Mass sitdown protest on February 15 Piccadailly Circus

Harlequin | 29.01.2003 09:06

After the anti-war demonstration ARROW active resistance against the roots of war are organising a mass sit down protest at Piccadilly Circus. People are to assemble in Green Park near Green Park tube at 5pm then walk to Piccadilly Circus for the protest.

This event will be the first mass act of civil disobedience against the war and as such is actually more important than the demonstration itself as if enough people take part in this action then we can shut down a large part of central London and really make an impact! So spread the word about this as much as possible.

Harlequin
Homepage: http://www.j-n-v.org/

Comments

Hide the following 19 comments

anything but strolling orderly

29.01.2003 11:01

I do hope there will be a will on the day to cause disruption if not destruction....we know that hitting the capacity of a city such as London to produce profit and to function normally in terms of viability can have an greater impact than anything else.

Lupa Anubis

pardon?

29.01.2003 11:18

hmm, the first mass act of civil disobedience against the war? well that's debatable but i'll let you have that. However i seem to remember quite a couple sit-downs in Picadilly Circus in the past observed by smaller groups during large demos which weren't recieved particularly well (disobedients being shouted at by SWP'ers that they were aiding bush and blair i believe was the general gist).

funny how history seems to repeat itself.

i take it this time it'll be properly checked and sured with the police beforehand so that they can make sure there's no real disturbance with an offical starting and finishing time.

or maybe (hopefully) there will be some sort of real action taking place which does disturb the state and what it now stands for.

i hope it's civil disobedience and not just a picnic in the road with friendly police helping with car-traffic-control.

Phoebe

phoebe

thanks to the government

29.01.2003 11:47

the protest may well be alot bigger than was perhaps hoped for. As they have banned the final rally - leaving hundreds of thousands with nowhere to go.

See

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2704137.stm for further details

silent_monkey

not just a picnic in the road

29.01.2003 11:54

Yeah, I'd really like an answer to Phoebe's question. If it's a nice sit down for ten minutes or so until the nice policemen tell us we've made our point now and must move along, then I think I'd rather be elsewhere.

For many folk coming down from all over the country the consequences of doing this action will be a missed bus home, with no other obvious means of getting there. If they're going to put themselves out that much, it will need to be worthwhile.

So will this be a nice fluffy event, or are people willing to provoke confrontation?

Binka

keep yer brain switched on

29.01.2003 12:55

If, on the day, the mass of marchers are up for sit-downs etc then fine and groovy.. but it bothers me when we start talking about 'provoking confrontation'!

Remember there'll (hopefully) be squillions of folk there who aren't hardcore revoutionaries or experienced anti-capitalists, who are unlikely to understand why we would want to kick off a ruck with the police. We don't want this to be the last protest they ever attend!

And look, I'm not dissing NVDA; as I say, if folk are up for sit-downs, occupations etc on the day then good. I'm just saying let's think about HOW we do stuff so it doesn't horrify/alienate newcomers.

kurious oranj

why piccadilly?

29.01.2003 13:26

Good idea - but I question the location - better to do something in whitehall/parliament sq? after all they are the ones we should be focussing our attention on, not a bunch of tourists & folks shopping at HMV.
If thousands have a sit down on whitehall & parliament Sq they will be right in the faces of the govt & policitians.

mike

dont go to parliament, it only makes them fee

29.01.2003 13:52

Well, actually if we take the protest outside its usual habitat of trafalgar sq /hyde park, and give it a whirl thru the streets for ALL to see, not just those who aint particularly listenin to us (in parliament) and dont give a fuck wot ordinary people think, and not just the usual protest ghetto either, something special might happen... why should we go pleading to those without heart and compassion when power could be and IS elsewhere - in the streets, with those tourists and shoppers who may turn round and go yeh, I agree actually and swell our numbers. On the street is were we need to be, not bleating to our would be 'masters' outside parliement. Take the power of protest and solidarity to the people and the streets, and save our energies for the day we visit parliament not with unheeded demands but with numbers huge enough to dismantle the whole damn thing from under them.

sparkle

tw&t

29.01.2003 13:53

"I do hope there will be a will on the day to cause disruption if not destruction" - so what exactly are you protesting against? Get real.

VoR

Tw@ts

29.01.2003 13:58

"I do hope there will be a will on the day to cause disruption if not destruction....we know that hitting the capacity of a city such as London to produce profit and to function normally in terms of viability can have an greater impact than anything else."

What sort of tw@t are you? Isn't that just what Bush and Blair want to do? Isn't that what the protest's against? Tsch! You crazy anarchists - you make me laugh!

mr shed

Do it!!

29.01.2003 14:38

Infants in Iraq are about to have cluster bombs and depleted uranium dropped on their heads... and you are all whimpering over a few potential blows from police battons, as these state-sponsored-thugs attempt to protect Blair's government, in commiting genocide and crimes against humanity, in YOUR NAME!

Jester

nvda etc

29.01.2003 15:35

its fine if people want organised civil disobedience. but its not fine when people call for pacifism for all. people should be free to protest in whatever manner they choose, so long as their choice doesn't intentionally or stupidly involve those who don't want to be involved for whatever reason (scared, loose job, got a criminal record, tired, etc etc). Hopefully there will be multiple actions on the day, which should confuse the police and scare blair.

like the last poster said, we're here to stop GENOCIDE - possibly 80,000 deaths, possibly millions of refugees. A few arrests, a few people hit over the head by the defenders of the state: thats nothing. We're here to stop war, and a lot of people don't seem to understand quite what war is. demanding pacifism in the face of the use of weapons of mass destruction (sorry!) by blair and bush in iraq is outrageous.

kropotkin

"normal" people

29.01.2003 15:37

Some people here seem to have missed the point of this action. This action is NOT direct action. This action is
CIVIL DISOBEDIANCE.

The state will not be threatned if 20 anarchists go down
to a military base and break their equipment.

The state will be threatned when masses of "normal" people, law abiding, voting, tax paying citizens make that step, break the habit of a lifetime, and decide to voluntarly break the law as a form of protest.

Whether you agree with this or not, it seems to me that this is what is being planned. Calm sit down, not trying to provoque the police (which doesn't mean cooperating, which doesn't mean leaving when asked to or after a set amount of time).
It is possible that there will be many people there taking this step for the first time - and it can be hard for some people. If others go there and start active confrontation with the police, it will scare those people off ; they might not make the step, they might not do it again.

The organisers have issued the following guideline :
"For the purposes of this action participants are asked to abide by the following guidelines: NO threats / violence (including pushing), verbal abuse, property damage, drugs, alcohol or flags."

You might not agree with them, but many people will be going there because there are such guideline. The mimimum respect would be to follow those guideline.

Now, I'm all in favor of going to military bases and breaking equipment, I don't have a problem with people seeking confrontation with the police - but this is not the place for it ; London center is big, and there are many places to go, and many things to do.

Peace,
gzzzt.

gzzzt

we must start organising

29.01.2003 16:17

whatever we decide to do on the 15th, it has to be well organised and coordinated with the possibly 1 million people who will be going...shouldn't we start getting the ideas around formally to the groups organising it like the Socialist, antiwar, cnd, muslims groups etc ?

There has to be an aim to this demonstration, not just to march through london and then everyone going home like usual, as the media which is complicit with the government in wanting to commit these war crimes against iraq will not even show much coverage of it...remember last time how 500,000 people were told as being 40,000 on the bbc. If there are sit-ins and other forms of protest then they have to be done by all, not just a few.

dony

Correct me if I'm wrong ...

29.01.2003 18:59

... but doesn't amerika have an embassy somewhere in london?
I'm sure that BP et al have swanky london offices ... and what about our friends with the baby thrown from incubators fantasy - hill and knowlton [pr scum], I KNOW they have an office in london!
If anyone has the exact addresses, perhaps we might gather there in number and make polite suggestions!?!
... or something ...

jackslucid
mail e-mail: jackslucid@hotmail.com

Blimey

29.01.2003 20:44

Youz could at least pelt Parliament with eggs!

C'mon

not quite with the point

29.01.2003 22:06

Having gone North many years ago, my perception of London's geography is now poor.
However - I've 2 points to make on this -
Travelling on a northern coach I would be a little troubled about making it for the last bus. If you're going to do this thing why not make it integral with the main march - people may be attracted by the idea that they dont have to listen to fine polemic from honourable people who still have the temerity to belong to New World Order Labour. Why not offer something en route. I presume at least one of the marches will pass by Picadilly, so why not just go there and hang, during the course of the march until sufficient numbers are present to do something.
The US embassy is too protectable - a 20 thick line-up of the constabulary with back up will always block your way - anyway that would put it all on Bush and distract from the importance of the role of the Blair nazi cabal in the promotion of warmongering
I did propose a while back that the MI6 building would be a good focal point, considering the pivotal role played by the worldwide secret service who are all one at the top, in the commission of terrorist events, in the provision of disinformation that political dupes then parade as evidence for war,in their ability to support or bring down governments through manipulation. Just a thought.
Whatever, you wonder if the Blairite Faction know that by Feb 15 they can risk throwing the full weight of the police and associated security forces against the demonstrators, Genoa-style. The smiley Fuhrer exudes confidence in spite of the opposition.
As if he know's they'll all be brought round in the end

this isn't about being hardcore,

29.01.2003 22:09

Multi-national corporations, banks, and the governments they own, are the real violent element! They think they can escape the consequences of their actions- and if we play by their rules, they can.

Property damage isn't violent- cluster bombs, fighter jets, baton charges and CS gas are.

As for alienating people and destruction- Mr Shed et al. get a grip, no-one is condoning terror!

The public isn't daft, people know it will take a whole lot more than a few broken windows and bottled coppers to stop the war machine, - most people know that if order is not seriously disrupted, then we are swept under the carpet- As krop pointed out- aren't we trying to stop GENOCIDE?? ----Buildings don't bleed- People do- obvious??

TRASH ALL DESERVING TARGETS. BAE SYSTEMS. MARCONI. ALL MILITARY RECRUITMENT CENTRES AND CAR SHOWROOMS.

Capitalist wars for Oil Capital- hit them where it hurts- in the Capital!!

SF crew smashed up the British embassy, great news!

So just do it- anyone- for christ sakes-

A Greater crime might be prevented by a Lesser one.
Peace out for 03. Stop bitching about tactics and shut up.

@nother lunatic88

No flags?

29.01.2003 22:19

As an Indian, I was going along to fly the flags of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the demonstration. Am I now disallowed flags to show the solidarity of millions of Indians with the Iraqis?

Samudra

Re flags

31.01.2003 12:28

The guidelines for no banners / national flags etc is for the sit down civil disobedience action organised by ARROW, not the main march and demonstration.

These guidelines are there to try and prevent any image hijacking of the sit down protest.