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Blockades

France: Farmers Block Refineries To Protest Palm Oil Import

June 12, 2018 Staff, Telesurtv.net , , , ,
In France, some 200 farmers dumped dirt on the roads leading to the Total refinery in Grandpuits as well as parked about 40 tractors to form blockades. Farmers in France have blocked access to several oil depots and refineries in protest – that is organized to last three days – against the proposed use of imported palm oil at a Total biofuel plant. According to the president of the National Federation of Agricultural Holders’ Unions, Christiane Lambert, 13 sites will be blocked early Monday following five that were blocked on Sunday. The companies, on the other hand, have urged people to not panic-buy gas as it would result in shortages. Some 200 farmers dumped dirt on the roads leading to the Total refinery in Grandpuits Sunday night, as well as parked about 40 tractors, president of the Jeunes Agricultures, Sebastien Guerinot, said.

Flotilla Continues Towards Gaza To Challenge The Blockade

June 4, 2018 Elizabeth Murray, Consortiumnews.com , , ,
We are possibly a more motley crew than the passengers aboard the S.S.Minnow in the old U.S. TV series Gilligan’s Island: Among those who have joined us on one or more legs of the journey to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) are activists hailing from Spain, Israel, Norway, Malaysia, Canada (First Nations), Denmark and the United States. Despite our diverse ages and backgrounds we have some important things in common:  minds that comprehend the crimes and human rights violations being committed daily against the people of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories; hearts that feel deeply the pain of those whose basic freedoms have been denied for 70 years; and consciences that want to find a nonviolent way to reach out to these people, right the wrongs of the Gaza blockade, and achieve a measure of justice.

Gaza Flotilla Carrying Wounded For Cyprus

May 30, 2018 By Maram Humaid and Farah Najjar, Mintpressnews.com , ,
Gaza, Palestine – A flotilla carrying at least 25 patients, students and activists have broken Israel’s imposed boundary off the coast of the Gaza Strip, the first time in more than a decade. The group set sail on Tuesday morning from the besieged Gaza Strip, hoping to break Israel’s debilitating siege on the enclave that has trapped more than two million Palestinians since 2006. By midday, the boat had crossed nine nautical miles (16km), with four Israeli warships flanking the vessel. “We’re surrounded by Israeli warships to the left, the right, to our front and from behind. We’re stuck in the middle,” an activist on the flotilla told reporters. “We’re all safe and request your prayers.” Under the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, Israel is obligated to permit fishing up to 20 nautical miles, but this has never been implemented.

Boat From Gaza Attempts To Break Israeli Blockade

May 29, 2018 By Mohammed Arafat, Wearenotnumbers.org , ,
Abdul Menim Aabed, 27, is among a crowd of Gazan Palestinians who are anxious—despite the obvious danger—to be among the first to try to sail out of Gaza tomorrow on Al-Hurriyah (Liberty). The boat is being organized by the Great Return March National Organizing Committee and will carry 35 Gazans who hope to receive medical treatment or to study abroad. “I can’t walk right anymore and I can’t get the treatment I need here in Gaza,” says the wheelchair-bound Aabed, who was shot in both legs at the border protest May 4. “I’m desperate.” The plan for the requisitioned fishing boat is to attempt its departure on May 29, the eighth anniversary of the Israeli attack on the Turkish boat Mavi Marmara, one of the ships in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla that tried to break through the blockade. When Israeli troops halted the flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, nine activists were killed.

What Anti-Adani Protestors Can Learn From The Jabiluka Blockade

April 4, 2018 By Scott Ludlam, Theguardian.com , , ,
Like anti-Adani protesters today, those who stood up at Jabiluka were attacked. It’s good to remember that people can prevail. One of Australia’s proudest land rights struggles is passing an important anniversary: it is 20 years since the establishment of the blockade camp at Jabiluka in Kakadu national park. This was the moment at which push would come to shove at one of the world’s largest high-grade uranium deposits. The industry would push, and people power would shove right back. The blockade set up a confrontation between two very different kinds of power: on the one side, the campaign was grounded in the desire for self-determination by the Mirarr traditional Aboriginal owners, particularly the formidable senior traditional owner Yvonne Margarula. They were supported by a tiny handful of experienced paid staff and backed by an international network of environment advocates, volunteer activists and researchers.

Why I Am On The Women’s Boat To Gaza

September 24, 2016 Lisagay Hamilton, www.counterpunch.org , ,
By Lisagay Hamilton for Counter Punch - Sunday night, September 18, 2016. As my “industry” colleagues attend Emmy parties and dress for the red carpet, I stand on the chilly docks of Ajaccio, Corsica, in the wee hours of the morning awaiting the arrival of a small sailboat called the Zaytouna-Oliva. The boat arrives just after 2AM, and the passengers and crew, all women, disembark. The trip from Barcelona was rough. Everyone had gotten sick and it showed on their faces.

Newsletter: Global Solidarity Is Rising

February 7, 2016 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers for Popular Resistance. A key ingredient of previous successful campaigns to stop 'free trade' agreements is cross-border solidarity. Uniting struggles globally, as well as locally, is critical for other issues as well. Via Campesina, a movement started by peasants in 1993, has grown to become a global movement that recognizes the intersectionality between food security, land rights, the climate crisis and transnational corporate power. They work together to both resist harmful policies and to create necessary alternatives by organizing seed exchanges and impacting public policy. Similarly, global solidarity is increasing around the climate crisis.

Protesters Blockade Koch Bros Pet Coke Facility In Chicago

November 18, 2015 Robin Amer, www.chicagoreader.com , ,
By Robin Amer for The Chicago Reader - Five activists were arrested and charged with trespassing Monday morning after chaining themselves together and blocking the entrance to a KCBX Terminals Co. petroleum coke facility on Chicago's southeast side. The protesters sat side by side, first on the asphalt driveway and then on bright blue gym mats carted in by their supporters. Their hands were hidden inside plastic tubes wrapped in duct tape, designed to prevent police from separating them or moving them easily. A line of 18-wheelers idled across the street during the blockade, unable to enter or exit the facility.

Green Line Of Protest Is Stopping Coal & Oil In Their Tracks

August 16, 2015 Eric de Place, www.daily.sightline.org , , ,
By Eric de Place for Sightline Daily - The Cascadia region has proven to be extraordinarily challenging for those who would turn it into a major carbon energy export hub—so much so that Sightline has taken to calling it the Thin Green Line. Since 2012, a staggering number of schemes have proposed to move large volumes of carbon-intense fuels through Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia to Asian markets. A recent Sightline analysis shows that proposed and newly permitted energy projects in the region would amount to the carbon equivalent of more than five Keystone XL Pipelines. But in big ways and small—from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia—the Thin Green Line has held fast. Big energy projects have faced delays, uncertainty, mounting costs…and then failure. A review of these projects makes clear just how successful the region has been in denying permission to dirty energy companies as it stays true to its heritage as a center of clean energy, sustainability, and forward thinking.

More Civil Disobedience Expected Against Gas Pipeline Project

March 15, 2015 Tim Faukner, www.ecori.org , , ,
The banner held by climate activists outside the Statehouse on March 6 read: “Expect Resistance.” And it might be a sign of things to come. Of the 16 protesters, nine were from Massachusetts and several were involved in recent high-profile protests in the Boston area, protests that were part of a wave of nationwide acts of civil disobedience to promote racial equality. The group was not deterred by news on the first day of the march that the Algonquin project received key approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The authorization, they say, was predetermined and while other permits are needed, including at least two from Rhode Island agencies, the goal is to create awareness and halt the four other natural-gas pipeline projects planned for New England. The lead organizer for the Rhode Island actions, Nick Katkevich, said more nonviolent civil disobedience is planned to protest the Spectra project. The public he said needs to know that the gas running through the expanded and highly pressured pipelines is not all for local use and instead for shipping overseas.

Dominion Headquarters Blocked In Richmond

February 23, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , , ,
At 7:00 a.m. a group of over 50 activists blocked vehicle access to Dominion Resources’ Tredegar Campus in Richmond, Virginia to protest the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Traffic quickly formed on Tredegar Street as activists stretched large banners across the road and paraded large puppets around the scene. Two activists remain suspended from a pedestrian bridge with a banner reading “Stop Selling Our Futures” while a larger crowd occupy the access way to the campus below. “I’ve been born and raised in Virginia, where we have pride in our land”, said Phil Cunningham, from Prince Edward County. “Now Dominion wants to come steal people’s property and sell our futures to the highest bidder. We are here to send the message to Dominion that people matter more than profits. This is our Keystone XL, and we will stop it. ”

Badass Collective Bringing Direct Action To Black Communities

February 15, 2015 Alyssa Figueroa, www.alternet.org , , , ,
“All of us unsuccessfully attempted to bring black non-violent direct action trainers down there, and when we got to Ferguson most of the training team were white allies. We noticed that there was a shortage of black direct action trainers,” Faison said. “We looked at each other and said we need to develop some more folks to train our people and coordinate actions. And from there burst the BlackOUT Collective on the frontlines around 11 o’clock at night in front of the police station.” Since then, the collective has helped black communities think through, facilitate, train, and execute numerous direct actions. One of their first projects was helping a group of young organizers in Oakland who wanted to take action. The result of that process was Black Brunch, an action, now expanded into other cities, in which protesters enter restaurants that cater to a white crowd at busy brunch hours and conduct a ritual for black people killed by police. This includes reading the names of those killed by police and vigilantes.

Newsletter: The Contagion Of Courage

February 14, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
When our colleagues take brave actions, others are inspired. George Lakey describes how courage develops in movements. He lists some key ingredients to overcome fear: people working in community to empower each other, envisioning a successful action and spreading the contagion of courage. Lakey describes courage as each of us expanding beyond our comfort zones and adds that our training for actions should include opportunities to step outside our comfort zone. He suggests we need to view the rapid heartbeat and adrenalin during an action not as fear, but as excitement. Envisioning the whole story - where the story starts, the action being taken and its successful impact - emboldens us and calms our fears of uncertainty. We learn courage in community because courage is contagious.

200 Arrests In Ongoing Seneca Lake Uprising

January 22, 2015 Sandra Steingraber, www.ecowatch.com , , ,
Seneca Lake Defenders—as those risking arrest call themselves—come in all ages, from 18 to 90, and from many walks of life. As diverse as we are, everyone is united in the belief that Crestwood is an out-of-state trespasser that threatens to harm all we hold dear, starting with water and wine. Being arrested for trespassing in order to make that point only helps reinforce it. And water is, fundamentally, what this fight is all about. We Are Seneca Lake is an ongoing, citizen-based civil disobedience campaign that seeks to protect Seneca Lake and the surrounding region from gas storage expansion by Texas-based energy company, Crestwood Midstream. Crestwood’s intention is to repurpose the crumbling salt mines underneath Seneca Lake’s hillside into massive gas tanks for the highly-pressurized products of fracking: methane, propane and butane. Seneca Lake, a source of drinking water for 100,000 people, is a very deep lake that drains very slowly. A contamination event, hydrologists tell us, would linger not days or weeks but over a time scale measured by human generations.

21 Utah Tar Sands Blockaders Face Charges, Including Felonies

January 6, 2015 , , , , , ,
Uintah County prosecutors have filed felony and misdemeanor charges against 21 people from 10 states who were arrested during a summer protest at the site of a controversial tar sands mine. he charges stem from a July 21 protest at the U.S. Oil Sands mine site, which sits on land leased to the Canadian energy firm by the state School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration. During the protest, 12 environmental activists climbed an 8-foot-tall, chain-link fence topped with barbed wire and entered the mine site, according to court records. Five of the activists chained themselves to heavy equipment inside the fenced area, deputies said. About 30 protesters outside the fenced area were told to leave the mine site or face arrest, according to court records. Only one of the 30 failed to follow that order and was arrested. In July, Utah Tar Sands Resistance spokeswoman Jessica Lee said deputies treated the protesters so roughly during the arrests that it amounted to police brutality. "This is a clear example of the Uintah County sheriff escalating things," Lee said at the time, noting that protesters were "grabbed in an aggressive manner" and some were "thrown to the ground."
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