This evening, the BBC reported that the military dictatorship in Burma has blocked aid workers and some shipments from entering the country, while others lie unused on the airport tarmac because the military do not have the capacity to distribute them

Yet tens of thousands are in urgent need, and Save the Children say that after six days inadequate response many will die.

The UN today suspended aid flights to Burma after the impounding of food supplies and equipment for survivors of cyclone Nargis.

A spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Programme told journalists and news agencies that flights could not resume until the situation was resolved.

The impounded food aid – including 38 tonnes of high-energy biscuits – was enough to feed 95,000 people, officials claimed.

“We’re going to have to shut down our very small airlift operation until we get guarantees from the authorities,” Tony Banbury, a World Food Programme regional director, said.

He added: “It should be on trucks headed to the victims. You’ve seen the conditions they are in. That food is now sitting on tarmac, doing no good.”

Burma’s military government denied the goods had been seized and called the UN’s complaint “baseless”.

Ye Htut, a spokesman, said the junta took control of the aid to distribute it “without delay by its own labour to the affected areas”.

Burmese foreign ministry officials said earlier today the country would accept supplies from overseas but would control distribution themselves and not allow in foreign workers.

France said it would send a naval ship packed with 1,500 tonnes of aid if it gets approval from authorities. The foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said the aid would be ready for departure over the weekend.

Global church aid efforts are being co-ordinated by the ecumenical Action of Churches Together network.

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Dominican friar Peter Murnane joined organic gardener Adrian Leason and Hokianga farmer Sam Land in last week’s early-morning non-violent direct action on the Waihopai satellite communications interception station, near Blenheim – reports the New Zealand Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/).

They used sickles to puncture one of two 30m rubber balloons that protect radar aerials from the weather.

Prime Minister Helen Clark called the raid “a senseless act of vandalism”, and the head of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) ordered an urgent investigation into the base’s security.

It appears that the weather may have helped the protesters’ cause. A “pea souper” fog on the morning of the raid made security cameras useless, said GCSB director Bruce Ferguson and “aided and assisted the offenders no end”.

Australian-born Peter Murnane provided accommodation in Auckland to Ahmed Zaoui, the Algerian refugee originally accused of being a terrorist but later cleared of these charges.

Mr Murnane has a history of activism that includes spilling blood on the floor of the United States consulate in protest at the Iraq war.

The three men, calling themselves the “Waihopai Anzac Ploughshares”, broke through three security fences before attacking the dome with sickles.

They then built a shrine and knelt down in prayer to remember the people killed by United States military activity.

They were remanded in custody after appearing in Blenheim District Court yesterday afternoon charged with causing intentional damage and entering a building with intent to commit a crime.

They said the raid was “responding to the Bush Administration’s admission that intelligence gathering is the most important tool in the so-called war on terror”.

Spokesman Manu Caddie said the first goal of the protest trio was to be faithful to the gospels, and if it drew public attention to the spy base “that is a bonus”.

The GCSB is looking into the apparent ease in which the three men got into the base.

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See also: Glynn Cardy, Why Christians are troublemakers – http://ekklesia.co.uk/node/7086

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It is well attested that Waihopai information is fed to the American military. It is well attested that the American military invaded Iraq on spurious grounds. And it is well attested that the vast majority of casualties since that invasion have been Iraqi civilians.

The Waihopai troublemakers see a connection between these statements and their faith. There are many Christians who not only see the preservation of all human life as fundamental but also believe that war, and all that aids and abets war, is anathema to their faith.

The Waihopai trio are part of the international Christian network called Ploughshares. The name comes from the biblical verses admonishing the people to turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

There are of course many people who, while sympathetic to condemnation of the Iraq occupation, find breaking the law and destroying public property reprehensible. Ploughshares however justify their actions in terms of the greater good. Do you worry, for example, about breaking down the front door of a house and illegally entering if there is a fire and children are trapped inside? Ploughshares would say that war like fire is raging out of control, children and others are trapped, and we need to help.

On September 9th 1980 Daniel and Philip Berrigan, and six others began the Ploughshares movement. They illegally trespassed onto the General Electric Nuclear Missile facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where they damaged nuclear warhead nose cones and poured blood onto documents and files. They were arrested, charged, and imprisoned.

Daniel Berrigan once wrote following the destruction of draft cards, “Our apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children. How many must die before our voices are heard, how many must be tortured, dislocated, starved, maddened? When, at what point, will you say no to this war?”

The most well-known New Zealander involved in a Ploughshares action is Moana Cole. In 1991 Moana was part of the ANZAC Ploughshares that entered Griffith Air Force Base in New Jersey, hammered on a B52 bomber headed for Iraq, poured blood on it, said prayers and started digging up the runway. The four people were arrested and spent one year in jail.

In 1994 Moana was involved in the first Ploughshares action on New Zealand soil. Moana and Australian Ciaron O’Reilly entered Harewood US Airforce Base in Christchurch on Hiroshima Day where they poured blood, prayed and were subsequently arrested and fined several hundred dollars.

Ploughshares differ from other types of protest in that they are intentionally religious in their actions. The pouring of blood [sometimes the protesters own blood], the hammering of weapons of war into implements of peace, the use of sickles… all these are symbolic theatrical acts that point to a God who not only loves all and desires peace, but who is prepared to confront political and military powers to achieve it.

Protest actions of course can easily be misconstrued. It is hard to have the ‘perfect protest’. Someone’s idea of the sacred, whether it be ‘private property’, ‘the law’, or ‘the church’ will always be desecrated. The story of Jesus driving the moneychangers out of the Jerusalem Temple is a case in point. He destroyed other people’s property, disrupted legitimate business, and brought what some saw as violence and upset into a holy place. Religious protest will always be offensive to many, and especially to those with the biggest investment in the political and religious status quo.

Professor Margaret Bedggood, a former New Zealand Human Rights Commissioner, commenting on the Waihopai action notes, “Jesus was hardly law abiding but, like Gandhi, he was always an advocate of non-violence. Causing a certain amount of furore in the cause of peace is not pointless. The cost to patch a balloon concealing our cooperation with those waging war is dear, but so are the lives Ploughshares seeks to save. Heightening consciousness and emboldening others to seek peace has a price.”

Christians have a long and proud history of taking direct non-violent action against war. Whatever our thoughts may be about such action society needs people like the Waihopai trio to draw our attention to those things we tend to ignore. There are many, including my church of St Matthew’s, who support ANZAC Ploughshares and pray for an end to all war.

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(c) Archdeacon Glynn Cardy is vicar of St Matthews-in-the-City, Auckland, Aotearo / New Zealand. His other articles can be viewed here: http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=74

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This case came about after the government refused requests under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act to hand over two Memoranda of Understanding on which the multibillion pound Al-Yamamah deal in the 1980’s was founded.

In a second case which follows immediately, Nicholas Gilby, a CAAT researcher, is appealing against the government’s decision to withhold Foreign Office documents from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The documents concern negotiations around UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia which, Mr Gilby believes, contain evidence of corrupt practices.

The government is seeking to justify its position on the basis that it would offend Saudi sensibilities. The Tribunal will begin at 10.00am on Monday, 3rd March at Audit House, 58 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DS. Proceedings are expected to be completed by Friday 7 March.

CAAT’s witnesses will include the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Vincent Cable MP, who will give evidence on Monday morning, and the former diplomat, Carne Ross. Mr Cable will say that the documents have been denied to Parliament for the past 20 years and that they are central to Parliament’s ability to hold the Government to account over its dealings with Saudi Arabia.

The Government is relying on the evidence of a well-known high level diplomat, who will be questioned by CAAT’s barrister on Monday. The hearing dates have been arranged specially to accommodate this witness.

His evidence is that the documents’ release would offend the Saudi regime. CAAT believes that the public has a right to know the details of the Al-Yamamah deal, which made billions of pounds for BAE Systems and has been dogged by accusations of corruption ever since it was signed. The Government appears to be hoping that secret evidence will win the case for them, as later in the week the Tribunal will meet in closed session.

The case has already broken new legal ground with the Tribunal agreeing with an application made by CAAT and Mr Gilby for the appointment of a “Special Advocate” to represent them in the secret hearings. This is the first occasion that the Information Tribunal, which is gaining a reputation for standing up to government claims for secrecy, has appointed a Special Advocate.

Symon Hill of Campaign Against Arms Trade commented: “Once again the government is seeking to frustrate the rule of law and the citizen’s fundamental constitutional rights in the UK on the basis that Saudi royals will be offended. When are the government and the Saudis going to realise that they cannot continue to evade public accountability in the UK.”

The Information Tribunal hearing comes less than three weeks after an appeal Court judge criticised the government for giving in to Saudi pressure to cut short a Serious Fraud Office investigation into BAE’s Saudi arms deals. A judgement is awaited in that case, which brought fresh accusations of the UK government’s subservience to the Saudi regime.

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He writes: “When Jesus Christ came into our world he was more ordinary and human than many expected – both then, and now. The ancient Jews had expected Messiah for a long time, and their expectations increased over time. Older expectations of the coming of a great but essentially human King became anticipation of a more supernatural figure. They expected a mighty warrior who, Superman like, could remove invaders from the land, and purify the Temple with a wave of his hand. Or he would be the perfect Law keeping machine, the immaculate Pharisee.”

But “into the world God comes, self sent, as a baby. Among all the super expectations, Jesus Christ comes, plainly human”, says Dr Atkins.

He continues: “It’s ironic that many people today are so perturbed by the miraculous nature of the Christmas story. ‘You do realise stars can’t switch on and off, don’t you?’ ‘A virgin birth? Yeah, right!’ It’s ironic because the people of the period were more perturbed by the very ordinariness of it all. ‘The Messiah, here in this barn? Born of folk like this?’”

“The coming of Jesus, against many expectations, today as then, is of one who comes near, is like us, involved with the here and now and not just the there and then. There is stupendous height involved in the coming of Jesus, but not remote distance. His name makes that clear – he is Immanuel – God with us.”

Christians need to change their conceptions of God in Jesus Christ, Dr Atkins concludes. The reality is much greater, but not in the way we usually think as human beings.

A similar note was struck by Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams in a Christmas Eve article appearing in The Times newspaper, where he wrote: “[T]he [Gospel] story goes on to say something quite strange and surprising. God steps in to sort it all out. But he doesn’t step in like Superman, he doesn’t even send a master plan down from heaven. He introduces into the situation something completely new – a new life; a human baby, helpless and needy like all babies.”

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