The protest in Rome involved around three million people, and is listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the largest anti-war rally in history. Stop the War Coalition www.stopwar.org.uk Poster number 3 by David Gentleman 2003. It was organized by a wide range of organizations including the Communist Party of Israel, the National Democratic Assembly, the Arab Democratic Party, the Independent Media Center, the Alternative Information Center, Ta'ayush, the Gush Shalom movement, and the Organization for Democratic Action. Her view was borne out as the day of protests, along with the protests that followed it, failed to stop the war. [14][21][55], Canada saw protests in 70 cities and towns (WSWS estimate). Police reported that the trouble was down to a group of anarchists who had split off from the main demonstration. According to United Kingdom left-wing anti-war activist Salma Yaqoob, one of these was that they were a powerful antidote to the idea that the war was a "Clash of Civilizations", or a religious war, an idea she claimed was propagated both by Western leaders and reactionary forces in the Arab world. [18], In Germany, coaches brought people from over 300 German towns to Berlin to join a demonstration of 300,000 (police estimate) to 500,000 (organizers' estimate) people; the largest demonstration that had occurred in Berlin for several decades. "[22], At a demonstration in Los Angeles, California, 50,000 (WSWS estimate)[19] to 60,000 (GLW estimate) protesters (CNN said "thousands") marched down Hollywood Boulevard filling it for four blocks. The Daily Mirror gave large coverage in the lead up to the march and provided thousands of placards on the day. Jong-Myo Park was surrounded by riot police who almost out numbered the protesters. Marchers will include a group of Bedford taxi drivers called Britons Versus Bush and a collection of DJs dubbed Ravers Against the War. [65], Demonstrations also took place in Philadelphia, where thousands (CNN estimate) joined a march to the Liberty Bell,[60] and in Chicago, where 10,000 people demonstrated (GLW estimate). There was also a rally in Newry in County Down attending by hundreds of protesters (BBC estimate). Protesters chanted anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans while marching to the "People's Assembly" in a demonstration of between 10,000 (GLW estimate) to 200,000 protesters (CBS estimate and USA Today estimate). [58], On that day, over 300 buses and four special trains brought protesters in from across the country. These demonstrations took place despite very cold weather, average temperatures were below −35 °C (−31 °F). [11][19] However, the protests and other public opposition have been held up as a key factor in the decisions of the governments of many countries, such as Canada, to not send troops to Iraq. and at least two protesters had to have hospital treatment. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. The Socialist 17 January 2003. The Stop the War Coalition (StWC) (informally just Stop the War) is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars.. We believe a war on Iraq is wrong whether it has the backing of the United Nations or not. This protest spanned the sectarian divide with both Muslims and Croats attending. "[21], The reasons for this are no doubt complex, but one factor that is commonly cited is the suppression of protest movements by the conservative leaders of those countries. Toddlers. [22][56], Organisers of the New York City protest had hoped to march past the headquarters of the United Nations. [80][81], At the time, many commentators were hopeful that this global mobilization of unprecedented scale would stop the coming Iraq war. Ken Livingstone is up at the front of the march.". Mr Blair speaking in Glasgow, said that he "respected and understood" people's desire to march. However, a week before the march, police claimed that they would not be able to ensure order and District Court Judge Barbara Jones ruled against allowing the route. After the demonstration an anti-war concert was held in the capital, Valletta. [77], At protests in Australia in Bellingen, New South Wales around 2,500 people (SW estimate) joined a rally at the towns sports ground. Attacks on Stop the War coalition harden Jeremy Corbyn’s resolve to stand by his old allies . The Tokyo protesters contained Japanese veterans of World War II and survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Initially a campaign to oppose an American military response to the terrorist attacks, the first meeting was chaired by Lindsey German and attracted around 2,000 people. Stop the War has organised around 40 national demonstrations, including the largest protests ever held in Britain, most memorably on 15 February 2003, when up to two million gathered on London’s streets to oppose the Iraq war . "So let everyone recognise what has happened here today, that Britain does not support this war for oil. In response to this the then Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament to allow the event to take place, condemning what he claimed were attempts to "stifle all opposition to warmonger Blair". They planned for the two marches to merge at Piccadilly Circus and then proceed to a rally at Hyde Park. In Wellington the march had to carry on after the then planned end point as there were too many people to fit into the park. [42] Many commentators noted the diversity of those attending the march. It is claimed to have been the largest ever such event in the UK with estimates of attendance ranging between 750,000 and 2,000,000 people. However, the protest ended early when it rained heavily. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams spoke from the platform at the end rally saying "If President Bush and Mr Blair want war, it should be war against poverty and for equality." The rally was about as large as the town's population. Three former Portuguese prime ministers were in attendance. [17] APRIL 7, 2003 9:11 AM: CONTACT: Stop the War Coalition (NI) Peter Bunting, 028 9024 7940 Alisa Keane, 028 9024 7940: Hypocrisy of George Bush & Tony Blair Knows No End NORTHERN IRELAND - April 7 -The leader of Northern Ireland's trade union movement has accused George Bush and Tony Blair of staggering hypocrisy over Northern Ireland's 'War Summit'. At the Cape Town rally the South African Minister, Pallo Jordan addressed the protesters saying; "We will stop the war. [3], In 2002, the United States government began to argue for the necessity of invading Iraq. In Austria, 30,000 people (SW estimate) took to the streets of its capital, Vienna. [57] According to Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York City Civil Liberties Union, judicial denial of a permit for a protest march was an unprecedented restriction of civil liberties, as marching and parading through streets to express various points-of-view is "a time-honoured tradition in our country that lies at the core of the First Amendment". [18], In Buenos Aires, Argentina, an estimate of 50,000 protesters attended which included veterans of the Falklands War of 1982. Enduring heavy rain protesters briefly blocked the base. "[18] Protesters who managed to reach Hyde Park in time heard various speakers, including Harold Pinter, George Galloway, Tony Benn and Bianca Jagger however many were not able to reach the rally as those travelling home by coach had to leave before completing the march route. Citing the UK's vote to invade Iraq in 2003, the Stop the War coalition warns that Britain is "being sucked into another illegal, open-ended conflict which will achieve nothing beyond giving the whole cycle of violence another spin." (No to war in Iraq – no blood for oil!) The group has campaigned against the wars that are part of the "War on Terror" of the United States and its allies.It has campaigned against the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. "So if people imagine one demonstration is going to change everything of course that's wrong, but demos, protests, social organisation, trade union organisation, political organisation – all these things are part of the process by which things are going to shift. Protests took place all across the United States of America with CBS reporting that 150 U.S. cities had protests. Researchers from the University of Antwerp claim that the day was possible only because it "was carefully planned by an international network of national social movement organisations. Among those taking part was the 9/11 Families For Peaceful Tomorrows, a group made up of some relatives of victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center. [51] Tariq Ali, one of the speakers in February 2003, said at the tenth anniversary: "I didn’t quite tell them 'Blair is going to go to war regardless of today' but I knew that". The police fired tear gas at the group some of whom threw rocks and petrol bombs. There was a demonstration in Warsaw, Poland of 10,000 people (SW estimate). "[54], The Northern Irish march was held in Belfast, where 10,000 (Guardian estimate) to 20,000 (SW estimate) protesters from across the sectarian divide joined the demonstration. There was a demonstration in Hong Kong of up to 1,000 people (WSWS estimate). [60], Other activists in California originally planned to hold a protest in San Francisco on the Saturday but they changed to the Sunday in order not to conflict with the city's Chinese New Year's parade. Moreover, within weeks of the February protests, the STWC had gone into decline with startling rapidity. A second march started in Gower Street, central London, and met with the first at Picadilly Circus. The demonstration ended at the US embassy at Jalan Tun Razak. However, the potential effect of the protests was generally dismissed by pro-war politicians. [67] In Brazil, a protest led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was attended by 1,500 marchers (Police estimate). Police estimated attendance as well in excess of 750,000 people[39] and the BBC estimated that around a million attended.[40]. [14], Beyond the capitals, many major cities and towns around Australia had protests. There were also demonstrations of 5,000 people (GLW estimate) in Amman, Jordan. 80,000 people joined a demonstration in Toronto, 40,000 in Vancouver, 18,000 (by police estimates) in Edmonton, 8,000 in Victoria, 4,000 in Halifax and 6,000 in Ottawa. The government's decision was reversed by 5 February. No To Bush And Blair's War. [34][35], The negotiations for this plan faltered when the Labour government's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Tessa Jowell initially instructed the Royal Parks agency to deny permission for the rally in Hyde Park for safety reasons and to protect the grass. Outline of a Research Programme. [14], In France, there were demonstrations in somewhere between twenty (Observer estimate) and eighty cities (WSWS estimate); the organisers estimated that over half a million marched in total. "[8], Immanuel Wallerstein has spoken of the international protests as being organised by the forces of "the Porto Alegre camp in reference to the emergence of global social movements who had been organising around international events such as the 2001 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. The StWC, who had previously held a series of demonstrations and rallies against the Afghanistan war and the upcoming Iraq war, jointly called the London demonstration with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain joined the StWC for this event. It may be winter but all of you together are generating some serious street heat," he said. More than 450 other organisations affiliated themselves to the coalition including Greenpeace, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the SNP. [10], The idea for an international day of demonstrations was first raised by the British anti-capitalist group Globalise Resistance (GR) in the wake of an anti-war demonstration in Britain of 400,000 on 28 September. Protests also took place in the South Korean cities of Pusan, Taegu, Taejon, Kwangju and Wonju. The coalition has opposed the various wars that have claimed to be part of the ongoing war on terrorism. [6], Anti-war groups worldwide organised public protests. In Chicoutimi, 1,500 protested in windchill temperatures of −40 °C (−40 °F) wind-chill temperature in what was one of the coldest marches on that global day of protest. Gujarat: Communalists Profit From … [19], Small demonstrations also took place in Serbia, where there was a demonstration of 200 people (WSWS estimate) in the capital city of Belgrade. The coalition has opposed the various wars that are claimed to be part of the ongoing "War on Terrorism".It has been the most prominent group in Britain campaigning against the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. The invasion of Iraq began on 20 March 2003. The protests were largely peaceful though a small group of protesters who were reported to have broken off from the main rally, caused damage to property in Union Square, and threw stones at police officers, which resulted in forty arrests. Tony Benn's speech from February 15th 2003. Protesters carried posters of Saddam and burned US flags. There was some media speculation that he only decided to speak after a lead article in The Guardian was critical of his absence from the planned speaker list. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 anti‑war protests, the demonstrations on 15 February 2003 being the largest and most prolific.[7]. Turn up the heat.". Rough guide to numbers: five representatives if a community has a population of under 100,000, ten if up to 500,000, up to 15 for big cities. Mr Livingstone, the London mayor, mounted a sustained personal attack on Mr Bush. The Stop the War Coalition was launched in 2001, two weeks after 9/11. Anti-war protesters gather on London's Embankment in February 2003. At the rally in Oslo the vice-chair of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) spoke from the platform claiming that "Bush only cares about American oil interests". The march started at the Arts College at 14:30 and moved through that Royal Avenue towards Belfast City Hall. Following the unprecedented success of the global anti war day on February 15 we announce a massive escalation of action in the next weeks to try to prevent war. The voice of the people will be heard. Archaeologists Against War. Around the time of the huge demonstrations of February 15 th 2003, the Stop the War Coalition had emerged as one of the biggest protest movements in British history, yet it failed to achieve its goal of preventing war in Iraq. The Labour Party requested that the SECC refuse permission for a stage and PA system outside the conference hall. "[74], A protest of around 3,000 (SW estimate) in the Tunisian city of Sfax was attacked by police who beat the protesters with batons and truncheons, injuring at least 20. Around 400 to 500 people marched in Hamilton. [83], Despite failing in its explicit aim, the 15 February global day of anti-war protests had many effects that, according to some, were not directly intended. In 2006 three years after this day, in an article arguing for people to attend a further march, Mike Marqusee put forward two counter arguments to this. was the largest in Switzerland since 1945. On 15 February 2003, a coordinated day of protests started across the world in which people in more than 600 cities expressed opposition to the imminent Iraq War. In the lead-up to 15 February, the StWC was organising the march from a small office donated by the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education. [19], The largest protests took place in the nation's largest cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, but there were also smaller rallies in towns such as Gainesville, Georgia; Macomb, Illinois; and Juneau, Alaska, among scores of others. [69], In Iraq, the country in which the war would take place, protesters marched down Palestine Street in Baghdad where several thousand Iraqis—many carrying Kalashnikov rifles—joined in the global protests. The decision was taken to set up a Europe-wide anti-war website and to commit to spreading organisational coordination both within and beyond Europe. He added: "The march is huge. [29], In Russia, which had several demonstrations, the largest occurred in Moscow, with 400 people (WSWS estimate) in attendance. Walthamstow Catholic Church, the Swaffham Women's Choir and Notts County Supporters Say Make Love Not War (And a Home Win against Bristol would be Nice). Though demonstrations against the Iraq war and subsequent occupation have continued none has matched this day in terms of size. The StWC claims that this translates into 1.25 million households and thus supports the estimate of two million people, assuming that more than one person could come from each household. Protesters listened to music and speeches before marching to the Czech government building, where they submitted petitions, then march continued to the US embassy. 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