As we ground ourselves spiritually for our witness, it’s important to remember that will we be witnessing alongside people of all faiths and none, and are asked to uphold one another in a diversity of non-violent tactics.
We are a volunteer-led community, and your help will make all the difference in ensuring our witness is safe, spiritually grounded, and creative. Read more about volunteer roles and how you can offer help.
Important update about No Faith in War Tues 9th Sept
We understand that on 9th September, a coalition of groups under the banner ‘the Big One’ are calling for a mass blockade of DSEI. The faith groups involved in No Faith in War have agreed to continue with our plans, offering a grounded and worshipful presence and upholding people who are taking risks to disrupt DSEI.
It is important for Friends to be aware that there may be a tense atmosphere on the day, and a more active police presence. We encourage everyone to to remind yourself of key advice about your rights, and to take time to reflect on the level of risk that you want to take. To help with this reflection, we will be holding a session on Weds 3rd Sept – more details available soon.
On the day, we will have bustcards available, and legal observers will be on hand, as well as volunteer stewards. However we all need to take responsibility for ourselves. We recommend having a buddy or buddies – a person or two who you will mutually check-in with and look out for each other.
We do not anticipate ‘the Big One’ to affect our Walk of Witness or the Peace Vigil organised by QPSW and Pax Christi, both on Mon 8th, nor our ‘Stop DSEI’ hand-in on Weds 10th. But it is still worth reminding yourself of your rights and looking out for yourself and others, if you plan to join one of these actions.
Many thanks to those who joined the Non-Violent Direct Action training sessions with QPSW. Apologies that the session has turned out to not work so well online. For that reason we have decided to instead use the slot on Weds 3rd Sept for the session reflecting on risks and staying safe (see above). The material from the NVDA sessions will be made available to those who had registered, and Lyndsay hopes to offer more in-person sessions in future (after September).
On an upbeat note, whether you are witnessing at DSEI, or upholding us from where you are, there are opportunities to join in creative witness with paper crafts, banner making and singing. We are witnessing for peace, and that can be a joyful thing!