JSO protestor disrupts Quaker Meeting
'One Friend present said the man politely announced himself as being from JSO and said he had met a Quaker in prison who said that Friends were ‘nice people’ but needed to be pushed to do more on the climate emergency.'
A Just Stop Oil (JSO) protestor visited a Quaker Meeting last week to read a prepared statement pressing Friends to take more urgent action on the climate emergency.
The protestor, who said he was not a Quaker, arrived at Blackheath Meeting House in London for Meeting for Worship on 2 July. One Friend present said the man politely announced himself as being from JSO and said he had met a Quaker in prison who said that Friends were ‘nice people’ but needed to be pushed to do more on the climate emergency. He said he had been arrested ten times and was currently on remand awaiting trial for smashing up a petrol station. The prepared statement, lasting around seven minutes, started with Benjamin Lay’s protests against enslavers in Quaker Meetings and went on to cover Quaker campaigning and civil disobedience over the centuries, with an update on the state of the planet. Friends should be acting in that tradition on climate, the man said, citing ‘demands’ (his word) such as mobilising as a Meeting and joining JSO’s slow walking protests. Other protestors would be ‘disrupting’ other Meetings, he indicated. The man also suggested that he had been to the Meeting some weeks before but had not spoken.
The ‘disruption’ was followed with ‘heartfelt’ ministry in response, and the man stayed to have tea and chat with Friends.
Friends took to social media to discuss the visit, with not everyone in favour of the tactic. So far no other Meetings have reported similar visits.
Quaker Rajan Naidu, a JSO protestor, told the Friend that he doubted that the disruption was a formal JSO strategy. ‘Acts of nonviolent civil resistance by JSO are notable for always being public, fully accountable, shared on social and corporate media, and being accompanied by clear messaging, including a clear explanation of why a target was chosen.’ A JSO action would challenge all religions and denominations, he added, not just Quakers, who are considered allies.
The Friend contacted the JSO press office which said it was unaware of the action.
Deborah Mitchell, from Falmouth Meeting. was added to the Prison and Court Register at this month’s Meeting for Sufferings for her peaceful witness for JSO. The Cornwall Quaker was found guilty and fined £650 at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on 15 February following a charge of obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity in April 2022 outside Purfleet oil refinery in Essex.
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