Italian workers: No Bush, no war!
By Leslie Feinberg
Rome
When George W. Bush, the emperor of today's
imperial empire, visited the capital of the old Roman Empire on
June 4, some 200,000 anti-war activists pro tested in the
streets.
The lead banner of the massive march read "No war, no Bush."
This was the banner of the umbrella coalition that organized
the demonstration: Comitato Fermi amo La Guerra (The Committee
to End the War).
U.S. Citizens Against the War was the second contingent in
the line of march.
The entire demonstration drew cheers and applause along the
long route from Italians and international tourists who lined
the sidewalks and filled the crowded plazas.
Activists in the U.S. contingent were especially exhilarated
that so many tour ists from the United States who were visiting
in Italy cheered for them. Some even joined to swell the ranks
of the march.
Two such people, who were in Italy on their honeymoon, were
standing on the sidewalk as the march passed. They joined the
demonstration and helped carry the U.S. contingent's
banner.
The demonstration filled the wide avenues of Rome with its
numbers and with songs of political resistance. The large
numbers that turned out did so in spite of government and media
warnings to stay away from the event, which they said would
turn "violent."
The rainbow flag of "pace"--peace--was everywhere in the
march. It has become the official symbol of the anti-war
movement in Italy. And the flag fluttered from balconies and
windows, storefronts and newsstand kiosks along the route of
march and throughout the capital.
A phony parallel
Bush's visit was timed to coincide with the anniversary of
the landing of U.S. troops at the beaches of Normandy, France,
in World War II.
The Commander in Chief tried to make a false historical
parallel. Bush painted the Pentagon war and occupation of Iraq
as "liberation." He likened this to U.S. military support to
the Italian struggle against fascism in World War II.
The June 4 anti-war demonstrators spoke out loudly against
this offensive comparison.
The organizers planned the route of the demonstration
deliberately. They mar ched in protest past monuments that have
been co-opted as symbols of right-wing nationalism. Police
massed in rows three deep in front of the "flame of eternal
freedom" at the tomb of the Italian "unknown soldier." They
guarded the monument to ensure that no anti-war activist could
place the flag of "pace" there.
Across the plaza from this monument used to whip up
nationalism by the neofascists is the balcony from which
Italian fascist Benito Mussolini spoke throughout his
reign.
John Gilbert, a U.S. citizen living in Florence, talked to
Workers World about Bush's phony claim to be "liberating" Iraq.
"The majority of Italians want all the troops withdrawn
immediately," including the 2,700 Italian troops the government
of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sent.
"Italians feel Bush is a threat to world peace. They feel
very strongly about the liberation of Italy from the Nazis and
that Bush is not appropriate as a representative of the U.S.
part in liberating Italy from fascism."
Gilbert, a trade unionist and anti-war organizer, concluded,
"Instead, there's more of a parallel to the Nuremberg trials
charge of the war crime of deliberate instigation of a war of
aggression."
Bridges of solidarity
The June 4 protest united the Italian movement. Participants
included communists and social democrats, anti-imperialists and
pacifists, trade unionists and environmental activists.
North African immigrants marched in order to bring the
struggle of immigrant workers to the anti-war movement.
The metal workers of the CGIL labor confederation who
recently won a successful battle against their bosses at Fiat
marched with their union flags.
Another contingent marched with a big sign that read "Defend
Cuba! With Fidel and with Cuba; Liberty for the Five!" The
Cuban Five are political prisoners held in the U.S. for their
role in trying to monitor right-wing terrorism backed by
Washing ton against their island nation.
The flags of Palestine, Iraq and Cuba flew at this march, as
well.
The June 4 anti-war march ended at the Piazza di San Paolo,
where anti-fascist partisans--with communist leadership--waged
one of the fiercest battles against the Nazi German
occupation.
Kurdish and Palestinian speakers addressed the final rally.
Women in Black, a group opposed to the Israeli occupation of
Palestine, performed.
An elderly Italian partisan fighter spoke. So did a U.S.
soldier who had fought with the partisans.
U.S. speaker: 'Resistance is growing'
Minnie Bruce Pratt, a U.S. writer and anti-war activist
visiting Italy, spoke passionately to those gathered. Pratt is
an organizer for the International Action Center, which is one
of the 11 organizations on the steering committee of the ANSWER
coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism).
Pratt's remarks were cheered. "The U.S. government is trying
to close its iron fist on the Middle and Near East ... to make
profits for big business," she said. She added, "We in the U.S.
stand with you to defend immigrants' rights, to defend workers'
rights, the rights of oppressed nationalities--to build unity
against the terror of transnational corporations.
"Your opposition to the war--you, the people of
Italy--inspires us in the U.S. More and more people in the U.S.
understand they have been lied to, and that this war is wrong.
Resistance is also growing. More and more soldiers are refusing
to serve, aided by groups like SNAFU, the Support Network for
an Armed Forces Union. As a lesbian, I'm proud to say the first
soldier to resist was Stephen Funk, a gay Filipino Marine
reservist."
Pratt concluded, "[T]he people of an occupied and colonized
country have the right to resist, and the right to defend
themselves. Like the Vietnamese. The Pales tinians. The Iraqis.
Like the Italian partisans who battled the Nazis right here in
the Plaza of San Paolo.
"We also draw strength to struggle from their
resistance."
Across Italy
In Milan on June 2, some 5,000 people demonstrated against
militarism and the war on Iraq. Protesters burned the hated
U.S. flag. Twelve were arrested.
Roberto Taddeo from Redlink told Workers World that on June
2 in Naples a demonstration against the war drew many union
members and unemployed workers. SNAFU's call for troops to
resist the war was distributed in Italian. This is especially
significant because Naples is the headquarters for the
U.S.-Mediter ranean military command.
The previous week in Naples, activists protested at banks
that provide financial services for companies that are
exploiting Iraq.
During Bush's visit, numerous smaller demonstrations took
place in cities and towns. In Venice, professors and students
from the university lined the banks of the Grand Canal wearing
hoods like Iraqi prisoners are forced to wear. They held signs
reading: "Out of Iraq! Everybody to Rome against Bush!"
Anti-war organizing in this country is ongoing.
In Florence, anti-war events are held three or four times a
week in the form of discussions on tactics and strategy
meetings, rallies and educational forums.
John Gilbert emphasized that more than 80 percent of
Italians are estimated to oppose the war and occupation of
Iraq.
This is born out by the "pace" flags visible in towns and
cities across Italy. This demand for an end to war flies even
in the countryside from the windows and roofs of
farmhouses.
Reprinted from the June 17, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
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