Trident Plowshares
The Trident Plowshares are a group of anti-nuclear weapons campaigners who peacefully advocate nuclear disarmament for Great Britain .
The name of the group founded by Angie Zelter in 1997/1998 refers to the American ploughshare movement, whose name in turn comes from a quotation from the Bible: “He speaks right in disputes of many peoples, he rebukes powerful nations. Then they forge plowshares from their swords and winemaker's knives from their lances. One no longer draws the sword, people against people, and no longer practices for war. ”( Micah 4,3 EU or Isaiah 2,4 EU in antithesis to“ Forge swords out of your plowshares and lances out of your winemaker's knives! ” Joel 4.10 EU )
A special focus of the movement, as the name suggests, is on the disarmament of the British Trident missiles carried by the Vanguard- class submarines . Therefore, both the rocket production facilities and the Faslane-on-Clyde submarine base are targets of the protests. Trident Plowshares have set up permanent protest camps for years in front of the Faslane-on-Clyde and Devonport naval bases , where the nuclear reactors are replenished, and in front of the Coulport base , where the warheads are stored.
The legal basis of the Trident Plowshares is based on the findings of the Nuremberg trials : international law takes precedence over national law. In 1996 the International Court of Justice found the use and the threat of using nuclear weapons, but not their possession, to be contrary to international law. According to Article 96 of the UN Charter , this decision has the status of an expert opinion and is therefore not binding.
One becomes a member of Trident Plowshares by signing the "pledge" (Eng. Pledge, promise), the "TRI-DENTING IT HANDBOOK". The signatories are called "pledger". Archbishop Rowan Williams is a pledger. Trident Plowshares had 49 founding members in 1997 and 226 in 2005 .
The group received the Right Livelihood Award in 2001 .