February 15th - alternative to StWC action

The Rinse | 08.02.2005 16:53 | London

Remember February 15th, 2003… the big peace protest?
Now more than ever we need that spirit back.

flyer

Call for action
Gather at Parliament Square, Tuesday 15th February, between 5 and 6 pm, when we’ll head off around town.

Bring a radio. You will be the sound… Weapons of Mass Vibration.
Bring your banners, costumes… whatever you like…

We must show that there is still a peace movement out there. We can express to the people of London that change is not only necessary, but is actually POSSIBLE.

To contribute to the pre-recorded show, e-mail

TheRub@Peace-Not-War.org. Send an MP3, an idea, or come to a meeting… Otherwise, show up with a battery-powered Ghetto Blaster (with a RADIO)… ‘would recommend the 12v single rechargeable from Maplins if you can face soldering a couple of wires onto the battery terminals. It’ll last all day and be very useful for picnics in the summer. £7.99 for a big one, sealed, unspillable, not too big, or a fiver for a little one. 12V is the same as 8 little or big 1.5V batteries (8x1.5=12v)!

This might be one of our last opportunities to gather in Parliament Square - a place where we must be heard - as just yesterday the Commons voted for a bill basically saying that we will no longer be allowed to do this.

We must use our freedom of speech while it’s still possible. And we must touch the people…particularly with the forthcoming election.

We are attempting to get the movement mainstream again, to inspire and activate.

The style has been tried and tested at the end of last year when we captivated loads of Central London Christmas shoppers. Everywhere they went they could hear the peaceful vibe and conscious lyrics. And we got wonderful responses. We made an impact.

Please come along. Every single radio makes a difference.

The Rinse

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

popularising the alternatives

08.02.2005 18:06

>>We are attempting to get the movement mainstream again, to inspire and activate.

people need to believe once and for all that the tory-labour merrygoround is over and that alternatives must happen. politics isn't about voting every 4 or 5 years or about forming political opinion from the conservative british media and getting steamed up about issues in conversation. that's passive. people have a responsibility to be more politically involved and better informed. changing the inequalities in our society and around the globe is possible but not so long as people think in terms of what parliamentary parties put on the agenda. we need involvement by ordinary people in the movement for global justice because this is the way forward. are marches the answer? perhaps. activism certainly. identify with other hard pressed communities around the globe, connect, and make working for radical change a part of who you are.

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question

08.02.2005 18:15

I think you have a curious way of looking at things friend. On february 15th 1.5 million people showed they were prepared to march from a to b to stop a war and failed. Given the turnout afterwards most people were prepared to do little else other than carry out their lives of consumption. It is not "now more than ever". It is/was a continuous struggle against war and greed; It's not just Iraq either who suffers from the arms dealers, mineral traders and the corporate and colonial bullshitters eg. think Eritrea, Papua, Nigeria, I am a bit disturbed by the tone of the callout - I think the juxtapostion of war and hippy fun I find distasteful.

Who are you appealing to? other party peoiple?

I hope you will have fun on this but I would like to now how far people are prepared to go to really stop this violence?

question

how far to go

08.02.2005 18:43

this isn't 1917, the march with mao or the beaches of cuba in the 60s. the enemy is the global free market empire, the work slavery it creates and the human and environmental degradation that follows in its wake. who are you going to point a gun at here in the uk to stop that? the powerbase for all these ills is in washington so lets crash the empire. can't be done you think? the revolution is already underway and we're making inroads.

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but I thought your whole problem with StW was against relying on voting etc?

09.02.2005 17:23

Seriously, I really am confused by this. For months if not years Indymedia/SchNews/etc have been criticising StW leadership for calling marches and meetings to put pressure on parliamentary politicians, rather than taking direct action to physically stop the war. You accuse them of creating illusions in electoral party politics rather than grassroots alternatives.

But then you call an alternative protest, the whole aim of which is to persuade people.. to register to vote???

I don't get it

whataloadof...

12.02.2005 20:23

i found this flier lying around at a squat film nite this week and couldn't believe it was real. sadly, it seems it is not a spoof. instead it is a patronising and offensive piece of tree that can't even be used to wipe my bum because the card is too thick and glossy.
the first worldwide demo? check your history mate, you don't even need to go back very far (J18?). registering to vote - why the hell would i do that, it will only alert them to where i live and help them track down those court fines i never paid.
those court fines i incurred taking real direct action (if unsure check out the word "direct" in any dictionary).
i'm sure you mean well but another attempt to get us all to believe politicians, any politician, could be useful in some way is a waste of your time and mine. attract the mainstream by telling them to register and inviting them to play puppets in another mass walk from a to b, i don't think so! how patronising you hippies are. people get active when they are angry enough to take charge from those in power, and when they do it en masse they rarely do it "fluffy" or with a funky soundtrack.
we haven't got time to mess about, people animals and plants are suffering and dying every day. lets get on with it and stop trying to be "nice". no-one will be won over, you're only making us all look silly.

sambaista

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