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TechnoratiActivists Forced Out of 'Peaceland'
Greenpeace activists who declared an independent state called Peaceland at the site of the planned U.S. radar base at the Brdy military area were detained June 9 when military police cleared the area of their encampment.
By press time, five demonstrators had been taken to the police station in PÅ™ÃÂbram. Some were removed from trees, where they had been manning surveillance platforms.
The activists had occupied the location since April 28 to protest the proposed base. On June 2, they'd decided that a declaration establishing an independent state would be their next attempt to get the attention of government officials.
"Our citizens are against any military installation in the area, and we'll defend our right to self-determination," said Greenpeace campaigner Lenka Kukurová during one of the last press-visit days before police entered the site. "We have already sent a letter to U.S. authorities requesting that they start negotiating with us instead of the Czech government."
Peaceland's declaration of independence cited many reasons for an autonomous state. Citizens of Peaceland, it said, are dissatisfied by the lack of debate about the base between the government and the public as well as foreign partners. According to the declaration, the government is also ignoring the will of its people by planning to allow U.S. troops to enter its territory and build a controversial base. The declaration also accused the government of joining Star Wars, flaunting democracy and endangering the health and safety of its citizens.
The activists stopped presenting themselves as Greenpeace members but citizens of Peaceland, which occupied an area of about 15 hectares (37 acres).
Local authorities began developing a response.
"A declaration of an imaginary country by people who are illegally residing within the borders of a military area and adopting a set of fictional rules will not change our attitude toward the activists," military police spokesman Jan ÄŒermák said after Peaceland signed its declaration of independence. "When we find someone in the military zone without proper papers, we have to turn them back. So far, we have detained some 300 people, and are becoming more efficient as we have finished scouting out the area."
Make a claim
Protesters had invited journalists to witness the signing of their declaration of independence, but say they had to proceed without media coverage when journalists were blocked by police.
"We read the declaration of independence, raised our new flag and proceeded to stake out our territory. We placed signposts with our coat of arms around, so the border is clearly marked," Kukurová said. "We even had a girl playing our anthem on a fiddle."
After the declaration was signed, one activist was caught sneaking into the area by military police. When he refused to show ID, authorities took him to a local police station. According to the activist, who then returned to Peaceland, the police did not take him into custody and instead let him go without a word. "After we declared independence, even the military police started leaving us alone," Kukurová said of the incident, citing a curiosity that activists and local residents expressed about the lack of a strong police response to Peaceland after its founding.
"We expected to be sneaking around and hiding all the time from soldiers, but they are not really troubling us," one American activist said. "That came as quite a surprise." A MÃÂÅ¡ov resident expressed his frustration with the situation. "If I try to enter the military area to pick mushrooms or just ride my bike, I get kicked out immediately. So why don't they do something about those activists?" he asked.
At the time, ÄŒermák's response was modest."We are currently monitoring the situation, but using force to evict them is not one of our options at the moment," he said.
Day to day
Life in Peaceland was simple but organized. Roughly 10 to 14 "citizens" lived in tents and cooked meals in a field kitchen. They obtained water from local streams and used a nearby lake for washing. With colored photos of supporters hanging everywhere, the atmosphere was reminiscent of a summer camp. But they were serious about defending their territory.
"We keep track of everyone at all times, and no one is allowed to walk around alone in case of ambush," Kukurová said. Volunteers took turns doing 12-hour shifts on surveillance platforms they'd built in the trees.
"In case the soldiers come to drag us away, we'll at least have some people who'll stay behind. Unless they bring a helicopter, they will have a hard time getting those people," Kukurová said. Although no official recognition of Peaceland was made (requests for comment to the government press office were not returned by press time), the activities attracted worldwide attention.
"We've had letters from people and organizations from all over the world; we even have people arriving here to help our cause," Kukurová said, adding that the group had volunteers from Belgium, Austria and the United States. "Over the six weeks we've been here, we've had so many people with different skills, and everyone has added something."
A number of the locals in MÃÂÅ¡ov supported the protesters. "We bring them food," one resident said. "There are many paths in the forest that the soldiers don't know about and we can easily sneak in without anyone noticing."
OndÃ…â„¢ej Bouda can be reached at news@praguepost.com
© The Prague Post Online
14 Comments so far
Show Allmatti June 13th, 2008 4:41 am
"If we view the Military -its structure, its purpose, its actions- as bad, then it follows that we should hold a similar view of those who VOLUNTARILY enter into its service."
I DO hold a similar view to those VOLUNTEERS who join the military. The sole purpose of the military is to KILL other human beings, and if they don't succeed in killing them, then they will destroy their property and livelihood. Effectively killing them slowly. It still boggles my mind, that after thousands of years of "civilization" the answer to world problems is still war.
And to angel2shine:
It doesn't have to be a god thing. I'm a proud atheist and I detest war and all that it entails.
Its a question of dedicating our life towards serving our country ( One Nation under Greed ) or dedicating our life to God!
I like to remind people that PEACE is a fruit of God's Spirit, not war.
I am a member of the same Christian Church as Barack Obama ... United Church Of Christ... Just not the same parish.
I am also a fellow PEACE protestor.
Namaste
whatfools:
"Viewing the world as "imaginary" and "fictional" is the way these creatures are. It's called Military Intelligence afterall."
Hmm quite interesting. I do believe that the early justification for this particular base, which is planned as a ballistic missile defense base, was based on the imaginary and fictional claims of mushroom clouds, WMD's, imminent launches within 30 minutes by some despot cavorting with Al Queda... what was his name? oh yeah, Saddam... and ballistic nuclear missiles from Iran... who I believe actually has zero of those type missiles.... but hey... this is brought to you by the create-your-own-reality-neocon crowd, Chenney & Co. They sound like a bunch of landmarkians when you think about it.
There are two elephants in this room.
1) An essential difference between -Samson-'s Colonists and ourselves is the ratio between our means of violence and our Enemies. I.E. some colonists actually possessed weaponry SUPERIOR (Kentucky Riflemen) to that of their Redcoat opponents. Sure, if you tried to fight standard open-field tactics the Brits artillery and discipline and generalship negated this, but the point still holds when you recall that nowadays the "police" department of Po-dunk, Texas has access to the kind of firepower that would make His Majesty's Canadian Army cry.
2)If we view the Military -its structure, its purpose, its actions- as bad, then it follows that we should hold a similar view of those who VOLUNTARILY enter into its service. But this is something we seem to be unable to face. And this failure to honestly look at the situation is compounded in pathetic disgusting-ness by the classist excuses provided for these VOLUNTEERS. That they are "missinformed" or "lied to" or "forced by their economic circumstances", which gets very close to the more openly elitist "they are poor" or "they are uneducated".
I think its high time that the People stop allowing themselves to be split into two opposing camps of "ideology" by the actual elites.
For those of us on the "left" that means -at least- coming to terms with the truth of these elephants.
The first, that if it came down to absolute refusal to bend by the powers-that-be and their trained mastiffs, and if they were willing (which they are) to enforce that refusal by application of violence, we would be incapable of defeating them due to disparity of means. And that therefore, the desire of many of the "right wing" of the common People to both individually arm, and organize communities in this arming is not only not "gun-lunacy", its a reasonable response to a honest view of the World.
The second elephant is more of a thing we need to own up to about ourselves. Even "right wingers" can tell that a lot of the "supporting the troops" of the "left" is disingenuous bullshit. The "support our troops, bring them home" slogan is a particularly galling example of this, most outrageously employed in the Code-Pink NIMBY response to the recruiting office in Berkeley. If the Code-Pinkers REALLY want to stop people from joining up, why don't they start offering scholarships to kids who decline to enlist? I'm sure they could raise the money from all these oh-so-sincere "pro-troops" lefties, right? If George Soros REALLY wants to end the war and "bring them home" why doesn't he use some of the Billions he "earned" nearly collapsing the British economy with his currency speculations to friggin' BRIBE people out of the army? Let's see approx. 100,000 soldiers at -let's say- $10,000 a head, what's that, 'bout a solid $1 billion? Got that Georgie? I know you do.
The fact is that for a large number on the "left", those that VOLUNTEER for the Armed Forces of the Empire of the United States are just as alien and repugnant as those who merely "support" the Empire's goals and actions.
This is not something that stems from some shameful prejudice, but from our fundamental ideals and concepts of a better World Society.
I think an Honest Opinion can be respected, even by those "so-scary weirdo inhumans" on the socio-political "right" that we tend to hate on.
And respect from our fellow People is something we are in need of.
Have fun being more honest with yourselves, kids.
Then find a Ron Paul supporter with a hefty arsenal- and make friends.
And have fun with that too.
Remember, this ride is supposed to be FUN.
-matti.
At some point, do some research on just where and how many US military bases occupy our planet...
Even in the US, in Colorado and New Mexico, a large chunk of these states are being "seized" for Military war games...when will it stop?...not until they've got it all....eminent domain
Viewing the world as "imaginary" and "fictional" is the way these creatures are. It's called Military Intelligence afterall.
Hmmm, this is the first crack of an egg?
The question of US military bases is very simple. Less area and fewer bases, not more. Next question.
How degrading. The military's use of the words "imaginary" and "fictional" is just their way of discrediting these citizens.
I bet if those citizens were armed or started to launch a guerilla war, they wouldn't be seen as imaginary.
"TheLorax June 12th, 2008 2:37 pm
Just as the Africans were forced into slavery.
Just as the Indians were relocated to worthless land.
Just as the Jews were persecuted and imprisoned.
Just as the Ethnic Albanians were slaughtered.
So will it be with us.
The Broom of Fascism sweeps across humanity and will eventually sweep us away as well."
'Nuff said. If you don't stand up for me, there will be no one left to stand up for you.
Just as the Africans were forced into slavery.
Just as the Indians were relocated to worthless land.
Just as the Jews were persecuted and imprisoned.
Just as the Ethnic Albanians were slaughtered.
So will it be with us.
The Broom of Fascism sweeps across humanity and will eventually sweep us away as well.
If you read the history of American and the American revolution, the US Military is now playing the role of the Redcoats.
I'm sure King George III had a similar reaction to the founding fathers issuing their Declaration of Independence.
Also, the fighting at Lexington and Concorde was essentially in a very similar situation. The British Parliment had passed what was known as the Punitive Acts following the Boston Tea Party. One of these, I believe known as the Massachusetts Act had the effect of dissolving the citizen-based governments that existed in the MA colony at the time.
In response, the citizens essentially overthrew the new Royal-based government that was attempting to take its place. When the royal appointees tried to arrive in the MA towns outside of Boston and take power, they were met by thousands of citizens who refused to submit to this government and who demanding that these Royal appointees publicly resign these appointments in front of them.
The citizens of MA knew that this was essentially an act of rebellion, so they also started collectiing muskets and gunpowder and organizing militias for their defense. The following spring, the British General in Boston sent out his troops to break up these militias and seizes these stores of muskets and gunpowder. The local militias responded to the emergency calls that went out about this Redcoat mission, and met the Redcoats at the towns of Lexington and Concorde.
Today, in America, the Torries have won and the US military now serves the same functions as the Redcoats. We even have our own version of the Hessian mercenaries that King George hired in Blackwater, Dyncorp et al.
Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry and the rest of our Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves.
We need to make the entire world a land of peace.
Peace is the majority movement on this planet.
"A declaration of an imaginary country by people who are illegally residing within the borders of a military area and adopting a set of fictional rules will not change our attitude toward the activists,"
they should have added the proviso..." unless they have a large military force to back them up...hang on a minute...you can allmost...allmost mind...imagine one or two Iraqi's and Afghan's musing on the same point...er....erm...yes ok...i'll get me coat..