The samba band that played all day at the demo is called Rhythms of Resistance. Their website is www.rhythmsofresistance.co.uk and there you can find info on many of their activities.

I'd just like to say, as one of the samba band that played today, we as a band are not to do with or part of "Globalise resistance?" , apart from the fact we were stuck on the same demo -
we each have our own autonomous political beliefs and strategies.
There were actually people from three different samba bands there today, so in effect we were a samba convergence. We played to what people were willing to play, and I guess the day was what each of us made it =:-)

NO WAR """"

sorry about branding you g resistance. some guy said u were ;) peace

Just to add, a bloody lovely demo I thought, left me feeling smily and loving again after weeks of unease and uncertainty. just to look around at all the people, beautiful people, so many people from every background, race and age, and to see the clarity of compassion in their eyes, hear them cheer for so long when a young Afghan boy took the mike to say simply 'stop killing children' ... the good spirit when the minutes silence for all the dead was broken by cries of 'allahu akhbar', the cacophany of different cultures, religions, modes of resistance - all united in wise compassion and understanding that gangsters can only be stopped by the unity of people who are not so greedy and cruel.. who ARE a majority, cos we love life and each other the most of all... hurray!

looking forward to a bit more direct action next week.

peace love and justice - ta.

Anyone who chooses to capitalise on people's deaths during the protests particuarly those interested in selling Socialist Workers Party papers and furthering opportunist agendas or trying to align themselves with groups to gain credence should stay away from protests. I encourage people not to talk or communicate with this people if they, like me object to this blatant hijacking of people's lives and concerns - we already have that in government - We want autonomy and respect not useless papers of someone's pathetic bygone past.

One who is Irritated by the blatant opportunism verging on the capitalism we are against

Sky News, (Lisa Aziz) reported the protest by saying "5,000 demonstrators expressed their fury" in London, this peed me off because there was no "FURY" only peaceful opposition to USA and UK fury!

zedhead - fill me in on whats happening next week?

Yesterday was a brilliant day. Huge demonstration, lovely weather and great feeling of togetherness among the wide variety of people there. However, millenium leia's main tke home message is, we don't want to march with the SWP, and the anti-war movement is better off without the SWP. Depressing or what. Funnily enough the 1000's of moslems who took socialist worker placards did not feel like that (check out the BBC site if you can't remember), nor did the 2000 people crammed into friends meeting house days after s11. That brilliant rally laid the foundations for this campaign and which would have smaller and later if the SWP did not have the organisation to bring together different speakers and groups at such short notice. Leia may really have not wanted the 1000's of SWP members on yesterdays demo, but does she seriously think it would be better without the 1000's more brought down as part of the Stop the War Coalition which with others the SWP has thrown itself into building? Leia says she is not just anti war but anti capitalist so it can not be the fact we raised a broader political argument than the war yesterday that upset her so much. Where I guess the problem lies is she is not part of any group willing or able to make an organised political intervention linking the anti- war and anti-capitalist arguments together and rather than make that necessary intervention she prefers to moan about those that do.

James

just a request of clarification as all I have been able to hear about the demo in London is from corporate media (i am currently living abroad):

italian state-channel news started a report on this demo by saying there was a 'large islamic fundamentalist presence': is that an overstatement, a pile of crap, or a completely unfounded pile of crap?

Wouldn't be surprised if this was completely unfounded as over here they manage to make the UK news agencies seem unbiased, however am curious to know from people who were actually there, with a view of posting something on indy Italy.

Thanks for any clarifications
F

There were certainly lots of muslims there - among many religious groups. It would be impossible to verify if they were fundamentalist or not but I am inclined to believe - that like many people representing people of faith - they are as diverse on their beliefs as any other group of people. I also thing that terming them 'fundamentalist' the Italian media is inferring that they are Taliban apologists - I heard NOT one person express support for terrorism of ANY kind. Suffice to say - as someone who was there all day and undertook about a dozen interviews with a range of people including several muslims - that the atmosphere was one of tolerance, humanity and mutual respect.
I hope this clarifies things for you from afar.
Amore, pace e revoluzione x

October 21st 2001
NONVIOLENT SITDOWN PROTEST AGAINST THE WAR
London
Location Temple Place
Phone Contact 0845 458 2564
Topic / Issue Peace
Sponsor ARROW
NONVIOLENT SITDOWN PROTEST AGAINST THE WAR

Justice not Vengeance

Sunday 21 October

Meet 1pm, Temple Place, London WC2

(use Embankment tube as Temple tube is closed on Sunday)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Meet 1pm at Temple Place WC2 (head east from Embankment tube). Then there will be a quiet procession to Whitehall where we plan to do the sitdown protest against the war. Please join us for this act of non-violent civil disobedience against the war, and for justice. Supportive marchers are needed as well as people willing to risk arrest.

This event has been called by ARROW (Active Resistance to the Roots of War) and is being sponsored by the Green Party, CND, London Region CND and Campaign Against Arms Trade.

If you're thinking of coming please try to make one of the two preparation meetings (which are taking place on the 15th and 20th October, more info. below).

Contact:ARROW, c/o NVRN, 162 Holloway Rd, London N7 8DQ.

Tel 0845 458 2564 (local rate call)

email:  sitdown@viwuk.freeserve.co.uk

web-site: www.justicenotvengeance.org

NO MORE VICTIMS

Our son Greg is among the many missing from the World Trade Centre attack ... our government is heading in the direction of violent revenge, with the prospect of sons, daughters, parents, friends in distant lands dying, suffering, and nursing grievances against us. It is not the way to go. It will not avenge our son's death. Not in our son's name.

Phyllis and Orlando Rodruguez, New York


FOOD NOT BOMBS, LAW NOT WAR

We oppose military retaliation, which can only lead to more deaths and fuel the cycle of violence. Only when the threat of US/UK attack has been lifted, and the international borders opened, can the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan be solved and famine averted.

We support the use of international law and the normal channels of extradition to bring the perpetrators of September 11 to justice.

We will be staging a non-violent sit-down in Whitehall to demand an end to the war, an end to the humanitarian crisis, and the pursuit of justice, not vengeance.

Please join us at Temple Place WC2 (head east from Embankment tube) for quiet procession to Whitehall. If you do not wish to risk arrest you are welcome to attend as a supporter.

Please wear black and bring white flowers.

There will be preparation meetings (including legal briefings) at the Kingsley Hall, Powis Road, London E3, 7 - 9 pm on Monday 15th October and 3 - 7 pm on Saturday 20th October. All welcome.

For the purposes of this action we ask participants to abide by the following guidelines: no violence or threats of violence; no verbal abuse; no property damage; no flags; no chanting; no drugs or alcohol.

About the islamic fundamentalist presence i agree with the guy before me. there may have been some more dogmatic muslims on the march but the thing that struck me most was how united everyone was. there were asians walking with caucasians throughout, it was rarely a segregated march and that's what was so inspiring. one of the speakers said something along the lines of "if it was just blacks and asians here they'd say it was only the ethnic minorities, if it was just the anti-capitalists here they'd say it was just the anarchists, if it was just muslims here they'd have said it was just the extremists. but we are here united against this war." so you can tell indy italy that the suggestion that it was only islamic fundamentalists is bullshit.

There were Asians, Chinese, Tibetans, Scots, Irish, Welsh, English, Catholics, Protestants, Infants, Elderly, Middle Class, Working Class, Socialists, Anarchists, Punks, War Veterans, Teenagers, Disabled, Palestinians, Jews, Blacks, Nurses, Students, Hippies, a cross-section from every walk of life, walking together in unity, opposed to Tyranny, but the media focused only on the Muslims present and want to label them 'radicals' or 'fundementalists,' but nobody's buying their propaganda anymore, except other journalists and politicians.

My partner, who was at a different place in the march to me, tells me that at one point he saw a group of very clerical looking older moslem men who were chanting. Curious, he went closer to hear what they were saying. The words they were chanting were 'we are all brothers and sisters'. I think that says it all. As to the media downplaying our numbers - well, we knew they would anyway, but that demo gave us something more important than media coverage. WE WERE THERE, we saw with our own eyes the breadth and solidarity of our movement, saw its diversity and hopefully every single person there will have gained courage and hope from that. I have sometimes felt isolated and my efforts have felt futile, but now I know how many of us there are. We aint 'just' anarchos, peacenics or hippies, we are a complete cross section of humanity united by something bigger than ourselves, our politics religion or race. I felt my own convictions more keenly than I ever have before on that day, and we can justly and roundly dismiss the media clampdown on us because there are too many of us out there. Imagine how big this can potentially get.