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CND IN THE NEWS
CND in the News: 13 - 19 Feb 2003
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1
Anti-war rally makes its mark
19 February, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2767761.stm
The clear-up operation begins in central London
The government is taking stock of one of the biggest days of public
protest ever seen in the UK against a possible war with Iraq.
In London, around a million people took to the streets in what police
described as the largest demonstration ever to be held in the city.
There were also rallies in Belfast and in Glasgow - where the Labour
party is holding its Spring Conference.
During a speech to conference delegates, Tony Blair defended his tough
stance on Iraq.
But the BBC's political correspondent Mark Mardell said it would be
interesting to see how much notice Tony Blair took of the marches.
"Presumably the size of those marches do represent public opinion.
He'll be keeping a very close eye on the opinion polls.
"If at the end of the day he does get another UN resolution as
I'm told by his closest aides he believes he will then I think the problem
is very much less."
But if he decides he has to think about going to war with America that
is a huge decision.
"It means taking the country into a war that most people in the
country are against and certainly the Labour party are against.
"He's almost damned if he does and damned if he doesn't."
On Saturday contingents arrived in London from about 250 cities across
the UK for a three-and-a-half mile march and rally - organised by Stop
the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
and the Muslim Association of Britain.
Two separate meeting points were used before the streams converged in
Piccadilly Circus and made their way to Hyde Park for a rally.
Organisers claimed up to two million people took part, with police estimates
putting the figure at "in excess of" 750,000.
Organiser John Rees said the turnout had been fantastic with an "electric
atmosphere but also very serious and determined".
Leading the demonstrators into the park was Italian student Giancarlo
Suella, 29, who held a banner reading: 'Bush And Blair, A Good Christian
Will Never Kill'.
He said: "I came to England to make my point to Mr Blair, it's
hard to believe what he is doing."
At the rally, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy told the crowd
he was not persuaded by the case for war.
With "misleading" evidence provided by the government, "it's
no wonder that people are scared and confused", he said.
High profile speakers
Former US presidential candidate the Rev Jesse Jackson also spoke and
led the crowd chanting "give peace a chance, keep hope alive".
Among other high-profile supporters were writer Tariq Ali, ex-minister
Mo Mowlam, London's mayor Ken Livingstone, actress Vanessa Redgrave,
human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger and former MP Tony Benn.
Playwright Harold Pinter made a rare public speech, saying America was
"a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics with Tony Blair
as a hired Christian thug".
Hollywood actor Tim Robbins, also attending, told BBC News the crowds
were "what democracy looks like".
If Mr Bush and Mr Blair ignored them "they are not rightful leaders
of a democracy", he said.
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2
'Million' march against Iraq war
16 February, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2765041.stm
Some marchers took hours to reach Hyde Park
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London
to voice their opposition to military action against Iraq.
Police said it was the UK's biggest ever demonstration with at least
750,000 taking part, although organisers put the figure closer to two
million.
There were also anti-war gatherings in Glasgow and Belfast - all part
of a worldwide weekend of protest with hundreds of rallies and marches
in up to 60 countries.
They came as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a speech warning of "bloody
consequences" if Iraq was not confronted, directly addressed those
marching.
He did not "seek unpopularity as a badge of honour", he said,
"but sometimes it is the price of leadership and the cost of conviction".
Shortly after he spoke, at around midday GMT, a tide of banner-waving
protesters began surging through central London.
They cheered, shouted, sounded horns and banged drums, waving signs
with slogans 'No War On Iraq' and 'Make Tea, Not War'.
Contingents arrived in the capital from about 250 cities and towns across
the UK.
The three-and-a-half mile march - organised by Stop the War Coalition,
the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the
Muslim Association of Britain - was started early by police, over concern
at the number of people gathering.
Two separate meeting points were used before the streams converged in
Piccadilly Circus and made their way to Hyde Park for a rally.
Christian message
Organiser John Rees said the turnout had been fantastic with an "electric
atmosphere but also very serious and determined".
Leading the demonstrators into the park was Italian student Giancarlo
Suella, 29, who held a banner reading: 'Bush And Blair, A Good Christian
Will Never Kill'.
He said: "I came to England to make my point to Mr Blair, it's
hard to believe what he is doing."
All police leave in the capital was cancelled for the event but Scotland
Yard said it passed off almost without incident.
There were a handful of arrests for minor mostly public order offences,
but later four anti-war activists were arrested after more than 20 people
held a sit-down protest at Piccadilly Circus.
The protesters - who were part of the Voices in the Wilderness UK pressure
group - were taken to a local police station and the road was reopened
at 2015 GMT.
Andy Todd, assistant deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police,
said the crowd had been tolerant and patient and "the biggest I
have experienced."
The police estimate of 750,000 people could be an underestimation due
to people bypassing official routes or going straight to Hyde Park without
joining the main march.
At the rally, Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy told the crowd
he was not persuaded by the case for war.
With "misleading" evidence provided by the government, "it's
no wonder that people are scared and confused", he said.
High profile speakers
Former US presidential candidate the Rev Jesse Jackson also spoke and
led the crowd chanting "give peace a chance, keep hope alive".
Among other high-profile supporters were writer Tariq Ali, ex-minister
Mo Mowlam, London's mayor Ken Livingstone, actress Vanessa Redgrave,
human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger and former MP Tony Benn.
Playwright Harold Pinter made a rare public speech, saying America was
"a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics with Tony Blair
as a hired Christian thug".
Hollywood actor Tim Robbins, also attending, told BBC News the crowds
were "what democracy looks like".
If Mr Bush and Mr Blair ignored them "they are not rightful leaders
of a democracy", he said.
There was one gesture of support for military action to remove Saddam
Hussein elsewhere in London during the rally.
Writer Jacques More, 44, from Croydon, south London, stood with a placard
outside the Iraqi section of the Jordanian embassy in central London,
saying that although a last resort war was necessary "when evil
dictators rule and murder their own people".
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3
A new era of activism?
15 February, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2762027.stm
In many ways it ought to gladden the hearts of ministers. Estimates
suggest at least a million people, and very possibly more, joined Saturday's
anti-war protest in London and other cities and towns.
The London march was the largest political demonstration Britain has
ever seen and the biggest taking to the streets since VE Day.
The turnout dwarfed not just last year's Countryside Alliance march,
which enjoyed a degree of bankrolling by wealthy landowners, but also
the 1980s CND rallies that became a feature of the Thatcher years.
In recent years we have become used to members of the government fretting
about diminishing interest in and respect for politics and political
party activism - usually just after the latest abysmal election turnout
figures have been posted.
Their concern is genuine; many of them cut their political teeth at
the coal face of extra-parliamentary political activism.
Not Tony Blair, who himself acknowledges that he came late to politics.
Gordon Brown, Charles Clarke, Peter Hain and Jack Straw, however, are
just a few at the cabinet table with an honourable record of youthful
rabble-rousing in the best sense of the word.
Broad alliance against war
The irony won't be lost on them that a huge resurgence of street protest
sees their government on the wrong end of public opinion.
It has also mobilised people from all walks of life in a coalition that
could have been copied from Mr Blair's big tent text book.
The Stop the War Coalition (STWC) has more than 500 organisations affiliated
to it, including 11 political parties (the Liberal Democrats among them).
Assorted luvvies and celebrities are on board, as are many trade unions,
Greenpeace and assorted bishops.
So too are Bare Witness ("naked protest for peace") and Knitters
Against The War. A lecturer-and-student contingent from Eton College,
meanwhile, was on the phone to the STWC seeking advice on the best assembly
point to make for.
New era of activism?
A disparate bunch, certainly; but also a broad one that can't be dismissed
as the usual collection of Heinz 57 varieties of hard-left activists
sometimes relied on to make up the numbers at many a protest.
Does it all add up to a new era of activism? Campaigners who have been
waiting for a resurgence of grassroots activism hope it does, but know
that it is too early to tell.
The prospect of imminent war, albeit one in which the bombs will fall
thousands of miles away, is about as serious as protest issues get.
Small wonder, in that sense, if it were to bring record numbers of marchers
onto the street.
What ministers are hoping, including those concerned at the government
line on Iraq as set down by Mr Blair, is that the coalition of voters
ranged against them on the looming war will, once the issue that binds
it has passed, break up and go its separate ways.
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4
Thousands march against war
15 February, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2766711.stm
Cardiff student Ben Finden joined the anti-war march
Thousands of anti-war protestors left Wales for London to take part
in one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in the UK.
Around 100 coaches left locations across Wales, bound for London, with
many other protestors joining the huge march by rail.
Organisers predicted that more than 500,000 people would take part in
the in the London protest against war in Iraq, but some estimated that
a million people were on the streets of the UK capital.
Protests also took place in Glasgow, Belfast and cities across the world.
Twenty coaches packed with protestors left from City Hall, Cardiff,
at 0800 GMT on Saturday.
Veteran anti-war campaigner Ray Davies of the South Wales Stop the War
Coalition, spoke to BBC Wales News Online from the march.
He said: "The atmosphere was electric and we were told by stewards
that a million people had turned up.
"There were people there from all over the UK and beyond and from
all walks of life.
"There were so many smaller marches joining from all over London,
that it took hours just to reach the start point."
Yvette Roblin, 75, of Cardiff, took part in her first demonstration
since marching in protest against the Korean war as a student in the
1950s.
She told BBC Wales News Online: "I think Saddam is dreadful, but
war isn't the way to go about things.
"I haven't done anything like this since I was a student at Aberystwyth,
but I feel so strongly about it.
"I am not a pacifist and my husband fought in Burma, but I think
Blair has lost the plot and I will never trust him again."
Taking part in his first-ever demonstration was Cardiff student Ben
Finden, 20.
"I'm marching mainly to find out about the war because we haven't
been told enough," he said.
"It must have an effect on the people making the decisions over
war."
Also taking part in her first march was student Mina Rai, from Cardiff.
She said: "I'm completely against the war and I think most people
are.
"It's time we went out and said 'no'."
Lecturer Elin Jones, 35, from Aberystwyth, added: "
"I want to see if we can do something to stop the war."
The march in London was organised by Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain.
The three-and-a-half mile march started from two positions at midday
and converged at Piccadilly Circus.
It culminated in a rally at Hyde Park where a succession of speakers,
including former US presidential candidate Reverend Jesse Jackson, took
to a stage near Speakers' Corner.
The prime minister's office said in a statement that Tony Blair "respected
the views" of those taking part in the march but suggested the
demonstration would make little difference to government policy.
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5
Protesters join huge anti-war march
15 February, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2765455.stm
Thousands of anti-war protestors have left Wales for London to take
part in one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in the UK.
Around 100 coaches left locations across Wales, bound for London, with
many other protestors heading for the huge march by rail.
Organisers have predicted that more than 500,000 people will take part
in the London protest against war in Iraq, with marches also planned
for Glasgow, Belfast and cities around the world.
Twenty coaches packed with protestors left from City Hall, Cardiff,
at 0800 GMT on Saturday.
Aboard one coach was 75-year-old Yvette Roblin, of Cardiff, who was
preparing to take part in her first demonstration since taking part
in protests against the Korean war as a student in the 1950s.
She told BBC Wales News Online: "I think Saddam is dreadful, but
war isn't the way to go about things.
"I haven't done anything like this since I was a student at Aberystwyth,
but I feel so strongly about it.
"I am not a pacifist and my husband fought in Burma, but I think
Blair has lost the plot and I will never trust him again."
Taking part in his first demonstration was Cardiff student Ben Finden,
20.
"I'm going mainly to find out about the war because we haven't
been told enough," he said.
"If as many people turn up as we hope, it must have an effect on
the people making the decisions over war."
Also heading for her first-ever march was student Mina Rai, from Cardiff.
She said: "I'm completely against the war and I think most people
are.
"It's time we went out and said 'no'."
The march in London has been organised by Stop the War Coalition, the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of
Britain.
Joining the coaches at Cardiff was veteran anti-war campaigner Ray Davies
of the South Wales Stop the War Coalition.
Mr Davies said: "I've been coming here (City Hall) to join marches
since the 1960s, but I have never seen numbers like this.
"There are activists here, but also so many people who I have never
seen before who want to put pressure on Blair and Bush."
Lecturer Elin Jones, 35, from Aberystwyth, added: "I am going because
I want the government to listen to us.
"I want to see if we can do something to stop the war."
The three-and-a-half mile march in London will start from two positions
at midday and converge at Piccadilly Circus.
It will culminate in a rally at Hyde Park where a succession of speakers,
including former US presidential candidate Reverend Jesse Jackson, will
take to a stage near Speakers' Corner.
The prime minister's office said in a statement that Tony Blair "respected
the views" of those taking part in the march but suggested the
gesture would make little difference to government policy.
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6
Performers unite for peace
14 February, 2003
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/2757681.stm
British artists and entertainers are uniting en masse to oppose the
prospect of a US-led war against Iraq.
Many are expected to turn out in London on Saturday to join a planned
huge demonstration opposing the UK's involvement in any conflict.
Actors, film-makers, musicians, writers and comedians are among hundreds
of high-profile names, both in the UK and the US, who have signed up
to a campaign against possible war.
But not all celebrities oppose possible military action: Tom Cruise
and Steven Spielberg gave their backing to President George Bush's policy
last year.
The No War on Iraq liaison group, headed by Labour MP Alice Mahon, is
urging the government to withold support for military action against
Baghdad.
On Thursday the group took out a full-page advertisement in The Guardian
newspaper setting out its case.
Its signatories include actors Jim Broadbent, Richard E Grant, John
Hurt, Sheila Hancock, Andrew Lincoln and Emma Thompson.
Musicians Craig David, Peter Gabriel, Annie Lennox, Phil Collins, Robert
Wyatt and rock band Travis are also involved.
Writers Will Self, Iain Banks and Nick Hornby, directors Mike Hodges
and Richard Eyre and comics Victoria Wood and Jeremy Hardy have added
their support.
Comedian Alexei Sayle told BBC News Online he was horrified at the prospect
of war.
He said: "Being the son of political activists has given me a horror
of demonstrations which I will nevertheless be overcoming on Saturday
to march for the first time in nearly 35 years.
"It's clear to virtually everyone apart from our vain, deluded,
pontificating prime minister that the issue of weapons of mass destruction
is merely a pretext for the United States to project its power around
the world."
Sayle added: "I'm ashamed of our government. That the party we
elected in 1997 with such high hopes has come to this, openly telling
such lies, is sickening. I've never said this before but I wish I was
French."
Director Mike Leigh - who like his contemporary Ken Loach is opposed
to any conflict - was similarly outspoken.
"I am totally opposed to this lunacy, which will undoubtedly escalate
into an unimaginable disaster," he said.
Musician and producer Brian Eno described war as "the bluntest
of all instruments".
"To actually choose it in the absence of an attack on us is a failure
of imagination, intelligence and, in the end, civilization," he
said.
"Hand in hand with America, we're running backwards."
The No War on Iraq group says it is seeking political and diplomatic
alternatives to a military assault on Iraq.
It brings the artists together with trade unions, CND,
the Green Party, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Muslim Parliament
and Stop the War Coalition.
Last month, celebrities including Bianca Jagger, singer Damon Albarn
and actor Corin Redgrave took their protest to the House of Commons
to lobby MPs.
In the US, stars of stage and screen have also used their public platforms
to speak out against a potential war.
Speaking at the Berlin Film Festival, director Spike Lee attacked President
Bush's policy on Iraq and praised France and Germany for their stance.
Other major Hollywood names opposing war include Dustin Hoffman, Martin
Scorsese, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn and Robert Redford.
The famous have a long association with political activism stretching
back to the 1960s civil rights and anti-Vietnam war movements in the
US.
John Lennon performed at peace concerts, and Muhammad Ali was stripped
of his heavyweight crown for refusing to be drafted.
More recently, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
in the UK was supported by many musicians and actors at its height during
the 1980s.
In the 1990s artists such as rock band U2 spoke out against the conflict
in the Balkans.
Some commentators have suggested that celebrities take part in popular
causes in order to attract media attention and further their own careers.
But one expert in human behaviour says they are more likely to be motivated
for genuine reasons.
Dr Donald Laming, of Cambridge University's department of experimental
psychology, said: "Some minor celebrities may do it for the publicity,
but most of them passionately believe in the cause."
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7
Why most MPs, even Labour, will stay away
February 13, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,3605,894447,00.html
When Labour MP Phil Sawford asked Tony Blair yesterday whether he had
a message for those taking part in Saturday's anti-war demonstrations
in London and Glasgow, he was careful to remind the prime minister that
many of them would be "his friends, not his enemies".
That may be a generous assessment of the mood of Labour activists who
will be taking to the streets, not to mention the far left groups, Liberal
Democrats, CND, Greens and others drawn to protest.
Mr Blair is well aware of his isolation, though confident he can rally
the country if it comes to a war. So his reply to the Kettering MP was
also conciliatory.
"Those of us who take a different view hold ours with as much conviction
and sincerity as they hold theirs," he told MPs.
Academic studies have estimated that British involvement in the Gulf
war in 1991 caused 17,000 Labour party members to tear up their party
cards. Gloomy Labour MPs this week reported that the party's membership
is down to 180,000, half the level it was when Mr Blair swept into No
10 on May 1 1997.
Estimates of the number of MPs who would vote against the government
if it went to war without a second UN resolution go as high or low,
according to taste, as 150, most of them Labour, a few Tory, many Lib
Dem and nationalist.
It does not translate into huge numbers of MPs joining Saturday's marches,
though some familiar figures will be present as they have been since
the likes of Tony Benn and Michael Foot were stalwarts on the anti-nuclear
Aldermaston marches of the 50s and 60s.
Many MPs have constituency surgeries or other commitments, while others
are wary of associating with the hard left, which is helping to organise
the march.
Charles Kennedy, who belatedly decided to risk speaking from a politically
polyglot platform and join Saturday's demonstration, has circulated
Lib Dem MPs explaining that they are the "pro-UN not the all-out
anti-war party".
"What finally swayed me was that it has become clear that vast
numbers of people feel powerless to influence the government and make
their voices heard," he said.
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8
10 million join world protest rallies
February 13, 2003
The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,894448,00.html
From Africa to Antarctica, people prepare to march for peace
Up to 10 million people on five continents are expected to demonstrate
against the probable war in Iraq on Saturday, in some of the largest
peace marches ever known.
Yesterday, up to 400 cities in 60 countries, from Antarctica to Pacific
islands, confirmed that peace rallies, vigils and marches would take
place. Of all major countries, only China is absent from the growing
list which includes more than 300 cities in Europe and north America,
50 in Asia and Latin America, 10 in Africa and 20 in Australia and Oceania.
Many countries will witness the largest demonstrations against war they
have ever seen.
The majority will be small but 500,000 people are expected in London
and Barcelona, and more than 100,000 in Rome, Paris, Berlin and other
European capitals. In the US, organisers were yesterday anticipating
200,000 marching in New York if permission is given. A further 100,000
are expected to march in 140 other American cities.
What is extraordinary, say the organisers, is the depth and breadth
of opposition that the US and Britain are meeting across the world before
a war has even started.
"This is unprecedented. Demonstrations only got this large against
the Vietnam war at the height of the conflict, years after it started,"
said a spokesman for Answer, a coalition of US peace groups which helped
organise a march of 200,000 people last month in Washington.
Many in the global peace movement optimistically hope that public opposition
to a war is becoming politically significant and could now affect the
timing of an invasion of Iraq and possibly even help avert conflict
altogether.
"The internationalism of the opposition is the most powerful weapon
people have. It's all we have. We think that Bush and Blair are well
aware that global opposition is mounting fast and that they are now
desperate to start the war before they are completely isolated by world
opinion," said a spokesman for United for Peace and Justice, a
US coalition.
New polls in Europe and the US yesterday suggested that opposition is
still mounting and is likely to continue even if the US gets a second
resolution. Spanish and Dutch polls showed that more than 70% now oppose
even UN-mandated action, with slightly fewer in Italy. Yesterday CND
reported that it was struggling to cope with the deluge of people wanting
to join.
In Germany, more than 300 towns are sending coaches to Berlin, where
more than 100,000 people are expected to march.
"Opposition is broader than at any time in the past. This will
be the largest peace march in 20 years," said Malte Keutzseldt
of Attac, Germany. "The peace movement is getting older now, but
a new generation of young people is deeply concerned. The churches and
unions have linked to make the coalition far broader than even the anti-nuclear
missile marches in the 1980s".
In Paris, a march organiser said that feeling was running high and that
he expected the anti-war demonstration to be largest ever. The most
unusual rally is expected to be in the international territory of Antarctica,
where dozens of scientists and others at the US McMurdo base on the
edge of the Ross sea will take to the ice.
The idea of an international day of action against the war was first
suggested in London after the last peace march in October. It was discussed
by peace and anti-globalisation groups from 11 countries at the European
social forum in Florence in November, but only became truly international
following meetings in Cairo, Egypt and Porto Alegre, Brazil, last month.
Since then the idea of coordinating international peace protests has
spread rapidly across the world and up to 30 new cities a day are believed
to be planning demonstrations. Next month activists from all continents
will meet in London to propose further global actions.
Coordinated international demonstrations have flourished in the past
five years with anti-capitalist marches and campaigns by environmentalists
and anti-globalisers against corporations like McDonald's, Shell and
Esso, and against global warming or international trade. Mostly organised
on the web by activists working below the radar of the mainstream media,
they have taken the establishment by surprise in many countries and
only been reported by independent media.
"The whole world's marching," said Helmut, a German student
in London. "This peace party should be better than the millennium
celebrations."
• The Stop The War Coalition (STWC) is planning a display of mass direct
action designed to bring Britain to a standstill on the day any war
starts with Iraq. The protests would involve demonstrations in the centre
of London and other big towns and cities, wildcat strikes by anti-war
supporters and mass sit-ins at schools, colleges and universities across
the country.
A spokeswoman for the SWTC said: "We do think there will be a whole
wave of civil disobedience if war breaks out. People want to be peaceful
and are quite slow to anger, but they will be very angry if after Saturday's
mass show of opposition Tony Blair refuses to listen."
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9
Letters: War, the UN and the law
February 13, 2003
The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,894367,00.html
Polly Toynbee's "UN or bust" is little better than "my
country, right or wrong". A second UN resolution, from a security
council bribed and bullied into submission would be a further demonstration
of US dominance. This would lead to the use of the "shock and awe"
strategy of massive bombardment of Iraq, intended to be an object lesson
to all governments of the consequences of being seen to threaten US
interests.
If governments will not defy such power, then people must. This should
include, not only rallies, demonstrations and vigils, but also non-violent
direct action, civil disobedience, strikes and bringing the perpetrators
of such a war to legal account.
Dave Knight
Vice-president, CND
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10
My week: A walk in the park
February 14, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,894715,00.html
Andrew Murray, 44, is chairman of the stop the war coalition and one
of the chief organisers of the movement. We're expecting Saturday's
demonstration to be the biggest in British history. The anti-war movement
has assumed vast dimensions and I think those involved in the leadership
often feel we're running to keep up with the spread of anti-war opinion.
There's masses and masses to do.
We have lots of political and media attention and, in the course of
organising a demonstration, masses of technical stuff that needs to
be refereed and negotiated. There are endless meetings and phone calls
which take up virtually all of my waking hours but my three teenagers
are all anti-war so the family are firmly on side. On Sunday I prepared
speeches for meetings, took my children out to lunch and then to an
anti-war football game between an American team and an Iraqi team where
I made a short speech. I stayed to watch the first half by which point
Iraq was five-nil up against the Americans, but they swapped shirts
at half time so there was a mixed team in the afternoon. I then spent
the evening working on more speeches and articles. On a normal weekday
I would go to work, but we had a press conference in the House of Commons
for trade union leaders so I went to chair that.
The Stop the War Coalition have a temporary office and we had various
meetings there, including one with CND and the Muslim Association of
Britain, co-organisers of Saturday's demonstration. It was a difficult
meeting where we finalised a list of speakers for the rally. We all
have our cases to put but there's a strong bond between the three organisations
and the issue is far bigger than any differences that might arise in
the course of these meetings. Today, I had an early morning call from
my father - it's probably the first time we've been in complete agreement
on a political issue. I spent the morning in the Aslef office catching
up and was back at our King's Cross office by lunchtime for more meetings.
We're on track for Saturday but there'll still be a war danger after
that so we need to think of further things to do. The movement doesn't
stop at the weekend so we're now discussing how to carry the campaign
forward.
After that, I dealt with calls from journalists and spoke at a meeting
of union people at the Tate Modern. Speaking at public meetings is one
of the most enjoyable aspects because you get feedback from the audience.
People aren't taking any propaganda line for granted and want to ask
serious questions, which keeps you on your toes. Ultimately this is
a movement that draws it's strength from the involvement of millions
of ordinary people around the country and these meetings are where you
realise you're actually campaigning on something millions care about.
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11
Key role for young Muslims in struggle for peace
February 14, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,895190,00.html
Tomorrow's rallies will see a new breed of politically aware
protester take to the streets
Unprecedented numbers of British Muslims will take to the streets tomorrow
in what one protester has described as "the biggest Muslim political
mobilisation this country has ever seen".
If the row over Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses 15 years ago
was a wake-up call, these protests are a coming of age for a more assertive
generation.
Burning copies of Rushdie's book left Muslims looking extreme and isolated,
but new tactics and new allies show how much the community has changed.
"It is interesting that this is not being led by the clergy,"
said Ishtiaq Ahmed, general secretary of the Bradford council of mosques.
"It is led by Muslim trade unionists, politicians, activists.
"[The Rushdie] campaign got its momentum from the mosques. Here,
the mosques are playing their role, but they are not as prominent. The
mobilisation is taking place on campuses. It is supported by young people
who were born in Britain."
Saturday's rally is jointly organised by the Stop the War Coalition
(STWC) and the Muslim Association of Britain, marching under double-sided
banners: Don't Attack Iraq and Freedom for Palestine.
Such close collaboration in a nationwide campaign is a landmark experience
for Muslims. So too is the fact that Muslim MPs and peers are speaking
out against war.
A new generation adept at modern methods of protest has been networking
by mobile and email. On Sunday activists gathered at a London hotel
to staple thousands of banners together.
"In the last 15 years we have found out what is more effective,
working with people like Stop the War and CND,"
said Jamshed Moneer, 32, who was supervising the preparation. "We
have found out the avenues that established organisations use to protest."
Azzam Tamimi, a Palestinian academic who will be speaking at tomorrow's
rally, believes there has been a marked change of attitude. "Muslims
in the 70s still thought of themselves as temporary labour or the student
community. They now think of themselves as part of this country. That's
why they have no other choice but to get involved and influence politics."
But Muslim groups and the secular left can be awkward bedfellows. Though
in the past Muslims have come together with the left to fight racism,
the anti-war alliance remains a marriage of convenience.
On social issues like abortion, some Muslim protesters might find more
in common with George Bush than they do with their present allies.
"These are not permanent alliances," Dr Tamimi said. "These
are alliances on issues where we might find common ground with the left,
the far left even - like foreign policy, Palestine and Iraq. We don't
see eye to eye on many other issues."
There has been at least one call for a divorce. At the STWC's conference
last month a leftwing delegate labelled the partner group "reactionary",
but a motion to stop working with the Muslims was overwhelmingly outvoted.
Andrew Murray, national chairman of the STWC, describes the Iraq protests
as "the biggest Muslim political mobilisation this country has
ever seen".
He believes the war on Afghanistan and the threat of war against Iraq
has been "an enormously radicalising experience" for young
Muslims.
Like the secular protesters, Muslims are not convinced by the reasons
given for going to war, arguing, as Mr Moneer does, that "war is
a last resort" and "this is an unnecessary war", but
the emotional force of their protest comes from sympathy with fellow
believers.
This week Muslims celebrated Eid, the festival which marks the end of
the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Sometimes described as the
Muslim Christmas, Eid is a joyous, communal occasion of prayer, feasting
and giving to charity. In Muslim countries there is Eid programming
on television, and communal feelings are reinforced by the thought that
Muslims from Baghdad to Bradford are marking the festival.
"The perception in the minds of Muslims is that after September
11, America wants to avenge its loss against Muslims, no matter who
they happen to be," Dr Tamimi said.
"That's a very frightening thing. No matter how many times George
Bush says this is not a war against Islam, people don't believe him."
The belief that this is a crusade against their religion - shared by
seven in 10 British Muslims, one poll shows - is strengthened by fears
about the influence of the Christian right in America and talk of Tony
Blair and George Bush praying together.
At a Bradford school, sixth-former Khawer Ayub, 18, said: "If you
look at Afghanistan, America said they want to get rid of al-Qaida.
Then you look at it and think: 'Why are they killing innocent Muslims
- is it a war against Islam?'"
Fellow sixth former Syed Rizvi, 17, agreed: "They've got double
standards. North Korea says, 'We're going to attack you before you attack
us,' and they don't bomb them. That's when you tend to think there's
a war against Islam."
Ultimately, the west cannot win its war on terror without the support
of the Muslim world. If even the most westernised Muslims - boys who
are British to the tips of their Nikes - say this is a crusade against
them, there is little hope of convincing them otherwise.
……………………………………….
12
No mandate to go to war
February 14, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,895197,00.html
One man against the British people. In Britain, at least, this is Tony
Blair's war now, and his alone. The people whose views he was elected
to represent want none of it. The streets of London will tomorrow bear
witness to that truth.
It seems certain that the rally against the impending attack on Iraq
will be the largest political demonstration in British history. Perhaps
it is less a demonstration, more an assembly of a people, rejecting
senseless war. It will certainly be a rebuke to those who argue that
no one cares any longer about politics. Against a background of the
worst crisis in international relations for a generation, and a week
in which the government did nothing to stem a mounting atmosphere of
public tension, the demonstration also represents a refusal to be rendered
powerless.
Blair's fabled propaganda machine has laboured might and main for more
than a year to convince the British public that being hooked to the
back end of Bush's wagon train, as it moves to war, is the place to
be. As his spin efforts descend to the level of the comic - filching
students' theses and passing them off as the work of "British intelligence"
- it is abundantly clear that he has failed. This has turned the issue
of war into an issue of democracy as well. If, after a year of persuasion,
the government has failed to convince the country that war is necessary,
it simply has no right to proceed.
The "collateral damage" of Bush's war drive is mounting daily
- the cohesion of Nato, the chimera of a common EU foreign policy (and
Blair's fantasy of being at the heart of Europe) and the post-1945 structure
of international law included. All of this seems merely to be whipping
the US political class into a still greater frenzy of bellicosity. How
long before France is officially designated a "rogue state"
and Gerhard Schröder becomes a card-carrying member of the "axis
of evil"?
It now must be clear to everyone that the US is hell-bent on war at
any price, scattering to the winds any and every sensible proposal for
a peaceful resolution to the crisis in its rush to get the shooting
started. A fatal game of catch-22 is being played with the Saddam regime,
in which every discovery of an unauthorised weapon is hailed not as
evidence that UN inspections are working but as proof of Iraqi duplicity,
while every failure to find such weapons is evidence that they are being
concealed. But who can still believe that this has anything to do with
weapons of mass destruction, any more than it has to do with terrorism?
It has become an exercise in US military-political machismo.
This week's historic worsening of relations between the major powers
is a warning that one nation's determination to enforce its global hegemony
is bound to lead to endless and escalating conflicts. Bush and Blair
are now playing Osama bin Laden's game. He, more than anyone, seems
to be looking forward to the war as a chance to replenish his ranks.
He knows that every shot of Iraqi children being pulled lifeless from
the rubble will send hundreds of recruits flocking to al-Qaida's banner.
The prime minister's last hope - not of preventing military conflict,
which he shows no signs of any longer seeking to do, but of pacifying
at least a section of his critics - lies in a second UN resolution.
Yet he has devalued the UN, both in this crisis and for the future,
by his declarations that he will only go the UN route if the UN acquiesces
in advance to the Blair-Bush position.
Jack Straw is fond of waving aloft his well-thumbed copy of the UN charter.
Perhaps he could identify which clause codifies the "unreasonable
veto", a concept introduced into international law by the prime
minister last week. In fact, if a proposal is vetoed by the UN, it does
not go ahead. Yet the prime minister, echoing the US president, arrogates
to himself the right to declare such a procedure "unreasonable".
With such an attitude, which would make a nonsense of any rule-based
or legal system, the British government is treating UN procedures with
contempt.
A second resolution driven through the security council against this
background of intimidation loses any moral authority. It cannot now
make a wrong war right. Tomorrow the world will say no to war in rallies
across the globe. But London will be the most important - because ours
is the war leader who can be broken. And if he remains deaf to a nation's
plea for peace, he will be.
• Andrew Murray is chair of the Stop the War Coalition, which is
organising tomorrow's demonstration in London with CND
and the Muslim Association of Britain
apdmurray@hotmail.com
……………………………………….
13
UK's biggest peace rally
February 15, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,12809,896475,00.html
London today became the scene for what appears to be the biggest public
rally in British history as millions gathered across the world to protest
at the prospect of a war in Iraq.
In hundreds of cities, including Damascus, New York, Athens, Seoul,
Rome, Tokyo and Sydney, demonstrators marched, chanted and unfurled
banners against conflict in the Middle East.
The London demonstration, which organisers currently estimate to be
1.5m people strong, began ahead of its scheduled starting time as the
numbers congregating at Embankment forced police to allow them to march
through Westminster and Whitehall earlier than planned.
Scotland Yard is unable to confirm exact figures at present, but said
the numbers ran into hundreds of thousands.
Organiser John Rees, of the Stop the War Coalition, said the atmosphere
was "great". He added: "The march is huge. People are
cheering and making lots of noise. Ken Livingstone is up at the front
of the march."
A second march started in Gower Street, central London, and met with
the first at Picadilly Circus. There were loud cheers from the thousands
who gathered around the statue of Eros when the two marches joined up.
All around them, main streets were packed with people walking 20 abreast.
All ages were represented among the marchers, from babies to pensioners.
Many had travelled with family or friends to voice their concerns.
A few thousand people had already gathered in Hyde Park, the destination
of both marches, where a rally was later held.
US civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson thanked the protesters
for being a part of the largest demonstration against war "in the
history of Britain and the history of the world".
"It's cold outside but our hearts are warm. It may be winter but
all of you together are generating some serious street heat," he
said.
"George Bush can feel it, Tony Blair can feel it. Turn up the heat."
Mr Livingstone, the London mayor, mounted a sustained personal attack
on Mr Bush.
"This is an American president who uses the death penalty with
complete abandon and disregard for any respect for life. This is no
example," he told the rally.
"So let everyone recognise what has happened here today, that Britain
does not support this war for oil. The British people will not tolerate
being used to prop up the most corrupt and racist American administration
in over 80 years."
Other high-profile figures at the rally were musicians Damon Albarn
and Ms Dynamite, model Kate Moss, peace campaigner Bianca Jagger, politician
Mo Mowlam and playwright Harold Pinter.
British Transport Police said that railways around London were extremely
busy, with extra services being put on to accommodate the protesters.
"They're jam-packed," a spokesman said. "The people are
coming from all over."
Bearing placards featuring slogans including "make tea, not war",
protesters have travelled from all parts of the UK.
For thousands, it was their first protest march, with many having joined
new anti-war groups formed in their villages, churches and colleges.
Marchers will include a group of Bedford taxi drivers called Britons
Versus Bush and a collection of DJs dubbed Ravers Against the War.
The London demonstration was organised by Stop the War Coalition, the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim
Association of Great Britain.
More than 450 other organisations affiliated themselves to the coalition
including Greenpeace, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the SNP.
But concerns have been expressed in the Jewish community that the anti-war
march has been linked to the "Freedom for Palestine" campaign.
Some Jewish and Arab protesters were, however, marching together.
Thousands of anti-war protesters also took to the streets of Glasgow,
marching through the city centre towards the Scottish Exhibition and
Conference Centre, where the Labour party's spring conference is being
held.
Around 61,000 people are estimated to haven taken part in the largest-ever
peace demonstration ever staged north of the border.
Mr Blair speaking in Glasgow, said that he "respected and understood"
people's desire to march.
"I ask the marchers to understand this: I do not seek unpopularity
as a badge of honour," he said. "But sometimes it is the price
of leadership and the cost of conviction."
……………………………………….
14
War on want: the full list
February 15, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,896161,00.html
Louise Richards (Chief Exec War on Want)
Naomi Klein (author)
Ken Loach (director)
Ricky Tomlinson (actor)
Susan George (academic/activist)
Bill Spiers (STUC)
Isabel Allende (author)
Harold Pinter (playwright)
Sir John Mortimer QC CBE (author and playwright)
Mark Thomas (comedian/activist)
Mick Rix (Gen Sec ASLEF)
Tony Benn
Julie Hesmondhalgh (actress)
Mark Seddon (Tribune Editor)
Hilary Wainwright (Editor Red Pepper)
Jeremy Hardy (comedian)
Omid Djalili (comedian)
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (journalist)
Jenny Tonge MP
Tam Dalyell MP
Harold Best MP
David Taylor MP
Peter Kilfoyle MP
Simon Thomas MP
Alice Mahon MP
Harry Barnes MP
Jeremy Corbyn MP
Harry Cohen MP
Kerry Pollard MP
David Chaytor MP
Dr Ian Gibson MP
John Austin MP
Lynne Jones MP
Tony Worthington MP
John McDonnell MP
Kelvin Hopkins MP
Paul Marsden MP
Paul Flynn MP
Denis Murphy MP
Neil Gerrard MP
Jean Lambert MEP
Caroline Lucas MEP
Billy Hayes (CWU)
Martin Samways (President ASLEF)
Bob Crow (Gen Sec RMT)
Jeremy Dear (Gen Sec NUJ)
John Edmonds (Gen Sec GMB)
Paul Mackney (Gen Sec NATFHE)
Gerard Kelly (President NATFHE)
Ann Black (Labour NEC)
Judy McKnight (Gen Sec NAPO)
Bill Morris (Gen Sec TGWU)
Ken Cameron
Mark Serwotka (PCS)
Gloria Ramirez (CUT)
Dave Knight (Vice President CND)
Milan Rai (ARROW)
Tom Phillips (artist)
Dean OíLoughlin (Big Brother)
Canon Paul Oestericher
Timberlake Wertenbaker (playwright)
Michael Kustow (artist)
……………………………………….
I5
raq crisis: the peace marches
February 16, 2003
The Observer
http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,896485,00.html
One million. And still they came
Euan Ferguson reports on a historic peace march whose massive turnout
surpassed the organisers' wildest expectations and Tony Blair's worst
fears
'Are there any more coming, then?'
There have been dafter questions, but not many. At 1.10 yesterday afternoon,
Mike Wiseman from Newcastle upon Tyne placed his accordion carefully
on the ground below Hyde Park's gates and rubbed cold hands together.
Two elderly women, hand in hand in furs, passed through, still humming
the dying notes from his 'Give Peace A Chance'. They were, had he known
it, early, part of a tiny crowd straggling into Hyde Park before the
march proper.
Half a mile away, round the corner in Piccadilly, the ground shook.
An ocean, a perfect storm of people. Banners, a bobbing cherry-blossom
of banners, covered every inch back to the Circus - and for miles beyond,
south to the river, north to Euston.
Ahead of the marchers lay one remaining silent half-mile. The unprecedented
turnout had shocked the organisers, shocked the marchers. And there
at the end before them, high on top of the Wellington Arch, the four
obsidian stallions and their vicious conquering chariot, the very Spirit
of War, were stilled, rearing back - caught, and held, in the bare branches
and bright chill of Piccadilly, London, on Saturday 15 February 2003.
Are there any more coming? Yes, Mike. Yes, I think there are some more
coming.
It was the biggest public demonstration ever held in Britain, surpassing
every one of the organisers' wildest expectations and Tony Blair's worst
fears, and it will be remembered for the bleak bitterness of the day
and the colourful warmth of feeling in the extraordinary crowds. Organisers
claimed that more than 1.5 million had turned out; even the police agreed
to 750,000 and rising.
By three o'clock in the afternoon they were still streaming out of Tube
stations to join the end of the two routes, from Gower Street in the
north and Embankment by the river. 'Must be another march,' grumbled
the taxi driver, then, trying in vain to negotiate Tottenham Court Road.
No, I said; it's the same one, still going, and he turned his head in
shock. 'Bloody Jesus! Well, good luck to them I say.' There were, of
course, the usual suspects - CND, Socialist Workers' Party, the anarchists.
But even they looked shocked at the number of their fellow marchers:
it is safe to say they had never experienced such a mass of humanity.
There were nuns. Toddlers. Women barristers. The Eton George Orwell
Society. Archaeologists Against War. Walthamstow Catholic Church, the
Swaffham Women's Choir and Notts County Supporters Say Make Love Not
War (And a Home Win against Bristol would be Nice). They won 2-0, by
the way. One group of SWP stalwarts were joined, for the first march
in any of their histories, by their mothers. There were country folk
and lecturers, dentists and poulterers, a hairdresser from Cardiff and
a poet from Cheltenham.
I called a friend at two o'clock, who was still making her ponderous
way along the Embankment - 'It's not a march yet, more of record shuffle'
- and she expressed delight at her first protest. 'You wouldn't believe
it; there are girls here with good nails and really nice bags .'
Cheer upon cheer went up. There were cheers as marchers were given updates
about turnout elsewhere in the world - 90,000 in Glasgow, two million
on the streets of Rome. There was a glorious cheer, at Piccadilly Circus,
when the twin ribbons met, just before one o'clock.
The mood was astonishingly friendly. 'Would you like a placard, sir?'
Sir? The police laughed. One, stopping a marcher from going through
a barricade in Trafalgar Square, told him it was a sterile area, only
to be met with a hearty backslap. 'Sterile area? Where did that one
come from.' 'I know,' shrugged the bobby. 'Bollocks language, isn't
it?' And the talk was of politics, yes, but not just politics. There
were not the detailed arguments we had had, even during the last peace
march in November, over UN resolutions and future codicils. This march
was not really about politics; it was about humanitarianism.
'I'm not political, not at all. I don't even watch the news,' said Alvina
Desir, queuing on the Embankment for the start of the march at noon.
'I've never been on a march in my life and never had any intention.
But something's happened recently, to me and so many friends - we just
know there's something going wrong in this country. No one's being consulted,
and it's starting to feel worrying - more worrying than the scaremongering
we've been getting about the terrorist threat. I simply don't see how
war can be the answer and I don't know anyone who does. And, apart from
anything else, as a black woman in London, it feels dangerous to spread
racial tension after all that's been done.'
A Cheshire fireman nearby said: 'They will take notice of a protest
like this. Our MPs, and Blair himself , were voted in by ordinary people
like those here today. Blair is clever enough not to ignore this.'
Linda Homan, sitting on bench at 9.30 in the morning, watching a bright
and dancing Thames, had come down early from Cambridge and was wondering
at that stage whether many would turn up. Palettes of placards lay strewn
along the Embankment, waiting. A trolley was pushed past filled with
flags and whistles; there were more police - then, way back then - than
marchers. 'I've never felt strongly enough about anything before. But
this is so different; I would have let myself down by not coming and
I think this will be something to remember.'
For Linda, like so many along these streets, it was her first march.
Twelve-year-old Charlotte Wright, who came up by train from Guildford,
Surrey, on her own. 'My parents aren't very happy about this but I think
it's important. Bombing people isn't the right way to sort a problem
out.' Jenny Mould, 36, a teacher from Devon. 'I drove up last night.
It took seven hours but it was definitely worth it; the Government should,
it must, listen to the people, otherwise what's the point in democracy?'
Retired solicitor Thomas Elliot from Basildon, Essex, a virgin marcher
at 73, said: 'I remember the war and the effect the bombing had on London.
War should only be used when absolutely necessary.' Andrew Miller, 33,
from New Zealand, whose feeling, echoed by all around, was that 'all
the different groups that are marching today show the world that the
West is not the enemy, that British people do not hate Islam and Arabs
and the coming together of people is the greatest way forward.' Lesley
Taylor, a constitutional law lecturer who's lived across here for 29
years, holding a forlorn placard reading 'American against the war.'
Why only one? 'I don't know any other Americans here. In the Eighties
here I saw a lot of anti-American resentment, and now it's back. I accept
that the perception of George W. Bush has something to do with this,
but still... these are the same people the thinking middle-classes,
who were so shocked and honestly sympathetic after September 11: how
can they turn so nasty so quickly?
'Because America is making your Prime Minister go against the huge majority
of the British people. And that won't be forgiven. Look about you. That's
what this is about; not fierce party politics but a simple feeling that
democracy, British democracy, has been forgotten.'
Chris Wall, a Nottingham mother who had brought down eight children
with her: 'They talk about it at school and that's a good thing. Children
need to be aware of what's happening in the world. And this is, of course,
a peaceful protest.' It remained so all day, despite the numbers; by
five o'clock police were reporting only three arrests.
In Hyde Park itself, a long line of purple silk lay on the grass, facing
Mecca, and Muslims took off their shoes to pray. Beside it, artist Nicola
Green had set up her Laughing Booth, and was encouraging people in to,
obviously, start laughing, on their own, and be recorded; it was, she
says, the most disarming of all weapons. The sky above the nearby stage
grew dark, and the park grew even more astonishingly full.
Charles Kennedy won loud applause for stating that 'The report from
Hans Blix gives no moral case for war on Iraq'; George Galloway won
both applause and laughter for suggesting a new slogan: 'Don't attack
Chirac'. Mo Mowlam warned: 'We will lose this war. It will be the best
recruiting campaign for terrorists that there could be. They will hate
us even more.'
Will yesterday, astonishing yesterday, change anything? The facts are
undeniable. Perception is all.
If you look more carefully, in fact, at the warlike Wellington statue,
a new tale emerges. The driver of the chariot is a boy. The reins are
slack. The horses are not rearing with anger, but pulling up in mid-charge.
Behind, the fierce, all-powerful figure is not the Spirit of War but
the angel of peace, carrying an olive branch
……………………………………….
16
New protests planned in bid to bring Britain to a standstill
February 17, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,897148,00.html
Direct action urged if conflict begins
Anti-war coalition leaders, emboldened by the massive turnout at peace
rallies in London and around the world, are planning to try to shut
Britain down should Tony Blair defy public opinion and go to war without
a UN resolution.
"We want people to walk out of their offices, strike, sit down,
occupy buildings, demonstrate, take direct action and do whatever they
think fit the moment war starts," said Lindsey German of the Stop
the War Coalition yesterday.
"We want to completely close down Whitehall and prevent the Ministry
of Defence going to work. At 6pm on the first evening after the bombing
starts, there will be demonstrations and vigils all over the country,
to be followed by another march with CND on the first weekend after
war starts."
The coalition will decide over the next few days whether or not to call
for a local "day of action" which would be an invitation for
younger, militant groups around Britain to take direct action.
Last year, with considerably smaller support, a similar call led to
more than 300 demonstrations, including university occupations and wildcat
strikes.
International campaigners from the US, Asia and elsewhere are expected
to meet in London in the next week to consider further coordinated opposition
to war. But whatever the outcome, local groups will continue their diverse
protest activities, which range from weekly vigils in Milton Keynes
to next week's Cycle for Peace in London.
American airforce bases such as those at Fylingdales in Yorkshire and
Fairford in Gloucestershire, where activists have staged weekly "weapons
inspections", are likely to become a focus for much activity.
One of the key dates will be March 8, International Women's Day, which
will see an anti-war march setting out from Parliament Square, organised
by women who have been holding a weekly antiwar picket opposite Downing
Street.
That day's annual global women's strike, held in more than 70 countries
each year to push for investment in caring work rather than military
budgets, has been dedicated to the anti-war movement this year.
The size of the London and Glasgow marches, together with the great
diversity of people on them, has given people a shared confidence and
a new moral authority, said Ms German. "People who oppose the war
now feel that they speak for the majority. To get at least one million,
probably two million, people on to the streets on Saturday is unprecedented.
This was a national occasion," she said.
Her sentiments were echoed by many people on Saturday's march, many
of whom said they had never marched before.
"Mr Blair has truly united Britain for the first time in my lifetime.
I never dreamed so many people felt the same way as I did," said
Joanna Fitcham, company director from Norfolk. "I shall be taking
part in every demonstration I can from now."
"Next time I'll bring all my friends," said John Tucker, 15,
from south London, who had come with his mother.
Barrie Botley, 58, from Folkestone, said he had been amazed by the numbers
present. "The campaign is growing in momentum now and this won't
be the last protest, I'm sure. It may well be small compared to what's
come," he said.
Several politicians yesterday predicted that the march would have repercussions
throughout the Labour party and beyond.
Tony Benn said: "It will go down in British history. In 50 years'
time people will say 'were you really there?' It has given us great
hope. This is crunch time. Tony Blair can now either be the leader of
the Labour party or leader of the war party. "
Prominent Labour anti-war MP Alan Simpson said that the march had united
the anti-war movement with the anti-globalisation movement and could
redefine British politics.
"The party is split over this. There are only 180,000 members but
more than one million people were in the park. The government no longer
speaks for its constituency. If Blair takes us into the war we will
launch a movement in the Labour party to indict him."
Grassroots campaigners were equally quick to make the link with recent
protests, which they believed had encouraged groups with diverse aims
to join together and focus on specific issues.
"I was involved in the protests against the Gulf war, but this
is very different," said Mirjam Junker, from Germany, who joined
the protests on Saturday. "There are more people and also a wider
range of people. I think it's to do with the anti-globalisation movement.
It was the beginning of many things; groups joining up and linking together.
After Seattle people have learned to protest and take to the streets
again."
……………………………………….
17
Flood of emotion and anger that rose to wash away years of dismay
February 17, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,897138,00.html
Somebody called it a movement. It was not a movement. It was a feeling.
A feeling that drove wave after wave of people in a great river which
began to flow a few minutes before noon and was still in full flood
long after nightfall.
What astonished everyone who marched on Saturday - let's settle on a
million, shall we? - was the apparently limitless variety of those with
whom they shared the roads of central London. Not just a diversity of
banner-bearing interest groups but of individuality, brought into focus
by the single underlying feeling that gave this day its resonance.
That feeling was one of a generalised dismay directed squarely at the
country's leadership. If you wanted to attempt the impossible task of
identifying a typical marcher, you would probably settle for the middle-aged
white man who marched past the barricaded end of Downing Street at about
1pm carrying a hand-lettered sign. What it said, in neat black letters
about six inches high, came closest to summarising the message of the
day. "Labour Party member no A128368 against the war," the
man had written.
For although the river of people carried all kinds of flotsam and jetsam,
the undercurrent was a mighty dissatisfaction with the performance of
a leader who, 400 miles away in Glasgow, was at that very moment attempting
to justify a stance that few appear to comprehend.
Whatever else it may have been, the march was a great shout of protest
against a man for whom most of those present had voted in the last two
general elections. After the long, alienating years of Thatcher, Tony
Blair presented himself as one of us, part of the culture of modern
Britain. But now one piece of foreign policy has provided the catalyst
for the release of pent-up disenchantment. On Saturday all the dinner-party
groans of anger - at the failure to restore the public services to some
thing approaching a source of pride, at the corrosion of public trust
by the incessant use of spin and at the publicity conscious consorting
with charlatans and conmen - finally merged with the dismay over Iraq
in this long warning cry.
Slogans dominated the day, but they were beside the point. Simple answers
will not do, and the hundreds of thousands of placards distributed at
the starting points served to diminish rather than amplify the impact
of the gathering of so many people on a single pretext. In themselves,
the people were enough. As Lambeth College Students came into view,
marching past the Houses of Parliament behind a black banner 30ft wide,
their faces were a snapshot of modern Britain, no two seeming to share
the same pigment or physiognomy. This is today's reality, a London where
three of your next four transactions are likely to be conducted with
people for whom English is not their first language. Disturbing to some,
this astonishing diversity contains the potential for great beauty,
and it was the beauty that revealed itself on Saturday.
The echoes of history were everywhere, many of them relevant to the
subject of the day. On the Embankment we awaited the noon start in the
shadow of Cleopatra's needle, presented to the British nation in 1819
by Mohammed Ali Pasha, an Albanian army officer who had appointed himself
viceroy of Egypt. A year later Mohammed sent his army to invade and
enslave Sudan, with British approval. His great-grandson, Said Pasha,
ordered the construction of the Suez canal, the location of Britain's
last great imperial misadventure.
Around the foot of the needle, and up and down both sides of the boulevard,
the preparations were under way. Vendors sold whistles and hooters for
a pound apiece, their faces familiar from less exalted events.
Stalls were offering the literature of the Global Women's Strike, the
Movement for a Socialist Future, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Stacks of placards waited to be picked up, advertising the movement's
organising bodies: the Stop the War Coalition, CND, the Muslim Association
of Britain and the Daily Mirror. But it was the home-made banners that
bore the most striking messages. "Peace and justice in east London"
said one, carried by an elegant woman in a long black cloak. A white
dove and a green olive branch adorned the violet silk banner hoisted
by the Worthing and Lancing branch of the Women's International League
for Peace and Freedom. Two middle-aged men carrying the bright red banner
of the WRP Young Socialists were being followed by a dozen boys of mixed
ethnicity, their faces half-obscured by scarves in the manner of the
intifada or Italian football hooligans. Humour broke through, much of
it very English: "Make Tea Not War", "Who Do You Think
You Are Kidding, Mr Blair?", "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease",
"Down With This Sort Of Thing", "Peace Not Slogans".
As we shuffled under Hungerford Bridge shortly before noon, a sustained
cheer rang off the stone arches. Behind us hundreds of thousands were
still making their way to London in coaches and trains, some of them
listening to radios as Blair explained why they were wrong.
The first bottleneck came beneath Big Ben, the chimes of democratic
freedom striking 12 times as we wheeled through 180 degrees into Whitehall,
stepping around photographers lying on the asphalt, looking for shots
of banners and the clock tower clustered together against the sky. A
chant of "No war! No war!" rose as we passed under the blank
gaze of the mother of parliaments.
Beyond the memorial to the glorious dead of wars whose origins are now
cut and dried, the barricades narrowed and the pace slowed again as
the march ground past Downing Street, guarded by 20 policemen and one
police cameraman, the high steel gates and the raised traffic barricade
a reminder of other domestic conflicts. Spontaneous cheering and whistle-blowing
now swept through the crowd, a kind of Mexican wall of sound.
Turning into Trafalgar Square, past a man standing on the steps of a
bank holding a large piece of greenery and a sign reading "English
Bush - Harmless", there was the first glimpse of the march's other
column, which had descended from Bloomsbury and along Shaftesbury Avenue.
On Cockspur Street a red heart-shaped balloon with white doves hand-painted
on its sides escaped its owner's hand and soared gracefully beyond the
roofs and into the sky, a moment of wordless poetry watched by a thousand
pairs of eyes.
As the columns merged at Piccadilly Circus, the colour and the noise
redoubled. The contrasts between the non-aligned and the activists sharpened,
and sudden eddies of activity began to agitate the flow. Outside St
James's church, the banners of the Spartacist League proclaimed the
many priorities of all good Revolutionary Trotskyists. Two dozen young
men and women carrying red flags stencilled with the word REVOLUTION
moved into a jog as they passed the Royal Academy, chanting "Who
let the bombs out? Blair-Bush-Shar-ON!" and a variation on an old
Vietnam jingle: "Blair, Bush, CIA - how many kids did you kill
today?" Throughout the march the chants were seldom spreading beyond
their groupuscules, emphasising the diversity.
At Hyde Park Corner the column halted for many long minutes. Then passing
through the Queen Mother's jolly wrought iron gates, we were serenaded
by an elderly couple with an accordion and a tambourine, singing Give
Peace a Chance. Apparently they kept it up all day, which would have
amused and delighted its composer.
Inside the park, suddenly feeling the bite of a chill wind under a slate-grey
sky, the marchers stood and listened to speakers whose delivery seldom
lived up to the occasion.
What we wanted was Hans Blix, with his calm, methodical recitation of
facts. What we got was Tariq Ali, his flamboyant silver hair set off
by a pink pashmina, declaring that Britain was the country in need of
a regime change. And Tony Benn, telling us that we were founding a new
worldwide political movement, while Charles Kennedy eschewed populist
soundbites in favour of a standard Lib-Dem party political broadcast.
George Galloway told us that he would rather be eating cheese and reading
Sartre on the banks of the Seine than taking popcorn with the born-again,
Bible-belting, fundamentalist (remainder drowned by hoots of glee).
We got Bianca Jagger, sandwiched between Harold Pinter at his most minatory
- "American barbarism will destroy the world!" - and Ken Livingstone
at his most genial. And we got the star guest, the Rev Jesse Jackson,
who was presumably invited to remind us of the great civil rights marches
of the 1960s but who is to the Rev Dr Martin Luther King as Gareth Gates
is to James Brown. Eventually, he gave way to Ms Dynamite, who sang
one of her hits, the lilting Dy-na-mi-tee, to a backing track after
reading a poem in which she reminded us of previous US debacles in Vietnam,
Guatemala, Nicaragua.
As the first arrivals turned for home in the gathering gloom, tens of
thousands were still making their way towards the park. Too late for
the festivities, they were none the less a part of the biggest political
demonstration ever seen in Britain, an event that went beyond slogans
and positions to expose something deep in the nation's core, a cast
of a million playing to an audience of one.
……………………………………….
18
Watch out, Tony
February 18, 2003
The Guardian
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/comment/0,9236,898090,00.html
The prime minister could be in for a nasty surprise - the Tories,
too, are unlikely to give solid support over Iraq, writes David Cameron
MP
"At a time when the whole country is talking about the
war on Iraq, our members of parliament have gone on holiday." So
far I've heard this on the radio, on the television and down the pub.
If I hear it one more time I'll scream.
Let's get this straight: we're not on holiday. Well, I'm not anyway.
Yesterday I signed about 15 letters, dictated several more and typed
about 20 with my own fair hands after a particularly gruelling surgery
in Woodstock. Add to that a lunch-time session with the massed ranks
of the Oxfordshire magistracy and an evening meeting with publicans,
musicians and morris dancers who are worried about the government's
licensing bill.
And these things are incredibly worthwhile. I've spent weeks in the
House of Commons looking at the criminal justice bill as a member of
the standing committee. But I learnt far more about what needs to be
done to the criminal justice system in one hour with 20 magistrates
in the Witney courthouse. An ounce of experience is worth a pound of
opinion.
As for Iraq, we have debated it in parliament and held a vote endorsing
the government's approach so far. Listening to Jack Straw on the radio
last Friday, it seems likely that we will have another vote on a substantive
motion either before any hostilities start, or as soon as practicable
thereafter.
This raises some enticing prospects. It is now entirely possible that
there will not be a second UN resolution and that President Bush will
go ahead with military action. Would Blair feel compelled to back the
US? And would parliament support him if he did? The answer to the first
question is probably yes. The answer to the second is far more difficult.
While one can estimate the number of Labour rebels and add in the Liberals
and Nationalists, it is far more difficult to work out what we Tories
would do.
Iain Duncan Smith has a wholly consistent record. He was writing pamphlets
and making speeches about President Saddam, weapons of mass destruction
and the dangers of linkages between rogue states and terrorists when
Blair was still droning on about the third way. He has been statesmanlike,
rather than opportunistic, and given staunch support to the prime minister.
I suspect that most colleagues back his view. But what about the rest?
There are some, like John Gummer and Douglas Hogg, who are wholly opposed
to the war and have said so. But that still leaves a large number of
MPs in a "don't know" category. When it comes to the crunch,
the prime minister may need their support. Can he count on it?
There are several different types of sceptical Tory.
First, there are the "British interests first" brigade, who
will argue that unless it can be shown that a fundamental British interest
is at stake we should not risk the lives of British service personnel.
They will have been horrified by the prime minister's change of tack
in Glasgow and the line now being pushed by Downing Street that this
is a moral war for the greater good of mankind.
Second, there are the military types - of whom there are still a good
number - who are traditionally sceptical about most foreign expeditions,
particularly given the current over-stretch of Britain's armed forces.
They haven't just read about equipment problems and military fatigue
after long postings overseas, they really know about them.
Next are the Americo-sceptics, like Ken Clarke, who value the special
relationship with the US but are quite happy to say when they disagree.
They tend more to the continental European approach and have a genuine
believe in the need for UN endorsement. Blair certainly cannot count
on their votes.
Then there are the confused and uncertain, of whom I am definitely one.
We are not peaceniks and are quite prepared to vote for war in the right
circumstances. We loathe President Saddam and all his works. And we
supported the last Gulf war with vigour.
We - the confused and uncertain - have listened carefully to the arguments
and we have discerned two reasons for war.
The first is that there may be links between President Saddam and terrorist
organisations, including al-Qaida. We have waited patiently for proof,
but none has arrived. The "dodgy dossier" encouraged some
of us to discard this reason altogether.
The second reason we have been given is that Saddam has weapons of mass
destruction, such as chemical warheads, and a growing arsenal of missiles
with which to deliver them. We believe this and understand that dealing
with Iraq must be at the top of the international agenda.
But that is where we become uncertain. How exactly should we deal with
Iraq? All our political lives we have been nurtured on the theory of
deterrence. We were talking about it and fighting for it when Blair
and Straw were still members of CND.
Now we are being asked to swap deterrence with something new called
preemptive war. I cannot be certain, but I suspect that many of us will
not support preemptive war unless Blair can produce either compelling
evidence of the direct threat to the UK, or a UN resolution giving it
specific backing. The signs are that he hasn't got the first and won't
get the second.
So is there an outside chance that we could gang up with Labour rebels,
Liberals and nationalists and beat Blair?
The House of Lords vote seemed to show that when the Conservative parliamentary
party is offered such a chance it fluffs it completely.
But on that issue there was little or no pressure from the constituencies.
This time all our mailbags and e-mail inboxes are groaning with missives
opposing the war. Many of us will have spent a week with the party faithful
in our own constituencies. If my experience is anything to go by our
party members are either highly sceptical or entirely hostile. Many
simple don't believe a word the prime minister says and see war on Iraq
as an unnecessary foreign adventure.
Who knows, a few more constituency weeks like this, and the prime minister
might be in for a surprise.
……………………………………….
19
Front... to back
February 19, 2003
The Guardian
http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,7843,897982,00.html
20
Peace of cake
A baker in Bridport, Dorset, is producing buns with the CND
symbol on and giving the profits to the campaigners against war with
Iraq.
Western Daily Press, 5.2.03 (P Willmott, Taunton)
……………………………………….
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