Hebron Journal: Stories of Nonviolent Peacemaking by Arthur G. Gish

Hebron Journal: Stories of Nonviolent Peacemakingby Anonymous

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February 19, 2003: Art Gish is an activist and farmer from Athens, Ohio, where he has been holding Peace Vigils every week for several decades. I met him several times while studying at Ohio University and doing community work in Southeast Ohio. His action in Feb. 2003 of using his body to successfully stop two tankers in Iraq is an inspiration. Below is an e-mail excerpt from Peggy Gish on Feb. 15, 2003 (Day of Global Civil Protest) about the banners they have been holding daily at civilian sites in Iraq: "Every day this week, the team has been having vigils across the street from the UN headquarters in the morning when the inspectors leave for their assignments. One day, one of the inspectors came over and thanked us, saying that our presence was a boost for their morale. After leaving the UN each day we went to a different civilian site (a water treatment plant, an electrical facility, a hospital, a bridge, a school) - all places which have been hit by bombs in the Gulf War - and held a press conference and put up a banner in Arabic and English which said, "To bomb this site, would be a war crime" and referring to Geneva Convention article 54. Our hope is also that people back home would go to similar sites locally and try to put up banners that say, "bombing sites like this in Iraq is a war crime." Tomorrow we will have a peace march, in solidarity, with those at home and around the world who are holding marches and rallies . . . "