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Watch this YouTube playlist for the "Swords to Plowshares" vigil and civil disobedience at Naval Station Norfolk on Friday afternoon, June 26, 2009: CLICK HEREFrom June 22 thru June 26 the Norfolk Catholic Worker, OffBase, a GI Coffee House in Norfolk, Virginia, as well as the Jonah House out of Baltimore, several Mennonites from Virginia and Pennsylvania and various local peace and justice activists have carried out a challenging witness to peace action called "On the Road to No War: A Walk for Disarmament from Camp Peary to Naval Station Norfolk."
The walk has covered over 50 miles and stops at 13 military and military/industrial complex installations in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, often under searing heat. Participants have walked believing nonviolence is the true force that can transform our world filled with war, violence, and hatred, into one of justice and peace, were every human need is met. They believe that beating swords into plowshares is the key to personal, national, and global security.
As a final act of commitment to this vision, two individuals, Russell and Glen, took it upon themselves to be arrested at Naval Station Norfolk by trespassing into the traffic lanes. These three videos (YouTube won't accept them spliced together) shows the vigil circle, prayers and act of disobedience leading to arrest.
The walk has been a call:
1) for an end to the preparation, legitimization, and execution of all war
2) for our nation to be an example of disarmament for the world
3) for nonviolent solutions to conflicts
4) for the conversion of our war-based economy to one based on meeting human needs and environmental protection.
Those who have walked sought to share their vision of a peaceful United States coexisting in a peaceful world with the community in general and passersby and military personnel they have crossed paths with, believing that the journey will take us all a step closer to disarming our hearts and our nation, as well as the world as the message of swords into plowshares spreads everywhere.
