On the 11th of June 2016, demonstrators under the banner “Stop Ramstein: No Drone Warfare” organized a variety of direct actions against the US Air Force base in Ramstein as well the global arms trade. The goals of the protesters were to exert political pressure on the government to change its foreign policy stance and to increase awareness on issues that surround it. According to the organizer’s website:
“Those that sow war, will reap refugees”
The activity which captured the demonstrators drive for peace was a symbolic gesture in the form a human chain, which stretched from Kindsbach over Landstuhl at the Airbase till the center of Ramstein. The organizers state that 5000 people took part in this protest while the police estimates between 2500 to 3000.
See photo reportage and more information here.
At the end of this reportage you also find a link to the
VIDEO: US Foreign Policy & Military Bases – Noam Chomsky, Joseph Gerson & John Lindsay Poland
In this video, Noam Chomsky, Joseph Gerson and John Lindsay Poland talk about the US foreign policy apparatus that includes US military bases worldwide and the drone program.
- What is the rational behind having 800 military bases worldwide?
- What role does the US air base in Ramstein play?
- Is the drone program justified?
- What can activists do to halt militarization?
All of these questions and more are addressed in this video here.
