Today a group from IKV Pax Christi is joining the blockade of the German military base Büchel that hosts US nuclear weapons. Every gate of the base has been blocked since 11.55h this morning by non-violent activists from all over the world. Every gate is supporting the “Rhythm Beats Bombs”message with musical performances.
Krista van Velzen, nuclear disarmament campaigner at IKV Pax Christi: ‘We join this 24 hour long blockade to show solidarity with the German peace movement. Just as in the Netherlands, Germany hosts 20 American B61 nuclear weapons at the air base. Although the German government said they wanted to send them back, there are still at Büchel, this is the reason why it is necessary to protest. The nuclear weapons in Germany will be modernised in the upcoming years, just like the weapons at Volkel (the Netherlands). This modernisation costs more than 1 billion dollars, which means that these nuclear weapons will cost more than their weight in gold’.
The IKV Pax Christi peace activists handed out cheese at the blockade. Benthe van de Pol, today Frau Antje: ‘Cheese not nukes is our message, of course it is a joke, but with a serious undertone: it is bizarre that plans are being made to place new nuclear weapons in Germany and the Netherlands’.