#ON THE WIRE

#ON THE WIRE

There is a tradition of decorating the barriers that represent oppression – the Berlin Wall, the Peace Wall in Belfast and separation walls and fences from Israel/Palestine to US/Mexico have all been subjected to people power and creativity. It is usually done by small groups of ordinary people, and it is usually a form of civil disobedience. As well as decorating, these acts have been known to bring walls down.

Maybe those Faslane and Coulport fences needs some symbols of the real human security the weapons can never provide.

At Coulport, one of our Scottish mountains is hollowed out to contain 160 warheads, each capable of delivering eight times the thermonuclear devastation of Hiroshima. The perimeter fence is very long, and very ugly, but the catastrophic consequences of any accident, let alone military action, could be a lot longer. The mind that contemplates the annihilation of millions of people as a way of resolving political conflict is far uglier. At Faslane, the perimeter fence contains a much smaller area, although it is better known and much more accessible.

So, a good place to start. At Faslane today, half a dozen of us started things off with some Tibetan prayer flags, silk scarves and baby clothes and shoes. We lablled our efforts with Bairns not Bombs posters, and accomplished a complete change of appearance in ten minutes, with lots of bemused police interest and no arrests.

Over to others. Come and decorate the fence with your symbols for peace and real security. We ask that your actions are non-violent and respectful to everyone. It may be that the flabbergasted police recover and take more action than they did today, and if you would like information about that or about the base itself, or if you need some support in finding a few pals to act with, please contact Trident Ploughshares tridentploughshares.org.or comment here.

The main thing is to take action, and we can have some fun and deliver Scotland’s message to the UK government. Join the real international powers and ban all nuclear weapons. Trident out!