Madeleine Albright ambushed in a dark alley: we were everywhere!
Tiersmondiste | 28.10.2003 23:05 | Anti-militarism | Oxford
Details of action against Madeleine Albright by Oxford students and residents at the Union, 28 October 2003
just a quick exciting update from the scene of the madeleine albright action at the oxford union on 28 october 2003 from 7.15 pm onwards.
HR and i went inside the debating chamber to hear albright speak. from 8.30 onwards announcements were made every 5 minutes saying that she would be delayed as she was unable to get inside the union because of the protestors!!! seeing that the real action was happening outside and feeling very bored inside, we left the union to join the protestors.
the protestors - you know who you are! - had both entrances (main entrance on st michael's st and side entrance on cornmarket st. next to Lush) covered, as we were unsure which one she would use. at about 9.05, a police car shot south down cornmarket with cops running after it, stopped halfway, lots of people in suits got out and hustled her into the alley next to Lush, but we didnt actually *see* her because it all happened very fast. however, everyone knew something was up, so people ran towards the entrance of the alley.
there were already some protestors (maybe 7 or 8?) at the end of the alley near the union gate, but the rest were stopped at the beginning of the alley on cornmarket by a cop. i managed to slip through with my 'fake' union card (thank you RJ!).. having passed the cop, i realised (very late in life!) that i was walking inches behind the woman herself (she'd covered her face with a scarf).
i then had the privilege of bellowing at the 64th secretary of state of the united states of america: 'we're against your bloody war!' everyone else started shouting and screaming Sudan, Iraq, children, price worth paying, but being outnumbered by cops and agents and union bouncers, we couldn't physically prevent her from going in, which she did. but 40 minutes late to cries of shame, shame, shame :) anyone with half a conscience would not have been pleased..
the cops were very shaken because we had managed to make things bloody inconvenient, KH will tell you that the 1 cop trying to hold back about 15 people looked shit scared, and the one i had slipped past yelled 'don't ever do that to me again!' .. all signs of success!!!!
we were everywhere today. congratulations all :)
HR and i went inside the debating chamber to hear albright speak. from 8.30 onwards announcements were made every 5 minutes saying that she would be delayed as she was unable to get inside the union because of the protestors!!! seeing that the real action was happening outside and feeling very bored inside, we left the union to join the protestors.
the protestors - you know who you are! - had both entrances (main entrance on st michael's st and side entrance on cornmarket st. next to Lush) covered, as we were unsure which one she would use. at about 9.05, a police car shot south down cornmarket with cops running after it, stopped halfway, lots of people in suits got out and hustled her into the alley next to Lush, but we didnt actually *see* her because it all happened very fast. however, everyone knew something was up, so people ran towards the entrance of the alley.
there were already some protestors (maybe 7 or 8?) at the end of the alley near the union gate, but the rest were stopped at the beginning of the alley on cornmarket by a cop. i managed to slip through with my 'fake' union card (thank you RJ!).. having passed the cop, i realised (very late in life!) that i was walking inches behind the woman herself (she'd covered her face with a scarf).
i then had the privilege of bellowing at the 64th secretary of state of the united states of america: 'we're against your bloody war!' everyone else started shouting and screaming Sudan, Iraq, children, price worth paying, but being outnumbered by cops and agents and union bouncers, we couldn't physically prevent her from going in, which she did. but 40 minutes late to cries of shame, shame, shame :) anyone with half a conscience would not have been pleased..
the cops were very shaken because we had managed to make things bloody inconvenient, KH will tell you that the 1 cop trying to hold back about 15 people looked shit scared, and the one i had slipped past yelled 'don't ever do that to me again!' .. all signs of success!!!!
we were everywhere today. congratulations all :)
Tiersmondiste
Comments
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more photos, video and reports soon
29.10.2003 00:01
Also video online soon, needs to be edited etc; watch this space!
bucketista
Misdirected protesting
01.11.2003 21:56
Thomas
Madeline not so innocent...
02.11.2003 12:23
Madeline Albright may have spoken out against the current war, but has stood firmly behind previous American imperialist atrocities and Israel's massacres. Apart from the deeply revealing comment about the "price worth paying" (and no, you can't just take something like that back by admitting it was a dumb thing to say), there are a few other crimes on her head. Most of these have be mentioned in other items on the newswire, and so I'm afraid much of this will be repeated (and even in places cut and pasted - sorry!). She delayed deployment of UN troops in Rwanda which would have improved the situation and saved countless lives. She was very much behind bombing Serbia and even made the comment ‘what’s the point of having a superb military if you can’t even use it?’ She stood up against the UN Secretary General, Boutros-Ghali, for criticising Israel’s bombing of the Qana refugee camp in Lebanon during which 100 were killed, and then used her veto to prevent his reappointment.
So yes, I think that she has built her career on a ruthless American imperialist position and that protesting against her as she glorifies her decisions that sent innumerable innocents to their deaths with a shiny new book is a worthwhile action.
kate
insensitivity to death in foregn lands
22.12.2003 11:19
that's the worth she puts on lives of children in foreign lands - by that logic we may as well forgive osama bin laden, for he too feels that a few thousand american lives is a small collateral damage in the path to enlightening the world...
both are reprehensible standpoints and need to be stood up to...
anuja