In the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 3, nonviolent resisters continued the on-going campaign of resistance to war at Alliant Tech in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four people were arrested for crossing onto Alliant’s property to seek an end to the making of weapons by Alliant. The four included members of Anathoth Community Farm in Luck, Wisconsin and of the Winona Catholic Worker community in Winona, Minnesota.

by Arundhati Roy

This is an edited extract from the 2004 Sydney Peace Prize lecture delivered by Arundhati Roy at the Seymour Center last night.

Sometimes there’s truth in old cliches. There can be no real peace without justice. And without resistance there will be no justice. Today, it is not merely justice itself, but the idea of justice that is under attack.

The assault on vulnerable, fragile sections of society is so complete, so cruel and so clever that its sheer audacity has eroded our definition of justice. It has forced us to lower our sights, and curtail our expectations. Even among the well-intentioned, the magnificent concept of justice is gradually being substituted with the reduced, far more fragile discourse of “human rights”.

Note: The STARC Armory is in Johnston, Iowa and is the Headquarters of the Iowa National Guard and is also known as Iowa’s Pentagon Building.

Thirty five people showed up for the STARC Armory Election Day, “Vote With Your Feet” Anti-War Rally and Nonviolent Direct Action. After a few short talks and cheers by the Radical Cheer Leaders, eleven demonstrators, nine adult and two high school students walled hand in hand across the road to the main gate of the Armory.

The Armory gate was closed and large cement road blockers were placed behind the gate. Protesters used a step ladder to climb over the fence, stepped on the cement road blockers onto Armory property. They were greeted by National Guard security people and Polk Co Sheriffs officers. All were hand cuffed and taken to police vans in the parking lot.

By Dahr Jamail

The flight from Jordan feels all too normal…until we arrive over Baghdad International Airport. The nose of the plane dips, the left wing drops and the downward spiral begins-dropping us 4,000 feet per minute into the inferno that is occupied Iraq.

Rather than an in-flight magazine, a lonely card is available to read in the seat pocket. It begins with:

“For those of you who have not traveled with us before, you need to be aware that, for your security and safety, and not for your comfort, we do a spiral decent into Baghdad. This is carried out to avoid any risk from anti-aircraft missiles or small arms fire…”

By Dahr Jamail

“The marines that have been killed over the last 5 months have been killed by a faceless enemy. The enemy there has a face, and it’s called Satan, and it lives in Falluja.”

These are the words of US Marine Colonel Gary Brandl, as he speaks of the imminent attack on Falluja. Who says this isn’t a holy war?