07.03.2002
Fight the war drive
As Blair and Bush step up threats against Iraq we take to the streets
Over 8,000 people attended the March 2 Stop the War Coalition demonstration in central London (or 20,000, if you believe the SWP). Under the circumstances this was a healthy turnout, although of course there were far fewer people than on November 18 last year, when more than 50,000 were on the march. Some had feared an embarrassing flop - indeed, there had been doubts expressed about the wisdom of calling such a demonstration at all. There was the danger that slogans like, 'Stop the war' - which war? - could have served to advertise our weaknesses and lack of clear direction, rather than attract people to our ranks. However, initial scepticism aside, the demonstration proved to be worthwhile. In fact, you could argue that recent events 'rescued' the London demonstration - gave it a certain edge even. There have been the increasingly belligerent statements of George Bush and Tony Blair - talking about the need to expand the 'war against terrorism' to include Iraq, on the grounds that Saddam Hussein possesses 'weapons of mass destruction'. The upshot is that an imperialist-directed war against Iraq now looks likely - with September being widely mooted as the start date. Then we had the recent military flare-up in Afghanistan, with United States forces suffering their first notable causalities - nine dead. Finally there is the horrifying bloodshed in Israel/Palestine, which seems locked into a permanent cycle of 'tit-for-tat' reprisals - barbarism beckons. In short, we are confronted with a highly volatile world situation. So there was a real and effective reason to attend the March 2 action. True, it was not the loudest march one had ever attended, and at times it had a slightly desultory feel to it - some demonstrators seemed to have made almost a principle out of not marching in a disciplined way. There was also the usual dearth of any decent slogans or chants. Yet, for all that, the demonstration was able to generate an air of confidence and militancy. Unsurprisingly, the demonstration was composed mainly of seasoned leftwing activists - the biggest section of course being from the Socialist Workers Party, who had in many ways pulled out the stops to gets their members along (and save face). However, there were encouraging minority contingents of ordinary muslims, pacifists and 'non-aligneds'. Socialist Alliance placards and banners were visible, even if they did tend to be blocked out by SWP material. Our SWP comrades still seem to have a problem with highlighting SA work. It does have to be said - not for the first time - that there were just too many speakers waiting for us at Trafalgar Square. It is all very well being 'broad and inclusive' and wanting to give everyone a turn at the podium, but people's interest-threshold can only be stretched so far. We "stood patiently in the cold", as Socialist Worker put it (March 9). There were 15 speakers in total - or 16, if you include the frequent contributions made by Andrew Murray, the chair of the STWC and compere at Trafalgar Square. Paul McNee of Natfhe made a robust, militant speech. He called the demonstrators the "nucleus" of a future mass movement. This was a common theme to many of the speakers - the urgent need to keep building the anti-war movement, not to let it peter away or become "demobilised". Comrade McNee savaged the Blair government. Trade unionists had being promised a radical government, he said, but what did we get instead? More attacks on the working class - trade unionist denounced as "wreckers". Why should "we bother voting Labour at all", he asked. McNee thought that the 'war against terrorism' had unleashed a "new wave of anti-islamic racism". Western governments should stop backing Israel and he called for the creation of "a truly independent, democratic state of Palestine". He finished by condemning the anti-Iraqi warmongering. These sentiments were echoed by many of the other speakers. Salma from Birmingham STWC strongly denounced the "genocide" of Iraqi people (as did Andrew Murray). In her opinion, the planned war against Iraq was "all about oil and profits" and was "nothing but racist" - ie, Bush and co divided the world up into "inferior and superior peoples". The speaker from Muslims for Peace and Justice also believed that the war preparations were motivated by "by a form of racism" in which certain "people are more valued than others". The determination to see "racism" everywhere continues. In his contribution, Jeremy Corbyn MP (Labour) did not believe that the world was a safer place thanks to the Afghan war - there has been "a heavy price to pay" for it: loss of democratic rights, erosion of civil liberties, draconian 'anti-terrorist' legislation, etc. For Corbyn, it "should be the job of a British prime minister" to stop war and to promote international law and peace processes. Tariq Ali correctly emphasised the significance of the "courageous" rebellion by Israeli Defence Force reservists, who have refused to fight in the occupied territories. He proclaimed that the refuseniks were "a model to soldiers everywhere". He added that Arial Sharon's warmongering is creating deep tensions and divisions within Israeli society - which is a hopeful sign. Comrade Ali concluded by reminding us that US imperialism does not want real democracy anywhere and at the moment is feeling triumphant and strong. His was the best speech of the day - by far. As for Tony Benn, he was convinced that "we never did enough in the past" to stop war. He proposed that workers - once war against Iraq breaks out - should stop work for one hour every day until the war ends. However, it seemed that Benn was not calling for any strike or collective action - merely for individualistic protests, which he admitted himself would probably not find much of a take-up. Less than inspiring. There were other comments. Yvonne Ridley - the Sunday Express journalist captured by the Taliban - defined a terrorist "as someone who is squeezed, has no hope". We should not have been surprised by September 11 - the west was "reaping the whirlwind", she said (warm applause for this). George Galloway MP, the 'maverick' Arabist, called upon the 86 'anti-war' Labour MPs - who so far have only spoken privately to the media - to openly come out against the war drive. Lindsey German (SWP/STWAC executive) proclaimed: "We were told the demonstration could not take place" - and look at what happened. She predicted that there are "200,000 ready" to come to the next demonstration - if war against Iraq does break out. The comrade did not think we should be too dazzled by the apparent hegemony and unrivalled strength of US imperialism. In her own words, "The US is building up enemies throughout the world and can be beaten". (Do we therefore side with the US's "enemies"?) We also heard lawyer and Socialist Alliance member Louis Christian and Jim Mortimer (ex-general secretary of the Labour Party). Louise concentrated on the legal ramifications of the war, while Jim urged us to have "the stamina for sustained work in the rank and file organisations" (ie, trade unions and the Labour Party). There were also representatives from Japan Linking Peace and Life, CND, the Federation of Kurdish Communities in the UK and the Muslim Parliament. Interestingly, Andrew Murray described the latter grouping "as the most important part of our coalition". Regrettably, one has to make the usual complaint about the March 2 demonstration. There was not one official speaker from the SA. In fact, the words 'alliance' and 'socialist' were not uttered once by any of the speakers. This must not be allowed to happen again. The SA does not just exist for electoral work. At the demonstration just over £100 was raised by CPGB activists for comrades from the International Socialist Organisation in Zimbabwe. Over 200 Weekly Workers were sold, along with the recent CPGB pamphlet, Towards a Socialist Alliance party. Danny Hammill
Worker