March 15 demos reports?

[redjordi]

Hi comrades,

any reports of the March 15 demos?

here in East London there was a small neighbourhood demo in Tower Hamlets with about 200 people to draw attention to the fact that the two local Labour MPs have voted in favour of war in Parliament. There were a number of speakers from local trade union branches which reported they have decided to walk out from work the day the war starts (though this is illegal under British trade union law).

i have also read about the demos in Spain, which were smaller than February 15 but still quite large: 1 million in Madrid, some 500,000 in Barcelona, etc. By the way in Barcelona the organisers had the idiotic idea of calling for a human chain to link up the PP (government party) offices and the US embassy. This things tend to get popular amongst pacifists. They think that you can fight war with human chains, candlelight vigils and the rest. What happened in practice is that since hundreds of thousands turned up you ended up with a mass demonstration anyway and not a stupid human chain.

(Here's a nice pic of the Madrid demo:

i also read about 700,000 in Milan, 10,000 in Tokio, 80,000 in SF, thousands in Australia, 80,000 in Paris, etc

The demos were clearly smaller than Feb 15. It is normal since a section of the population see war as inevitable and therefore cannot see the point in going to another demo. Also Feb 15 attracted many layers of people who never participate in politics for whom attending one demo is already a big step forward and will not necessarily participate at all times. Nevertheless the figures are still VERY impressive (particularly in Spain, Italy, Germany and France).

the next big mass mobilisation is likely to be on the day the war starts and the following Saturday.

Friday was also the day millions of workers across Europe participated in work stoppages against the war for 15 minutes at noon. It seems that participation was quite large particularly in the bigger workplaces in factories in Italy, Cyprus, Spain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, France, Belgium, etc.
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/14/iraq/main544077.shtml)

redjordi

[T.K.A.-Denmark]

Here in Denmark the media claims there was around 6000 in Copenhagen. Anyway there was probably more, the media in Denmark as in most countries allways try to make the demonstrations look smaller than they were.
I myself was unfortunately not there since I was sick, so I can't give a more accurate number.
The demonstration was smaller than the one a month ago, anyway I'm certain that this will change. The February 15 demonstration was one of the biggest in a long time in Denmark.
Unfortunately a lot of people in Denmark has illusions in the UN, but the coming events will hopefully change that.
Keep on fighting for a revolutionary alternative to the war!
Comradely
Teis

P.S. Even though it may not seem as a lot of people it is quite big for a danish demonstration. And of course they are only going to grow even bigger!

[yosef m]

On Sunday, March 16, maybe 1,500 people marched  in Providence,  Rhode Island against the coming war on Iraq. The Workers International League displayed our banner and had a literature table, as well as passing out leaflets publicizing our opposition to the war. We  are planning to attend the regional antiwar demonstration in Boston on Saturday, March 29. WIL supporters will also be active in the demonstrations in Boston and Providence  the day after the war starts. Anyone in Boston/Cambridge  who is interested in helping us get out our antiwar message is invited to contact me.

Network television  here in the US said that yesterday was probably the last Sunday before the war. They also said the US military will begin the war 48 hours after Bush addresses the nation.  War, that giant obscenity and crime against humanity, is coming soon.

[Tobythered]

Hey all.

First - thank you Yosef for that report on our intervention on the 16th. Unfortunatly I had to leave early to sell my labor to the capitalists, but I thought it went very well. We were over prepared if anything, which is a very good feeling!

I also made it to DC on the 15th. It was a good protest, in my oppinion. While there was a fair amount of PB calls like "impeach bush" and "vote against the war on the internet" and stuff like that, there was also a sizable class consciousness. Alot of speakers represented unions, and there were many calls for a walk out the day war starts. I was able to sell 20 issues of our paper, Socialist Appeal, and hand out hundreds of flyers. I was accompanied by a new comrade from Conneticut as well. I think if more WIL members had been there, like in January when we had almost 10, we could have had a huge impact. But with the restrictions we had, I think we did pretty well.

Red,
Toby