Say "War is Not Green!" this June at Beale AFB

OCCUPY BEALE AFB: Monthly NO DRONES PEACE ENCAMPMENT: Join CodePink, VFP, and activists from throughout Northern California:

-June 23, Monday, 3pm-5pm,  Wheatland Gate, S. Beale Rd. and Ostrom Rd.

-Mon. Night Encampment, Main Gate, N. Beale Rd.

-June 24, Tuesday, 6-8am, Main Gate, N. Beale Rd.

"WAR IS NOT GREEN! PROTECT EARTH!"

Message from CODEPINK for Peace:

Dear Friends,

While we vigil at Beale to protest drone warfare, we also occupy Beale AFB every month to oppose militarism and global militarization.  This month please join us as we try to underline the threat militarism has on the health of our mother earth and say "WAR IS NOT GREEN!"

Depleted uranium, nuclear weapons, agent orange, toxic waste dumps, white phosphorous, napalm....the list is endless.....not to mention the grossly excessive use of fossil fuel that contributes to climate change.  The U.S. military uses more fossil fuel than any other institution on the planet!  And our soldiers suffer too.....high cancer rates, birth defects in their children, sterility, etc., etc.

Dress yourself up in GREEN clothing to emphasize the point, or come as you are....but we welcome large signs and banners to help with the messaging.  

We will also be honoring and welcoming home:  Bowe Bergdahl....

one more soldier who had the courage to listen to his conscience and act!

WELCOME HOME BOWE!

Join us in uniting for Peace,

Shirley, Flora, Barry, Michael, Pamela, Janie, Fred, John, Catherine, and Toby

       

For more info./carpooling, 

Nevada/Yuba County:  Shirley  941-320-0291 slogood481@hotmail.com

Sacramento Area:  Barry  916-284-0944,  bbinks@comcast.net

Bay Area:  Toby  510-215-5974,  ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net

   

Directions To Wheatland Gate (PM & AM vigils),  

At intersection of So. Beale Rd. and Ostrom Rd.:

From the North  (Chico/Marysville):

Take Hwy. 70 south from Marysville, merge to left onto Hwy. 65.

Take Ostrom Rd. to left until it meets So. Beale Rd.  Turn left on So. Beale Rd. and park car to side of Rd.  If you miss the Ostrom Rd. turn off, continue south on Hwy 65, and turn left on So. Beale Rd. (marked with Beale AFB sign).

From the South (Sacramento/SF Bay Area)

Please check out these directions on pdf below, as getting onto Ostrom Rd. is a bit tricky from Hwy 70.

Directions to Main Gate (Mon. nite encampment area) :  

Take I-5 north of Sacramento, just north of I-80, take exit 525B to transfer to Hwy 99, continue  12.5. mi. and stay right to transfer onto Hwy 70, continue about 20 miles, exit at Feather River Blvd., just after the Erle Rd. exit. Do not take the 1st Feather River Blvd. which is about 10 miles earlier!  (note sign to Beale AFB)  Turn right at ramp, You’ll be facing Burger King, across the street, a good bathroom stop.  If you don’t cross the intersection, turn immediately right at the light (Lindhurst Ave.) and left at 2nd light to get on N. Beale Rd.   Continue on N. Beale Rd. for over 6 miles.  It dead ends at the Gate Entrance.  Plenty of parking on left side of Rd. near the gate.

Walk to Peace Arrives at Gates of Beale AFB Bearing Memories of Drone Warfare Victims

The Walk to Peace arrived at the Gates of Beale
 Air Force Base, from which the Global Hawk
 Surveillance Drones are piloted, on Tuesday 5/27.

They bore with them the stories of the many innocents
 killed and terrorized by U.S. drone warfare. 

They left white chalk outlines on the ground in
 front of the gates, recreating the scene of a drone
 massacre as testaments to the dead.

Veterans for Peace was a major sponsor of the Walk to Peace,
 which was planned by Occupy Beale AFB. 

A posture of submission emphasized the helplessness
 of those made victims of U.S. imperial might.

Killed shamelessly by hellfire missiles while trying to flee.

The Peace Walkers appeared formidable as, standing at the
 gates, they took up a cry of righteous anger.

Festooning the gates with pink garlands on
 which were written the names of drone victims. 

The ten-day walk from San Francisco to Beale may have come
 to an end, but our collective Walk to Peace continues. Join us.

Walk to peace crosses the bay.

Report of Walk to Peace, Day 1:  

UPDATE: The day was featured in a fantastic article on Popular Resistance.

We met at the Golden Gate Bridge and walked to the center of with banners & flags. It was very crowded so a lot of people cheered our signs.

Symbolically beginning the march from the center of the Golden
Gate Bridge, to head south and east then cross the bay by ferry.

Toby Blomé of Code Pink, Braving the
winds to hold aloft our message.

The bridge looks like a utopian monument to peace in this context.

"One people, one Earth. Stop Drone Attacks."

Bearing the standards of Peace.

Devan Phenix

Walked through Fisherman's Wharf and on to the Ferry Building where members of World Can't Wait greeted us with a scale model of an armed Reaper Drone, the model that continues to torment and kill in Pakistan and Yemen.

We took the ferry to Vallejo for the first night of our journey. A wonderful activist, Barbara, put us up for the night, presenting a delicious vegetarian meal. Tomorrow, we set out for day 2, 15 miles to the west side of Fairfield.

 Peace.

The Walk to Peace continues, and the Spring Days of Drone
 Action continue nationwide. Click here to
 find out about events in your state.

"We Will Not Raise Our Children to Kill the Children of Other Mothers!"

MOTHER'S DAY MARCH FOR PEACE

      CODEPINK Monthly Golden Gate Bridge Walk 

                  Sunday, May 11, 2013, NOON

     

Mother's Day, 2013, Golden Gate Bridge

Reclaim the original meaning of the day:   

"We Will Not Raise Our Children to Kill the Children of Other Mothers!"  

Join us to reclaim the original meaning behind Mother's Day:

From the Civil War era, Mother's Day was created to unite women of the world to organize and promote peaceful solutions to conflict.  

This Mother's Day please join us on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Bring your mothers and daughters, your sons and fathers, your grandchildren, friends and neighbors to honor our history, and celebrate our passion for PEACE!

Wear pink or come as you are, but come in the spirit of unity for nonviolence.

Bring signs ( 2x3 ft. or smaller)......wooden sticks/poles are now permitted.

Some Suggested Messages:  

-Mother's Day:  A Day for Peace 

-ABOLISH WAR

-Mothers Say No War

-DRONES KILL CHILDREN

-Mothers for Peace 

11:45 am:  Gather at the SF or Marin end of the eastern walkway of the Golden Gate Bridge.

                   Parking available on all 4 "corners",  just remember to take

                   the last exit on hwy 101 as you approach the bridge, or the

                   first exit after you leave the bridge.

Noon:          Walk on the eastern walkway from the north or south ends, 

                   to converge in the middle.  

1:30pm      Rally on SF side after the bridge walk:

   Mike Check, Reading of Julia's MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION

Bring your children, your mothers, friends, relatives and your LOVE!

                  BE GREEN AND CARPOOL

grow in peace,

Toby  Blome

ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net

510-215-5974

Contact me to arrange carpooling

Let us not forget:

Wedding Party Victims, Yemen, December 12, 2014

                                                       

MORE ON MOTHER'S DAY HISTORY:

In response to the carnage of the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe's 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation declared:               

              Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
              All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
              We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
              To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs........Disarm, Disarm!

Some creative readings of the full Mother's Day Proclamation:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdI1mx9Q3sA

      

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnwEK_8YxTw

       

                                               

Julia Ward Howe, the
 originator of Mother's Day

                                         

Howe called for women of all nations to work together for a more peaceful world.

In honor of Julia Ward Howe, and in solidarity with all the mothers of the world who are suffering today from the carnage of wars in Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere in the world, we invite mothers and their loved ones to join us this Mother's Day to walk united against war.  We will read Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation, and sing and rally for peace following the march.  We will distribute flyers to educate the public about the history of Mother's Day. 

The Spring Days of Drone Action
 continue through May nationwide!
CLICK HERE for more information!

Occupy Beale AFB Update: The ultimate right is the right to life!

13 Protestors, Including 6 Veterans, Arrested Protesting Drones at Beale AFB Tuesday; Tried to Deliver Letter Charging Obama, Beale Base Commander with 'Crimes Against Humanity'

A protester testifies to the pain
 caused by drone killing.

 Main Gate:  7 arrested

Wheatland Gate:  6 arrested

MARYSVILLE/BEALE AFB – Six military veterans were among 13 people arrested at Beale Air Force Base here early Tuesday morning as they attempted to deliver an "indictment" charging President Obama, the Beale base commander, drone pilots and others with "crimes against peace and crimes against humanity."

Main gate: 7 arrested

Wheatland gate: 6 arrested

 All 13 demonstrators – who were handcuffed about 8 a.m. – were released after about two hours with misdemeanor charges. They are to appear in U.S. District Court. They face up to six months in prison.

Demonstrators being arrested at a Beale gate.

Blocking the gate with a banner depicting
 children murdered by drones.

Traffic was temporarily backed up
 over a great distance at both gates!

 The "Veterans Spring Days Drone Action" temporarily blocked traffic at the two busiest gates entering Beale AFB, the home to Global Hawk (Surveillance drone), the U2 and the MC12 Liberty aircraft, all participants in the so-called "war on terror." They have been complicit in the deaths and injuries thousands of innocent civilians.

 

In standing in the way of those driving in to participate
 in drone killing, demonstrators hoped to halt the
 drone warfare machine, however briefly.

"Drone Warfare Fosters Hate"

Many of those arrested were Veterans for Peace

This is the most people arrested in a single action at Beale AFB. Dozens have been arrested protesting drones at Beale AFB in the past year, including more than a dozen people and members of the clergy on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday this year. Three federal trials have been held – and earlier this month a lone protestor was found not guilty in U.S. Court in Sacramento.

 The Indictment delivered Tuesday says, in part:

"WE, THE PEOPLE, CHARGE THE UNITED STATES PRESIDENT, BARACK OBAMA AND THE FULL MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND INCLUDING COMMANDER COLONEL PHILLIP A. STEWART, EVERY DRONE CREW, AND SERVICE MEMBER AT BEALE AIR FORCE BASE WITH CRIMES AGAINST PEACE & CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, WITH VIOLATIONS OF THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND, EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS, VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS, WARS OF AGGRESSION, VIOLATION OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY, AND KILLING OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS..."

Of the 13 arrested, 6 were veterans and 3 others had never done civil resistance before!

Big thanks to arrestees:

Veterans for Peace: Barry Binks, Michael Kerr, John Rieger, Cres Velluci, Richard Gilchrist, Ted Sexaur 

Non-veterans: Devan Phenix, Bev Fitzpatrick, Fred Bialy, Shirley Osgood, Pamela Osgood, Catherine Hourcade and Cathy Webster

And special thanks to Barry Binks for organizing it all!

Please join us whenever you can and help 

it to grow! Photos, video and more here.

May 17-27:  WALK TO PEACE with us, To Resist Global Militarization and Drone Warfare

We will walk from San Francisco to Beale AFB.  Please join all or part.....we need support crew too! Any help offered will be very welcomed!  More details soon.Visit the Occupy Beale AFB page for more information.

The Spring Days of Drone Action are
 in full swing all throughout the nation. Join us!

Spring Days of Drone Action at Beale Air Force Base

For three years activists have been gathering monthly at Beale AFB, near Marysville to protest the use of Drones by our military!

Recent demonstration at Beale. Come support Shirley Osgood on 4/16
at her trial for civil disobedience at Beale 

This month, Veterans For Peace invites you to join the protest.

Monday, April 28, 3-5 PM and/or
Tuesday, April 29, 6-8 AM 

The wages of drone warfare: dozens killed and
 wounded in Yemen in December, 2013

Protest actions will take place at these gates:
Wheatland Gate: 3960 S. Beale Rd! 
Main Gate: 4875 N. Beale Road 
Doolitle Gate: Hammonton Smartville Rd at Doolittle Drive

"The Worst Part of Being Awake Is Hearing The Children Cry."

See Occupy Beale AFB for maps and directions, or contact:
Barry Binks: bbinks@comcast.net, (916)284-0944!

Toby Blomé:: ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net (510) 215-5974! Shirley Osgood: slogood481@hotmail.com (941)320-0291 

Also, join Kathy Kelly at Beale for the Good Friday demonstration on 4/18!

The nationwide Spring Days of
 Drone Action Continue!
 CLICK HERE to learn more!

Children have no place in war

Bay Area activists say NO to "Monsters in the Sky."

Weekly vigils against remote killings of civilians continued in downtown San Francisco yesterday outside one busy entrance to the city's subway system (Montgomery Street BART station).  Inspired by photographer Noor Behran's documentation of brutal U.S. drone strikes on the people of Pakistan, demonstrators challenged passersby to confront the human cost of their government's targeted assassination policy.

Every picture tells a story.

On Valentine's Day 2009, just weeks after President Obama assumed office, a CIA drone attack struck a village in South Waziristan. Approximately 30 people died in the bombing, including

Noor Syed:

Maezol Khan and his son were sleeping in the courtyard of their home when a missile from a drone struck a nearby car. As a result of the explosion, a missile part flew into the courtyard, killing Maezol's eight-year-old son.

At the funeral, the boy's mother was out of her mind with grief and began coloring the boy's face with her lipstick, perhaps to restore the color of life to his waxen features.

On August 21, 2009 Syed Wali Shah was killed in an air strike on Dande Darpa Khel (Pakistan):

By the time photographer Noor Behram reached Bismullah Khan's mud house, partially destroyed in the strike, Khan's youngest son had already died. Behram watched as the boy's body was laid out on a prayer rug, a "very small" one, in preparation for his funeral. "The body was whole," Behram recalls. "He was found dead." The villagers wrapped a bandage around the boy's head, even though they had no chance to save his life. Behram doesn't know who the target of the Dande Darpa Khel attack was. ("You'd have to ask the CIA that," he says.) But he observed people's anger as they prepared bodies for burial and cleared the wreckage. "The people were extremely angry. They were talking and shouting against the U.S. for the attack," Behram says.

We can't begin to name all those murdered by your government's weapon of choice; the above represent a handful of hundreds identified. Death by these "monsters in the sky" continues to escalate under the Obama administration.

Our last photo identified Naeemullah, wounded at Datta Khel on October 18, 2010:

Pakistan's Express Tribune reported a drone attacked "two suspected militant hideouts" near Mirin Shah. Photographer Noor Behram never saw the scene. He headed instead to a near-by hospital, where he heard residents had frantically driven one of the strike's victims, a boy of about 10 or 11. Naeemullah was said to be injured after a missile struck the house next door. Shrapnel and debris travelled into Naeemullah's house, wounding him in "various parts of his body," Behram says. "You can't see his back, but his back was wounded by missile pieces and burns." 

An hour after Behram took this picture, Naeemullah died of his injuries. 

Join CodePink, World Can't Wait, Know Drones,
 Occupy SF Action Council and others every week,
 same time (5:30 pm) and place (northwest
 corner of Montgomery and Market Streets) to
 say NO to the President's assassination program.

Reposted from FireJohnYoo.net

The Spring Days of Drone Action are just beginning. CLICK HERE to find events in your area!

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014!

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014:

Former National President of Veterans For Peace Arrested at Beale

 

Eliot Adams as he is handcuffed outside Beale AFB

As reported by local news outlets, Elliott Adams, past National President of Veterans For Peace and international peace activist, was arrested during a nonviolent anti-drone action at Beale Air Force Base on Tuesday, April 1.  Adams lives in New York and is currently on a nationwide tour, speaking out about the importance of banning drone attacks, stopping war, and building a culture of peace.  He has also been conducting Unarmed Peacekeeping Skills Training & Strategy Sessions around the country with the Meta Peace Team, whose goal is "pursuing peace through active nonviolence."

 

Eliot Adams, happy to be engaging in civil
 disobedience to protest drone terror.

Also arrested was Adam's friend and fellow
 Veteran for Peace member Richard Gilchrist.
  Gilchrist served in the army in Vietnam
 and has also travelled around the country speaking and taking action for peace. 

Adams and Gilchrist walked across a line onto base property and were detained for an hour.  Other demonstrators, including several other Veterans for Peace, stood in a downpour until the two were released.  Later that evening Adams spoke in Grass Valley about "International Law, Drone Warfare, and Strategies for Peace."

Beale is home of the Global Hawk Drone, a surveillance drone that demonstrators claim helps in the targeting of Predator and Reaper armed drones.  Increasing numbers of demonstrators have been arrested at Beale over the past several months.  On March 5, Ash Wednesday, arrests included several members of the clergy.  Other actions are scheduled for later this month. 

At this April Fool's day demonstration,
 a sign that seemed too good to be true...

Sadly was.

Find out more about Beale actions
 at OccupyBealeAir Force Base

The Spring Days of Drone Action are just gearing up nationwide! Click here to find out more!

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014

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