WORLDWIDE MARCHES TARGET U.S. OCCUPATION

WORLDWIDE MARCHES TARGET U.S. OCCUPATION

By John Catalinotto

October 30, 2003--Including the anti-Bush protests the week before Oct. 25, demonstrations to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq took place in over 60 cities in over 20 countries coinciding with the protests in the United States, based on reports from local organizers.

In the days just before Oct. 25, some special actions took place.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had been scheduled to visit Athens, Greece on Oct. 22. When the Greek anti-war movement got wind of his visit a few days earlier, they quickly mobilized. On the advice of the Greek government, Powell cancelled his trip and went on to the "Donors Conference" in Madrid, Spain.

Not that Powell got such a popular welcome in Spain. Anti-war organizer Angeles Maestro reports that some 20,000 people marched into downtown Madrid to protest the conference and demand the U.S.-British occupiers get out of Iraq. There were also demonstrations in Barcelona, Bilbao, La Coruña, Oviedo and Tenerife.

On Oct. 25, one of the larger actions outside the U.S. was in South Korea, whose government, along with that of Japan and Turkey, threatens to send troops to Iraq. An organizer there reports that "more than 30 South Korean cities including Seoul held demonstrations to protest against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the dispatching of Korean troops to Iraq. More than 5,000 people gathered in Seoul alone."

"The mood was very different from the previous demonstrations. One reason is the recent series of suicides committed by workers in protest to [Korean President] Roh Moo-hyun's neo-liberal policies. One can feel the mood of sadness and rage. 'How many more workers need to die before they could get a decent wage?' was what everyone at the demonstration were thinking."

On Oct.25 in Japan, an organizer reports that the group "World Action staged rally in Miyashita Park Tokyo. Some 1,500 workers and students gathered in this rally. After the rally, participants demonstrated to call for the end of occupation on Iraq by U.S. or the United Nations, and to stop the dispatch of the Japanese military, the Self-Defence Forces, to Iraq."

In Lisbon, Portugal, some 2,000 people gathered in the rain in the main square to demand an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and that the government desist from sending 200 troops to that country. A favorite slogan was "Iraq for the Iraqis." Another protest took place in Oporto.

Organizers in Italy report solidarity demonstrations at the U.S. Camp Ederle, in Vicenza, in Florence and some other cities. There was a "peace race" in Ypres, Belgium, vigils and smaller protests in many German cities.

Protests were also set in Copenhagen, Denmark, in Oslo and other Norwegian cities, and in Britain, France, Macedonia and Mexico.

In Canada there were marches in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, as well as other cities.