World support for Oct. 25
Bush faces protests across the planet
By John Catalinotto
What happens to a worldwide anti-war movement
when it is faced with a long-term military occupation?
If it is to play a role, it becomes part of the resistance.
Its role is to help make the occupation impossible to
sustain.
The world anti-war movement show ed it was still active last
month when over 200,000 people in over 40 countries came out
for the Sept. 26-28 demonstrations to end the occupation of
Iraq and Palestine.
Now this world movement is looking to the United States for
the next event. On the initiative of the ANSWER coalition, a
united movement here has set the next national demonstration
for Oct. 25 in Washington and San Francisco. While there is no
international body to call for a coordinated protest, activists
in at least a dozen other countries are joining the call.
These activists are all aware that continued resistance by
the Iraqi population--including armed guerrilla actions, mass
protests and over-all refusal to accept the occupation
regime--has continued to chip away at support for the war
within the United States.
The Bush administration appears shakier than at any time
since Sept. 11, 2001, with internal squabbles breaking out into
the open.
120 cities sending buses to D.C.
ANSWER reports that buses are coming from 120 U.S. cities to
Washington for the protest. United for Peace and Justice,
co-sponsor of the demonstration, is mobilizing, too, and others
are publicizing the events.
To join in putting pressure on the Bush gang, anti-war
forces in countries from Japan to the Philippines and from
Spain and Britain to the Middle East have called
actions--either to coincide with the U.S. demonstrations on
Oct. 25 or to take advantage of the opportunity to confront
President George W. Bush himself.
Last month anti-war coalitions in Japan and the Philippines
announced plans to protest Bush's presence. The war president
plans to pop in and out of the Philippines on Oct. 18. Later
that day he will go on to Thailand where, on Oct. 20-21, he
will attend the annual meeting of leaders of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation organization in Bangkok.
Bush will also visit Singapore, Indon esia and Australia on
Oct. 21-23. There, more protests are likely.
A leader of the Anti-War Joint Action Committee in Japan
said: "[Prime Mini ster Junichiro] Koizumi's administration
plans to send advance troops of the Japan ese Self Defense
Force in Nov ember, and then dispatch the main body of troops
to Iraq in December. This will be agreed with Bush at the
Japan-U.S. summit [APEC] meeting. I think the demonstrations of
Oct. 17-25 will be very important."
Another group, called World Action, has called a
demonstration in Tokyo on Oct. 25 to coincide with the U.S.
rallies.
Confronting imperialist 'donors' in Madrid
The government of Jose Maria Aznar in Spain has been a
co-conspirator in Bush's war drive, along with the Tony Blair
regime in Britain and that of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy. In
all three countries, millions came out earlier this year to try
to stop the war.
Spain is hosting a so-called Donors' Conference on Oct.
23-24 in Madrid. There, various imperialist countries and
international bodies will decide how much they will allow
Washington to squeeze out of them to pay for the U.S.
occupation of Iraq.
The anti-war movement there, which is publicizing the U.S.
demonstrations, has called for protests for an entire week,
with a focus on the Donors' Conference itself.
In Italy, an estimated 300,000 people took part in the
annual Peace March from Perugia to Assisi on Oct. 12. In this
pacifist march with religious overtones, many carried banners
calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq, along with the
ever-present rainbow peace banners.
On Oct. 25 groups in northeastern Italy will demonstrate at
Camp Ederle, a military base targeted by many protests before
and during the war on Iraq. A day earlier the three Italian
union confederations will hold a four-hour general strike aimed
at the Berlusconi government's attack on workers' rights and
pensions. For the unions, the war issue is right below the
surface. Berlusconi's decision to extend Italian troops' stay
in Iraq another six months has deepened the anger.
An organization of U.S. citizens living abroad has called
protests for Oct. 25 in Munich, Germany, and Paris. The
organization, American Voices Abroad, also has affiliated
groups in Berlin; Beirut, Lebanon; Prague, Czech Republic; Am
ster dam, the Netherlands; and Montpellier, France.
A Norwegian organizer reports that a poll showed 61 percent
of the people there support bringing the troops home. A
demonstration set for Oct. 25 in Oslo and five other Norway
cities is gaining momentum.
The Edmonton Coalition Against War and Racism is one of the
groups in Canada organizing an Oct. 25 action. It brought out
18,000 people last March 22.
In Ypres, Belgium, a "Peace Race" on Oct. 25 will focus on
fighting the occupation. In Britain on Oct. 24, the Stop the
War Coalition will protest before a court house against the
trial of an anti-war activist charged for bringing high-school
students on a bus to a demonstration last spring.
After Oct. 25, the next big European action will be in Paris
on Nov. 15 during the European Social Forum. In Britain, it
will be on Nov. 20 when tens of thousands are expected to
confront Bush during his "war summit" meetings with Blair, who
has been exposed as a liar regarding the alleeged dangers posed
by the Saddam Hussein government last winter.
The protracted occupation is producing protracted
protests.
Reprinted from the Oct. 23, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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