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The Hammer Blow

Categories: Articles:Peacemaking | Published: 11/04/2016 | Views: 1652
To mark the 20th anniversary of the historic Seeds of Hope Ploughshares action, Peace News Press has just published Andrea Needham's book, The Hammer Blow, the gripping inside account of how ten women disarmed a warplane bound for genocide in East Timor and were acquitted by a jury  

Charged with over £2m of criminal damage, three members of the group had broken into a British Aerospace factory in Lancashire and used hammers to disarm a Hawk jet. The plane was about to be delivered to the Indonesian military, which would have used it to continue their campaign of genocide against the people of then-occupied East Timor. They and one other member of the group spent six months in prison on remand before being acquitted of all charges by a jury - a verdict that generated national media coverage and inspired countless activists across the globe.  The Hammer Blow /describes the year-long preparation process, the action, imprisonment, trial and aftermath. It has received plaudits from from John Pilger, Caroline Lucas MP, Benjamin Zephaniah, Rob Newman and Jose Ramos Horta, the former President of East Timor. Andrea is currently doing talks to peace and justice groups about the action and her book, and is open to invitations from local groups.  More information on the book and details of speaker tour here

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