Anti-war demonstration in Oswestry
Peace and environment activists created a pop-up shrine for peace in Oswestry.
Members of Extinction Rebellion Oswestry & Borders and Oswestry Coalition for Peace came together in Cae Glas Park with residents on April 30, coinciding with the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Oswestry resident Jonathan Abbatt described the war as "a horrendous and unnecessary conflict which not only led to over three million Vietnamese and 60,000 US soldiers losing their lives, but also left a trail of unexploded munitions and poisonous defoliant chemicals".
Agent Orange, a defoliant containing dioxin that was used by the US during the Vietnam war to destroy forests where Viet Cong forces were hiding, caused persisting disabilities and health problems in Vietnamese people.
Peace Lotus Day champion Tran To Nga, 78, recently filed a lawsuit against a number of multinational companies alleged to have sold these chemicals to the US government.
In celebration of anti-war figures, Oswestry people were invited to make paper peace lotuses, a symbol of peace in Vietnam, or bring along other items that symbolised peace to them. Some brought poems and candles to light.
Creative events occurred up and down the country, culminating in an event at Faslane nuclear base in Scotland, during which a group of female veteran peace activists and Extinction Rebellion protesters obstructed entrances to the base with the message 'Safe, Green, Future'. The blockade was part of an international peace lotus campaign in April designed to raise awareness about the relationship between war, ecocide and environmental devastation.
