The Day of Action against the war on 3l October was a big success. It brought many thousands onto the streets. Over 200 events were organised throughout the country. In London, 5,000 people gathered at Parliament Square.
Demonstrations took place in Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton, Edinburgh, Cambridge and elsewhere. Students voted to occupy at the LSE, Queen Mary, Cambridge, Liverpool and Leeds. Students from Sheffield occupied a faculty building sponsored by Boeing.
In Cardiff, protesters occupied the Welsh Assembly and in Bristol 600 joined a vigil followed by a march to an army territorial base. Many other vigils and peace events took place. The response to Day of Action shows that the anti-war movement is capable of organising on several different levels.
Not only in Britain, but also throughout Europe and America the •• One of the dangers for the anti-war movement is complacency. Complacency that the movement will continue to grow as it has in the last year.
Both Bush and Blair are spending much time, effort and material resources talking up the threat of terror attacks.
Of course the fact that this threat is entirely independent of the Iraqi regime concerns them not one jot.
We are to have a new 'protect and survive' campaign thrust down our throats in the New Year. No warning is too vague, no scenario too outlandish.
However, as Seamus Milne pointed out in The Guardian, the war against terror is unwinnable. The point has been well
underlined by the attacks in Kenya.
The policies of the US/UK include masAustralia. movement. No time to get complacent sive support for the terror activities of the Israeli state, the genocide waged against the people of Chechnya and the support of dictatorship throughout Asia and Central Asia.
All policies that have strengthened Bin Laden and his followers.
Bush and Blair are creating the conditions in which terror attacks becomes ever more likely, or indeed necessary to justify the expenditure and rhetoric.
Bush has now set up his Department of Homeland Security with a $40 billion budg et and 170,000 employees. Its powers will include electronic and other police-state style surveillance on a massive scale.
The erosion of long-established democratic principles in the US is justified by the need to 'defend our great democracy. movement is on the rise. The demonstration of 400,000 in London at the end of September was followed by major events in Washington and Los Angeles. In November, an anti-war march at the European Social Forum in Florence drew one million onto the streets. As we go to press major protests are taking place in
This wave of demonstrations against the US/UK war drive now merges with an increasingly confident direct action side to the
And in Britain anti-war protesters are drawn to support the firefighters' strike.
No simpler political point can be made than the fact that this government is prepared to spend billions on war but won't provide public sector workers with a decent wage. to them. out against this war. Host a party to show the 'Not in my Name' video 9. Host a house party at your home to show the 'Not in my Name' video to introduce your friends and neighbours to the anti-war movement and the issue of Iraq 10. Join the Stop the War Coalition. There are groups all around the coun try. They organise non-violent direct action as well as doing stalls and holding public meetings against the war. The more people who join the anti-war movement, the better the chances we can stop this war! More information from www.stopwar.org.uk PO Box 3739, London E5 8EJ