WOMEN'S PEACE CAMP GREENHAM COMMON
RAF Greenham Common is one of the intended sites for 96 Cruise missiles in December 1983. The women's peace camp at Greenham Common — established the 5th of September, 1981 as a non-violent protest against these and all nuclear weapons — has attracted the attention of the press all over the world. It is perhaps the best known peace camp, certainly it has been an example to many others. The sources for the following were Connexions No. 6 (4228 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland CA 94609 USA) and Keeping the Peace (Women's Press, 124 Shoreditch High Street, London El ENGLAND).
The Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp started with 40 women and children. Some women left their children at home, some gave up their jobs, and all left the comfort and security of relationships and homes. Helen is one woman at the camp. At 44, she'd given up five children, husband and home to live at Greenham Common. She hadn't planned on this kind of direct action. "I never disapproved but I thought the way a lot of women with children think, that I'd a greater responsibility to them than what I felt was right for me. The thought that these missiles could kill all the people I cared about anyway changed that. The only logical thing to do was to make a committed stand. I felt I had the right to make that decision on my own without consulting my husband and children. Obviously they were very upset. The youngest is four and my husband has had
to give up his job and go on social security, which he hates, though he understands what I'm doing and he supports the peace movement. I just had to decide whether I was going actively to involve myself in this protest or put it aside for someone else to do because of the children. It's one of those decisions that affects the rest of your life — I chose to become involved."
Activism is not limited to the encampment. After a daylong festival 160 women barricaded the six gates of the base. They succeeded in stopping construction for 24 hours
until the police cut a hole in the fence. When some older women lay down in the mud to stop them, they were dragged away. During the blockade 34 women were arrested.
The blockade took place under threat of eviction. It was during this period that, after long and difficult discussions, the women agreed that the camp would be a women-only
space. Men were welcome to continue their support off-site and to keep in contact with the women as to the most appropriate ways to do this. But the camp itself was reaffirmed as a women's initiative, with it being clearly women making the decisions and talking to the authorities and press (which they requested to be represented by women).
On May 27, the women were evicted, and the camp largely destroyed. A nevv camp was established on land just out of the jurisdiction of the eviction order — only a few yards away from the old site. Five women had been arrested and taken to court where they were charged to 'keep the peace'. They agreed, but their interpretation of 'keeping the peace' was to continue to organise against the Cruise missiles.
Women from WONT (Women Oppose the Nuclear Threat) see the camp as the practical side of their political analysis. 'The analogy between men's colonisation of women's bodies and space in the sexual act and in daily life, and the colonisation of this country's soil by American penetration is clear". Not all women who join the peace camp share the same opinion but they all do agree that the nuclear arms race has to stop, and that the camp is an important statement. 'The point of the camp is to draw attention to the fact that every day men are helping to build missile silos for the American military forces in this country. Those missiles could trigger off a holocaust. Every day hundreds of people go past on that road and have to ask themselves "What makes those women live here and give up their normal lives?" It's a focus too for all the people in the peace movement, who know what we're up against but are uncertain what to do. They can come here, meet others sympathetic, get inspiration, anything could happen.
ON TOUR FOR PEACE 
The article below describes another kind of action for peace, that of Holly Near, and American feminist singer/ songwriter. Source: New Directions for Women Nov/Dec
'82 (223 Old Hook Rd, Westwood NJ 07675 USA).
" I wanted to change the myth", said Holly Near, feminist singer/songwriter, of her recent tour to Europe and Scandinavia, " that everyone in the US is a Reagan supporter."
Few Europeans knew that nearly 1 million people demonstrated for world nuclear disarmament in New York, June 12, 1981, nor that almost 73 percent of Americans support some form of nuclear freeze. Near, through her concerts and workshops, brought word of the United States peace movement.
In Bochum, Germany, Holly Near joined 350 other artists for the festival Artists for Peace where they played to a capacity audience of 50,000 and where, in a gesture of global solidarity and peace through unity, an Israeli, a concentration camp survivor, performed with an all-Palestinian orchestra. In Islington, a borough of London, she asked her audiences to donate money to the Women's Peace Camp at Greenham Common, which she had visited earlier that day. Nearly $300 was raised.
Back in the United States, Holly Near continues to perform concerts in which she addressess many political concerns: human rights, nuclear power, world peace. She has also recently released an album. Speed of Light, as part of her continuing effort to reach as many people as possible with her message: join hands and struggle with others for the kind of world we want to live in.