Seeds of Hope

Seeds of Hope (shorted from Seeds of Hope East Timor Ploughshares Group,[1] but also referred to as the Ploughshares Four[2] or the Warton Four[3]) was a plowshares group of women who damaged a BAE Hawk warplane at the British Aerospace Warton Aerodrome site near Preston, England, in 1996.[4] The four were part of a larger group of 10 who that planned the action[5].Their aim was to stop the aircraft being exported to the Indonesian military, for use in the illegally occupied country of East Timor. They left a video and booklet in the cockpit of the aircraft in order to explain their motivation.[6]

For other uses, see Seeds of Hope (disambiguation).

Direct action

On the 29 January 1996, Andrea Needham, Joanna Wilson and Lotta Kronlid broke into BAE's Warton Aerodrome at Warton, and caused somewhere in the range of £1.4m,[7] £1.5m,[8] £1.7m,[9] £2m,[5] £2.4,[10] and £2.5m[8] worth of damage to Hawk tail number ZH955. Damage was focused on components and sections related to weapons and targeting.[11] A warplane that was to have been supplied, along with 23 others, to the New Order regime of Indonesia[6] as part of a £500 million deal.[12] In the tradition of plowshares actions, they stayed at the site intending to wait until they were found by security, however instead they had to call security using a phone in the hanger due to their presence remaining unnoticed. They were arrested for criminal damage and conspiracy to commit criminal damage. A week later, a fourth woman, Angie Zelter, was also arrested and charged with conspiracy after stating she planned to do the same.[13] The four spent six months on Remand in HMP Risley before coming to a seven day trial in Liverpool Crown Court in July 1996.[14] The action was the 56th ploughshares action and the group called it "Seeds of Hope - East Timor Ploughshares - Women Disarming for Life and Justice".[8]

Trial

Accused of causing, and conspiring to cause, criminal damage, with a maximum ten-year sentence, they plead not guilty arguing that what they did was not a crime but that they "were acting to prevent British Aerospace and the British Government from aiding and abetting genocide",[6][15] referring to the one taking place in East Timor. They were found not guilty of criminal damage at Liverpool Crown Court, after a jury deemed their action was reasonable under the Genocide Act 1969.[16] This made it the first Ploughshares actions to result in a not guilty verdict.[17]

Recognition and Awards

In recognition of the group's action they were award the Seán MacBride Peace Prize by the International Peace Bureau in 1997.[18]

As well as being awarded the Order of Timor-Leste by the government of Timor-Leste in August 2019.[19]

In 1998 a 26 minute documentary called "Seeds of Hope" directed by Neil Goodwin was released including interview of women involved in the action.[20][21]

Additionally two songs were written with the action and group as inspiration; "Four Strong Women" released in 1996 by Maurie Mulheron[22] and "With my Hammer" by Seize the Day and Shannon Smy.[23]

A book called "The Hammer Blow: How 10 Women Disarmed a Warplane" recounting the action was written by Andrea Needham and published by Peace News in 2016.[24]

In 1997 Angie Zelter went on to be one of the original six core members of the Trident Ploughshares.[25]

The 29 January 2017 attempt to disarm Typhoon fighter jets though to be destined for the Royal Saudi Air Force and therefore to be used in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen[26] by Sam Walton and Methodist minister Dan Woodhouse was "a contination" of the Seeds of Hope action, with a direct parallel in the action, its goal and its reasoning, the pleading of not guilty at the trail and the actual use of one of the hammers used by a member of the Seeds of Hope group.[27]

References
  1. "NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER CALLS FOR UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE IN EAST TIMOR". United Nations. 1997-06-16. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  2. O'Shaughnessy, Hugh (1996-07-30). "pounds 1.5m Hawk attack women freed". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  3. Kempster, Tony; Gilmurray, Sue. "SONGS WITH 'AN ATTITUDE' ABOUT WAR AND INJUSTICE" (PDF). Abolish War. Movement for the Abolition of War. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  4. Gregory M. Maney, ed. (2012). Strategies for Social Change. University of Minnesota Press. p. 274. ISBN 978-0816672899.
  5. Needham, Andrea (2016-07-01). "When petitions and protests aren't enough: what next?". New Internationalist. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  6. "The FOUR PLOUGHSHARERS "DISARMING FOR LIFE AND JUSTICE"" (PDF). Pax Christi. London. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  7. Kollerstrom, Nick; Haywood, Ted, eds. (1996). "Hammer of Justice - A British Ploughshares' Action". Journal for International Law and Peace. 2 (1).
  8. Zelter, Angie (2004). "Civil Society and Global Responsibility: the Arms Trade and East Timor". International Relations. 18 (1): 126. doi:10.1177/0047117804041745 – via Sage Journals.
  9. Crossley, James (2014). Harnessing Chaos: The Bible in English Political Discourse Since 1968. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 270. ISBN 9780567655509.
  10. Hallam, Roger (2019). Common Sense for the 21st Century: Only Nonviolent Rebellion Can Now Stop Climate Breakdown and Social Collapse. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 9781645020004.
  11. "Update". New Internationalist. 1996-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  12. Goodwin, Neil (1996). "Disarming Women" (PDF). Squall Magazine. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  13. Monbiot, George (1996-07-30). "Hawks and Doves". monbiot. Guardian. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  14. Rogers, Paul (2016-01-28). "Disarming war: the Hawk Ploughshares story". Open Democracy. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  15. "PLOUGHSHARES WOMEN FREED". Institute for Law and Peace. 1996. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  16. Campaigners face jail for raid on military jet - Home News, UK - The Independent
  17. Tri-denting It Handbook (3rd ed.). Trident Ploughshares. 2001. p. 9.
  18. "Sean MacBride Peace Prize | IPB - International Peace Bureau". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  19. "Timor-Leste Honored President Bill Clinton". ETAN. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  20. "Seeds of Hope (1998)". Archived from the original on August 24, 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  21. O’Reilly, Ciaron. "Vale Max Stahl". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  22. "Four Strong Women". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  23. Bonetree, Clare (2019-02-07). "Finding the courage to hope". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  24. "The Hammer Blow: How 10 Women Disarmed A Warplane". Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  25. "Angie Zelter". Hrant Dink. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  26. "Activists try to stop warplanes leaving UK bound for Saudi Arabia". The Guardian. 2017-01-29.
  27. Walker, Peter (2017-02-01). "British Quaker 'prepared for jail' after allegedly trying to disarm Saudi Arabia-bound fighter jet". Independent.co.uk.
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