Each morning the week of Sept. 15, several members of the local Veterans for Peace chapter stationed themselves just beyond the blue line outside of the Sloat Main Gate at the Naval Postgraduate School, urging those entering the facility to follow their conscience when faced with orders that may go against law and the Constitution.
Some people entering the facility gave the thumbs up sign or flashed peace signs, says Justin Loza, president of the Monterey chapter.
"I'm actually shocked at how much support we are getting," Loza says.
But not everyone was happy about their presence, he adds: "More than a few were being mean and grumpy about it."
The demonstration was part of a campaign by the national Veterans for Peace called "Right to Resist: Follow Your Conscience." Concerns by the organization include U.S. aid to Israel and starvation and deaths in Gaza, the U.S. military targeting of Venezuelan boats leading to crew member deaths, the militarization of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, among other issues.
Loza says the goal was to plant a seed in the minds of young officers who attend NPS.
"They might have to implement some orders that are illegal. We hope they'll follow their conscience," he says, adding that could including seeking conscientious objector status within the military.
Demonstrators showed up outside the gate every day from 7:30-8:30am from Sept. 15-Sept. 18, and in the afternoons starting at 3pm. Thursday, Sept. 18 marked the deadline set by the United Nations calling for the end of the occupation of Gaza by Israel.
At 3pm on Thursday afternoon, the veterans were joined by other local groups including the Peace Coalition of Monterey County, the Monterey Peace and Justice Center, Monterey Palestinian Solidarity and others.
(3) comments
Lots of love for these brave heroes. I wish the photo had shown more.
The Veteran's for Peace apparently don't put any value on the 1200 Israeli people that were killed and the countless others that were raped, tortured or otherwise affected. What about the hostages still in captivity?
You take a lot for granted there. "Apparently"? All life is valued. Seems like the IDF didn't think so when it implemented Mass Hannibal, killing their own, October 7, 2023. Or when it disregarded the women IDF soldiers noticing unusual activity that horrible day. They all died. Or when they took hours to respond to an attack on one of the most fortified borders in the world. Countless others that were raped? Countless because there were ZERO rapes. Name one. BTW Israel refused any independent inquiry into rapes. What about the "hostages"? You mean IDF POWs? All civilians have already been exchanged out. Now, there are thousands of Palestinian hostages, including children, held in Israeli torture prisons without any charges... just because Israel can. Also, there are 2.3 million indigenous Palestinians in Gaza held hostage, caged in, that have had about 100,000 tons of bombs, mostly supplied free of charge from the USA, falling on their heads and homes and schools and hospitals and farms and tents. It is flattened to rubble mostly. Gaza, the size of Philadelphia, where over 20,000 children have been murdered, and an equal amount orphaned, and an equal amount made amputees or severely damaged by burns, spinal cord injuries, blindness. Another million children are traumatized for life. That's just the children. Haven't you heard? The entire population of 2.2 million surviving are dying a slow painful death of engineered starvation gleefully implemented by Israel and they have now sucked US private citizens to help with the horror show. Four thousand hungry souls have been shot dead in the last few months trying to pick up nutritionally depleted food at shooting corrals. It's obscene and the USA has partnered with Israel to make it all happen. Genocide scholars, many Israeli or Jewish, have deemed what is taking place in Gaza is Genocide, the crime of all crimes, to their horror and shame.
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