Anti-war protester Brian Haw who camped in Parliament Square dies, aged 62

[Dunamis]

Quote:Anti-war protester Brian Haw who camped in Parliament Square dies, aged 62
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:41 AM on 19th June 2011

The anti-war protester Brian Haw has died after battling lung cancer, his family have announced.



Mr Haw, 62, died in his sleep while receiving treatment for the disease in Germany.

The veteran protester camped out in Parliament Square in London for 10 years.

Successive attempts to move him failed after the High Court said it would be a breach of his human rights.

In a statement on Mr Haw's website, his family said: 'It is with deepest regret that I inform you that our father, Brian, passed away this morning.

'As you know he was battling lung cancer, and was having treatment in Germany.

'He left us in his sleep and in no pain, after a long, hard fight.
With your help we have been able to share months more than we should have had with him, and for that we are eternally grateful.'

Mr Haw began his campaign in June 2001 to highlight what he argued were injustices in British and U.S. foreign policy. He said he was inspired by a film which showed the harmful impact government sanctions can have on innocent civilians.

Just three months later, U.S. President George W. Bush launched his 'war on terror' following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and Mr Haw's one-man protest camp became a hub for demonstrators opposing the West's military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Persistent protest: Mr Haw kept up his campaign for more than a decade, marking the tenth anniversary of his camp just three weeks ago

As condemnation of the war increased, the former merchant navy deckhand’s tent and ragtag collection of pictures of war victims became a familiar sight. He was also joined by other protest groups and the makeshift camp swelled in size to become known as Democracy Village.

But the camp was not without its critics and Mr Haw faced a series of legal battles to have it shifted.

In 2002, Westminster City Council tried to prosecute Mr Haw for causing an obstruction, but the case was thrown out after it was ruled that camp banners did not impede the public.


Anti-establishment: Mr Haw's political position often led to run-ins with the law

And even when politicians amended the law to outlaw unlicensed protests, Mr Haw was able to keep up his campaign thanks to a legal loophole.

In the 2005 general election Mr Haw stood as a candidate in the Cities of London and Westminster in order to further his campaign. He won 298 votes, making a speech against the ongoing presence of UK troops in Iraq at the declaration of the result.

Last year, bailiffs moved on a number of other protest groups from Parliament Square Gardens, but again Mr Haw escaped eviction because he was camped on the pavement, not the lawn.

He was also arrested last year when police carried out security sweeps in the area ahead of the Queen's Speech.


High-profile support: Although many politicians condemned Mr Haw's tactics, he did win the backing of veteran Labour MP Tony Benn (left)

And in April Mr Haw faced another battle when officials tried to evict the huddle of tents, tarpaulin and placards - described by some as 'an eyesore' - ahead of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at nearby Westminster Abbey.

Until his final illness Mr Haw was able to keep a 24-hour vigil at the camp, surviving on handouts from friends and supporters and leaving only to attend court hearings.

Some dismissed Mr Haw as a crackpot, but others saw his protest in the shadow of the Mother of Parliaments as a crucial test of modern British democracy.


Growing support: As Mr Haw's notoriety spread, he was joined by other protesters in Parliament Square

He was difficult to pin down about his personal life, preferring to talk about the horrors of war and what he described as the UK Government's 'murderous' military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But scraps of his fascinating biography emerged in the conversations he had with journalists.

He was born in 1949 and lived in Barking, Essex, before moving to Whitstable in Kent.


War wound: Mr haw says he was often assaulted by passing members of the public who disagreed with his views

War wound: Mr haw says he was often assaulted by passing members of the public who disagreed with his views

His father was one of the first British soldiers to enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after it was liberated from the Nazis. Twenty years later he killed himself.

Mr Haw spent time in the merchant navy, ran a removals business and worked as a carpenter, but his evangelical Christian faith drove him to seek out suffering.

He visited Northern Ireland during the Troubles and travelled to the killing fields of Cambodia as the country attempted to recover from years of genocide and warfare.

Mr Haw also worked with troubled youngsters in Redditch, Worcestershire - where he lived with his wife Kay and their seven children - before starting his Parliament Square protest in mid-2001.

Mr Haw explained that he had left his family to campaign for other families suffering in war zones around the world.

'I want to go back to my own kids and look them in the face again, knowing that I've done all I can to try and save the children of Iraq and other countries who are dying because of my Government's unjust, amoral, fear-and money-driven policies,' he said.

'These children and people of other countries are every bit as valuable and worthy of love as my precious wife and children.'

Other opponents of the demonstration expressed their opposition in a more direct fashion - the peace protester was frequently abused by passers-by and even had his nose broken several times.


Determined: Mr Haw pictured in the early days of his one-man campaign

But despite being repeatedly arrested and beaten up, he kept returning to his spot opposite Parliament.

He claimed his was the most democratic campaign in the country because anyone could come and speak to him at any time.

Mr Haw's protest came to be part of the fabric of British cultural life. It was immortalised as a work of art in January 2007 when former Turner Prize nominee Mark Wallinger meticulously recreated his camp in the august surroundings of the Tate Britain gallery.

He also won a Channel 4 News award for Most Inspiring Political Figure in 2007.

He once vowed he would keep up his protest 'for as long as it takes'.

[TriWooOx]

Quote:A statement on his website BrianHaw.tv said that ''our father'' Mr Haw lost his battle with lung cancer on Friday

The message, addressed to friends and supporters, said: ''It is with deepest regret that I inform you that our father, Brian, passed away this morning.

''As you know he was battling lung cancer, and was having treatment in Germany.

''He left us in his sleep and in no pain, after a long, hard fight.''

Protester Haw had been battling for his right to remain living in a tent in Parliament Square.

The statement, signed "Brian's family" continued: "With your help we have been able to share months more than we should have had with him, and for that we are eternally grateful.

"We would like to have this time to be together as a family, to share in the love he gave us, and respectfully ask that you allow us this time undisturbed.

"We will make further arrangements known to you all in due course."

Fellow members of the Parliament Square Peace Campaign said the authorities "should forever be ashamed of their disgraceful behaviour towards Brian".

He had been stationed in Parliament Square for ten years, and had fought of a series of legal objections to his presence there.

The latest saw the Greater London Authority get him and his supporters thrown off the grass area at the centre of the square.

Later this year Westminster Council is set for a court bid to get the camp moved off the pavement, which could see it removed permanently.

Mr Haw, 62, began his round-the-clock protest opposite the Houses of Parliament against the UK's policy in Iraq and elsewhere on June 2, 2001.

It began as an angry response to economic sanctions and British and American bombing raids on Iraq, but the scope grew wider after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq that followed.

His tent and ragtag collection of horrific pictures of war victims and hand-written posters with slogans like "baby killers" was a familiar sight in the square.

Civil rights campaigners got behind the protester as he saw off various attempts to force him to move.

In November 2004, ministers announced provisions in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill that could have seen him removed from Parliament Square.

The legislation, passed in April 2005, restricted the right to protest in designated areas within 1km (about half-a-mile) of the Houses of Parliament.

Initially, the High Court ruled Mr Haw's protest was not covered by the Act because it started before the new law came into effect.

But the case was taken to the Court of Appeal which, in May 2006, ruled he would have to apply to the police under the Act for permission to continue his demonstration.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8...-died.html

R.I.P Brian, you are a true hero

[IanPotter]

Damned shame - but if he comes back to haunt the fascist scum that he stood against so resolutely it won't be so bad and I think there's a reasonable chance he'll do just that.

"Woo-wooo. Evict me now you bastards".

Respect Brian. Love to his family.

[SiLVa]

It is a shame...
R.I.P. Brian Haw.
My prayers go out to his family, their father was a warrior.