Anti-war protests continue around the world
By John
Catalinotto
Outraged over the NATO bombings of civilians on a tourist
train and a refugee convoy in Kosovo, in addition to the
ongoing bombing of Belgrade, tens of thousands of demonstrators
throughout the U.S. and around the world marched on April 17 to
demand "Stop the U.S./NATO bombing of Yugoslavia!"
Many were responding to a call by the International Action
Center, which has joined other groups and organizers to form a
National Emergency Mobilization to Stop the War. The latter
group has issued a call for a National March on the Pentagon on
Saturday, June 5. The mass protest will begin at the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial and march to the steps of the Pentagon in
Washington.
Protest against the war spilled over from the European
working class into the NATO armies this week as Greek
sailors and soldiers refused or protested against serving in
the war on Yugoslavia. Navy officers and sailors from the
warship Themistocles heading for the Adriatic demonstrated
their opposition to being sent on a mission outside Greece.
Also, on April 19 more than 80 soldiers of the Greek armed
forces condemned the aggression of the NATO forces on
Yugoslavia and refused to carry out their duties relating to
the attack on that country.
A Gallup poll shows that 95.2 percent of the Greek
population is against NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. Residents
of Salonica, Greece's second city, closed the national road to
the borders with the Macedonian Republic and stopped a NATO
convoy led by French soldiers from crossing.
On April 20, 1,000 Greek Cypriot schoolchildren
skipped class and demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in
Nicosia to protest against the NATO bombing campaign. Children
threw eggs and lemons and burned the Stars and Stripes, but
police said there were no serious incidents. The embassy itself
was sealed off with barbed wire while 100 riot police formed a
cordon.
In Italy on April 17 tens of thousands of people
organized by the Cobas--rank-and-file trade union and community
organizations--demonstrated in Rome against the NATO attack.
They shouted, "Belgrad will be our Stalingrad," referring to
the resistance at Stalingrad in 1942-43 that broke the back of
the invading Nazi army in the Soviet Union. Another 6,000
people demonstrated at the Aviano air base in northern Italy
where U.S. planes take off to bomb Yugoslavia. (Il
Manifesto)
At the U.S. Spangdahlem airbase in western Germany
near Trier, hundreds of people demonstrated under the slogan,
"Stop the war to save lives." Spangdahlem is the largest U.S.
military complex in Europe. Stealth bombers take off there to
bomb in the Balkans. (Junge Welt)
Mostafa Farook of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh
reports that "in response to a call made by the International
Action Center at 5 p.m. on April 17 a protest demon stration
organized by the Left Democratic Front paraded through the main
streets of Dhaka, the capital. The banner before the march
read, `NATO Hands off Yugoslavia' and placards read, `Stop the
bombing, stop the war against Yugoslavia! Clinton is a war
criminal.'" Demonstrators burned the U.S. flag in front of the
National Press Club. The LDF is a united platform of seven
left-wing political parties.
Hebe de Bonafini, the president of Argentina's human
rights group, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, said in Paris
April 15 that she was heading for Belgrade to protest against
NATO air strikes. De Bonafini said she would leave for Budapest
the next day to demand "an end of the war" and of "NATO's
killer strikes," according to the French Press Agency.
The Workers' Party of Ireland reports that on April
17, hundreds of demonstrators marched through Dublin city
center protesting against NATO's bombing campaign against
Yugoslavia. Speakers at a public rally condemned NATO
hypocrisy. A number of political parties were represented. A
speaker from the Workers' Party of Ireland condemned Clinton,
Blair, Schroeder and others as war criminals whom he accused of
breaking international law. The speaker said that two wars are
being fought in Europe--one is an imperialist resource war in
the Balkans, the other is a worldwide war of propaganda by
NATO.
The Workers' Party speaker also condemned the shameful
sycophantic support for the bombing from the Irish prime
minister and the Irish government and said that the government
was attempting to drag Ireland into support of an illegal war.
The Workers' Party demanded an end to the bombing and for a
return to a resolution of the conflict based on international
law.
The Canadian Federation of Students has condemned
Canada's participation in NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia
as an act of war that is hurting those it was supposed to help.
The student organization called on members of parliament to
reject proposals to deploy ground troops against the Balkan
nation.
In the United States
There were demonstrations in dozens of U.S. cities, most of
them coordinated by the International Action Center. Some 2,500
people marched in San Francisco. In New York, between 7,000 and
10,000 marched through Manhattan, stopping at offices
representing the major NATO countries to show their anger and
opposition.
In Washington 500 people marched from the White House past
the headquarters for Ameritech and DaimlerChrysler, two of the
biggest underwriters of the upcoming NATO summit, then past the
National Press Club to target the summit media office, and on
to the summit headquarters for a rally against NATO.
Almost 100 people joined a picket and rally in Kingston,
N.Y., demanding an immediate end to the bombing. A protest of
about three dozen in Northampton, Mass., was featured in local
radio, television and newspapers.
In Providence, R.I., there are demonstra tions every Friday
at the Federal Building.
Martha Grevatt of the People's Fightback Center reports that
for the first time since the war started, anti-war groups in
Cleveland joined forces with members of the Serbian community
on the international day of protest. Since the day the bombing
began, Yugoslavians have rallied and marched every single night
in downtown Cleveland, usually in the hundreds.
A statewide organization, Ohio Citizen Action, also
organized a protest in Columbus. Anti-war protesters there have
been picketing every Tuesday and Saturday since the bombing
began. There also was a protest in Toledo.
Kris Hamel reports from Detroit that anti-war demonstrations
and meetings have proliferated since the U.S. began its bombing
of Yugoslavia on March 24. On the April 17 day of action, 200
people demonstrated against the U.S.-led NATO war outside the
entrance to the Detroit-Windsor International Tunnel.
Demonstrators blocked traffic several times both entering and
exiting the tunnel, chanting, "U.S./Canada out of
Yugoslavia!"
On April 16, some 500 protesters met Clinton's motorcade
outside the Fairlane Club in suburban Dearborn, Mich. Clinton
used his visit to the Detroit area to call for more troops and
reserves to go to Yugoslavia. Demonstrators denounced the
U.S./NATO bombing as the presidential limousine went by.
On April 10, 100 people packed the IAC office in Detroit at
a standing-room-only protest meeting, including many from
Detroit's Serbian community. Featured speaker was David Sole, a
long-time anti-imperialist activist and current president of
UAW Local 2334.
Bob McCubbin reports that on April 17 there was a San Diego
protest against the U.S.-NATO bombing of Yugoslavia for the
second Saturday in a row. Responses from passersby in this
highly militarized city were generally favorable. Some received
an "Appeal to the Troops." Organizers plan to demonstrate every
Saturday in downtown San Diego.
This article is copyright under a Creative
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