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Sea-dogs for peace

Sea-dogs for peace. An overview of nonviolent maritime intervention in pursuit of peace and justice November 2012. Mavi Marmara – Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, May 2010. An Israeli naval vessel patrols beside one of six ships bound for Gaza. .

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Sea-dogs for peace

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  1. Sea-dogs for peace An overview of nonviolent maritime intervention in pursuit of peace and justice November 2012

  2. Mavi Marmara – Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, May 2010 An Israeli naval vessel patrols beside one of six ships bound for Gaza.  Crowds at the funeral of one of the Turkish victims of the Gaza flotilla raid, at the Beyazit mosque in Istanbul.

  3. Nonviolent maritime intervention – a definition Forms of nonviolent direct action involving some type of water-borne activityintended to bring about a change in a particular situation and related activities considered to be threatening to the well-being of particular populations.

  4. Types of nonviolent maritime intervention • 1. Land-based actions targeting sea-going vessels in order to draw attention to a particular issue, mobilise constituencies of support and have a direct impact on the issue itself. • 2. Intercession: voyagesintendingto disrupt /stop aparticularpracticeof international concern bysailingintoaspecific zone where the activity is taking place, and in the process drawattentiontothe issueofconcern. • 3.Mobilisation and persuasion:voyageswheretheaimistodrawattentiontoagrievanceofinternationalconcernandtomobilisepeopletoactinresponsetothatconcern.Whereasthistypeofinterventionshareswithintercessionary voyages theaimofdrawingattentiontoaparticularissueandmobilisingconstituenciesaroundit,suchactionsdiffer insofar as they arenotintendedto interrupt or bring a halt to aparticularpracticeorprocessbytheactofsailingintoaparticulararea. • 4.Humanitarian:voyagesintendedtodeliveraidandsupporttothosesufferingfrominjusticeandviolence. • 5.Reconciliation: voyagesintendedtopromotebridge-buildingbetweenthosedividedbydestructiveconflictandviolence.

  5. 1: Locally-based actions targeting sea-going vessels (i) Actions by organised labour and trade unions

  6. Chinese ambassador to Australia unveiling Dalfram dispute memorial plaque, Port Kembla, December 2006

  7. Australian maritime unions protest Vietnam War

  8. 1: Locally-based actions targeting sea-going vessels (ii) Local actions by activist groups targeting sea-going vessels

  9. Committee for Nonviolent Action activist climbs aboard newly launched nuclear submarine, Ethan Allen, 22nd November 1960 (Groton, Connecticut)

  10. Polaris Action Committee activists attempt to impede docking of US Polaris submarine, Holy Loch, Scotland, 1961

  11. Kayaks used to attempt entry to Faslane nuclear submarine base, Scotland (4th July 2005)

  12. Attempt to prevent arms-laden Pakistani freighter from docking, Baltimore, USA (July 1971)

  13. 2. Intercession • Voyages intended to intervene directly in order to disrupt and otherwise frustrate activities deemed to be harmful and threatening to well-being. • By intervening directly activists seek to highlight the issues of concern and mobilise others to take action.

  14. Targeting nuclear weapon testing in the Pacific 1957-58

  15. Earle Reynolds & Phoenix of Hiroshima

  16. Don’t Make a Wave Committee, 1971 voyage to Amchitka (Alaska) aboard Phyllis Cormack

  17. The early days of Greenpeace – the voyage of Greenpeace III

  18. Greenpeace III about to be rammed by French naval vessel, Pacific Ocean, July 1972

  19. ‘Save the whale’: Greenpeace in mid- 1970s

  20. Sea Shepherd – sunk 10 ships since 1978

  21. Greenpeace International: From amateur dramatics to large-scale productions – the occupation of Brent Spar oil-storage buoy (1995)

  22. 3.Mobilisationandpersuasion Voyageswheretheaimistodrawattentiontoagrievanceofinternationalconcernandtomobilisepeopletoactinresponsetothatconcern.

  23. Palestinian Boat of Return sabotaged, Limassol Harbour, February 1988 [Shayetet 13], the Israeli naval commando unit that intercepted the Gaza Freedom flotilla, is one of the country’s elite military formations. … It is known to have been involved in numerous clandestine seaborne operations …. It was also involved in a curious foreshadowing of the Gaza incident in February 1988, when Flotilla 13 is reported to have sabotaged an attempt by the PLO to highlight the issue of Palestinian refugees by sailing a ship to an Israeli port, forcing Israel either to sink it or board it or let it land the refugees. The night before the vessel, al-Awda (”The Return”) was due to sail, it was blown up and sunk in Limassol harbour, Cyprus — with no loss of life or political embarrassment. The Guardian, 31st May 2010

  24. Lusitania Expresso: Voyage to East Timor, 1992

  25. Flotilla of Hope to Nauru, 2004

  26. 4.Humanitarian Voyagesintendedtodeliveraidandsupporttothosesufferingfrominjusticeandviolence.

  27. Evacuation & resettlement of inhabitants of radiation contaminated South Pacific atoll, Rongelap, by Greenpeace, May 1985

  28. Estelle, Swedish ship to Gaza, October 2012

  29. 5. .Reconciliation: Voyagesintendedtopromotebridge-buildingbetweenthosedividedbydestructiveconflictandviolence.

  30. The Voice of Peace: 1973 - 1993 Name of ship: M/V Peace Position: Anchored 3 miles off the coast of Tel-Aviv Frequencies: 1540 kHz AM 100 Mhz FM

  31. The Peace Boat Peace Boat's first voyage was organized in 1983 by a group of Japanese university students as a creative response to government censorship regarding Japan's past military aggression in the Asia-Pacific. They chartered a ship to visit neighbouring countries with the aim of learning first-hand about the war from those who experienced it and initiating people-to-people exchange.

  32. Concluding observations • 1. Celebrate the tradition of nonviolent direct action – people who are moved to act directly on an issue rather than leave it to the politicians. (Bigelow: ‘I am going because I have to if I am to call myself a human being.’) • 2. Through their prophetic actions these ‘unbalanced people’ have frequently raised issues and touched chords that have resonated with wider constituencies. • 3. In general we can see that there has been a change over time – from small scale actions by committed activists/volunteers to larger scale operations. • 4. Much of the power of these interventions comes from the dramatic highlighting of a particular issue in a manner which provokes particular types of emotions in audiences that can mobilise them to action. In this regard modes of communication are central – and developments of communications technology have had a powerful impact on such actions. 50 years ago people had to rely on ship-to-shore radio, now they can send footage direct from the phone to the TV station. • 5. Is it possible to identify changing foci of concern – raises question of which issue will attract the attention of maritime activists in the future.

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