http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/
--(from-Monday)-->
 http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/current/
==(from-Monday)==>
 http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/back/2003/526/

[ Next week's Green Left Weekly #527 will include more coverage of the February 14-16 anti-war mobilisations around the world. ]

[[ For the WORLD round-up, see bottom of page ]]

[[[ For links to recent Anti-War articles, e.g. from John Pilger, see very bottom ;-]]]

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[ This is the (preliminary) report on the Sydney protest. We've hit a million nationally, I think, I'll post the breakdown soonish to  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Greenleft_discussion/ ]


[ SYDNEY: 500,000 !!! ]

Half a million rally against war in Sydney

BY LISA MACDONALD

SYDNEY - In one of the most amazing displays of political passion in Sydney's history, up to 500,000 rallied on February 16 against war in Iraq. Many protesters did not march, but stayed in the rally in Hyde Park because the crowd was so huge that the march gridlocked itself around six city blocks and couldn't move. Some watching from the sidelines said it took two hours for the march to pass them by.

A range of local anti-war groups organised feeder marches to Hyde Park. The trains from Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and Newcastle were all packed to the rafters. At least 5000 trade unionists gathered at Town Hall to march, united as workers against the war, to Hyde Park. They were joined by contingents from every Christian denomination.

And there were several marches out of Hyde Park. The front of the official march was returning to Hyde Park for the second round of speakers even before much of the crowd had been able to start marching out. Many, getting frustrated, headed out different side-streets, forming parallel marches of their own. Police also diverted around 10,000 people onto other roads out of the park to the nearby Domain. The entire CBD soon became a protest zone.

This was the biggest protest march Sydney, and Australia, has ever seen. And the people there knew it. The confidence, solidarity and empowerment in the air was palpable. Many people said they had never marched before, and complete strangers passionately discussed the issues involved, shared drinks as the stood in the blazing sun, and laughed and cried together as they listened to the speakers.

When John Pilger told the crowd "Our movement is too big to be defeated - its moral power, political power, your power, is greater than theirs - We are the majority", the applause was deafening.

The speakers included representatives from the NSW Trades and Labor Council, the Australian Arabic Communities Council, the Muslim Women's Association, Wayside Chapel, Australian Greens, the Democrats and Pilger. Impromptu speak-outs and musical performances occurred in various corners of the park, while dozens of people climbed into the trees to better hear the platform.

Surprise guest speaker, US singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, talked about the growing anti-war demonstrations in his country and their message to US President Bush: "We reject your methods and we reject your motives."

Placards with variations on the "No blood for oil" theme were complemented by a wide range of sentiments. The included: "USA/UK/Oz axis of evil", "Bush scares me far more than Hussein", "Regime change begins at home", "NO war - with or without UN approval", "John Howard = Bonsai Bush", "Howard is just a Bush-turkey", "No to the Texan terrorist", and "Somewhere in Texas a village has lost its idiot".

No-one could have left Hyde Park without feeling more strongly than before that people's power can and must stop the war on Iraq.

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[ I'm sorry this has taken so long, we're pretty flat out at the moment. But here is the report from the Melbourne protest. A WORD OF WARNING: estimates of rally sizes are difficult when crowds are so much bigger than they have been. We may change some estimates before going to print. Alison ]


[ MELBOURNE: 250,000 ]

Melbourne protests war

BY ARUN PRADHAN

MELBOURNE - The weekend began with the largest peace demonstration in Australia's history, as 250,000 people took to the streets of Melbourne on February 14. The sea of people brought the CBD to a standstill and sent a clear message of peace and unity.

Organisers and police were shocked at the huge turn out. Protesters spanned eight city blocks, many with their own placards or banners. By 4.50pm, all traffic in and around Swanston Street had come to a virtual standstill. Tens of thousands marched from Flinders Street to the State Library, filling Swanston Street as they went.

The official start time of the rally came and went, and still people poured from Flinders Street station, slowing to a trickle by 6pm. By then, the rally had filled Swanston Street from the State Library to Bourke Street. Rally goers were packed in tighter than fish in a can. At 6.15, the official march started.

``Disarm America'‘, ``No blood for oil'‘ and ``War is terror'' seemed to be crowd favourites - others tapping into the lighter side with ``Make lunch not war'‘ or ``Send Waugh not war''.

Thunderous applause greeted trade unionist Michelle O'Neil's comment, ``We oppose the war, no matter what the UN says''.

A similar roar of approval greeted state Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) state secretary Martin Kingham, when he told protesters that if war broke out, there would be ``a massive strike'' the next day.

Unionists' participation in the rally was hard to gauge, because the sheer size of the protest made contingents hard to pull together. Visible and sizeable union contingents in the march, however, included the CFMEU, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Australian Education Union (which carried ``Books not bombs'' banners), the National Tertiary Education Industry Union and the Australian Nurses Federation. One of the biggest contingents was from the Independent Education Union.

Other contingents included political groups such as the Socialist Alliance, the Greens, the Democrats and Young Labor. Women for Palestine marched near the noisy and vibrant Puppeteers for Peace. Kurdish and Greek communities were among migrant groups who organised and profiled their contingent. Groups such as Refugee Action Collective and the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre marched with messages reminding onlookers that ``War creates refugees'‘.

Connies for Peace (the old Melbourne tram conductors) marched in uniform and Doctors for Peace came prepared with full-colour printed placards. Other more surprising groups included the Aquatic Peace Bloc - people with large fish puppets on their head.

Some, frustrated with the slow pace of the march, chose to samba down the Swanston Street footpath. Others, dressed as doves, walked in absolute silence. Almost everyone carried a placard, either homemade or provided. All rally-goers had their faces turned out - the pride and confidence of marching with so many thousands of others was electric.

It was the first time David, who owns a 120-hectare dairy farm in regional Victoria, had been part of a protest. "I just got sick of watching and whingeing about it", he told Green Left Weekly. "I had to do something about what is happening in this world - The hardest thing was getting someone to milk the cows so I could stay in Melbourne overnight."

Dianne, a young worker and a more experienced protester likened the protest to the blockade of the World Economic Forum in 2000. She told GLW, "There are so many different people here, it's so huge - it's like there are a dozen protests here today!"

Organisers had planned a meeting point at the State Library and a relatively short march to Federation Square. As people streamed into the city, the bulk of the march route was soon filled with people. An hour after the start of the rally began marching, people at the back were still waiting to move.

In a reflection of the enthusiasm of the rally, thousands of people waiting for the opportunity to march, spontaneously took a detour down Melbourne streets before meeting up with the main protest once again.

At 2pm on the same day, 1000 high school students staged a strike and rally, marching to Melbourne Central behind a "Youth against war" banner. Dozens of young people armed with chalk soon left their mark on the city - body outlines and graffiti covered the streets, with messages ranging from "NO hoWARd" to "our future, our decision: no war". There was also a positive response to plans for a student strike and walk-out on March 5.

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[ BRISBANE: 100,000 ]

100,000 march in Brisbane

BY MARCE CAMERON

BRISBANE - Around 100,000 protesters turned up to oppose war on Iraq on February 15, making it probably the biggest protest in the city's history.

"How is the US so sure Iraq has had weapons of mass destruction?", rally chair Alison Stewart asked the crowd. "Perhaps they kept the receipts!" Stewart went on to outline the US government's previous support for Saddam Hussein.

Others to speak included Greens Senator Kerry Nettle and Queensland Council of Unions general Secretary Grace Grace.

After a huge, colourful, peaceful and overwhelming march through the city streets, the immense number of protesters tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to cram into the city's Botanic Gardens. Here Brisbane mayor Jim Soorley took over the chair, and announced a surprise speaker: Labor leader Simon Crean.

Crean took the opportunity to reiterate his probable opposition to war without United Nations sanction, and to argue that protesters should "get behind the UN". A ripple of boos went through the crowd as he spoke, followed by a few people chanting "No War". In response, Crean explained that he knew many people opposed war with or without UN sanction, but he disagreed: "Disarmament has to be achieved for there to be peace, and this must be done through the UN.".

At this, the heckles and boos got louder and the chant of "No War" was taken up by much of the crowd. Crean cut his speech short and retreated to sit on the stage, to muted applause.

The next speaker, Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett, told the crowd that he was pleased Crean had come to the rally. But, he added, he had a simple message to send to him. "What do you think it is?", Bartlett asked the crowd. "No War", the protesters yelled back, repeating it three times.

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[ These are getting dodgier and dodgier - unproved and written and sub-edited by very, very tired people. Any glaring errors, feel free to point out!! ]


[ ADELAIDE: 100,000 ]

Adelaide's largest ever anti-war demo

BY EMMA MURPHY

ADELAIDE - The massive turn-out here for the February 16 anti-war march has astounded everybody. The organisers of the rally, the NO WAR coalition, estimate that 100,000 people took part. Even the police reckon 70,000 were there. Whatever the number, it was the largest anti-war protest Adelaide has ever seen.

Many more people could not get into the city because buses, trains and trams were packed and were not stopping at stations and bus stops.

Sarah Hanson, Adelaide University student union president, told the huge crowd at the rally that the war that US President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister want to launch ``is not about terrorism. This war is not about humanitarianism or democracy. This war is about oil and advancing US foreign interests''.

Hanson noted that the ``anti-terrorism'' handbook sent out to all Australian homes ``advises that one way to avoid terrorism is not to gather in large groups. Thank you all for ignoring that advice.''

Other speakers included author Mem Fox, Brian Deegan, who is the father of a Bali bombing victim, Ruth Russell from Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, veteran trade unionist Bob Giles and Chris Waugh from the teachers' union.

The route of the march that followed the rally was much longer than usual for demonstrations in Adelaide - from Victoria Square to Parliament House. However, the gathering was so big that it split into two marches. It took one hour for it to move two city blocks. Thousands of people were still at the starting point when the front of the march reached parliament.

A diverse range of South Australians attended. There were contingents from the Indigenous community, migrant communities, Vietnam veterans, secondary students (who carried their school shields and banners) and a group of dentists, who demanded ``Attack plaque not Iraq''. There were banners in English, Spanish, Indonesian and Pitjantjatjara.

There were people there of all ages. Older participants who were active in the campaign against the US war on Vietnam in the 1960s and '70s all agreed that it was larger than any Adelaide anti-war protest of that period.

Unionists who participated with strong contingents included those from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Community and Public Sector Union and the Australian Education Union.

One shops along the route offered "Screw Bush Lunch".

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[ PERTH: 20,000 ]

20,000 rally in Perth

BY NIKKI ULASOWSKI

PERTH - More than 20,000 people crammed in Forest Place in the CBD on February 15 for an anti-war rally organised by the NOWaR Alliance.

Contingents from Fremantle and Midland arrived on "peace trains". From Fremantle, three such trains were filled, including an additional train service put on for the rally. The final train was jam-packed with protesters singing John Lennon's "Give peace a chance".

Protesters came from different age groups, occupations and ethnic backgrounds. "Solidarity" was a key theme. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) activist Ian Bolas, who addressed the rally on behalf of the Socialist Alliance, argued that, while the corporate media reports the bad news of the impeding war, "rallies such as today demonstrate the good news: that people are willing to mobilise in their hundreds of thousands across Australia to say `no' to war".

Peter Stewart from the Christian Centre for Social Action told the crowd that church sermons were being halted for people to write protest letters to Prime Minister John Howard. He stated that banners were being hung outside churches and on fences.

The Refugee Rights Action Network (RRAN) also mobilised a loud contingent to the rally. RRAN speaker to the rally, Beck Shumack asked, "How can Australian people be at peace, when Iraqi people who are fleeing their government are locked up in this country?" Other speakers at the rally included a representative from Unions WA, the Islamic community, the Greens WA, the Democrats and the Kurdish community.

The rally drew large contingents from eight unions including the Financial Sector Union (FSU), the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), the CFMEU, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Maritime Workers Union (MUA), the State School Teachers Union (SSTU), the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU) and Unions WA.

The rally concluded with an energetic, necessarily slow, march through the city. The protest had so exceeded organisers expectations, that those at the front of the march had reached the end of the route before those at the back had begun marching.

At least two other anti-war protests occurred in WA on February 15. A protest in Albany attracted around 900 people and Bunbury attracted several hundred. The NOWAR Alliance in Perth meets weekly each Thursday at 6:30pm at Unions WA, 79 Stirling St, Perth. The next major rally will be on March 22.

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[ CANBERRA: >15,000 ]

Canberrans mass to oppose war

BY PETER KRBAVAC

CANBERRA - Canberrans turned out in their thousands on February 15 to show their opposition to US President George Bush's war. Organisers estimate the crowd at more than 15,000 - a size not seen at a protest in Canberra since the Vietnam War. Hundreds met in Queanbeyan this morning before joining the Canberra protest.

Resistance member Stuart Munckton opened the rally with a brief talk on the urgency of the situation. Greens MLA Kerry Tucker and federal Labor MP Carmen Lawrence both received loud applause when they took the stage. The crowd particularly appreciated Lawrence's description of Prime Minister John Howard as an "agent of evil".

Humphrey McQueen, speaking on behalf of the Socialist Alliance, pointed to the real issues behind the war. ACT Network Opposing War member Tania McConville, also from local radio station 2XX, opened her speech by stating "This [crowd] is a sight for sore eyes."

Catholic Bishop Pat Power also made an appearance, stating that under no conditions would he support attacks on Iraq. Other speakers included co-chairperson and Socialist Alternative member Rick Kuhn, and Democrats MLA Roslyn Dundas.

Following the speakers, protesters marched around the city - the start of the march returned before the end of the march had left. The whole march was dominated by loud and enthusiastic chanting against the war. Many people brought their own home-made banners and placards with slogans, including "the only Waugh we want is Steve!", "Howard is a bonsai Bush" and "NO HoWARd NO!"

Fifty students attended an informal, post-rally meeting to set up a student anti-war group, and many took leaflets for the March 5 strike to distribute around their schools or campuses. Stalls were inundated with people wanting copies of Green Left Weekly, anti-war T-shirts and anti-war badges. To cope with demand, Resistance activists had to press up additional badges mid-protest.

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[ HOBART and LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA: 15-18,000 ]

Tasmanian rallies draw huge crowds

BY IAN STOLP & JULES GREEN

HOBART - Between 12,000 and 15,000 people marched on February 15, in one of the biggest demonstrations ever held here. It took more than 40 minutes for the marchers to travel the 500-metre route. Protesters, from age two to 92, had written anti-war and peace statements on their t-shirts and on their arms and face.

People carried streamers and self-made placards including a set made out of Green Left Weekly's anti-war covers. Groups of young friends joined hands, shouting their own chants and songs. People danced the anti-war hokey-pokey. It was an emotional rally. One marcher said that he saw a veteran of the Vietnam War crying.

Most speakers expressed their anger at Prime Minister John Howard's decision to support the US. Greens Senator Bob Brown quoted Howard's words following the Port Arthur Massacre: "violence is never the answer". "Act on your words, Mr Howard", Brown said.

Anthea Stutter, from the newly formed feminist group Women For Action, and a Socialist Alliance member, described the violence and poverty that women suffer in war. She urged everyone to protest against war "loud and proud" on International Women's Day, March 8. Her call for "no war on Iraq", even if war was backed by a UN resolution, was received with a roar from the crowd.

Environmentalist and Gardening Australia presenter Peter Cundall urged people to come back marching again and again until we win. He said: "We need to go one step better than [protesters against the Vietnam War] and stop this war before it begins."

In Launceston, 3000 people marched, despite police refusing to issue a permit. There was a strong union presence, including the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the Australian Education Union and the meatworkers' union. After Clare Jansen, from Students For Peace, announced the March 5 student strike, a member of the AEU announced that teachers should strike too, which was very well supported. Popular chants were "Give peace a chance!" and "No war on Iraq!".

One hundred defied a police ban to march in St Helens, which has a population of 2000. The march was led by the Aboriginal social justice bus. People heard from Tom Ryan from Amnesty International and Barry Hicks from the Socialist Alliance.

After only four days planning, 50 people of all ages marched in Strahan, which has a population of 750. One of the speakers pointed out that "this war is against ordinary people just like us, who are victims of this government." Leaflets were distributed to encourage people to contact talk-back radio and get their trade unions and councils to pass anti-war resolutions.

There was also a rally in Devonport.

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[ NEWCASTLE, NSW: 15,000 ]

15,000 take to streets of Newcastle

BY KATHY NEWNAM

NEWCASTLE - Police estimated that 15,000 people took to the city's streets on February 15 to oppose a war against Iraq. Many of those participating commented to Green Left Weekly sellers that it was the first time they had joined a protest movement.

There was a buzz of excitement as anti-war protesters began arriving at the Civic Park rally site, everyone having heard of the huge turn-out at the previous evening's anti-war march in Melbourne.

The passion of the anti-war message was illustrated by the many home-made banners, placards and - "Disarm Dubya", "Bush fires, Aussies burn", "Regime change begins at home", "I'd rather bark than bomb Iraq" (a sign on a dog).

The route of the march route through the city to Pacific Park had to be re-negotiated as the original route was too narrow for the numbers of participants.

Speakers included Michael Malone, Catholic bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, and Lisa Macdonald, a Socialist Alliance candidate for the Legislative Council in the March 22 NSW elections.

Macdonald received loud applause when she challenged all federal Labor MPs to take an take a unequivocal stand against the war if they wanted to be regarded as a genuine opposition to the Coalition government.

A motion calling for Prime Minister John Howard's resignation was put to the rally by co-chairperson Vanessa Bowden on behalf of the No War collective and received an overwhelmingly positive response. Hundreds of people signed up to help with the activities of the No War collective, which had organised the rally and march.

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[ LISMORE, NSW: 5000 ]

Protesters take over the streets of Lismore

BY TOM FLANAGAN

LISMORE - In what many participants described as the biggest political event in this town's history, 5000 people - about a ninth of the town's total population - overflowed Spinks Park to say no to any war on Iraq.

Lisa Yeates, well-known local singer and political activist of 25 years, began the event with a compelling musical and political presentation, highlighting the impact of the use of depleted uranium weapons in the last Gulf war and Australia's involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Other speakers included NSW Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, Reverend Cameron Venables of the Anglican Church, Peter Lanyon, a Labor Party candidate in the March 22 NSW elections, and Socialist Alliance candidate for Lismore Nick Fredman.

After a street march, in which protesters carried giant Bush and Howard puppets and hundreds of banners and placards, the anti-war protest clogged Lismore's CBD for an hour to hear further speakers. These included World War II veterans Arthur Pike, who saw action on the Kokoda Trail, and Phil Davenport, who was a pilot and POW. The silence of the crowd as both veterans spoke was an indication of the intense attention their anti-war messages received.

One rally participant, Barbara Elliot, a Socialist Alliance member from Collins Creek, said "it brought back memories of marching against the Vietnam War 30 years ago - it was the same feeling, and people have found their voices again".

Upcoming anti-war actions in Lismore include the March 5 student strike against the war and the International Women's Day rally on March 8.

This student strike has been endorsed by the Lismore No War group and the Southern Cross University branch of the National Tertiary Education Industry Union. An announcement of the planned student strike at the rally by Resistance member Matt Egan was received an enthusiastic response and dozens of high school students put their names on contact lists to help with the strike.

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[ BYRON BAY, NSW: 3000 ]

Byron Bay peace rally and march

BY CLAYTON MCDONALD

BYRON BAY - "I have seen the bomb. I have felt the blast. I have heard the silence and seen the devastation afterwards", Bali bombing survivor Hanabeth Luke told the 3000 protesters who had marched to the Byron Bay beach park on February 15. She explained that the blast had taken the life of her partner, but she had survived. "Australians should understand from the Bali bombing that violence and war are not the answer", she said.

The protest was part of an international weekend of action against war in Iraq.

Journalist Mungo McCallum told the rally that Osama Bin Laden would be pleased with a messy US war on Iraq as it would "kill two birds with one stone": Muslim public opinion would turn against the US, while the removal of the secular Saddam Hussein regime would open the way for a new radical Islamist regime in Iraq that really would supply weapons to terrorists.

McCullum expressed the hope that Australians would have the "human decency, moral courage and common sense to keep out of a war on Iraq", otherwise they would need "more than fridge magnets and rhetoric to stop the consequences".

Local MLA Peter Breen said that, if Prime Minister John Howard embarks on a war with no regard to the "suffering and mayhem" that it would cause, he was prepared to make a case against him in the international court. Breen said that there should be "regime change at home".

On the same day, 3000 marched in Bellingen, opposing a war for Iraqi oil.

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[ BELLINGEN, NSW: 3000 ]

[ More on the demo in rural NSW township Bellingen (where more people marched than the population amounts to) on
 http://www.sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=26246&group=webcast ]

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[ MACKAY, QLD: 1500 ]

1500 say `No to war and racism'

BY SHANE HOPKINSON

MACKAY, QUEENSLAND - At barely a week's notice, anti-war activists pulled together a protest as part of the international weekend of protest against war in Iraq. By 10am on February 15, around 1000 people had joined the action.

Deputy mayor Deirdre Comerford, who has moved a successful council motion supporting UN processes, spoke. National Party federal MP De-Anne Kelly tried to deliver a pro-war message, but left the platform after she attempted to head off heckling by asking if people wanted her to speak. The reply was negative.

Laurie Horgan, president of the Mackay branch of the Queensland Council of Trade Unions told the crowd that the war was all about US plans to dominate the world's oil supply.

Given Kelly's early departure, state ALP member Tim Mulherin, who was attending the rally, was asked to speak. Local Green Left Weekly contributor Jen Hayward denounced the government's flouting of democracy, arguing that it was ordinary people on the streets around the world that could stop this war.

The crowd, now swelled to 1500, marched around the city centre, drawing appreciative calls from the broader public before returning to the park, to enjoy poetry and music. Later in the day, about a dozen people turned up to view John Pilger's film Killing the Children of Iraq. There are plans for further anti-war actions and discussion - the first around International Women's Day on March 8.

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[ ROCKHAMPTON, QLD: 600 ]

Rockhampton protests war

BY TERRICA STRUDWICK

ROCKHAMPTON - Around 600 central Queensland residents protested here on February 15 as part of the global weekend of action against war on Iraq. It was the largest rally held in some years in this rural town, known for its bulls and beef. Voicing dissent against government policy is often done by only a small minority here. The sizeable turn-out is a testament to people's determination to voice their opposition to this unjust war.

Erin Cameron, organiser of the International Women's Day protest planned for March 8, was applauded for calling the war a feminist issue.

Many people, young and old, joined in the protest. One man who was nearly bedridden with arthritis "drugged" himself up to be there, and a 10-year-old girl told the crowd the war was a "war for oil" to "make profits", expressing her concern for Iraqi children. A Vietnam War veteran still suffering from the effects of Agent Orange read poems about his days at war and his opposition to it.

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[ GEELONG, VIC: 200 ]

Geelong air-show protest

BY TRISHA REIMERS & SUE BULL

GEELONG - Amid huge local controversy, more than 200 people protested against a war on Iraq outside the Avalon International Airshow on February 15. The protest was organised by the Geelong Anti-War Coalition.

The air show most important displays are planes that could be used in a massive strike against Iraq, massacring thousands of innocent civilians. The event's organisers were so fearful of disruption by the protest that they had provided a separate field, toilets and flashing signs to help demonstrators find the counter-event.

The local ALP member for Corio, Gavan O'Connor, announced that he was personally boycotting the airshow. O'Connor came in for quite a bit of criticism from Labor colleagues. Most strikingly from Michael Crutchfield, member for South Barwon and recent Geelong mayor who said that O'Connor's protest was, "disappointing, reckless and damaging."

Many of the protesters brought homemade placards that declared, "Warplanes kill kids" and "War is expensive but peace is priceless." One of the highlights of the day was when protesters made a human peace symbol in the middle of a field while chanting, "Peace is possible, war is not the answer."

John Krantz, secretary of the Geelong Trades Hall Council spoke. He told the crowd that he didn't have much time for the airshow boss, as he hadn't been able to strike a decent wages and condition deal for the temporary workers at the Airshow and the workers were being ripped off.

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[ AOTEAROA (New Zealand): >20,000 – the following world round-up article also includes NZ ]

For a round-up of the AOTEAROA (New Zealand) demonstrations, checkout
 http://www.indymedia.org.nz/
and (later) the Global Peace and Justice Auckland website at
 http://www.GPJA.pl.net/

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WORLD: Largest coordinated anti-war protest in history

BY NORM DIXON

People throughout the world have thronged to anti-war demonstrations on February 14-16 in numbers that even protest organisers thought unimaginable. As Green Left Weekly went to press, it appears, based on conservative estimates, that more than 12 million people have taken part in the largest coordinated anti-war demonstration in history.

Outraged by the vicious determination of the US and British governments to launch a massive, unprovoked, military attack on Iraq, people mobilised in more than 700 cities and towns, across more than 60 countries and on every continent - even the McMurdo base in Antarctica!

The international weekend of anti-war protests was proposed by the European Social Forum in Florence in November and endorsed by many international activist gatherings since, including the World Social Forum in Brazil, held in January.

The worldwide protests kicked off in Fiji on the morning of February 14 with the Fiji Anti-War Movement presenting a floral Valentine's Day protest to the representatives of the US, British and Australian governments. FAWM spokesperson Stanley Simpson urged US President George Bush, Australia's PM John Howard and Britain's Labour PM Tony Blair not to "sacrifice beautiful young lives for your own interests".

In New York City on February 15, protesters braved icy winds to rally near the United Nations building, filling the streets for 20 blocks. Organisers estimated the crowd at more than 400,000 people. This was despite a decision by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and the police, upheld by the courts, to ban the planned march. Speakers included South Africa's Desmond Tutu, and celebrities Danny Glover, Harry Belafonte and Susan Sarandon.

Another 100,000 people marched or rallied in around 140 cities and towns throughout the US, including 60,000 in Los Angeles and 10,000 in Chicago. The next major anti-war protest in the US will be a convergence at the White House on March 1.

"This is unprecedented. Demonstrations only got this large against the Vietnam War at the height of the conflict, years after it started", a spokesperson for International ANSWER, one of the anti-war groups that organised the protests across the US, told the British Guardian.

More than 50,000 marched in Toronto on February 15 and 100,000 in Montreal. Tens of thousands of Canadians also turned out for protests in Halifax, Ottawa, Windsor, Edmonton, Alberta and Victoria.

The biggest demonstrations took place in countries whose governments have defied the overwhelming public opposition to war.

On February 15, a sea of people - with estimates as high as 2 million - flooded London. Britain is Washington's key war partner. The protest was organised by the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain.

Up to 60,000 people also mobilised in Glasgow, in order to confront Blair, who was speaking at a Labour Party conference in the city, Matt Preston from the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) reported.

"People in Scotland were keen to take the chance to show Blair how they feel. Coaches were even organised to bring people from across the English border from Manchester", Preston told GLW. "Of course, the establishment was not slow to make it as difficult as possible to organise the demonstration. The Labour Party asked the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, the venue for Labour's conference, to refuse permission for the demonstration to have a stage and PA system.

"Tommy Sheridan, the SSP member in the Scottish Parliament promptly responded to this move by tabling a motion in the parliament to allow the event to take place. He argued: `New Labour wants to stifle all opposition to warmonger Blair, who will be speaking at the SECC. We are demanding that they are forced to climb down and allow the rally. Will New Labour now repent and lift the ban? If they don't, we shall drown them in a storm of protest on the 15th!"

Millions more came out in Italy and Spain, whose right-wing governments have backed the US-British invasion of Iraq - despite polls showing that 70% oppose even a UN-endorsed war on Iraq in these countries.

At least 2 million people from all over Italy converged on Rome, GLW's correspondent Stephen Bennetts reported. The historic centre of Rome, between the Colosseum and piazza San Giovanni, was packed for hours in a slow-moving carnival of coloured banners, dancing and music.

The slogan "Stop the war; no ifs or buts" brought together participants from across Italian society and from more than 400 different associations. Catholic nuns and priests marched alongside young people with dreadlocks, nose rings and Palestinian scarves. Christians, anarchists and communists mingled. Many marchers had left home late the night before, travelling on nearly 3000 special buses and 30 extra trains.

The rally stage was hung with one of the 20th century's most vivid images of war, Pablo Picasso's "Guernica". Speakers from all over the world addressed the rally, including Kurds, Iraqi dissidents, Palestinians, a representative of the American Council of Churches and an Israeli conscientious objector who had spent three months in a military prison for refusing to serve on the West Bank.

Many millions of people joined protests in Spain. This included 1.5 million in Barcelona, up to 2 million in the Spanish capital, Madrid, 500,000 in Valencia, 250,000 in Seville, 100,000 in Los Palmas and 70,000 in Cadiz.

Coaches carrying people from more than 300 German towns converged on Berlin on February 15. Around 500,000 protested, reported Der Spiegel. ATTAC Germany's spokesperson Malte Keutzseldt described it as Germany's "largest peace march in 20 years". "A new generation of young people is deeply concerned. The churches and trade unions have linked to make the coalition far broader than even the anti-nuclear missile marches in the 1980s", Keutzseldt told the British Guardian.

Around 100,000 people marched in Brussels on February 15, GLW's Peter Boyle and John Percy reported: "The march took three-and-a-half hours to cross the city centre. Demonstrators with home-made signs stretched as far as the eye could see. Organisers had expected 30,000. It was the biggest march in this home of the European Parliament and NATO for a long time.

"All age groups were represented as were many nationalities. We took along a placard that said, `Half a million Australians march to stop Bush! Stop Howard! No war!'. It drew the attention of other Australians, including two young people from Alice Springs. They had caught a train from Antwerp and demonstrators got on from all the small towns on the way to Brussels. Scores of Belgians came up to express their solidarity with the small Australian contingent but many asked: `Who is Howard?'."

There were rallies in almost every European capital. According to reports on the Indymedia network, 300,000 people protested across France, including 100,000 in Paris. Up to 100,000 marched in Athens. Around 100,000 people took part across Sweden, as did almost 25,000 in Finland.

Around 10,000 people marched in Auckland, New Zealand, on February 15. In the capital, Wellington, 8000 people rallied outside Parliament House. Protesters demand that the NZ Labour government withdraw a New Zealand navy frigate and an air force Orion aircraft from the Gulf. There were anti-war actions in at least 20 centres in NZ, including one that attracted 500 people in Dunedin. The protests, which were organised by Global Peace and Justice Network and Peace Movement Aotearoa, were the biggest in NZ since the huge anti-apartheid protests of the 1980s.

In other parts of Asia, LaborNet Japan web site reported that 25,000 people gathered at an anti-war protest in Tokyo on February 14. In the Philippines, 6000 people marched to the US embassy in Manila.

On February 15, 3000 Malaysians demonstrated outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Muslims and non-Muslims joined forces to chant anti-war slogans in Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil. After 10 minutes, riot police ordered the protesters to disperse or be arrested. The cops backed down, however, when the crowd defied them. The protest was initiated by the Socialist Party of Malaysia and coordinated by the Coalition Against War.

In Pakistan, there were protests in 20 cities, including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The Labour Party Pakistan's Yousaf Ba1uch reported that more than 2000 people marched in Lahore on February 15. "Demonstrators chanted slogans against imperia1ist aggression and in favour of the Iraqi people. Almost ha1f of the participants were women, thanks to the support of the Women's Action Forum", Baluch told GLW.

In Johannesburg, 20,000 people took to the streets under the banner of the Anti-War Coalition, toy-toying and chanting "No to war on Iraq", Salim Vally told GLW. They were addressed by Trevor Ngwane of the Anti-Privatisation Forum before marching to the US consulate. Speakers there criticised the African National Congress government for allowing British and US warships headed to the Gulf to dock in Durban. In Cape Town, 5000 protested, while 3000 took part in Durban.

In the Middle East, 10,000 protested in Damascus, Syria, on February 15, as did 10,000 in Beirut, Lebanon, and 5000 in Amman, Jordan. Three thousand rallied in Tel Aviv, in a protest coordinated with a similar one held in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

Perhaps the most inspiring demonstration was in Dili, East Timor, on February 15. It was attended by around 150 people. The marchers assembled at Borja da Costa and proceeded to the embassies of the Australia, Britain and the US.

As the Dili protest organisers explained: "The government of the United States, with support from Great Britain and Australia, is leading the charge for war against Iraq... From 1975 until 1999, they supported the brutal Indonesian occupation of this country, supplying weapons and training to the Indonesian army to better enable it to kill and torture the East Timorese people. There is no moral principle in their current desire to overthrow Saddam Hussein... We believe that the real reason for this call for war is oil not ... international terrorism or weapons of mass destruction."

[Next week's Green Left Weekly will include more coverage of the February 14-16 anti-war mobilisations around the world.]

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The GLW editorials of the last two issues have been posted to
 http://www.active.org.au/sydney/
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 http://www.active.org.au/sydney/news/front.php3?article_id=2128&group=webcast

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 http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/backissu.htm

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 http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/back/2003/525/

EDITORIAL: Bring the troops home now!
FEATURES: John Pilger: Why Bush lies about Iraq
FEATURES: IRAQ: No blood for oil!
INTERNAT.: IRAQ: Powell's dishonest case for war
INTERNAT.: PHILIPPINES: `War on terrorism' targets the left
ISSUES: Why Howard is backing Bush's war on Iraq
ISSUES: WA unions take strong anti-war stand
ISSUES: Iraq war will create new wave of refugees
ISSUES: `Don't just vote, change the system!' [Greens v Socialist Alliance]
ISSUES: Workplace motion on Iraq war [Socialist Alliance]
AUSTRALIA: Women to protest against war
AUSTRALIA: Anti-war activist notebook 1 & 2
AUSTRALIA: Radio National broadcasts Iraq war debate
AUSTRALIA: Anti-war movement spreads north
AUSTRALIA: 5000 in Wollongong march against war
AUSTRALIA: Students plan strike for March 5
AUSTRALIA: Socialists run anti-war election campaign
CULTURAL: `Smoking guns' revealed in Iraq!
CULTURAL: Saddam I am
CULTURAL: Arundhati Roy: `terrorism is the symptom not the disease'

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 http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/back/2003/524/

EDITORIAL: We can stop the war!
FEATURES: John Pilger: Howard whips up pro-war paranoia
FEATURES: IRAQ: How George Bush lied
FEATURES: IRAQ: US army trained Iraqi military in bioweapons use
FEATURES: SCOTLAND: Peace warriors get organised
FEATURES: UNITED STATES: Bush's biowar hypocrisy
FEATURES: PAKISTAN: Islam and the anti-war movement
FEATURES: SCOTLAND: Anti-war train drivers defiant
FEATURES: UNITED STATES: Workers organise against war
INTERNAT.: BRAZIL: WSF calls for anti-war protests
INTERNAT.: BRITAIN: Making a difference
ISSUES: Carmen Lawrence backs March 5 student strike
ISSUES: Johnston: `I'd like to see a united socialist party'
AUSTRALIA: Action updates
AUSTRALIA: 600 march in Leichhardt [well, 1000+]
AUSTRALIA: Leichhardt picnic for peace
AUSTRALIA: Labor MP defects to Greens
AUSTRALIA: Hobart organises against war
AUSTRALIA: Newtown anti-war rally targets Sikorsky
AUSTRALIA: Activists arrested for dropped banner from Opera House
AUSTRALIA: Anti-war campaigning intensifies
AUSTRALIA: WA anti-war campaign builds momentum
AUSTRALIA: No war on Iraq: campaign notes
AUSTRALIA: Anti-war activity increases in northern NSW
AUSTRALIA: Meeting hears about human cost of Iraq war
CULTURAL: In war `the weak suffer what they must'

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 http://www.GreenLeft.org.au/back/2003/523/

EDITORIAL: World-wide protests demand: `Don't attack Iraq!'
FEATURES: UNITED STATES: Why hundreds of thousands marched
FEATURES: CANADA: Anti-war mobilisations gain momentum
FEATURES: BRITAIN: Anti-war movement organises
FEATURES: UNITED STATES: Students to strike against war
FEATURES: UNITED STATES: Washington's military tentacles encircle the globe
FEATURES: Human peace sign
FEATURES: The power of our 'alliance of the unwilling'
FEATURES: Books not bombs: Students strike to stop the war against Iraq
AUSTRALIA: Protesters condemn sea swap
AUSTRALIA: Women against war and racism
AUSTRALIA: Women highlight pro-war bias in mainstream media
AUSTRALIA: Protest at air show planned
AUSTRALIA: Discussion list for Green Left Weekly readers
AUSTRALIA: Troop departure sparks protests
AUSTRALIA: Melbourne mobilises against war
CULTURAL: Noyce exposes the CIA's dirty deeds
CULTURAL: One ring to rule them all?
CULTURAL: Powerful anti-war documentary