WORLD ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT JOINS THE RESISTANCE

WORLD ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT JOINS THE RESISTANCE

By John Catalinotto

The worldwide movement that first arose last winter as a desperate attempt by millions to stop U.S. aggression against Iraq made its first post-war appearance on Sept. 26-28. Tens of thousands of people in over 40 countries came out to demand an end to the occupations of Iraq and Palestine.

Last spring the movement chose the Sept. 27-28 dates to honor the third anniversary of the 2000 Intifada, or uprising of Palestinians against the Israeli occupation.

Since June, the growing Iraqi resistance has made the U.S. occupation another major focus for the protest. This was especially true in countries whose governments sent troops to Iraq, like Spain and Poland, or were considering this move, like Turkey, South Korea and Japan. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, caught in a web of lies, is in deep trouble in Britain, and President George W. Bush is on the defensive.

In size, the protests could not compare with those last Feb. 15. Yet a Madrid organizer's remarks characterized things well: "Despite the demobilization of the summer holidays and the censorship of the media, 10,000 people flooded downtown Madrid. The protest Sept. 27 was larger than we expected, and double the size of those we held a year ago."

The movement, if not at its full height, was on its feet once more--on five continents.

ASIA AND SOUTH ASIA

Some 3,000 people marched some two miles through downtown Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 27. They carried banners reading "U.S., leave Iraq" and "Don't make young Koreans murderers." The United States has asked for up to 10,000 South Korean troops for Iraq.

There were also protests in Japan, the Philippines and Thailand.

In India, where the rightist regime recently reversed a decision to send troops to Iraq after the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad was blown up, at least one demonstration took place Sept. 26. In Kolkata (Calcutta), protesters demonstrated their anger by burning effigies of Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in front of the U.S. Consulate.

Over 5,000 people, led by 50 children from the dozen Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, marched through Beirut on Sept. 27. "Palestine and Iraq are the conscience of the nation," read one placard. Another vowed: "We choose armed struggle in the face of defeat and imperialist Zionist terrorism."

Some 100 people braved state repression in downtown Cairo, Egypt, to express the same sentiments. Demonstrations were also expected in Algeria, Morocco and Iraq itself.

Teach-ins were reported from Mexico and Uruguay in Latin America.

Organizers in Turkey said 10,000 people protested in the capital, Ankara, and thousands more in Istanbul, where unions and others said, "End the occupation of Iraq," "Freedom for Palestine," and "If you send the army to Iraq, send Tayyip [Turkey's president] and his son with them."

In Athens, Greece, some 10,000 demonstrators gathered at Syntagma Square where they heard a message from Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian president of the Labor Center of Jerusalem. The main slogans were "End the occupation of Iraq," "Freedom for Palestine" and "No Greek army to Iraq."

In Cyprus, 200 activists from the Greek and Turkish communities joined with Palestinians and Iranian refugees to march from Nicosia's main square to the U.S. Embassy and from there to the Israeli Embassy.

PULL BRITISH, POLISH, SPANISH, DANISH TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ

The biggest demonstration--100,000, according to organizers from the Stop the War Coalition--took place in London on Sept. 27. It had strong support from the large Muslim community in Britain and from the labor unions, whose leadership has in the past two months taken a position of open opposition to the Blair government, demanding that he resign.

The movement in Poland gathered 1,000 people in central Warsaw Sept. 27 to protest Poland's participation in the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Many high school and university students and young workers took part. They carried giant "playing cards" with pictures of George W. Bush, Tony Blair, the Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Leszek Miller. One slogan was "Miller, Kwasniewski, Bush's two little doggies."

The Spanish state, which also has troops in Iraq, drew protests of a reported 25,000 in Barcelona, and thousands more in Seville, Granada, Malaga, Tenerife in the Canary Islands and other cities, besides the 10,000 in Madrid.

Organizers of the "No to War" national coalition reported over 1,000 marching in Copenhagen, Denmark, with particular aim at the Danish government for ordering troops to participate in the war on Iraq and the present occupation. The main slogan was "The government has lied Denmark into war--pull the troops out!" There were also smaller demonstrations in Aalborg, Aarhus and Esbjerg.

There were demonstrations of 500 in Helsinki, Finland, some 1,000 in Vienna, Austria, and protests in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Oslo, Norway. In Brussels, Belgium, more than 2,000 people from 50 organizations demanded the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops as they condemned the occupation of Iraq and Palestine. In Paris, France, 8,000 people took to the streets.

In Italy, some 150 people took over the Padova City Hall for two hours. A national protest is planned for Oct. 4 in Rome.

In Germany, some 1,000 people demonstrated in Berlin and another 100 in Bonn. In Heidelberg, site of the U.S. military headquarters, some 150 activists sang "The Sloop John B" to remind the U.S. soldiers they perhaps "wanna go home." They also renamed the U.S. base's "Mark Twain Village" the "Gen. Custer Village" as they considered this both a reminder of what can happen and more appropriate than naming it after the anti-imperialist writer.

In the United States, many of the protests were initiated by the ANSWER coalition. They also demanded an end to the U.S. military intervention in Korea, the Philippines, Colombia and anywhere else on the globe. Some 5,000 people demonstrated on Sept. 28 in Los Angeles, the same number in San Francisco, 2,500 in New York, 500 in Boston and 300 in Seattle. There were also protests on Sept. 26 and 27 in Chicago, San Diego, and other U.S. cities.

Besides the countries named above, there were protests set in Mexico, Thailand, Australia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Palestine.

In response to a call by ANSWER for solidarity actions in tandem with the national demonstration Oct. 25 in Washington and San Francisco, groups have called demonstrations to protest Bush's visits the week before in Japan and the Philippines, at an Iraq "Donor's Conference" in Madrid on Oct. 23-24, and in Norway and Italy as of last notice.