Posted on 17-2-2003

Millions March For Peace

Almost unique in world history, anti-war demonstrations before, not after
war starts. In response to radical and potentially catastrophic changes in
US lead foreign policy, radical actions against militarism in the pursuit
of empire are breaking out all over the world, even in the US Senate (see
separate article US Senator Byrd Warning Against War).

Saturday was designated the International Day of Action to Stop the War on
the People of Iraq, "Millions of people around the world are rallying today
to say no to war and New Zealand is the first country to send this
message," said Robbie Kelman from Greenpeace NZ, talking about the huge
banner GP flew over Auckland on Saturday morning. "Countries like New
Zealand must add their weight to efforts for a peaceful solution to this
crisis."

Also in Auckland, thousands of anti-war protesters marched up Queen St,
setting off from Queen Elizabeth II Square on the waterfront just after
midday. Protesters carried signs bearing slogans that included "Stop the
war on Iraq", "Green not khaki", "Leash the dogs of war" and "Jamaicans
against war". There were also blunter messages for the American government,
such as "Bugga off bully boy Bush" and "F... the war on Iraq". The
marchers, chanting slogans such as "One, two, three, four, we don't want
your bloody war!" and "No blood for oil!" made their way to Myers Park,
about 1.5km away, for a peace rally.

The Auckland march and rally was one of 18 held in centres around the
country from Whangarei to Dunedin. A silent peace vigil outside the Quaker
Meeting House in Mt Eden and a Peace in the Park concert at Potters Park
followed the day of action on Saturday.


Anti-War Marches Biggest Ever
Simon Jeffery and Agencies, Guardian UK, Saturday February 15, 2003

London today became the scene for what is expected to be the biggest peace
rally in British history. Throughout the world, millions gathered to
protest at the prospect of a war in Iraq. In hundreds of cities, including
Damascus, Athens, Seoul, Rome, Tokyo and Sydney, demonstrators marched,
chanted and unfurled banners to protest against conflict in the Middle
East. The London demonstration, which is currently estimated to be 750,000
people strong and could eventually attract 1m, 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 expected.

Organiser John Rees, of the Stop the War Coalition, said the atmosphere was
"great", and 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, where a rally and speeches will
be held later this afternoon.

Speakers will include US civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson,
former Labour MP Tony Benn and Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat
leader. Other high-profile figures expected at the rally are musicians
Damon Albarn and Ms Dynamite, model Kate Moss, peace campaigner Bianca
Jagger, politician Mo Mowlam, playwright Harold Pinter and Mr Livingstone,
the London mayor.

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 will be 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 has been organised by Stop the War Coalition, the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Great
Britain. More than 450 other organisations have 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 will, however, be 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. Organisers predict that more than 25,000 people will take part in
what is set to be the largest-ever peace demonstration ever staged north of
the border.

The prime minister, Tony 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."


Millions Protest Possible War as US Looking Sidelined Over Iraq
Agence France-Presse, Saturday February 15, 23:19 PM

Anti-war protestors came out in their millions in cities around the world
as the United States looked increasingly isolated over a possible invasion
of Iraq.

A day after the historic UN Security Council session in New York which was
an effective slap in the face for US hopes of gathering support for the
forcible overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the protests and the
procession of politicians professing support for further weapons
inspections only added to Washington's woes.

Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair, considered US President George W.
Bush's staunchest ally on Iraq, accepted Saturday that UN inspectors should
be given more time -- but not too much time -- to ferret out Saddam
Hussein's alleged stocks of weapons of mass destruction.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told Bush war against Iraq was "not a
good option", Russian Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov said the Security
Council meeting had held out the prospect of "a unique opportunity to solve
this most burning world problem politically", and Indian Defence Minister
George Fernandes said it would now be "inconceivable" for the United States
to attack Iraq.

German Foreign Mininster Joschka Fischer, who chaired Friday's meeting,
said there should be no time limit for UN weapons inspectors to complete
their work in Iraq. "We believe that efficient inspections will lead Iraq
to cooperate fully," he said. "So we have to give the inspectors as much
time as they need."

However, there was better news for the Americans from Brussels where a
diplomat said NATO ambassadors should reach a compromise solution to their
damaging deadlock over Iraq by Tuesday after France, Belgium and Germany
sparked a crisis by blocking US proposals to begin military planning to
defend Turkey in case of war.

Iraq was quick to make political capital out of Friday's UN Security
Council session, in which the United States found itself in a distinct
minority after Blix's mixed report on Iraqi disarmament, with most other
nations on the 15-member body in favour of extending weapons inspections.
Iraq can claim to have won a round in the fight against the United States
at Friday's Security Council meeting, a ruling Baath Party official said.
"The round was in Iraq's favour," said Saad Kassem Hammudi, who runs the
government-backed Organisation of Popular Arab Forces. Hammudi said the
session had "tamed the runaway American bull ... and given the inspectors
the opportunity to purse their mission in line with Resolution 1441." He
added: "It's a victory for peace in the face of death, murder and
destruction as sought by Bush and Blair."

The reports by chief weapons inspectors, who noted increased cooperation
from Iraq, had "exposed the evil intention of the Washington-London axis
against international public opinion," he said. The influential Babel
newspaper, run by President Saddam Hussein's elder son Uday, saw in the
chief inspectors' report fresh ammunition for those opposed to a US attack
on the Baghdad regime. "The inspectors' report ... offers a chance for all
forces opposing the aggressive US policy," the paper wrote. "They can take
advantage of it to prevent the evil US administration from using the United
Nations as a cover for aggression against us. "The Iraq issue may be an
important chance ... for countries like Russia, France, China, Germany, and
groups like the European Union and the Arab League and others, to rise up
and carry out their duties effectively."

But defiant US Secretary of State Colin Powell had said after the session
that Washington would only wait "weeks" before deciding whether to launch
its own action and Bush also expressed his exasperation at the UN debate.
"Saddam Hussein is a danger and that's why he will be disarmed one way or
the other," he said.

Protest organisers around the world were expecting to see people march for
peace on Saturday on a scale not seen since the demonstrations against the
war in Vietnam. The mass protests kicked off in New Zealand, in Wellington
and Auckland, as well as across Australia in Perth, Hobart and Canberra to
be followed on Sunday by others in Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide and Sydney,
spreading through Asia and on to Europe, with major demonstrations taking
placed in key capitals and other big cities.

In the Italian capital Rome, organisers said three million people took to
the streets, while police in London said half a million people had turned out.

New York is the focus of the main United States anti-war demonstration,
with hundreds of thousands expected at a rally near UN headquarters.

In Baghdad, which saw not one but two massive anti-war demonstrations,
Papal envoy Cardinal Roger Etchegaray held two hours of talks with Saddam
in an effort to "guarantee peace". Afterwards he said: "In the name of Pope
John Paul II, I dare to appeal to the conscience of all those who, in these
decisive days, carry weight for future peace. Because, when all is said and
done, it's conscience which will have the final say, over all strategies,
ideologies and even religions."

"Touted as the biggest protest in Australia since the anti-Vietnam War
marches of 30 years ago, today's Melbourne rally kicked off with mock air
raid sirens to symbolise air attacks on Baghdad... Police would not
immediately put a figure on the size of the crowd, but organisers put it at
up to 200,000."

"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."

Figures of attendance in anti-war demos all over the world.

Amsterdam Netherlands 80,000 (Indymedia),
Athens Greece 200.000 (Indymedia)
Aukland New Zealand 10,000 (Indymedia),
Bagdad Irak 20,000 (CNN), hundreds of thousands (Al Yazira)
Bakaa Refugee Camp Jordania 500 (Palestine Chronicle),
Bangkok Thailand 3,000 (ANSA) ,
Barcelona Spain 1 million (Indymedia Barcelona)
Beirut Lebanon: 60.000 (indymedia)
Bellingen Australia 2,500 (Indymedia),
Berlin Germany 500,000 (Indymedia),
Bern Switzerland 30,000 (Swissinfo),
Brussels Belgium: 11.000 (indymedia)
Cairo Egypt 2,000 (Palestine Chronicle), tens of thousands (local media)
Canberra Australia 16,000 (Reuters),
Cape Town South Africa 5,000 (Indymedia),
Copenhagen Denmark 20,000 (Politiken) 50.000 (organisers)
Damascus Syria: tens of thousands (various media)
Durban South Africa 3,000 (Indymedia),
Gaza Palestina 15,000 (AFP),
Helsinki Finnland: 12.000 (indymedia)
Hobart Australien 10,000 (ABC),
Jakarta Indonesien 200 (Jakarta Post),
Johannesburg South Africa 10,000 (Indymedia),
Kolkata Indien 10,000 (AFP),
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia 2,000 (Malaysiakini),
Lismore Australia 5000 (Indymedia),
London UK 500,000 (CNN), 750,000 (police) 2 million (organisers & indymedia)
Manila Filippinerna 6,000 (Rai),
Melbourne Australia 200,000 (Indymedia),
Monza Italy 5,000 (Indymedia),
New York USA: 100.000 (organisers)
Newcastle Australia 20,000 (Indymedia),
Oslo Norway 60,000 (Indymedia),
Paris France: 250.000 (organisers)
Pattani Airport Thailand 10,000 (Reuters),
Perth Australia 10,000 (ABC),
Rome Italy 1 million (CNN), 3 million (organisers)
Sarajevo Bosnien 500 (Rai),
Seoul South Korea 10,000 (AP).
Sevilla Spain 250,000 (Indymedia)
Stockholm Sweden: 30.000 (Indymedia)
Stuttgart Germany: 50.000 (Indymedia)
Srinagar Kashmir India 2,000 (Reuters),
Tokyo Japan 25,000, (ANSA),
Turin Italy 1,500 (Indymedia),
Vienna: 15.000 - 30.000 (Indymedia)
Wellington New Zealand 5,000 (Reuters)
.