Lots a people, lots a drumming, lots a fun. But where did it get us? 15 secs on the BBC early evening news.....but I don't see the US/UK coalition shaking with fear at this festive resistance. We marched before, and we'll march again, but we have been ignored as usual. Time to try different tactics - yes resistance can be fun, but let's not forget that resistance is in reality a war against the global ruling elite, and at the moment we ain't winning. Time to up the ante and hit them where it hurts.

Mass direct action, forget the strolls in the park and listening to the well off on the podiums. Act up! If we really care about the suffering in Iraq, Palestine and elsewhere, we should be doing everything possible (like STOPPING THE CITY COMPLETELY) in 'their name' even if it means a few hours in custody.

Being shuffled round city streets by cops never changed a thing. We can pat each other on the back afterwards but People are dieing out there! ... why let the S.T.W.C/S.W.P continue to channel mass anger and turn it into pointless drivel?

Solidarity/Liberty.

It gets you nowhere - this snapping at the heels stuff, however much it may enable large numbers of people to let off steam in relative safety
What is required is locally targeted actions with specific objectives
Free from the bottom up
It's a huge task however much the jackass front politicians try to divert you

We know marching ain't enuff-
What follows if the text we were giving out on the march to encourage people and to make people aware of other options. We're saying let's create direct links with the peoples under Occupation.
We gave out thousands of leaflets with this message

So before you slag us off, tell us what you did?

Message from RoR follows:

--------------------------------------------
Want to do something more than simply march?

Against the Wars? Against the Military Occupations?
Why not reach out, make contacts and give direct support to the peoples of Iraq and Palestine.

We are Rhythms of Resistance an activist samba band and we are on the march today to show our opposition to the ongoing military occupations of Iraq and Palestine. We also want to help make people aware of some of the other things we can do as well as marching to directly support the struggle for real liberation by the peoples of Iraq and Palestine. We don't have all the answers but we reckon that there are a lot of good things that we can all do.
To find out more about us see www.rhythmsofresistance.co.uk

Since the attacks on New York in 2001, politicians and media have used the War on Terror as a justification for increased repression and military attacks from Afghanistan to Colombia. But there are lots of people the world over who are doing things to resist what's happening. This is often overlooked in the news we get fed about the areas of the world where conflicts are raging that have been fuelled by the overdeveloped Western countries. As people here in the West who care about what is happening in the world, we need to inform ourselves about these struggles so we can take steps to directly support the people on the ground. Some good sources of breaking news you won't see in the corporate media are:
Schnews at  http://www.schnews.org.uk
Indymedia Palestine at  http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/
IndyMedia Israel:  http://indymedia.org.il/imc/webcast/
Iraqi based site Almuajaha at  http://www.almuajaha.com/

Despite the violence, crime and massive destruction, Iraqi people are taking steps to reclaim some control over their lives and to rebuild civil society. Groups like the Union of the Unemployed Iraq (UUI) are organising to address people's immediate needs, distributing aid in areas US troops (and now UN agencies too) are too scared to enter into in Baghdad like Thaowra, Bab Sharkeeye; and Nassreeyeh. The UUI also organises protests against the occupation administration about the lack of jobs, social security or even access to basic services for Iraqis. Over 70 of the Union's members, including the leadership, have been arrested, jailed and brutalised. Amongst other humiliations, the detainees have been denied water and food, deprived of sleep, and made to sit in rooms coiled with barbedwire. Despite these intimidation tactics, the Union remains strong. It is thriving on the membership, solidarity and creativity of over 150,000 people all over Iraq and Kurdistaan. They continue to struggle spurred on by daily spontaneous and fluid meetings filled with vocal outpourings of mounting frustration, hidden histories of life before the war, and the development of new demands. Through these assemblies new forms of social relationships and political consciousness are emerging.


The Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) is a grass roots women's groups that aims to advance equality between men and women in Iraq and win back the privileges and powers women had up until the 80s. Those rights were steadily corroded by the rise of neo-traditionalist religious parties and the actions of the Baath party which legalised honour killings. Some phoney women's Unions collaborated with Sadaam's dictatorship and aided the state sanctioned murder of women 'assumed to be prostitutes'. In contrast, OWFI defends prostitutes and has been responsible for creating refuges for women needing shelter from abusive partners, relatives and bosses.

In the occupied territories of the West Bank Gaza, Ariel Sharon's government is using the Israeli army to make everyday life near impossible for Palestinians. With every section of the 'security wall' completed, every new road block, every house demolished and every olive tree uprooted Sharon is pursuing his policy of transferring Palestinian lands to the settlers. But Palestinian people continue to struggle to repair the fabric of their daily lives. Contacts and info on some of the organisations working to build and maintain civil society and the living environments of the Palestinian people can be found at:

Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem: www.arij.org
Land Research Centre: www.lrcj.org
Palestinian Environmental NGO's Network: www.pengon.org
Palestinian Hydrology Group: www.phg.org
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees:  http://www.upmrc.org
Ta'Ayush-Arab-Jewish Partnership:  http://taayush.tripod.com/new/index.html

Groups of people from the West have been travelling to Palestinian to work with Palestinians to offer what support they can with getting in the Olive Harvest, getting people through checkpoints, getting aid to the people. For news and information on how to support these initiatives and what's happening on the ground, check out the International Solidarity Movement:  http://palsolidarity.org/

There are also people from the West who have gone to Iraqi to directly support the struggles of the people there, whilst acting to raise awareness here. Check out Voices in the Wilderness at  http://www.voicesuk.org/

Some of the things we in the UK could do to support Iraqi, Palestinian and International groups are:
Solidarity Protests: Sort one out! The Occupation Government has already shown that dissent and attacks on its legitimacy let alone its physical, dominating presence, will not be tolerated. Spreading support for the these groups and keeping them in the public eye, helps keeps them safe.

Also mark your calendar: 9/November/2003 (The anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall).This is a day of global demonstrations against the Apartheid wall, which Israel is building in Palestine. Check out:  http://www.stopthewall.org/

Benefit Gigs or other Fundraisers: any cash raised for the UUI or OWFI is helping to feed, clothe and raise the families, spirits and levels of organising of those who need it the most, as well as sowing the seeds of a secular popular resistance movement to free-market fundamentalism and US and UK dominated colonialism in the Middle East


Send messages of solidarity, protest/solidarity action reports and funding possibilities to
The Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq -  yanar2002@hotmail.com
Union of the Unemployed Iraq -  farismahmood2003@yahoo.com or  wcpi@sympatico.ca or  antisanctions@yahoo.com

In the face of all the misery and destruction that is being inflicted across the world, there are are many things we can all do to make a difference - so get informed, make links and get active.

Love in struggle
Rhythms of Resistance September 2003

Dont listen to the defeatists. The Samba bands take part in direct actions and have been known to stop big Global summits in their tracks (not alone of course, you need fiesty crowds who dont whinge from their armchairs about everything being crap). They get beaten up and nicked by cops and still go out again the next day. Put yer money where yer mouth is and get out there and do something! These demos might not be exciting but they show our numbers, help us know we are not alone even if the mainstream reporting is crap -you dont really expect it to be good, do you? The leaflet the samba bands were handing out was great - its all about making links and practical action. They were one of the few groups who tried to publicise that arms fair to the locals who lived in the area. They dont just do a little shuffle round town every few months, and neither do the other thousands who attend these marches just sit on their arses for the rest of the time, I bet. So go do something, like the samba folks do, and shut the whingeing. Well done to the samba - ists everywhere! We love you!!

Whose whinging? We've been on four demos this week, hardly get time to 'sit on our arses'. ARCrew was not 'slagging the samba band off' at all .. just looking for something more direct as ever, a new direction mobilising the massive numbers the anti-war movement has accumulated over the last couple of years. DH came up with the most valid point to date here.

Thanks for putting the photos up. Personally I would prefer this kind of photo not to be blurred. It destroys the impact of the image. I can understand the argument of not publishing photos of people engaged in "illegal" activities. Playing Samba on an approved march is a public event, much photographed by the police and others. I was proud to be there and have nothing to hide. It looks like paranoia to blur faces on legal activities. The police have a huge number of photos of me on file. They know I play with Sheffield Samba Band. I am more than willing to stand up and be counted. They are trying to crimialise dissent. We need to not support that by pretending we have something to hide and be ashamed of when we don't.

Blessings, Deacon Dave

Rikki, can you send me copies of the photos so we can see the faces? Sheffield Samba Band collects pictures of the band for its archive.