Tag: drones

Peace Activist Kathy Kelly (left) with Nuria Mustafa (centre) and Jack Hynes (right) at Afri's 2003 Famine Walk in Mayo. — Peace Activist Kathy Kelly (left) with Nuria Mustafa (centre) and Jack Hynes (right) at Afri’s 2003 Famine Walk in Mayo. Photo: Derek Speirs

Former speaker at Féile Bríde, Kathy Kelly has just begun a 3-month prison term, having been arrested when she went to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the commander of Whiteman Air Force base Missouri, which operates drones over Afghanistan.

Here is an update from Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the organisation of which Kathy is the Co-ordinator:-

Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kathy Kelly will turn herself in to the federal prison camp in Lexington, KY on Friday, January 23. She will begin serving a three-month sentence for her June 1, 2014 protest of drone killings at Whiteman Air Force Base, in Missouri.

Kelly asserts that drone warfare jeopardizes the security of ordinary people and that the U.S. Constitution protects her right to assemble peaceably for redress of grievance. She was arrested when she went with Georgia Walker and other activists to the gates of Whiteman Air Force Base to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the commander of the base, which operates drones over Afghanistan. At her trial in December, Federal Magistrate Matt Whitworth found her guilty and sentenced her to three months. Continue reading “Kathy Kelly Imprisoned after Delivering Bread and Letter to U.S. Military Base” →

Afri Intern, Ali Hanaf, wearing a "Fly Kites, Not Drones" t-shirt — Afri Intern, Ali Hanaf, wearing a “Fly Kites, Not Drones” t-shirt

Afri was privileged to host a meeting of Voices for Creative Nonviolence members Maya Evans and Ewa Jasiewicz in Dublin last evening. Maya and Ewa were part of a peace delegation to Kabul, where they lived and worked with the Afghan peace volunteers. They gave unique eye witness accounts of the experience of people in Afghanistan from a grassroots perspective, based on their time spent with refugees, street children, widows, activists and civil society groups. Though disturbing in its content, it is very important to hear these perspectives – rarely heard in our mainstream media. They outlined the utter devastation caused by the US led war and its impact on people and the environment. They also gave eye-witness accounts of people and families torn apart as a result of assassination by drones. One of their creative nonviolent responses is a campaign entitled “Fly Kites, Not Drones”. Kite-flying is a national pastime in Afghanistan, but nowadays, unfortunately, when children look towards the skies in Afghanistan they sometimes see death-dealing drones, rather than dancing, colourful kites. Our photo shows Afri intern, Ali Hanaf, wearing one of the “Fly Kites, Not Drones” t-shirts.

Report by Afri Co-ordinator Joe Murray