A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

actions against war memorials

~ | 13.11.2003 11:16 | Anti-militarism

Cambridge:

A WAR veteran said he felt sick after an "outrageous" act of vandalism
tarnished a Remembrance Day ceremony.

"Vandals sprayed images of monkeys on to the war memorial in Station Road,
Cambridge, just hours before the ceremony at 11am this morning.

Remembrance crosses placed at the foot of the memorial were also defaced
with messages such as "Stop All Wars".

The city council's graffiti team tried to remove the images from the statue
before the ceremony without success.

Jack Hunter, a member of the Cambridge Royal British Legion and county
secretary, said: "I feel so disgusted and sick - there are just no words to
describe how bad I actually feel."

Luke Davies, 42, from Hartington Grove, was walking to work this morning
when he noticed that the memorial had been vandalised.

He said: "I was really shocked when I saw what had happened to it,
especially given the day. The poppy wreaths are there every year for months
before Remembrance Day and I have always been impressed that they are never
touched and are treated with respect.

"I have been walking past there on my way to work for seven years and never
seen anything like this before," he added.

A police spokesman said: "At this stage we have no idea who the perpetrators
are but this is an outrageous act of vandalism, particularly on a day as
significant as today when millions of people are remembering those who died
in conflict.

"We will be thoroughly investigating the incident to try and catch those
responsible for this act."

Graham Watts, director of city services, said: "We are as anxious as anyone
to get rid of this offensive graffiti but we don't want to damage the stone
in the process as the paint is embedded in it.

"We are currently discussing how best to remove it with a stonemasons
company."

* A paint attack on headstones in a village churchyard and abusive comments
about the vicar on a church door have "appalled" police.

Early on Remembrance Sunday, officers found brown paint thrown over
headstones in Ellington churchyard and the offensive message scrawled on the
rear door of the church.

Pc Jason Cobb, of Huntingdon community action team, said: "It is an
appalling thing to happen. This is a small village with a very low crime
rate and something like this is totally out of character."

Source: Cambridge Evening News. 11.11.2003.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Helensburgh:

The News of the World reports that a Scots war memorial is being guarded around the clock after it was attacked by mindless yobs for the sixth time this year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3254521.stm

Comments

Hide the following 11 comments

pathetic scum

13.11.2003 11:54

Vandalising a war memorial as a 'protest' is too sick for words. They're monuments to the loss and suffering that wars cause.

Last week in Aylesbury, someone tried to kill a 79 year old poppy seller with a hammer - for the crime of trying to raise money to help people maimed and disabled by war.

What's the logic behind it? Are these people too cowardly to protest against what's going on today, so they choose to piss on the dead instead?

LLM

But militaristic !

13.11.2003 12:45

"They're monuments to the loss and suffering that wars cause."

Well, they remain strong militaristic symbols, though. They are sorry
for the dead, but they don't condemn war, they glorify it ("our heroes!")
Also, they don't care much about civilian casualties, only the military
ones.

Even though I do think targetting war memorials is very insensitive towards
people who might have lost close relatives at war. If protests should be
on that day, Counter ceremonies, remembering ALL victims (not just soldiers)
of wars, and explicitly condemning war, seems like a more sensitive idea
to me. But hey, what do I know.

srfds

etg

War memorials are propaganda

13.11.2003 13:18

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/04/64386.html

My bad...

13.11.2003 14:54

Absolutely, a long list of dead men is a great advert for war. Vandalising memorials is of course a great idea and one that will gain widespread sympathy for any cause. The scum that died in the unwarranted aggression against the third reich deserve only our contempt.

LLM

Come on, can't you all spot a "security" troll?

13.11.2003 15:58

Isn't it obvious where posts like this come from?

(Well said by the way LLM)

The spooks are hyperactive at the moment ....

Ghost Buster

"they glorify it " - fuck off

13.11.2003 16:01

sorry. i totally disagree. they make people cry you'll find.

putting a monkey on one is fucking stupid and disrespectful, no matter your opinion of the relevance of the statue thing, but disrespecting the poor bastards killed for no fucking reason (WW1, war for upper class knobbers fun).

totally fucking stupid. so many other targets out there.

NO WAR BUT THE CLASS WAR

14.11.2003 11:25

If you think World War II was fought for freedom think again: What about all the civilians who died in the bombing of Dresden, Hanburg, Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki! What about the millions of Soviet prisoners of war forcibly returned to the Soviet Union who were then shot or sent to slave labour camps for the "crime" of surrendering. What about Britain stealing of all the food from West Bengal in India to give to the British army whichresulted in two million Indians starving to death. What about the 14 million ethnic German civilians forced out of eastern Europe after the war which resulted in hundreds of thousands of them dying of disease and starvation.
WE ARE THE INTERNATIONAL WORKING CLASS WE HAVE NO COUNTRY! OUR ENEMY IS AT HOME THE RULING CLASS! NO WAR BUT THE CLASS WAR!

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9482/

Class warrior

WW what?

14.11.2003 16:10

In order....

1. The second world war wasn't a question a "good" against "bad"
It was (as many other wars) the result of international
relations based purely on militarism.
2. A murderer is a mureder no matter how right he thinks his
cause is.
3. Yes, war memorials glorify war. They might make people cry,
but at the end of the day the message is still of the "utlimate
sacrifice for the nation", "protecting your country", etc. All
fucking nationalistic and militaristic bullshit.

etg

okay but look

14.11.2003 16:22

Whatever your view of war memorials as such, surely no anti-war activist would ever actually deface one? That'd be pointlessly offensive, which (I trust) isn't our style.

Strikes me it's just the sort of thing (like hating Americans) that spooky pro-war types would love to pin on us / sucker us into.

kurious

It's wrong

14.11.2003 19:30

I find this completely wrong.

A war memorial isn't a glorification of war, it is simply a memorial for all the people who died fighting it. Most soldiers join up and accept the danger of dying but also accept the responsibility of protecting our nation. Surely they are also innocent if they are sent off by their superiors to fight for a bad cause. There were plenty of civilians who condoned the recent war, misguided and misinformed about it by propaganda. Surely you don't think our armed forces are suubjected to the same amount or less propaganda?

In any war the soldiers are victims as well.

A war memorial is what you see in it. You can see it as a fitting tribute to the people who died for their country. you could see it as an offensive glorification of the evils of war.

Or you could see it as a reminder of how deadly wars can be. You can point them out to your children and show them how many people from any particular small area died. You can point out to them that everywhere you go has a war memorial. Towns, villages, cities, schools, Town Halls, local greens. They're everywhere. If that doesn't show how bad war can be then what would?

Afinkawan

"They Promised Us A Land Fit For Heroes, and Gave Us War Memorials"

14.11.2003 20:13

Many old soldiers were very angry when the Cenotaph was built.
What percentage of the homeless in London today are ex-services?
They were bled and now are dumped.

We should be dumping Blair.

Ilyan

UK Indymedia