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International anti-war movement grows
THE BUILD-UP to war against Iraq is sending shockwaves of
anger and horror around the world. Significantly, that mood is being translated
into action, already on a large scale even at this early stage. Millions of
people are expected to demonstrate on 15 February.
The new year has already opened with mass protests taking
place – notably on the weekend of 18/19 January – in Japan, Germany, Turkey,
Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, and others which CWI members report on below. The
rally to mark the opening of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, was
over 100,000 strong, twice as large as last year – and its central theme was
opposition to the impending war, linked to US economic and military domination.
In Washington DC, USA, more than 200,000 marched on
the naval yard, reports Tom Crean from Socialist Alternative (the CWI US
section). There were large numbers of high-school and college students, veterans
of the 1960s anti-war movement and many people who had never protested before.
The anger against the Bush administration’s relentless war
drive was palpable. Increasing numbers of people see the war preparations as
having little or nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction and everything
to do with control of the oil supplies of the Middle East. Opposition is also
being fuelled by domestic factors including the state of the economy – almost
200,000 jobs were lost in November and December alone. Large sections of the
population are deeply uneasy when they see the estimates of the costs of the war
running into hundreds of billions of dollars.
On top of this is the reality that it will not be the rich
who will have to fight and possibly die on the streets of Baghdad but working
class and minority youth. A number of trade unions and labor councils, including
the Washington State Labor Council and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine
Workers Union (UE), have taken a strong stand against the war. Recently, 100
delegates representing over two million organised workers formed US Labor
Against the War at a meeting in Chicago. The resolution passed at this meeting
declared that "the war is a pretext for attacks on labor, civil, immigrant
and human rights at home; and… serves as a cover and distraction for the
sinking economy, corporate corruption and layoffs". It adds that the war
could increase the threat of terrorist attacks rather than reduce it.
Unfortunately, organised labour was not particularly visible
in DC. More prominent were various religious and pacifist groupings and the
keynote speakers were Jesse Jackson and the Rev Al Sharpton. No one on the
platform voiced any criticism of the Democratic Party which, despite its
occasional differences with the Republicans, is every bit as tied to big
business and has prosecuted most of American imperialism’s wars. That is why
Socialist Alternative calls for the building of a new political party to
represent the working people and the oppressed in America. The next major
anti-war protest will be in New York City on 15 February.
The anti-war rally in San Francisco, USA, was also
the biggest there to date. Around 80,000 people were on the march. Thousands
more demonstrated in Portland, Oregon and other cities across the USA.
Over 10,000 assembled in Toronto, Canada, braving
sub-freezing temperatures, writes Andrew Messing from the CWI Canadian section.
Protesters included trade unionists from the Canadian Auto Workers, the UNITE
textiles union, steelworkers, teachers and others, church, Muslim and Jewish
groups, war veterans and pensioners, high-school and university students and
left-wing organisations. Organisers had booked the 1,200 seat Convocation Hall
for an indoor rally, which was only able to accommodate a minority of
protesters.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Christchurch,
New Zealand, and more than a thousand marched in Dunedin, South Island
– three times the number expected by the organisers, report members of the
newly-formed CWI group, Socialist Alternative. This followed a demonstration
just two days earlier outside the US embassy in Wellington that attracted 200.
Noticeably absent from the protests, however, were the trade
union leaders who, despite a New Zealand Council of Trade Unions resolution
opposing a war, did nothing to mobilise for the event. Therefore, most of the
speakers were members of the local establishment, such as the mayor and the dean
of the Anglican cathedral. In contrast, Tim Bowron from Socialist Alternative
emphasised in his speech from the platform, that "a new war with Iraq, if
it comes, will represent not just the work of one crazed individual – George
W. Bush – but rather the logical outcome of a system that puts the needs of
the wealthy few before the lives of millions of ordinary people… As long as
this system remains in place we will never be rid of war, poverty and
oppression. That is why we say that opposing a war with Iraq – while it is a
good first step – does not go far enough. We must also begin to build a
socialist alternative".
An organising committee meeting is planned for 28 January to
step up the anti-war action and build the movement.
On 19 January 10,000 people demonstrated in Brussels,
Belgium, reports Geert Cool from LSP/MAS, the Belgian section of the CWI.
The collaboration of the Belgian government in US war preparations, by allowing
US troops to use Antwerp harbour, and news of the huge international
demonstrations on the previous day, helped towards the turnout.
There were slogans against Bush and Blair and the war for
oil, but also against Ariel Sharon, who is using the so-called ‘war against
terrorism’ as an excuse to attack the Palestinian territories. People are
angry at the hypocrisy of the Belgian government, which claims to be opposed to
war but said it might support UN-backed military action.
There was a contingent from Trade Unionists Against the War,
which is based around the Movement for Trade Union Renewal – a campaign
started by workers of Forges de Clabecq who were engaged in an important fight
against factory closures from 1996-97 (see Socialism Today No.67). LSP/MAS and
International Socialist Resistance has begun to set up anti-war committees in
cities, schools and universities to prepare action for ‘Day X’ – the day
the war starts.
And in Melbourne, Australia, members and supporters
of the Socialist Party (Australian CWI) joined with the Victorian Peace Network
to hold a protest outside the army recruitment office on 17 January. The purpose
was to present the results of a ballot of Victorians held in 16 suburbs of two
cities over the past few weeks. A massive 87% voted against the war plans of
Bush. The ballots ended up being tipped over the head of a security guard when
he refused to take them.
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