2024/07/13 – 25 Norwich, USAF Lakenheath, UK
March, Bicycle Ride and Peace camp at Lakenheath and direct action
We need you at our international peace camp from 13 to 25th July 2024.
Good news! The Lakenheath Alliance for Peace was successfully launched on Tuesday 26th March 2024
update 02. June 2024
APPEAL TO JOIN US IN PROTEST ACTION
AT LAKENHEATH FROM 13TH TO 25TH JULY 2024.
RAF (in reality USAF) Lakenheath has been involved in a wide range of operations and prides itself as being able to “get out the door”. It has been and still is reinforcing armed conflicts around the world. After the Hamas attacks on the 7 October 2023, F-15Es from Lakenheath landed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on the 13 October 2023 to bolster the US presence in the region.
You can find lots more information about Lakenheath’s involvement in multiple wars from the LAP website at https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/about-lakenheath-base/
But to give you a nasty flavour:- In April 1986 planes from Lakenheath (F-111s) were involved in the bombing of Libya. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 planes from Lakenheath were involved in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. On 25 August 25 1990, 18 F-111s took off from Lakenheath as the first USAFE unit to deploy and flew 2,500 combat sorties, dropping 7.3 million pounds of
bombs. They were involved in imposing the no-fly zone over Iraq in the 1990s and the bombing of Serbia. Planes from Lakenheath were also deployed multiple times in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Lakenheath is also involved in the campaign in Syria. For example, in 2018 they flew over 2,000 missions while dropping more than 500 bombs. In 2021, they shot down an ‘Iranian’ drone in Syria and in 2023 they also bombed Syria in response to attacks on US bases in the area. More recently (April 2024) they were involved in countering the Iranian strike on Israel. As well as joint exercises
with NATO, planes from Lakenheath regularly do joint exercises with the Israeli and Saudi air forces.
The USA are now in the process of getting ready to receive US nuclear weapons to deploy from Lakenheath and so once again we are part of their nuclear machinations. This is why we are calling on all of you to bring as many activists as possible to our walk and camp from 13th to 25th July. Help us stop the nukes returning.
Please sign on at https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/sign-up/
With the crackdown on protest we need to support each other to continue taking nonviolent direct action. We are all conscious of the clear link between wars, climate chaos, biodiversity loss and environmental catastrophe. Please join us.
If you need further information then just let me know.
Angie Zelter, for Lakenheath Alliance for Peace.
1- Announcement
when 12 of us put up our banners at the main gate of USAF (RAF) Lakenheath. We did an interview with Anglia TV and then the men stayed to look after the banners and 8 women walked up to the gates, refusing to go back behind the ‘white line’ drawn on the access road until we were able to deliver our letters to the Base Commanders. After almost an hour of waiting and talking to the American guards and British MoD police and politely but firmly refusing to move, along came Squadron Leader Stewart Geary. He read our letter https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/2024/03/23/letter-to-base-commanders-26-03-2024/ carefully and said he would pass it on to the 2 US Commanders and would make sure we received a reply. We all felt it was a good start to our campaign, showing our strength and commitment to dialogue and nonviolence.
We then did a quick recce around the base to look at possible camping sites for the summer camp. There were a large number of plane spotters taking pictures of all the planes noisily flying in and out of the base. We were reminded of how much fuel is being wasted every day on all these flights and of the war/climate nexus.
We now have a good group of local people based in Norfolk and Suffolk working together with members of 14 plus organisations who have agreed to support LAP. See https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/about-us/alliance-organisations/
We all agreed on the dates for our summer peace camp. We will start on Saturday 13th July in the centre of Norwich at the Town Hall and begin a walk/bike over 3 days to USAF Lakenheath and start the camp when we arrive on Monday 15th July. There will be inside accommodation as well as camping nearby and a continuous presence at the base throughout until the end of the camp on 25th July. Please contact us and let us know if you can come along and support in any way possible on the walk and/or camp. You can sign up at https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/2024/03/16/sign-up/
If you know of any organisations that would like to join the alliance then you can use the attached Appeal.
We have the dates fixed now. Please see message above that you might be able to forward to your networks. I wonder if we can get someone from all the European US nuclear bases here? And it would be great to have lots of internationals join us. Love Angie.