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In 2003, Rachel Corrie from Olympia, WA was killed while sitting in front of a Palestinian home as an Israeli bulldozer crushed her. She had become a kind of martyr for the Olympia community, and her death became a media spectacle in the US. But soon her tactics were being used against the US military in Olympia as they shipped military equipment to the Middle East.
People from the city sat in front of trucks, blocked gates, and tried to convince port authorities not to ship the equipment. This tactic was soon dubbed Port Militarization Resistance. By 2007 the military said using the Port of Olympia was too costly, and they began using other ports such as my own city's port in Tacoma, WA. But for 12 days of protest, using the Port of Tacoma cost the military $.5 million for security and tear gas, so they moved elsewhere. Since then other cities began using similar tactics. Oakland, California, for example.
There is a Port Militarization Resistance action in Manhattan and Staten Island today. This is important news for us on the West Coast because it means that those at "the center of civilization" (i.e. New York City) are taking a stand against imperialism by using some of the same tactics as we have used in the Northwest, by targeting the shipment of military equipment and drawing attention to the militarization of their communities. The largest part of their protest has taken place one block West of Times Square, near the beating heart of American media, which is also where the loading docks are.
Friday, January 18, 2008
From the Northwest to the Northeast
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4 comments:
Don't these people have better things to do with their time. Better to use the voting booth than the port block. The costs incured to the military by these acts are paid by the taxpayers of America. The military is going to get what they want regardless of these fools anway. Think about it, is it really smart to block supplies like medicine, flack vests and food to military personnel in the middle east. These protesters need to wake up, and grow up. Get a job and a life.
The Presidental election will be soon, make your statement then. Funny thing about that is even if Hillary were to win, the protesters will still need to show up at the ports. I guess they'll just have to continue making fools of themselves.
Oh and great post by the way! I enjoy a little negative stimulation sometimes.
Do you realize how many hours of television Americans watch daily? Why is it when people take to the streets you imperial blockheads complain about *their* time not being well spent? "Get a job" is not even accurate, it's old, and you're having a knee-jerk reaction.
And fuck your taxes. Your taxes subsidize billion dollar military industries. Why get angry at these people, you should be angry at the government.
Why are you standing behind "medical supplies"? These people are blocking military machinery: Stryker vehicles.
I couldn't care less about Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama. You don't get *one* vote every four years to maybe make a difference in this country. What a fucking joke. Participatory democracy is about voting in the streets, loud and often.
Jeff, you're too simplistic and too dichotomous.
Acumensch---Well, in a way, Acumensch, I was being contentious on purpose, figuring I'd get a full treatise on the virtues of protesting from you. My mistake. After this comment I won't have to worry about that mistake anymore. But while my comments were not directed specifically at you, though, my guess is your a port blocker. But fair enough.
As for "And fuck your taxes." Yes, many millions of Americans could only hope the IRS would say that to them. Then we wouldn't have to help fund the educations of irresponsible, to-much-time-on-their-hands, immature, still-searching-for-themselves, college kids. You excluded, of course.
I am all for your "fuck your taxes" plan, I think you should take that up as a cause.
Anyway, good luck in life and farewell.
I'm hostile to your comments because you add nothing to this debate. Most of what you say on my blog is extremely trite. You say what every war-mongering redneck says on Michelle Malkin's "Hot Air" blog. I'm tired of it. It's not intelligent. As for you implying that I'm "immature" and "still-searching" for myself - that has mostly to do with the fact that you disagree with the causes I take up. If I may say so my posts are much more intelligent and thoughtful than the Myspacing, Facebooking, LiveJournaling scribbles of most people my age.
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