Wellington anti-war solidarity for Joe Glenton

About a dozen members of Peace Action Wellington and the Workers Party held a solidarity picket outside of the British Embassy at lunchtime today in support of Joe Glenton, a Lance Corporal in the British Army who has been arrested for refusing to serve in Afghanistan.

Glenton was arrested and is being held on 5 charges. London's Daily Mail reports that he already has been charged with desertion, but now is facing five new offences for protesting. The new charges could mean a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The solidarity picket was approached by Embassy security who said that, ‘it was fine to have a picket but that if anyone was taking photographs, there could be problems.’ Clearly this person thinks he is in London; severe new laws in the UK have made it an offence to photograph ‘sensitive’ infrastructure and people including military buildings and police officers under the guise of ‘fighting terrorism’.

The British public is turning against the now 8-year old occupation of Afghanistan; polls there register 60% in opposition to the war. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, about half of the population has said it is opposed to the deployment of the SAS troops. In contrast to that, there has been considerable public support for the so-called ‘reconstruction’ team in Bamiyan province. A well-crafted propaganda campaign has cemented public support for this deployment - that is until the recent Afghani elections when the world became much more conscious of the corrupt regime that the NZ PRT is helping to prop-up. Organisations such as the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan have said that the  ‘so-called ‘new’ strategy of Obama’s administration and the surge of troops in Afghanistan have already dragged our ill-fated people in the danger zone and his government proved itself as much more war-mongering than Bush and his only gifts to our people is hiking killings and ever-horrifying oppression.’ RAWA has called for the eviction of the military occupation and its fundamentalist lackeys.

The solidarity picket continued down on Lambton Quay and there was considerable public support and interest in anti-war actions. Peace Action Wellington will be back out on the streets on Sunday 13 December from 10-1 at the corner of Willis Street and Abel Smith Street agitating for an end to New Zealand’s involvement in the war.

To offer solidarity to Joe, please email him at: joeisinnocent@hotmail.co.uk

For more information about anti-war actions, email peacewellington@hotmail.com

For more information about the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan visit http://www.rawa.org