuclear warheads

Antimilitarist activists chained themselves in blockade of the roads leading to AWE Burghfield (nuclear weapons factory near Reading). At least 22 were arrested.

The protesters want to denounce the renewal of the British nuclear arsenal (Trident missiles, mounted on submarines), whose cost to the British taxpayer is of some 100 billion pounds. 

The protest was coordinated by Action AWE and Trident Ploughshares, with the support of the European Antimilitarist Network. This last meant that many of the arrested had passports from states such as Finland, Belgium, Spain, Japan or Argentina.

There was division of labor for the action: the main road was cut by the hardened activists of the Conscientous Objection Movement (MOC), from the Spanish State, which in the past carried on the largest ever civil disobedience campaign in Europe. At least four were arrested. 

The NW construction gate was blockaded by the Belgians, while the southern gate was blocked by the Scots.

Veteran activist of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Pat Arrowsmith, 83, was present and sent a message for the elimination of nuclear weapons, against which she has fought all her life, since 1958. Rebecca Johnson, who helped to create the Greenhan Commons antimilitarist camp in the 1980s was also present. 

A Disarmament Camp has been held for a whole week near AWE Burghfeld. 

A photo-gallery is available here, videos here.

Sources: Action AWE (link 1, link 2), Insumissia[es], Webguerrillero[es].

Note: for those who are not familiar, the use of PVC pipes is meant to delay the dismantling of the human chain, which would otherwise be fairly easy. The activists risk their fingers or even hands by doing that.

Ukraine: FEMEN activists go to exile under threat of prosecution

The founders of the feminist and radical direct action organization FEMEN, Alexandra Shevchenko, Yana Zhdanova and Anna Gutsol, announced that they had to leave their country, Ukraine, after they were threatened with political trial. 

A police raid "found" in the offices of FEMEN in Kiev "objects resembling a gun and a grenade". The organization denounces they were placed by police themselves.

The pro-Russian regime of Viktor Yanukovic is known for using political trials and other more violent means against dissidents, much as it happens in Russia.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Greece: direct action against repressive governor

A group of people self described as "Solidarians" attacked on Saturday the luxury resort of the Governor of Epirus in retaliation for the eviction of squats, damaging elements of the property and the cars of his posh guests. 

In their own words:

Yesterday night, 30/8, we visited uninvited the private resort that the family of Epirus regional governor, Alekos Kachrimanis, maintains at the city of Ioannina. There occurred a feast for the celebration of his name day. We couldn’t have missed the chance to be there to wish happy name day to him warmly! The specific guy, along with other local rulers and the administrator of the Chatzikosta general hospital, Fotis Vavvas, had participated last April at a conference on the topic of finding a definite solution for putting an end to the months-long occupation of premises at the former Chatzikosta hospital. We hold the aforementioned gentleman co-responsible for the eviction of Antiviosi squat, and we remind him that buildings like this one are spaces that have already been reclaimed, and constitute cores of social resistance and struggle. Really, that’s the reason why they are being targeted by the repression of state power and all of its sidekicks.

For all these reasons, we got ourselves at the yard of the resort yesterday, where the banquet was underway, with a purpose to cause disruption and put an end to it, and as an act of solidarity with Antiviosi squat. We painted “Antiviosi squat will stay” at the wall of the yard, while we shouted slogans such as: “10, 100, 1000 squats against a world of organized sepsis”, and “Antiviosi squat will stay; the flame we lit cannot be put out by anyone.” Also, we smashed the windows and mirrors of two super luxury cars that belonged to guests of the regional governor.

IDEAS CAN NEITHER BE EVICTED, NOR SILENCED SOLIDARITY WITH THE SQUATS
 
solidarians

Source: Contra Info.

USA: nonviolent resistance against immigrant deportations

Hundreds of activists of the Arizona Dream Act Coalition and United We Dream surrounded deportation facilities in the state capital Phoenix. Six activists sat before the deportation bus for hours until the expulsion was halted. 

The authorities arrested two, paperless Mexican-American José Patiño and UWD leader Ray José. After a long night of uninterrupted phone calls from the citizenry they were both released.

Patiño stated upon his liberation:

I am doing this because I am so fed up with people playing games with our lives," said Ray Jose. "My mom and my dad are getting tired. My dad cannot do physical labor any more. It is for the sake of my family, who sacrificed so much for me, that I am ready to do this".

Hours earlier four other DREAM activists were arrested after chaining themselves to the ICE complex. They are Yadira García, Francisco Luna, María Castro and Alejandra Sánchez. 

The essential content of these protests is anti-apartheid:

We cannot accept any legislative proposal that would amplify the pain our communities have been subjected to for decades while blocking our families from a path to citizenship," said Cristina Jiménez, Managing Director of United We Dream. "Terrorizing our communities or creating a permanent underclass is un-American and unacceptable".

The civil disobedience organizations describe themselves as follows:

The Arizona Dream Act Coalition is the largest immigrant youth led organization in the state of Arizona. Our mission is to have a nation full of educated and integrated immigrant youth. We are an affiliate of the United We Dream Network.

United We Dream is the first and largest immigrant youth-led network in the nation with 51 affiliate organizations in 25 states that organize and advocate for the dignity and fair treatment of immigrant youth and families, regardless of immigration status. UWD's current priority is to win citizenship for the entire undocumented community and end senseless abuses and deportations.

Source: Kasama.

Occitania: Greenpeace breaches security at Tricastin nuclear facility

Tricastin, near Avignon, is one of the most important nuclear facilities on Earth: it is not just a huge nuclear power plant of four reactors, producing some 6% of France's electricity, but also holds one of the main uranium enrichment plant of Europe. It's shadow is so ominous that nearby wine producers recently changed their official denomination from Coteaux du Tricastin to Grignan les Adhemar.

Today activists of Greenpeace breached the security perimeter and deployed a banner at a stairway just besides one of the reactors. Meanwhile from the opposite side of the canal their comrades projected on the reactor images of a luminous crack and the words "Tricastin nuclear accident", later replaced by an image of President Hollande and the legend "President of the catastrophe?"

Tricastin had a very serious accident in July 2008, when 18,000 liters of uranium solution (containing some 75 kg of enriched uranium) were released to the nearby rivers Gaffière and Lauzon, which have been since then restricted for all normal activities. Also that same month a hundred workers were exposed to radioactive particles and another spill was detected lagging from 2005.

According to Fukushima Emergency...:

The 33-year-old plant is the third-oldest in France’s nuclear park. Multiple cracks on the reactor vessel no. 1 and its location in an area at risk of flooding and tremors make it a safety hazard, according to Greenpeace.

Police only appeared more than an hour after the break-in had been executed. All in all the activists were only arrested six hours later, with full deployment of helicopters and a mountain police special team.


Main source: Greenpeace[fr].

Basque Country: how the gigantic national flag was placed before the City Hall (video)

You may not know it but the word bizarre comes from Basque bizardun (bearded), via Spanish bizarro (brave, dashing, manly). You may consider, or not, this a little bizarre but it is certainly fully bearded. 

Bizardun productions presents: The making of the 2013 ikurriña:

 

This direct nonviolent action put the Basque national icon in the forefront of San Fermin fiestas again. The authorities decided then to delay the beginning of the fiestas nothing less than 20 minutes, something absolutely unprecedented. 

Source: Ateak Ireki[es].


Update (Jul 24): Tasio at Gara imagined the unpopular UPN authorities planning the 2014 txupin in order to absolutely impede the Basque flag to be present:

Translation:

THE INTERIOR COMMITTEE OF PAMPLONA CITY HALL PLANNING THE TXUPIN OF THE YEAR 2014

Councilor A: Here in Santo Domingo we deploy the 5th infantry battalion, clearing the area for the sapper company of the Legion...

Councilor B: In the roofs we place the sharpshooter company just arrived from Afghanistan.

Councilor C: The [armored division] Brunete we put in Mercaderes St. The tanks in white and red to dissimulate a bit... the guns covered with sashes.

Cop A: I bet a thousand that next year's ikurriña is even larger. 

Cop B: That's not fair: you are playing safe.

Luckily for all 2014 will be their last year in power... unless the sky falls over our heads, so to say. 

France: FEMEN action in Notre Dame: "May Fascism rest in Hell"

After an elderly fascist offered himself as human sacrifice in the weirdest homophobic action ever (and a totally anti-Christian stunt, it must be said), a member of the direct action feminist movement FEMEN has expressed what we all, people of good will, feel about that Nazi: may he be tortured in Hell forever and ever (sadly I do not believe in Hell, but it's a true pity that there's no such a place to make some justice for class A mass criminals like Hitler, Pinochet, Franco or Thatcher, just to cite a few).

The daring nonviolent activist, whose name is not yet known to me, in the usual topless style of this organization, carrying on her torso the legend "May Fascism rest in Hell", parodied the suicidal stunt of the fascist homophobe Venner.

FEMEN explained in their Facebook page that they "call for the death of Fascism in the same spot where far right activist Dominique Venner killed himself yesterday evening".

The daring activist, who was brutally arrested by police, also wore on her back the legend: "In Gay we trust". 

Source and more photos: Webguerrillero[es].

Sweden: Greenpeace drops object from air on nuclear reactor to prove utmost vulnerability

Greenpeace activists flew a praglider over a nuclear reactor in southern Sweden, dropping an object right on it without any consequences other than proving (again) how vulnerable these facilities are.

Source: EneNews.

France: Femen sabotages Nazi concentration in Paris

A group of four brave women displayed a huge red banner with the legend: "Sextermination for Nazism" (which I read as "castration to all Nazis", a bit unsure) from a hotel balcony at the Place des Pyramids of Paris, where the National Front were holding a large demonstration in alleged homage to Joan d'Arc.

Video by Xavier Frere (EBRA):