Seeds of Hope (shorted from Seeds of Hope East Timor Ploughshares Group,[1] but also referred to as the Ploughshares Four[2] or the Warton Four[3]) was a plowshares group of women who damaged a BAE Hawk warplane at the British Aerospace Warton Aerodrome site near Preston, England, in 1996.[4] The four were part of a larger group of 10 who that planned the action.[5] Their aim was to stop the aircraft being exported to the Indonesian military, for use in the illegally occupied country of East Timor. They left a video and booklet in the cockpit of the aircraft in order to explain their motivation.[6]

Direct action

On the 29 January 1996, Andrea Needham, Joanna Wilson and Lotta Kronlid broke into BAE's Warton Aerodrome at Warton, and caused somewhere in the range of £1.4m,[7] £1.5m,[8] £1.7m,[9] £2m,[5] £2.4,[10] and £2.5m[8] worth of damage to Hawk tail number ZH955. Damage was focused on components and sections related to weapons and targeting.[11] A warplane that was to have been supplied, along with 23 others, to the New Order regime of Indonesia[6] as part of a £500 million deal.[12] In the tradition of plowshares actions, they stayed at the site intending to wait until they were found by security, however instead they had to call security using a phone in the hanger due to their presence remaining unnoticed. They were arrested for criminal damage and conspiracy to commit criminal damage. A week later, a fourth woman, Angie Zelter, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy after stating she planned to do the same.[13] The four spent six months on Remand in HMP Risley before coming to a seven day trial in Liverpool Crown Court in July 1996.[14] The action was the 56th ploughshares action and the group called it "Seeds of Hope - East Timor Ploughshares - Women Disarming for Life and Justice".[8]

Trial

Accused of causing, and conspiring to cause, criminal damage, with a maximum ten-year sentence, they plead not guilty arguing that what they did was not a crime but that they "were acting to prevent British Aerospace and the British Government from aiding and abetting genocide",[6][15] referring to the one taking place in East Timor. They were found not guilty of criminal damage at Liverpool Crown Court, after a jury deemed their action was reasonable under the Genocide Act 1969.[16] This made it the first Ploughshares actions to result in a not guilty verdict.[17]

Recognition and Awards

In recognition of the group's action they were award the Seán MacBride Peace Prize by the International Peace Bureau in 1997.[18]

As well as being awarded the Order of Timor-Leste by the government of Timor-Leste in August 2019.[19]

In 1998 a 26 minute documentary called "Seeds of Hope" directed by Neil Goodwin was released including interview of women involved in the action.[20][21]

Additionally two songs were written with the action and group as inspiration; "Four Strong Women" released in 1996 by Maurie Mulheron[22] and "With my Hammer" by Seize the Day and Shannon Smy.[23]

A book called "The Hammer Blow: How 10 Women Disarmed a Warplane" recounting the action was written by Andrea Needham and published by Peace News in 2016.[24]

In 1997 Angie Zelter went on to be one of the original six core members of the Trident Ploughshares.[25]

The 29 January 2017 attempt to disarm Typhoon fighter jets though to be destined for the Royal Saudi Air Force and therefore to be used in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen[26] by Sam Walton and Methodist minister Dan Woodhouse was "a contination" of the Seeds of Hope action, with a direct parallel in the action, its goal and its reasoning, the pleading of not guilty at the trail and the actual use of one of the hammers used by a member of the Seeds of Hope group.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER CALLS FOR UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE IN EAST TIMOR". United Nations. 1997-06-16. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  2. ↑ O'Shaughnessy, Hugh (1996-07-30). "pounds 1.5m Hawk attack women freed". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  3. ↑ Kempster, Tony; Gilmurray, Sue. "SONGS WITH 'AN ATTITUDE' ABOUT WAR AND INJUSTICE" (PDF). Abolish War. Movement for the Abolition of War. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  4. ↑ Gregory M. Maney, ed. (2012). Strategies for Social Change. University of Minnesota Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0816672899.
  5. 1 2 Needham, Andrea (2016-07-01). "When petitions and protests aren't enough: what next?". New Internationalist. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  6. 1 2 3 "The FOUR PLOUGHSHARERS "DISARMING FOR LIFE AND JUSTICE"" (PDF). Pax Christi. London. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  7. ↑ Kollerstrom, Nick; Haywood, Ted, eds. (1996). "Hammer of Justice - A British Ploughshares' Action". Journal for International Law and Peace. 2 (1).
  8. 1 2 3 Zelter, Angie (2004). "Civil Society and Global Responsibility: the Arms Trade and East Timor". International Relations. 18 (1): 126. doi:10.1177/0047117804041745 – via Sage Journals.
  9. ↑ Crossley, James (2014). Harnessing Chaos: The Bible in English Political Discourse Since 1968. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 9780567655509.
  10. ↑ Hallam, Roger (2019). Common Sense for the 21st Century: Only Nonviolent Rebellion Can Now Stop Climate Breakdown and Social Collapse. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 9781645020004.
  11. ↑ "Update". New Internationalist. 1996-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  12. ↑ Goodwin, Neil (1996). "Disarming Women" (PDF). Squall Magazine. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  13. ↑ Monbiot, George (1996-07-30). "Hawks and Doves". monbiot. Guardian. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  14. ↑ Rogers, Paul (2016-01-28). "Disarming war: the Hawk Ploughshares story". Open Democracy. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  15. ↑ "PLOUGHSHARES WOMEN FREED". Institute for Law and Peace. 1996. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  16. ↑ Campaigners face jail for raid on military jet - Home News, UK - The Independent
  17. ↑ Tri-denting It Handbook (3rd ed.). Trident Ploughshares. 2001. p. 9.
  18. ↑ "Sean MacBride Peace Prize | IPB - International Peace Bureau". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  19. ↑ "Timor-Leste Honored President Bill Clinton". ETAN. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  20. ↑ "Seeds of Hope (1998)". Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  21. ↑ O’Reilly, Ciaron. "Vale Max Stahl". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  22. ↑ "Four Strong Women". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  23. ↑ Bonetree, Clare (2019-02-07). "Finding the courage to hope". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  24. ↑ "The Hammer Blow: How 10 Women Disarmed A Warplane". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  25. ↑ "Angie Zelter". Hrant Dink. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  26. ↑ "Activists try to stop warplanes leaving UK bound for Saudi Arabia". The Guardian. 2017-01-29.
  27. ↑ Walker, Peter (2017-02-01). "British Quaker 'prepared for jail' after allegedly trying to disarm Saudi Arabia-bound fighter jet". Independent.co.uk.
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