[Tr.h.] (no subject)

[Jan Roger Ljønes]

ALLMØTE I FREDSINITIATIVET TORSDAG KL. 18
Delegater fra antikrigsbevegelsen i 28 land møttes i London i helga for
å diskutere og planlegge videre krigsmotstand. Se uttalelsen fra møtet
under (og Washington Posts omtale av møtet). Les mer i Sosialistisk
Arbeideravis som kommer i morgen.
Videre aksjoner vil bli planlagt på allmøtet i Fredsinitiativet Ingen
Krig mot Irak, på torsdag kl. 18.00 på Likestillingssenteret i Grensen 5
[se kart her: http://www.likestilling.no/adresser.shtml ].
Vi oppfordrer alle til å delta på møtet og ta med seg andre som vil være
aktive i antikrigsbevegelsen.

Husk 8.mars-demonstrasjonen lørdag kl. 14 på Youngstorget. Hovedparola
er "Nei til krig! Velferd, ikke bomber!"


Statement issued by the London Meeting of the international coordination
against war
March 1st 2003
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. We believe a war on Iraq is wrong whether it has
the backing of the United Nations or not.
There will be direct action at military installations and to stop
military transport, mass pressure on parliamentary and United Nations
representatives, student strikes and occupations, workplace industrial
action, the establishment of peoples' assemblies and  popular
consultations against war. Every day now is crucial in the campaign to
stop war.
In many countries there will be mass demonstrations on International
Womens' Day March 8.
In many countries there will be demonstrations, protests and mass civil
disobedience on March 15 in solidarity with the 'Converge on the White
House' demonstration in Washington.
March 21st will be wherever possible a day of workplace solidarity
against war. This will involve workplace assemblies and various forms of
industrial action. In some countries national strike action against war
is being already being planned on this day. We call on trade unions
everywhere to support and promote action against war on March 21st.
We put the warmongers on notice that if they ignore world opinion and
launch a new attack on Iraq there will be a tidal wave of resistance.
On the day of an attack we call for mass protests in the centre of every
town and city in the world.
The following Saturday we call for mass demonstrations in every capital 
city.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Iraq in urging
everyone, everywhere to play their part in trying to stop this insane war.
The delegates.

----

washingtonpost.com
Organizers of Antiwar Movement Plan to Go Beyond Protests
By Glenn Frankel Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, March 3, 2003;
Page A14
LONDON, March 2 -- The people who helped organize the largest worldwide
peace demonstration in history last month say they are not through yet.
More than 120 activists from 28 countries emerged from an all-day
strategy session here this weekend with plans not just to protest a
prospective U.S.-led war against Iraq but to prevent it from happening.
They want to intensify political pressure on the Bush administration's
closest allies -- the leaders of Britain, Italy and Spain -- and force
them to withdraw their support, leaving the United States, if it chooses
to fight, to go it alone. And they intend to further disrupt war plans
with acts of civil disobedience against U.S. military bases, supply
depots and transports throughout Europe.
Finally, if war breaks out, they say, they will demonstrate in towns and
cities around the world on the evening of the first day, and hold a
worldwide rally on the following Saturday that they hope will rival or
surpass their efforts of Feb. 15.
"We still believe we can stop this war before it begins," said Chris
Nineham, one of the British organizers of this weekend's conference,
held at the Stop the War Coalition's offices in northeast London. "But
if not, we're putting the warmongers on notice that there will be
massive protests on the day war breaks out and the following weekend."
In interviews last week, several of the organizers of the Feb. 15
protests traced the origins of the antiwar movement, described how they
put together that event and discussed where they go from here. For the
most part, the organizations are tiny, shoestring operations -- the
London-based coalition operates out of two cubbyhole offices with four
desktop computers, a handful of phone lines and a half-dozen paid staff
members. But they use the Internet, cell phones and their connections
with trade unions and local governments to establish links and
coordinate with other organizations around the world.
Their plans might sound grandiose. But these are the same activists who
pulled off the stunning success of two weeks ago, when between 6 million
and 12 million protesters gathered in about 75 countries to oppose
military action.
"We've never really seen a movement like this before -- it's
unpredictable because it's so unprecedented," said Paul Rogers,
professor of peace studies at Bradford University in Britain. "But it
does seem that a large proportion of the people who participated two
weeks ago are becoming quite politicized just by going on the
demonstration. If war begins, and it doesn't have U.N. approval, we
could see mass demonstrations again."
The huge turnouts that day in cities including Rome, London, Madrid,
Berlin, Paris and New York reflected popular disaffection with U.S.
military power and the prospect of war among a broad swath of the public
-- from political radicals to church groups, trade unions and ordinary
citizens. But it was organized for the most part by a small network of
activists from the ideological left, the anti-globalization movement and
peace groups. For years these activists have stood on picket lines and
organized demonstrations seeking ways to ignite mass popular support,
with mixed results at best. But the increasing likelihood of war has
given them an issue that resonates with public opinion throughout the world.
Many of the organizers confess that they were stunned by the size and
scope of the demonstrations two weeks ago. "A big part of our meeting
was about digesting the shock of the earthquake that was February 15,"
said Larry Holmes, an organizer in New York for International ANSWER,
one of the U.S. groups organizing the rallies. "We were just as
surprised as everyone else. But you're seeing a new sense of confidence
among organizations. People don't want this war, and they're giving us a
mandate to do whatever it takes to stop it."
The organizers say the February rallies were first agreed upon at a
small strategy session in Florence in November. But their roots go back
to the days just after Sept. 11, 2001, when activists say they began
meeting to map out opposition to what they anticipated would be the U.S.
military response to the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
In Britain, according to organizer John Rees, several hundred activists
first got together the weekend after Sept. 11. Most were from the hard
core of the British left -- the Socialist Workers Party, the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament and the anti-capitalist organization Globalized
Resistance, along with Labor Party legislators Jeremy Corbyn and George
Galloway. Within weeks, they had combined with representatives from two
more important elements -- Britain's growing Muslim community and its
militant trade unions. By October they had a name: the Stop the War 
Coalition.
More than 50,000 demonstrators came out in London for an October 2001
peace rally; the same numbers protested in November against the U.S.-led
invasion of Afghanistan. A demonstration last Sept. 28 brought several
hundred thousand people to Hyde Park in London to protest war in Iraq
and demand "Freedom for Palestine." After that, activists decided to
push for a worldwide demonstration.
About 30 organizers from 11 European countries met on a Saturday
morning, Nov. 9, at the Fortezza da Basso, a 16th-century fortress in
the northwestern part of Florence, as part of a week of protest
activities sponsored by the European Social Forum, an anti-globalization
network. The Italians pushed for a date in December, Rees recalled. But
British representatives persuaded them to wait until Feb. 15, when the
Christmas holidays would be over and universities would be back in
session throughout Europe.
Originally, the activists believed the Feb. 15 protests might be
confined to a few European capitals. But at a follow-up meeting in
Copenhagen in December, representatives of peace groups based in the
United States and the Philippines pledged their support for the February
date. In Cairo that same month, 400 representatives from several Middle
Eastern and Asian countries joined in signing a declaration of support
for the Iraqi and Palestinian people and appointed a coordinating
committee headed by former Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella that
pledged to join in the February rallies. Finally, in late January, the
activists got together once more for a gathering of the World Social
Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where the number of countries from which
people agreed to take part on Feb. 15 rose from 30 to 74.
"We realized then that this had evolved into a worldwide coalition,"
said an Italian organizer who insisted on anonymity.
Since Feb. 15, the activists have sought to keep up the pressure,
especially in Britain, where Prime Minister Tony Blair is ranked as
President Bush's top international supporter. While the House of Commons
debated Blair's stance on Wednesday, dozens of activists protested
outside St. Stephen's Gate at Parliament and lobbied Labor Party
lawmakers, seeking their commitment to oppose Blair. The prime minister
won the vote that day in the face of a large revolt by Labor
backbenchers that has left him wounded politically. Hundreds more
activists visited lawmakers this weekend at their local offices.
"We know that a lot of [lawmakers] were really rattled by the February
15 demonstration," said Ghada Razuki, a British Iraqi activist who led
Wednesday's protest. "We want to keep the pressure on to get them off
the fence."
Campaigns to disrupt U.S. forces have also been launched. Besides the
dozens of activists who have traveled to Baghdad to volunteer as "human
shields" against a U.S. attack, nine Dutch antiwar activists were
arrested Tuesday for chaining themselves to the gates of a U.S. military
center outside Rotterdam. In Italy, hundreds of protesters occupied
train stations and railway tracks for nearly a week to delay trains
carrying U.S. military equipment from northern Italy to the Camp Darby
military base near Pisa. Irish protesters broke through the perimeter
fence at Shannon airport in January and damaged a U.S. Navy plane,
causing other planes to divert their flights and refuel elsewhere. Trade
union movements in Italy and France are pledging work disruptions and
considering general strikes if war breaks out.
Organizers say they would like to find a way to channel the newfound
enthusiasm and activism into a worldwide political movement. But they
say the disparate nature of those participating would make such a
movement difficult if not impossible.
"This was caused by social forces, and it's not something that
organizations produced," said Andrew Burgin, a member of the coalition's
British steering committee. "They're not in our control. . . . You don't
lead a movement like this, the movement leads you."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company


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