By World BEYOND War, September 14, 2024
We like to keep up with our past War Abolisher Award laureates. Here’s a new report from Susan Crane from Koblenz Prison:
I continue to be held, along with fellow nuclear resister Susan van der Hijden, in a German prison for demonstrating against the U.S. nuclear weapons that are illegally deployed at the Büchel air base, a German military base in Rhineland Pfalz. My out date is January 18, 2025.
Another American who has spent time in a German prison for nonviolent actions at Büchel air base, 82-year-old Dennis DuVall, has resided for years in Radeberg, Germany with his wife Michelle. Germany is now planning to expel him at the end of October, describing his nuclear resistance as a serious threat to security and public order. He invites people to support his fight to remain in Germany by writing letters to an immigration official. The name, address, and more information are here.
The peace community that I’m in touch with in Germany is concerned about the decisions that were made at the July 2024 NATO summit in Washington, D.C. At the end of the NATO summit, it was announced that mid-range Tomahawk cruise missiles would be deployed in Germany, as well as long-range hypersonic (Dark Eagle) missiles. Additionally, a military base in Wiesbaden will become a new NATO command center that will host the U.S. weapons and will coordinate arms deliveries and train people in the Ukrainian military.
There is also talk of the European Union getting its own nuclear weapons, and many peace groups want to focus on stopping this idea from being funded or explored further.
The German activists have shared leaflets and pictures from their vigils, demonstrations and workshops that are focused on nonviolence and disarmament, the need for lessening GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions and talking about what real security is.
The prison where I am being held allows me to work outside the prison, and have a few hours of outside “free time” during the week. It is all very controlled, with a myriad of rules and organized by the minute. Pastor Stahl, a Superintendent from the Evangelical Church Community, has arranged with the prison for me to work at the Martin Luther Church. I am doing some landscaping and other projects of interest to me.
I have met many people at the church who have seen war, or their families have lived through wars, and they say, there is no use for war: it just kills people and destroys buildings. The governments need to just stop.
Some folks have written to me about wanting peace, and wondering if we will ever get to it. Of course, we know peace doesn’t just happen, there has to be some sort of just relationship first. Subjugation and oppression can create something that might look like peace (like in a prison), but it isn’t peace. Isaiah said it well: “The fruit of justice is peace.” (Isaiah 32:17)
Security and peace are not the fruits of war. There has never been a “just“ war. The only “winners” in war are the war industries around the world.
The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) has made a report, Climate Crossfire, that shows the parallel between global military spending and accelerated climate breakdown. Increased military spending increases GHG emissions and diverts money from climate adaptation and mitigation.
Treating our near and far neighbors fairly with justice would mean treating everyone with dignity and sharing what we have. It would mean addressing the problems resulting from climate change, which have affected the poorer nations to a greater degree than the more industrialized nations, while the more industrialized nations have added more to the GHG emissions than less industrialized nations. It would mean not impoverishing nations by endless debt, stealing their resources, and undercutting local industries by various corporate maneuvers that benefit the richer nations.
Susan van der Hijden and I have been able to go to a few demonstrations in our free time: Hiroshima Remembrance Day, when we held a simple paper banner at the train station, a Christopher Street Pride demo which was very much anti-fascist, and a rally with Omas Gegen Rechts (Grandmas Against the Right, i.e. the fascists). The next bannering occasion will be to welcome Susan van der Hijden out of prison on Thursday, September 26. Needless to say, I will miss her very much: her steadfast, thoughtful manner, her humor, and her companionship.
I am able to be here because of the support I have from Chris Danowski and other German activists, from Felice and Jack at the Nuclear Resister, and especially from Larry Purcell and the dedicated cadre of retired nurses who are making extra efforts to sustain the hospitality work at the Redwood City, California Catholic Worker.
