Veterans join Occupy St Paul's but Zuccotti Park evicted

Tony Gosling tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Tue Nov 15 11:10:05 GMT 2011


At Least 70 Arrested as Police Clear NYC Occupy Wall Street Camp
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2099488,00.html


meanwhile....
"I'm disgusted with the way this government deals 
with veterans who have left the services," he 
said. Horne added that his service in southern 
Iraq made him wonder what they were actually fighting for.
"We were basically target practice to keep the 
so-called militants busy – we just kept getting 
bombarded while private security went around the 
city doing whatever. There is a confusion 
regarding what war is about these days: there was 
more private security in Basra then soldiers. It 
felt we were basically pawns doing the work of corporations and big business."

Veterans join Occupy protest as St Paul's canon shows support
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/12/st-pauls-canon-occupy-protest?newsfeed=true
Occupy London's tents prevent new lord mayor from 
being anointed on cathedral steps for first time in 800 years
Mark Townsend - guardian.co.uk, Saturday 12 November 2011 22.26 GMT
When members of the Occupy camp join Remembrance 
Day services at St Paul's Cathedral, their ranks 
will be swelled by a group of military veterans 
with their own list of grievances against the establishment.
At least 15 former service personnel have now 
pitched up outside the cathedral and at nearby 
Finsbury Square, many in protest over treatment 
of veterans or the conflicts that have burdened 
them with mental or physical scars.
Their presence is an indication of the evolving 
support base of the anti-capitalist Occupy 
movement, which has been endorsed by a senior 
figure at St Paul's, just weeks after the 
protests led to the resignation of three of the cathedral's leading clerics.
Among the veterans is Michael Brandon – known to 
friends as Ace – who left the army 20 years ago. 
He has spent the past two decades mostly 
homeless, during which he slipped into alcoholism 
and began self-harming – his wrists are 
criss-crossed with scar tissue where he has slashed himself with razor blades.
At the Occupy Finsbury Square site, Brandon has 
set up Ace Bikes, a bicycle repair business, to 
raise funds for the movement. The 46-year-old, 
like other veterans at the camp, says that he is 
protesting for better opportunities for their 
children – in Brandon's case, for his 
five-year-old son, Daniel James. Brandon says an 
incident in Northern Ireland triggered his psychiatric problems.
"We were on patrol when a bullet whizzed by, then 
one of my best mates got hit in the head, it blew 
his brains completely out, all over me. My tunic 
was red. I got shot in the arm as I tried to help 
and pull him away. The incident changed me, I've 
never been the same since. I've never had any government help."
Other veterans at the Occupy sites also claim to 
suffer from problems linked to their service. 
Matthew Horne, 23, served in Iraq with the Scots 
Guards for eight months, until June 2008, and his 
experiences left him pondering the "futility" of 
war. He left the services 18 months ago, and says 
the Occupy movement has provided a platform to 
campaign for veterans who fought for a democracy but were denied support.
"I'm disgusted with the way this government deals 
with veterans who have left the services," he 
said. Horne added that his service in southern 
Iraq made him wonder what they were actually fighting for.
"We were basically target practice to keep the 
so-called militants busy – we just kept getting 
bombarded while private security went around the 
city doing whatever. There is a confusion 
regarding what war is about these days: there was 
more private security in Basra then soldiers. It 
felt we were basically pawns doing the work of corporations and big business."
Horne added: "We fought for a democracy but the 
opposition to the war, the marches and protests, 
mean that even public opinion would not be 
enough." The canon in residence of St Paul's said 
that he shared the concerns of the Occupy 
movement. In a statement that underlined the 
increasingly collaborative relationship between 
the church and Occupy supporters, the Rt Rev 
Michael Colclough addressed protesters at St 
Paul's and urged that more must be done to share global resources.
Minutes earlier, Colclough had anointed the new 
head of the City of London Corporation and lord 
mayor, David Wootton, at the cathedral during the 
finale of the Lord Mayor's Show. The corporation, 
which has tried to evict the Occupy camp from the 
cathedral surrounds, remains a source of anger 
for protesters, who claim it is merely a lobbying arm for the City.
In a break with tradition lasting more than 800 
years, the 684th lord mayor was blessed at the 
cathedral's south entrance instead of the steps 
because of the protesters' tents.
Colclough told protesters: "People have camped 
around the cathedral over the past three weeks 
expressing concern for the poor and for a better 
distribution of the treasures in the world. That 
concern is something that we share within the 
church." He then prayed for a "better sharing of 
the rich resources that we have in the world".
The move was interpreted by Occupy protesters as 
a blessing for them following the wrangling with 
St Paul's that has seen the canon, chaplain and 
dean all resign amid confusion and indecision 
over whether the church should welcome them or move them on.
The Occupy movement has promised not to disrupt 
Remembrance Day services. Naomi Colvin, a 
spokesperson, said: "On Sunday evening there will 
be a gathering with Iraq war veterans and 
speakers from the peace movement. We're not going 
to do that much. It will not be an overtly 
political weekend. We've been meeting more and 
more with the cathedral and the collaboration is getting closer."
St Paul's said that it was getting the help it 
needed to ensure its events were able to take place.
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Die Pride and Envie; Flesh, take the poor's advice.
Covetousnesse be gon: Come, Truth and Love arise.
Patience take the Crown; throw Anger out of dores:
Cast out Hypocrisie and Lust, which follows whores:
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Thy Sons will live in peace, and each will be a friend.
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