Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
Two protests took place this morning against the weapons conference held at Te Papa, the national museum of Aotearoa/New Zealand in Wellington.
A bunch of activists visited the 2 hotels the delegates are staying at, the Duxton and the Museum Hotel, very early in the morning for a wake-up call. At around 3am protesters woke up the war profiteers. They used megaphone-sirens and banged water canisters to make as much noise as possible. The peace activists stayed at both places for several minutes and left before any security guards or police turned up.
At 8am protesters gathered outside Te Papa to ‘meet and greet’ the conference participants. Army personnel and company delegates started arriving soon after protesters got their loudhailer ready. The 20 people who were arrested during the protest yesterday have all been trespassed from Te Papa for two years. The morning protest today was held on the foot path outside the museum to avoid further arrests.
Shame on companies who are involved in the death trade. And shame on Te Papa for hosting a conference for war profiteers.
Comments
Shame on you
Shame on you for trying to impede the brave men and women who guarantee our security from foreign oppression.
You should all go and live in a Japanese prison camp.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
I don't think companies like Oscmar International that sell weapons to countries like Indonesia (who trained and armed militias that killed a brave NZ soldier) are particularly brave.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
They're brave enough to go to a conference, despite being threatened by a bunch of smelly hippies.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
fuckin awesome to hear good on ya all and good luck :) facing down a tank is pretty amazing must have been pretty scary, thanks for standing up to the murderers and the cops for all of us who couldnt be their.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
yes, i imagine many of our brave heroic soldiers are mortally frightened of clowns.
when was the last time the nz military had to protect "our security" from foreign oppression? the biggest threat to our security comes from "our" government and it's police force.
regardless, the arms manufacturers who attended this conference are hardly scrupulous. if a foreign army does invade aotearoa, you can bet your arse they do it using weapons they bought from these companies.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
right on smelly the clown!!!
smelly hippies will always have a place in my stinky heart!! :)
"Your weapons are phallac - all of them!"
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
Unfortunately conflict is a fact of life and so necessitates weapons. You guys should relax as I dont think we are going to be using them in any other means than peacekeeping - a worthwhile endeavour.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
You don't think, realist? The role of armed NZ troops in Afghanistan and Iraq has been of rather dubious "peacekeeping" value. But we're more worried about the other countries the conference attendees are selling to - specifically, anyone who'll pay. Conflict would be a lot less of a problem if the people involved weren't armed.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
Conflict is a fact of life?! How come I manage to wander around unarmed every day?
Armed conflict is created by a few thugs, politicians and neurotic weirdos that want to control everything. Most people feel no compulsion to go out and shoot each other, save in extreme circumstances formented by the aforementioned lunatics.
You are protected
You can wander around unarmed all day because there are armed organisations that protect you from crime and war.
These are the police and defence forces.
In your delusion, you think they are the cause of war and criome, when actually they are the cause of the peace that enables you to eat, sleep and protest.
Echoes of Kipling
You are protected
by real too:
"You can wander around unarmed all day because there are armed organisations that protect you from crime and war."
Quoting Kipling, George Orwell said, with some passion:
"it would be difficult to hit off the one eyed pacifisim of the English in fewer words than the phrase,"manking mock of uniforms that guard you when you sleep."
However, Orwell went right on to recognise the imperialist reality of the uniforms, noting that Kipling:
"does not see that the map is painted red chiefly in order that the coolie may be exploited."
That's what you have yet to recognise "real too."
Well done the protesters against the weapons conference.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
Dear "Realist" - what planet are you living on? Stop watching tv for fuck's sake. In the real world the only people that use weapons are those that want to enslave and empower us or just get us out of their way so they can take over. Conflict may be a fact of life. Destroying each other with massive weapons and brainwashed soldiers willing to die for leaders should not be. Are we trying to resolve conflict or just fight for leadership and claim over resources?
And I'm sorry but what crime and what war? Only things like that that we've experienced here in the past 60 years have come from bastard corporations, politicians and the police. And did I ask them to rule us? No, I don't think so.
Wake up "realist" and see the "real world" - not the one on tv prefabricated by those I mentioned above.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
"You can wander around unarmed all day because there are armed organisations that protect you from crime and war."
The only people that have ever pointed guns at me have been soldiers.
The only people that have ever injured me were police.
And on the two occasions I've had anything significant stolen (not counting taxes, profiting from my labour and other legal theft), once was by the police, and the other time was by people who posed as police in order to intimidate me.
So where's all this great protection?
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
Exactly. Those cringing apologists for state-funded violence need to kill the cop inside their head.
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
amen to that
Re: Wednesday morning protests against the weapons conference
Seems to me you need to set up some form of clownly barriers to stand behind so as not to impede public access to a public facility. Please see following diagram: xJ Lx