On Sun.,
September 29 from 3 to 5 PM, hear from five members of the Kings Bay
Plowshares, Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill at Holyrood Episcopal Church, 715 W
179th St., NYC 10033. The Plowshares are scheduled for trial on October
21 in Brunswick, GA. See https://www.facebook.com/events/2131554446950009/.
Sacrifice of anti-nuclear protesters in Georgia jail will not be
forgotten
BALTIMORE
SUN |
SEP 10, 2019 | 9:34
AM
Anti-war activist Elizabeth McAlister is pictured at Jonah House. She
is the widow of Philip Berrigan, the recognized leader of the group of Catholic
antiwar activists who came to be known as the Catonsville Nine. (ALGERINA
PERNA/Baltimore Sun)
It has been a long time since Elizabeth McAlister and six other
Catholic activists were arrested on April 4, 2018 while engaging in a
disarmament action aimed at educating the populace that we are on the eve of
nuclear destruction. So it was wonderful to read about her in her hometown
newspaper (“Activist with
Baltimore roots languishes in Georgia jail,” Sept. 6).
As the author Patrick O’Neill, one of the Kings Bay Plowshares,
suggested, many of the younger readers will not be aware of the remarkable work
of Ms. McAlister and her husband Philip Berrigan. And that is all the more
reason to publish this commentary. Despite the circumstances, being
incarcerated in “a miserable Southern jail” since the arrest, Elizabeth, I’m
sure, is mentoring the other prisoners.
Moreover, like so many jails across this country, the Glynn County
Jail is largely populated by “poor people, the mentally ill and those with
addictions.” And rehabilitation is a foreign word.
Of course, the use of nuclear weapons could end life as we know it on
Mother Earth. However, the U.S. nuclear arsenal is also a theft from the poor.
The government is refurbishing these weapons at an estimated cost of over $1
trillion. I am sure officials at the Glynn County Jail would say that they do
not have the funding to provide three meals a day to the prisoners. Imagine if
our legislators listened to the Plowshares and abolished the nuclear arsenal
and used those tax dollars instead for funding much-needed social services —
anti-poverty programs, educational needs, environmental projects, homelessness
elimination and Medicare and Medicaid.
In October, I will travel to Georgia to support these disarmament
activists. It is the least I can do for the three in jail and the four wearing
ankle monitors. The seven are all savvy peace and justice advocates so they
well know that their sacrifice will not be rewarded by the judge or the
prosecutor and probably not by the jury. Nevertheless, I and others know that
the Plowshares are on the right side of the law.
Max Obuszewski, Baltimore
Baltimore-bred activist Liz McAlister is relentless and courageous
BALTIMORE
SUN |
SEP 10, 2019 | 9:59
AM
A South Korean protester holds a card during a rally to oppose end of
the Korean War declaration in the upcoming summit between U.S. President Donald
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, South
Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019. Kim's armored limousine, surrounded by his
phalanx of burly bodyguards, rolled into Vietnam's capital Tuesday ahead of
summit with Trump that's meant to deal with perhaps the world's biggest
security challenge: His pursuit of a nuclear program that stands on the verge
of viably threatening any target on the planet. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
Patrick O’Neil’s account (“Activist with
Baltimore roots languishes in Georgia jail,” Sept. 8) of Liz McAlister’s
selfless commitment to ridding the world of nuclear weapons is a story of
tremendous personal sacrifice. There are the horrible conditions that she has
had to live under in jail, but also the tortuous passing of more than 500 days
without being able to embrace her beloved grandchildren, watch them grow, calm
their fears and give them comfort other than by her deeds which sing of faith
and hope.
Her crime was a non-violent symbolic disarming of the major base of
Trident submarines that possess enough nuclear weapons to end life on our
planet. As a mother and grandmother, I am aware that at any moment by accident
or impulse the nuclear weapons could fly and our grandchildren ‘s future wiped
out. How grateful I am to Liz McAlister for what she has done for all of the
world’s children. Those who fund and plan nuclear war are the criminals and we
who say nothing are culpable as well.
Dr. Gwen L. DuBois
The writer is a member of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Copyright © 2019 by Baltimore Sun. All rights reserved.
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center,
325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email:
mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the
subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain
and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and
everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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