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anti-war campaigners to stand for election

guardian article (re-entitled) | 14.10.2003 09:30 | Analysis | Anti-militarism

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Monbiot to found anti-war coalition

Martin Nicholls and Tom Happold
Monday October 13, 2003

Anti-war activists including the Guardian columnist George Monbiot are planning to form a coalition to challenge the Labour party in next June's European and local elections.
But the attempt to unite socialist parties, anti-globalisation campaigners, peace activists and faith groups; including Muslims, has already aroused the hostility of the Green party, which has branded the project "unhelpful".

The driving force behind the plan is a Muslim mother, Salma Yaqoob, who became active in the anti-war movement after being spat at in the street following September 11.

Now the chairwoman of the Birmingham Anti-War Coalition, she has joined Mr Monbiot in approaching political and peace activists to set a common manifesto.

She told the Guardian: "The strength of the anti-war march was the diversity of the protestors - people came from different backgrounds, different faiths and different political affiliations.

"But without a clear or comprehensive political programme we remain dispossessed, with only the parties of business or bombing to vote for. Together we probably make up the majority."

With the Stop the War Coalition claiming over 500 affiliated groups and more than a million people having marched against the war, Ms Yaqoob and Mr Monbiot believe the enthusiasm generated by the peace movement can be channelled into building a "genuine progressive opposition".

The pair plan a convention later this year to agree a final manifesto

The Greens are not so enthusiastic. Caroline Lucas, one of the party's two MEPs, said: "The Greens have just had our best ever English local election results and a landslide in Scotland.

"Next year, for the first time ever, we're defending seats in the European parliament and the London assembly. It's taken 30 years of hard slog to get into that position. There are no short cuts."

The Greens' leader in the north-west, John Whitelegg, dismissed the coalition's manifesto, which Mr Monbiot is drawing up. "The parts of the manifesto we've seen so far read like summaries of Green party policy," he claimed.

"A rival party with very similar policies could confuse people into splitting the Green vote, which means more of the neo-liberals that George [Monbiot] and Salma [Yaqoob] are strongly opposed to would be elected - or worse, extremists from the BNP could sneak in."

The Greens rejected an electoral pact with the Socialist Alliance at its annual conference in 2001.

The alliance - which scored a mere 1.5% of the vote in last month's Brent East byelection - was established by the Socialist Workers' party (SWP) and other leftwing groups to take electoral advantage of the perceived rightward direction of the Labour party.

So far it has achieved little electoral success and has been increasingly divided over accusations of SWP domination.

The Greens predict a similar fate for this latest venture. "The Socialist Alliance tried to build a broad coalition a few years ago," said London assembly member Jenny Jones.

"It ended up being hijacked by the SWP."

But Ms Yaqoob insisted that the coalition would not be "a force for division". "If there is a good Green candidate running somewhere it would be madness to stand someone against them."

"If the coalition is genuinely broad then no one group can dominate," she added.


 http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,1061898,00.html

guardian article (re-entitled)

Comments

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Botox!

14.10.2003 13:31

The Realist would have us believe that invading Iraq can be justified by the finding of a fifteen year old vial of botulinum toxin at a scientist's house. This stuff is also known as botox and injected by doctors into lots of rich people's faces to allegedly make them look younger. California must have millions of vials of botulinum toxin, should the UK invade?

Chris
mail e-mail: talbotelli@netscape.net


Realist!!

14.10.2003 17:40

Why do not you and your troops and your companies just go out of Iraq and hopefuly to hell. Murdering theiving basterds since when you care about other people? Just look at your history if you want to deny your reality. Your savage bombing in 1991 and the following sanctions has killed around 1.5 million Iraqis and the current campaign has killed and injured around 100 thousand Iraqi and tens of thousands of Iraqis are improsioned by your occupying troops. several Iraqis are being killed in prison and by your dogs the Iraqi traitors. a number of Iraqi women and children are being raped by your stinking troops and your dogs their. It is those traitors who were in the mass graves after listening to the orders of your politicians to revolt against the ligitimate government of Iraq. Their revolt was crushed then but it needed a 12 years of massive killing and terror campaign by your governments to crush the Iraqi government and the sovernty of its people. But I can assure you we will drag you and them on the streets of Iraq. You rats.

why do not you get out of Palestine? Are they protecting you in destroying Iraq? Just imagine what will a British or American solider will do if they know you the jews are taking them for a rid?

Jaafere


watch it Jaafere

14.10.2003 19:31


I don't like all of what you've said.

To confuse a jew with a zionist' is the same as confusing a Brit with a warmonger. To be a Brit is not the same as being Blair. To be a Jew is not the same as being Sharon.

I - a jew who marched against the war and occupation of Palestine - would prefer not to be confused with this 'Realist' any more than I would like to be confused with an odourous turd.

Don't group me with him - we really wouldn't get along.

Aside from this objection, Jaafere, I could not agree more.

Hymi
- Homepage: http://www.btinternet.com/~sapere.aude/jaz.html


Same old...

14.10.2003 20:57

Monbiot is pro-World Government, this is not an alternative party or choice.

Realist is Rockwell.

Shitster


Hymi: Don't spread Bullshit

16.10.2003 13:28

True that Sharon is not representaive of Jews (who are actually mostly outside the illegal state of Irael and are by definition those belonging to the faith 'Judaism')

But what is this crap about we the british are not represented by our own Blair.
We not only elected him with record majorities we continue to let him rule us without any opposition. Any opposition is just hoodwink.

Jaffer: I do not like your broad condemnation of Jews but please post you anger over here in the IMC-UK newswire as we all need to know what the world thinks of us. We are being brainwashed bigtime and any little resistance suppressed by a police state that is, to the best of my knowledge is run directly from the US. The totla awareness of higher controls of how this is happenning is beyond me and if you have proof as to how we got into this mess please post them too.

Welcome brother/sister Jaffer.

ram