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- --SIt ins and blockades
--tax refusal
--organising and working to fill the needs of the real Tribal Park: building
cabins, the longhouse, campsites, clearing brush and trails, cooking for
others
--organising education, donations of food and funds, and support in other
areas
Civil disobedience is violation of a law or court order, generally perceived
as unjust, for the sake of conscience and to further truth and justice.
--it is c iv i I disobedience, employing all of the principles, ways and
discipline of nonviolence
--civil disobedience is one form of nonviolence in action. A bombing may
violate the law, but it is not civil disobedience. Some destruction of property
may involve in-between, grey areas, such as spiking of trees; others may be
completely nonviolent, such as removal of survey numbers, ribbons and tree
markings
--one's physical stance and body language are of primary importance. One
needs to convey the sense of common cause, of respect for and of reaching out
to our opponents
--civil disobedience involves acceptance for and expectation of arrest,
but not the willingness to participate in lll]ustice
Expressions of nonviolence can be found in all religions--it is the
practical way of applying the dream of a peaceful future in a whole world
now. Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are
well-known leaders of nonviolent action and civil disobedience. We draw
much inspiration from the nonviolent struggles of the Chipko tree huggers
protecting the Silent Valley of the Himalayas and the Australian activists
protecting the Daintree wilderness and blockading the Franklin River--1247
arrests!
"Civil disobedience should properly be called considerate disobedience. The
word civil in the phrase means with civility, politeness, courtesy or
consideration. It is disobedience with loving-kindness. It is a deliberate act-undertaken
after careful and prayerful deliberation. It is not mere revolt
against authority"--Albert Bigelow who sailed the "Golden Rule" into the U.S.
atomic testing range in the south Pacific, 1954.
Arrest in the forests is not our intention. Large numbers in jail only serve
to tie up our resources and weaken our struggle. People in jail are not saving
the trees.
IWA union safety regulations prohibit persons in the vicinity of active
falling. You should therefore make your presence in the woods known to both
loggers and police by rescue whistle, air horn, singing Earth First! songs, etc.
Celebrate life! I
People in an affinity group of three or four should disperse into the forest
nearby, so that all are not apparent at anyone time. Each individual should
move extremely slowly out of the area when directed to move on by a police
officer. When an individual has left the area, another should become visible
to take their place. If one must choose between arrest and a tree being cut,
that decision must be left to one's conscience.
If you do not voluntarily accompany a police officer after he has told you
that you are under arrest, it will take a long time to carry you out of the woods
or disencumber you from chains and locks so you may also face an additional
charge of resisting arrest, although RCMP assured those arrested at Sulphur
Passage that refusing to walk will not be view as resisting arrest. If you do
move on, you will likely not be arrested and charged. The ultimate charge will
likely be contempt of court or possibly even conspiracy.
Nonviolent activists have in the past chosen noncooperation with the
legal system by refusing to give their names, refusing to accept bail or sign
for release, or by fasting in jail. Another option is simply to return to the
forests are quickly as possible, but those charged more than once will face a
heavier penalty.
REMEMBER: NONVIOLENCE WORKS!
C.J. Hinke & Victor Reinstein
SOCIETY PROTECTING INTACT KINETIC ECOSYSTEMS
Box 524, Tofino, British Columbia CANADA
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