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Local Anti-War Actions M29

29.03.2003 04:59 | Anti-militarism

As the attack on Iraq continues people around the country are showing their opposition to the war by taking to the streets all over the UK. The mainstream media, including the BBC, which was confronted last night at a public discussion has largely ignored the peace movement, which today is participating in further localised actions.

Protesters in York held a die-in in the town centre with flowers being laid on the 'dead'. This was followed by a noisy demonstration through the city centre. In Cambridge 800 people marched in a protest organised by Cambridge Campaign for Peace. In a hastily arranged protest, the march ended with several speakers advocating civil disobedience. In Leeds protesters marched with someone present questioning the effectiveness of A-B marches with speakers at the end. In Norwich in East Anglia, Stop the War Coalition made a banner drop from a castle co-inciding with a noisy protest. Cardiff saw the city centre taken over as 500 protesters and a samba band made their way past rugby fans going to watch a game. Oxford had a heavy police prescence around their protest, which was attended by 800 people. Police even cordoned off a rally which was held at the end of the march. see pic. A march in Leicester attracted around 1500 protesters in a broad based demo. Thousands attended a demo in Sheffield where the theme was a funeral procession, with coffins at the front.

Dublin saw a massive demo take place and the video can be watched here. Another big demo took place in Edinburgh, with 10,000 protesting. The protest also involved a sit down protest, see pics here and here. In Manchester two seperate marches converged to the BBC in Manchester, with one banner reading 'STATE TV PROPAGANDA'. Some arrests were made after police violently pinned in a small group of protesters Newcastle saw a crowd of 1,000 attend a rally, before heading off to a war memorial for a two minute silence. Police attempted to block their path but protesters used various routes to meet up at the war memorial. A small group of Protesters starting from the London School of Economics dispersed after police vans were in attendance at the meeting point. Meeting at Covent Garden, they set up a 'Food not Bombs' trolley handing out free sandwiches, before being stopped. Determined they moved around Central London blocking traffic. In South London, three seperate marches converged in Brixton, where speeches were made, after which people occupied the streets outside the Lambeth Town Hall [report and pics]. Hackney saw 1500 people marching from Dalston High Street to London Fields where a rally took place.
Enfield, London had a small demo of 200 through the main shopping area and in Todmorden West Yorkshire, activists managed to shut down an Esso station. Around 5000 attended a protest in Newham which contains a large Muslim community. School students joined the protest which was very lively, with one arrest made.

Sheffield
Sheffield


Oxford pics
Sheffield pics
Edinburgh pics

- Homepage: http://uk.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/metafiles/152_anti-war_protestors_med-thumb.jpg