Inside Heathrow's protest camp: A battle to save the world

[struggle4progress]

By Johann Hari
Published: 18 August 2007

If you happen to be passing through Hatton Cross this weekend, you will see a swollen army of police officers equipped with weapons and video cameras and peeved expressions. They will greet you at the entrance to the Tube stations, to the airport, and on every corner, and they will probably film your face as you walk by. They are ready and raring to use the new anti-terror laws. So you might wonder - has Osama bin Laden been spotted in the vicinity?

No. A legion of environmentalists, committed to non-violent direct action, have erected an array of marquees and wind turbines and compost toilets in an empty field. As I spent this week with them, I discovered they have one purpose: to urge us to listen to the world's scientists and cut back on our greenhouse gas emissions - before we descend into climate chaos we cannot reverse and may not survive. ~snip~

I recognise an undercover journalist from a right-wing newspaper. "This is terrible!" he says "I've been sent to find stories about drug-addicted layabouts and they're all nice people with PhDs." ~snip~

Everyone agrees, though, that we must not use violence against human beings. Yet the police seem determined to use anti-terror laws sold to the public with the promise they would only be used against wannabe suicide bombers. On Tuesday night, a battalion of 40 officers turned up at the camp with full riot gear - and a cavalcade of ambulances - demanding entry. The protesters stood in front of them in the rain, folded their arms, and chanted: "Out! Out!" After hours of staring angrily, the police finally shambled out. ~snip~

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article2874123.ece

[struggle4progress]

1. Heathrow camp plans direct action

By Rachel Sharp

~snip~ Andy Taylor of the Climate Camp said: "We are marking the land which we will defend from the proposed third runway.

"The fight belongs not just to those whose homes will be destroyed, but all those who want to defend this planet, our home, from the resulting climate change. ~snip~

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/display.var.1627717.0.0.php