Pre-emptive Strike
1 minute silence every day @ noon
Strike for 1 minute a day...
...as an act of refusal, grief and protest against the US led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Stop what you are doing, wherever you are and observe one minute of silence and stillness each day at noon until invasion ends.
As it becomes clear that the invasion is unlikely to be over quickly, we need a an action that can be sustained over a long siege, over a long occupation.
We want US led forces out of Iraq.
Millions of people protest worldwide and still the invasion continues. If our voices aren't heard, maybe our silence will be. Say something with your silence.
Say US led forces must leave Iraq.
Say the USA must pay war reparations to Iraqis for rebuilding their own country (coalition companies should not be fighting over lucrative US government tenders).
Say STOP. No more killing in the name of peace.
Everyday at noon, when the clock strikes 12, just stop for one minute.
A minute for reflection and grief. A minute for refusal.
Strike as an entire workplace. Strike as an act of personal conscience.
There are 1440 minutes in a day. Take just one to refuse this invasion of Iraq.
If one million people stop work for a minute it is equivalent to one person striking alone for 8 years.
How to participate:
A minute is a short time, but doing this everyday takes a tiny bit of planning.
Think about what you will be doing at that time. Think about involving people around you so that you can strike together. Try to give yourself a reminder, for example if you have a mobile phone set yourself a reminder for 11.59, find some way to make sure you know the time as noon approaches. Communicate with people around you and plan your activities so that people around you know what is happening when you stop work for a minute. Think about how you will deal with different situations so that you, and those striking with you, can effectively take this minute to stop and refuse this illegal and shameful invasion.
Suggestions for planning 1 minute strike in different situations:
Try to find others to strike with, tell people what you are doing, talk to your co-workers about striking as an entire workplace or else let them know you are striking as an act of personal conscience and ask them to support your choice by not talking to you during that minute.
If you are unable to avoid speaking on the phone as noon approaches, consider explaining to the person you are speaking with that you are participating in the strike and arranging to end the conversation for a minute or simply ask if can call them back.
If you are walking down the street try to find a convenient spot to stop.
If you are in an environment where you may attract attention during your strike minute and are not sure how to deal with this consider printing out the attached flyer to give people who wonder what you are doing.
If you are driving a car, keep an eye on the time, try to find a safe place to pull over and stop driving.
If you work in an environment where it would be dangerous to yourself, your coworkers, or someone else's life to participate alone because of how others depend on what you do, for example some factory lines or health care environments, then you should discuss with your colleagues the possibility of planning safe appropriate group participation.
If you deal face to face with public or customers consider putting up a flyer with the logo so that people know what is going on.
Help others participate:
The political and economic impact of this strike depends on getting many many people to participate. If one million people stop work for a minute it is equivalent to one person striking alone for 8 years. Many millions of people worldwide have spoken out against this illegal invasion, if all these people strike everyday for one minute until the end of the US led invasion and occupation of Iraq then it will have a cumulative impact. If the US plans to stay in Iraq for several years then we need a way to protest that may need to be sustained over several years, getting more people involved in this peaceful action is one way to build a silence that has to be listened to.
Spread information about this action to concerned friends and family. If you use email make sure you send them the attachments of the logo and flyer or send them a link to a URL where they can download the logo and flyer.
Contact your political representatives to tell them what you are doing. Write a letter, circulate copies of the letter to encourage others to do the same.
Contact unions and employers to encourage a supportive environment for employees to participate in the strike.
If you organise a strike in your workplace tell people about it. Contact your local newspaper, tv or radio station to tell them about the strike in your workplace, school or community. Share stories about your preemptive strike.
If you run a website: then consider putting this material online locally and giving out the URL to people locally. Start a local guest-book where people can share stories about preemptive strike in different situations. Use the keywords '1min_preemptive_strike' and the name of your city in your meta tag so that everyone can find info about the strike around the world. Put the sticker/banner graphic on your front page.
If you have access to photocopying or printing facilities then print off some of the flyers and get together with friends to distribute them to public places such as libraries, health centers, cafes, bars, schools etc.
Translate this material into your own language, adapt it to your own culture, add your own locally relevant suggestions.
FLYER/POSTER TO PRINT
download image below
BUMPER STICKER TO PRINT
download image below
