A Declaration for Life, Peace and Culture Village; Interview with Gangjeong villagers; Remembering Father Bix; International Conference on Women, Peace and Security, Philippines; Hotbed of irregularities at the Jeju naval base construction; The Police’s Reasonable Judgment?; War Tax Resistance; trial update; The Precarious Spring of Korea; The first International Peace Film Festival In Gangjeong(IPFFIG); Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon’s speech trip to NY; Gangjeong Friends Candle vigil in Jeju City; and more.
Re-blogged from here. To see the related post, see here.
By Steve Maynard, Nov. 28, 2014
The Rev. Bill Bichsel, center, is moved from his protest site by police during the Tacoma priest’s trip to South Korea earlier this month. COURTESY OF EUNMI PANG
The Rev. Bill Bichsel, an 86-year-old Tacoma priest known for his acts of civil disobedience, has returned from a trip to South Korea to protest construction of a naval base there.
Just three months ago, Bichsel was seriously ill and in the hospital in Tacoma. But his health — while still frail due to a heart condition — improved to the point he was able to make the trip using a wheelchair.
He said his doctors didn’t try to stop him from traveling.
“They just shake their heads,” Bichsel said. “They know I’m going so they don’t make a big fuss.”
For nearly 40 years, the Jesuit priest known as “Bix” has protested against U.S. military programs and weapons. He’s been arrested dozens of times for trespassing during protests and jailed more than a half-dozen times.
He wasn’t arrested in South Korea, but he realized the 12-day trip could set his health back.
“I know I could go anytime,” Bichsel said.
He was weak upon returning Nov. 20, but has gotten stronger since. And he was inspired by the trip.
Bichsel and nine other people — nearly all from the Puget Sound area — traveled to Jeju Island to commit what he called “acts of civil resistance” against construction of a base by the South Korean Navy. The base has been under construction on the island off the southern tip of Korea for eight years.
The efforts to stop it has been underway at Gangjeong Village since construction started, Bichsel said. The movement has united Catholics, Buddhists and those of no religious affiliation.
“It’s the most inspiring, unified resistance that I’ve experienced,” he said.
Bichsel said residents of the area believe the base will be used to service U.S. Navy ships. Some of those vessels could be armed with missiles as part of a defense system, he said.
The base is a few hundred miles from China.
The group joined other protesters — including Korean Catholic nuns and local villagers — to block cement trucks from entering the base.
They sat in chairs in front of the gate. Bichsel sat in a wheelchair. While they blocked the entrance, a priest celebrated the Mass across the street about 50 yards away as part of the resistance.
The protesters didn’t move until Korean police carried them away so the cement trucks could enter.
Three police officers picked Bichsel up in his wheelchair four or five times a day and pulled him to the side, he said.
He and the others would then go back and resume sitting in front of the gate.
“It’s sort of like a choreography,” said Bichsel, who uses a wheelchair because he can’t walk long distances.
The protesters, who numbered on average about 20, slowed the trucks but didn’t stop them from entering the base. No one was arrested, Bichsel said.
He also protested at the Jeju Island base during another trip in September 2013.
The priest said he’s demonstrating against the “continual militarization of South Korea, as well as our world, through the U.S. military.”
Local residents “know eventually the base will be built, but that doesn’t stop the villagers from standing up against it,” he said.
Bichsel, whose trip was financed by donations, said he was inspired by the commitment of Koreans who oppose the base.
“We get from them just a tremendous sense of faithfulness, living out what you believe, trying to stop the militarization.”
Bichsel has no immediate plans to return to South Korea. He’s planning his next act of civil disobedience much closer to home Jan. 17.
That’s when he plans to take part in an annual protest against nuclear weapons at the Navy’s Bangor submarine base on Hood Canal.
The nine person Washington state peace delegation to Jeju Island, South Korea is nearing the end of their solidarity visit. Last night they held a meeting with villagers and supporters for extended sharing. Here is a brief report from Emily Wang:
Yesterday night, we had a really inspiring sharing and dialogue with 9 foreigner visitors including Father Bix. With this chance, they shared their experiences and people here also expressed our thankfulness. We encourage each other in this long struggle and have question to each other. For instance, how to deal with anger, trauma…? What we gonna do if the [Navy] base construction is finally completed etc…?
Mira Leslie, one of the delegation who lives in Seattle, writes from Jeju Island:
In less than 24 hours we will depart Gangjeong village. Jean left this morning. The goodbyes started yesterday. There is tremendous gratitude to us for coming here. In some ways I don’t understand that – hosting and feeding ten people for 10 days is a tremendous task. We have had ‘special meal’ almost everyday – and the regular food at the communal kitchen is delicious – but not too varied. Kimchee varieties, rice and soup- yum. We have been taken to tourist spots including the amazing Buddhist temple grounds and there have been several meetings with key leaders of the movement – each imparting intense information.
The community of resistance receives support from visitors – it helps them to have people doing 100 bows and blocking the gate during mass-Eucharistic resistance. The sister nuns are a steady presence – rotating through here from diocese throughout Korea. Foreign visitors are embraced warmly. The community is tired, but still very together (from an outsider perspective). For me, this time will be impossible to forget – and I am sure I’ll ruminate on it after leaving.
How can we to bring this back to our communities – and honor all we have learned?
The town is decorated with natural images – of peace. Peace Zone, dream catchers, sea creatures, Gureombi rock. We learned yesterday at the stone museum and grounds “the very deep meaning of stone here’ – much of it volcanic. It is building material, fencing, tools, food prep, sinks, toys and games, water vessel, art, music….
Last night we sat at the peace center with the activists, priests, and a few towns people. Father Bix and I described some of our peace work in the US and then they asked questions to all of us. They had 2-3 sentence bios of each of us that had been translated and printed. At one moment an activist said – everyone sees the damage done to the environment here – but no one can see the deep anger and damage in our hearts. She asked Sonya who works with trauma teams internationally for advice. You could see the reactions – it wasn’t expected – Korean people don’t talk too much about their feelings.
The village produces lillies for Japan, a sister told me as we walked to the gate today – but many of the lilly greenhouses were destroyed when they started the base. There is still fishing – but it is diminishing as the sea is being altered with destruction of the fragile soft coral reefs, damage from concrete, blasting, construction toxins/waste and later with ship pollution – oil, fuel, human waste.
We were gifted t-shirts today by the international team. The image is of Jeju island with an open mouthed shark on one end – the shark is in US stars and stripes with the Korean script word ‘Imperialism’.
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