On the 11th of June 2016, demonstrators under the banner “Stop Ramstein: No Drone Warfare” organized a variety of direct actions against the US Air Force base in Ramstein as well the global arms trade. The goals of the protesters were to exert political pressure on the government to change its foreign policy stance and to increase awareness on issues that surround it. According to the organizer’s website:
“Those that sow war, will reap refugees”
The demonstrator’s goal was to send a strong signal on this day as they are convinced that the majority of people in Germany do not want to be part of perpetual warfare. They deny the official justification coming from Berlin and NATO, that the US Air Force base in Ramstein successfully combats terrorism worldwide and ensures stability and security. They claim that such military bases have only served to increase tensions with nuclear armed states such as Russia and China and are fueling an arms race with them. Furthermore demonstrators link the “war on terror” with the rise of terrorism and refugees worldwide considering it a primary driver.
The activity which captured the demonstrators drive for peace was a symbolic gesture in the form a human chain, which stretched from Kindsbach over Landstuhl at the Airbase till the center of Ramstein. The organizers state that 5000 people took part in this protest while the police estimates between 2500 to 3000.
In this video, Noam Chomsky, Joseph Gerson and John Lindsay Poland talk about the US foreign policy apparatus that includes US military bases worldwide and the drone program.
All of these questions and more are addressed in this video:
The protest actions organized by “Campaign Stop Ramstein: No Drone Warfare” on the 11th of June 2016, took place in various locations and times:
The demonstration was officially opened at the central train station in Kaiserslautern by Oskar Lafonatine at 11 AM. Other speakers included:
Following speakers addressed the demonstration at the Ramstein-Miesenbach Marketplace:
Following speakers addressed the demonstration at the Landstuhl City Hall:
At 13:30 PM the human chain began to form.
A Peace camp was also organized as part of the protests near the Ramstein Air Force base. The activity was highly organized from the logistical to the operational part – everyone who participated in these camps knew exactly how to proceed. The peace camps were active from the 8th of June till the 12th of June 2016 and were attended by hundreds of activists.
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in south-western Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation. Ramstein is located near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, in the rural district of Kaiserslautern. The Air Base is used to coordinate and execute most of the United States global Drone program.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, US drone operations have claimed the lives of circa 8215 humans and injured circa 240, which activists and human rights advocates cite as a reason for rising terrorism and militarization. They refute the claim of the United States and its allies that these drone operations have made the world more secure and consider it illegal under international and domestic law as well as fundamentally immoral.
A report by Niklas Stephenson.
Click here or on the picture below:
acTVism Munich plans to continue translating the event organized by the University of Arizona, “A Conversation to Privacy” that hosted Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald and Noam Chomsky. acTVism Munich believes that privacy is a central ingredient to democracy and creating awareness on it on a global scale is of utmost important for the future of human freedom and liberty. Secondly, we plan to begin translating an event that was organized by the New York Public Library (NYPL) that hosted Yanis Varoufakis and Noam Chomsky. This event took place on the 26th of April, 2016, and focused, amongst other issues, on the state of European democracy; the underlying problems confronting it and the solutions moving forward.
We lack technical and financial resources to translate both of the above mentioned events.
On the 19th of June 2016, acTVism Munich is planning on travelling to Berlin where WikiLeaks is hosting an event for their founder, Julian Assange, who has been barred from leaving the Ecuadorian embassy in London on allegations which have been proven to be false. In this event, the significance of whistleblowing and investigative journalism will be brought to light and acTVism Munich will produce a report which will include interviews with Sarah Harrison (Lawyer for Wikileaks), Jacob Appelbaum (Founder of Tor), Hans Christian Ströbele (Privacy adocate), PJ Harvey (Musician) and Angela Richter (Theatre Director). This event will also be broadcasted globally via the internet in locations such as New York, Sydney, Naples, Quito, London and Geneva. We are anticipating, as with previous events, a media blackout, and hence acTVism Munich aims to cover all the developments that unfold during this event. This trip requires your assistance – from transportation, lodging, food, production and translations costs – it will be very difficult for our volunteers to raise the necessary financial capital to undertake this trip.
Lastly, acTVism Munich received Edward Snowden’s confirmation about participating in a future event known as “Freedom & Democracy: Global Issues – Connecting the Dots”. In this event we plan to bring leading experts together to discuss the connections between various issues and reveal the system at work. We believe that we can only arrive at viable solutions by increasing public awareness of the principal and structural faults of our system.
We lack the necessary financial and technical resources to execute the projects, trips and events mentioned above. Since we are a non-profit and independent media outlet that has a strict policy against accepting advertisements, government or corporate support – we depend only on you, the public.
3 replies on “Report: STOP Ramstein “No Drone Warfare!” Demonstration”
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[…] Reportage: STOPP Ramstein “Kein Drohnenkrieg!” Demonstration Am 11. Juni 2016 fanden unter dem Motto “Stopp Ramstein” rund um die Air Base Ramstein der US-Air-Force diverse Protestaktionen und Kundgebungen statt, um gegen Krieg, sowie den Einsatz und Verkauf von Waffen zu demonstrieren. Ziel der Proteste war es den Druck auf die Politik zu erhöhen – für eine Veränderung der deutschen Außenpolitik und Bewusstsein für diese Themen. Laut der Webseite der Organisatoren: “Wer Krieg sät, wird Flüchtlinge ernten” Die Demonstranten und Aktivisten wollten ein unüberhörbares Zeichen setzen: Die Mehrheit der Menschen in Deutschland wollen keinen permanenten Krieg. Sie widersprechen den offiziellen Rechtfertigungen aus Berlin und von der NATO, dass die US-Air Force-Base in Ramstein erfolgreich in der Bekämpfung von Terrorismus ist und dabei weltweite Stabilität und Sicherheit fördert. Sie behaupten, dass diese Militärbasis und der Krieg gegen den Terrorismus in der Tat Spannungen bezüglich Kraftstoff und erhöhte Instabilität erzeugen, was zu einen exponentiellen Anstieg von Terrorismus und Flüchtlingen führt. Die Militärbasis führe außerdem zu weiteren Spannungen, sowie einen Rüstungswettlauf mit den Nuklearmächten Russland und China. Außerdem sollte mit einer symbolträchtigen Menschenkette von Kindsbach über Landstuhl, an der Airbase entlang bis zum Zentrum von Ramstein, für die Alternative Frieden geworben werden. Die Organisatoren berichten von 5,000 Demonstranten, die Polizei spricht von zwischen 2,500 bis 3,000. Quelle: acTVism Munich […]
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