The Greenpeace globe hot-air-balloon at the Acropolis in Athens where EU leaders are meeting.
Anti-war protests across the
globe:
Greece
The Greenpeace hot-air balloon globe flew over the Acropolis
with a banner UNite for Peace to urged world leaders to stand firm
against the US. Leaders are gathering in Athens to celebrate the
enlargement of the European Union, a sign of the faith increasing
numbers of countries are putting in the benefits of international
cooperation and collaboration. Yet at the same time the US is on
the rampage, undermining those very values.
We are asking world leaders to act together to restore the
United Nations and its Charter as the foundation of international
law and order. We believe that the war in Iraq was and is an
illegal war of aggression, flouting the UN charter, international
law, and setting dangerous precedents for future relations between
states.
Find out more about what is
happening in Greece.
Australia
Activists in the form of swimmers, divers and crew onboard a
flotilla of yachts, small water craft and kayakers, partially
blocked the exit to Sydney Harbour to deliver a "No war - bring our
troops home" message to the Australian government.
Find out more about
what's happening in Australia.
Austria
Activists in Austria 'tanked up' a mock war machine at a
Salzburg Esso station. They were protesting Esso/Exxon's continuing
efforts to undermine the Kyoto treaty and pressure the US away from
alternative energy research. Greenpeace is concerned that our
world's oil dependancy is one of the driving factors in the war
with Iraq, and will lead to future conflicts over oil.
Find out more about what's
happening in Austria.
Germany
Our 'No War' balloon is one of the focal points at
Berlin peace march.
UK, Germany, China
UK - Greenpeace hot air balloon delivered an anti-war message
to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, from where US B52 planes will
be launching bombing raids against Iraq. The balloon featuring the
message NO WAR over-flew the site and dropped leaflets down to base
personnel.
Germany - A peace camp is created outside the US embassy in
Berlin.
Hong Kong - Activists stage a 'Die-In' outside the US
Consulate.
Australia, UK, Czech Rebublic
As Bush and Blair rush headlong for war at all costs we were
taking action to show the global opposition:
In
Australia, the prime minister John Howard has been placed under
symbolic house arrest by Greenpeace, dressed as United Nations blue
berets. Howard's action of committing Australia to war in Iraq was
found to breach articles 2(4), 42 and 51 of the UN Charter.
View pictures of the house arrest.
We joined protestors outside the
UK parliament to urge MP's to reflect the opinion of the
British public rather than Blair's blind allegiance to Bush's war.
Oliver Knowles, No War campaigner said, "Poll after poll shows the
overwhelming majority of the British public remain opposed to war
against Iraq. We are urging people to come down to parliament and
make sure their MP is under no illusions about having their
support."
If war goes ahead Greenpeace are urging people in the UK to join countrywide
protests organised by CND and Stop the War coalition.
In Czech Republic
activists posing as innocent "civil casualties" in body bags
pointed out that the attack on Iraq will likely bring the US in
conflict with the Geneva Convention and most likely start a
humanitarian and ecological catastrophe. Climbers raised the US
flag in front of the Government Office to symbolise that the Czech
Republic is given away to the war policy of the Bush
administration. Tattered UN flags symbolised the blow that the
unilateral attack on Iraq has given to international cooperation
for peace and security.
Spain, Turkey and Russia
Activists blocked military ports in Spain and Turkey and
protested in front of the Kremlin.
Find out more about these actions.
On 13 March, the "Rainbow Warrior" confronted the US Coast Guard
ship "Dallas" as it left the Rota naval base in Spain armed with
guns, torpedoes and harpoon missiles.
Find
out more.
Japan
More than 40,000 people took to the streets of Japan to join the
global protests against the impending US-led war against Iraq.
Citizens and students gathered at Hibiya Park, Tokyo, and paraded
through the city centre as part of the World Peace Now rally,
organized by 47 non-government organisations, including
Greenpeace.
Find out more about what's happening in Japan.
New Zealand
Greenpeace activists deliver body bags symbolising
the first casualties of the Iraqi crisis to the Australian Prime
Minister John Howard as he arrives to open the Consulate in
Auckland.
Find out more about
what's happening in New Zealand.
Luxembourg
Activists erected a sculpture in the Ministry of
State's courtyard. The sculpture, representing a gun whose barrel
is knotted,is a copy of one given to the United Nations by
Luxembourg. It stands in front of the UN headquarters in New
York.
Find out more
about what's happening in Luxembourg.
Chile
With 70 white crosses and dressed in black, forty activists
formed a "live cemetery" in the grass in front of the House of
Government in Santiago.
Find out more about what's
happening in Chile. (website in Spanish)
United States
Greenpeace activists anchored a large banner to a
boat, reading "When Will the U.S. Disarm? No War", and sailed it in
front of the United Nations headquarters in New York. The floating
banner was part of our call for all nations, including the United
States, to disarm themselves of weapons of mass destruction through
peaceful means.
Find out more about
what's happening in the US.
Turkey
Greenpeace activists joined thousands of people in a
peace rally in Ankara on March 1st with a bannertargeting the
Members of Parliament: 'SAY NO TO BUSH'S WAR! SAY YES TO PEACE!'
Parliament rejected the proposal to let U.S. troops use military
bases in Turkey.
Find out more about
what's happening in Turkey.
Norway
Greenpeace activists set up a week-long
peace camp outside Parliament, conducted a weapons inspection at
the US embassy and delivered "veto war" valentine-cards to German,
Russian, Chinese and French embassies.
Find out more about what's happening in Norway. (Website in
Norwegian)
Chile
Twenty seven activists were arrested for protesting in front of
the US Embassy in Santiago.
Find out more about what's
happening in Chile. (website in Spanish)
China
In a reminder to the US government of the overwhelming wish of
Chinese people for peace, a potent symbol of US military might got
a small addition in Hong Kong harbour.
The peace symbol was projected onto the bow of the USS Blue
Ridge.
Find out more from
Greenpeace in China.
Netherlands
Activists in canoes and inflatables attempted to
prevent the cargo ship MV Progress from leaving the port of
Rotterdam. The ship was loaded with US military equipment bound for
the Gulf.
Read
more about activities in the Netherlands. (Website in
Dutch)
France
On 19 February, 25 activists in France blocked a
secret shipment of plutonium, delaying its more than 600 kilometer
journey across the country from La Hague to Gard, through the Rhone
Valley. The blockade occurred at the doorstep of a military base,
stopping a truck carrying 150 kilograms of weapons-usable materials
on its way from a "civilian" reprocessing plant. The truck
contained more nuclear material than in all of the middle east,
barring Israel.
Find
out more about the blockade.
Find out more about
what's happening in France. (website in French)
New Zealand
As part of demonstrations in 603 cities worldwide,
Greenpeace flew an 18x6 metre banner over the America's Cup yacht
race in New Zealand calling for No War.
Find
out more about what is happening in New Zealand.
Belgium
The Rainbow Warrior made a surprise appearance in
the Belgian port of Antwerp, where US military materials, including
helicopters, tanks, trucks and other vehicles are being loaded onto
transport ships.
Activists
confronted a US military ship enerting the locks of Antwerp
while four other ships were on the other side of the lock loading
up with supplies and waiting to depart.
On February
14th activists used life rafts and canoes to build a floating
peace camp along the quayside.
Find
out more about what is happening in Belgium.
Australia
Sydney's famous icons the Opera House and Harbour
Bridge were lit up with a reminder to Prime minister John Howard
that he should be promoting peace, not war in his meetings with
British and Indonesian leaders.
A dove and the words "War is not the solution" fluttered across
a sail of the Opera House while the message "Peace not war" flashed
on the south pylon of the Harbour Bridge.
Greenpeace joined with 250,000 activists in Sydney on the 16th
of February. You can see a slideshow
here.
Find out more about what is happening in Australia.
Spain and China
Greenpeace assembled
"Citizens' Weapons Inspection Teams" in an effort to expose the
arbitrary and inconsistent nature of the UN weapons inspections in
Iraq.
Find out more
about what is happening in Spain. (website in Spanish)
Find out more about what is happening in China.
UK
Greenpeace peacefully
occupied British military vehicles en route to the Gulf for several
days.
Speaking from the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace's Blake Lee
Harwood said,
"The Government has already ordered the cutting of our anchor
chain and attempted to have the Rainbow Warrior thrown out of
Southampton but we will continue to find ways to oppose a war that
will have disastrous consequences. An attack on Iraq would lead to
massive civilian suffering and increase the chances that weapons of
mass destruction will be used."
Find out more about what's happening in the UK.
France
Greenpeace volunteers in
Toulouse, France demonstrated during the departure of the Charles
de Gaulle aircraft carrier as it left for Turkey for an unknown
purpose.
Find out more
about what's happening in France. (website in French)
Turkey
Peace activists gathered in Taksim Square, in the heart of
Istanbul as the words "No to War" appeared on the facade of the
Ataturk Cultural Centre.
Find out more about what's happening in Turkey.
What you can do
Write to
the UN ambassadors that sit on the Security Council and ask them to
uphold international law and refuse to approve a war in
Iraq.
Write to
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and ask him to oppose war in Iraq and
to refuse to allow UK troops to be used in such a war.
If you live in the US, consider calling on your city council to
pass a resolution against a war with Iraq. Cities across the US
have already passed similar resolutions and efforts are underway in
dozens more communities. For more information, visit, www.citiesforpeace.org.
Join our campaign against ExxonMobil/ Esso, the world's biggest
oil company. For more information, visit www.stopesso.org.
Get more ideas for getting involved from www.moveon.org , www.protest.net and www.targetoil.com.