Protests against Fallujah-attack
09 Nov 2004 22:34 GMT
Since the war was declared over ("Mission Accomplished") the anti-war movement has been fairly quiet, but that is now changing. Protests have been occuring across the U.K. in response to the assault on Fallujah. On Monday 8th, the day the assault started, there were protests in over 30 towns and cities around the UK, including vigils and protests in Swindon, York and Brighton.
Four people were arrested in Edinburgh as the US Consulate was spattered with blood red paint and covered in anti-war slogans.News from Iraq: Al-Muajaha | Electronic Iraq | Iraqi blog | Juan Cole blog | Empire Notes blog | also see Jo Wilding and her blog.
UK Protest + Iraq Info Upcoming London Events | Voices in the Wilderness | Stop the War Coalition | Justice Not Vengeance | Iraq Occupation Focus | Jubilee Iraq.
More about actions in the U.K.:
In Cambridge, protestors staged a rush-hour demonstration, a rally in Market Square, as well as taking to the roof of the Guildhall with banners [more pics], and spraying anti-war graffiti.
In London hundreds demonstrated outside Downing Street while others blocked roads and painted anti-war graffiti.
Protests also occured in the much publicised build up to the assault with the 'Campaign for Justice for Gordon Gentle' Protest in Glasgow on 30th October, Manchester on Sat 6th Nov, and an activist breaking into the US bomb store at Welford and chalking anti-war slogans onto the bombs on Thurs 4th.
In London several protests and action took place including road blocks and the scaling of the gates to Downing Street, as well as the Foreign Office being splatterd with blood red paint [pics]. On Sunday 7th, there was a protest at Parliament Square, following which campaigners layed flowers at the Cenotaph, before locking on and blocking Whitehall [see reports and pics 1, 2, 3, 4].
In Oxford campaigners petitioned their MP, demonstrated ('Naming the Dead') on the 4th and held a Vigil on Sat 6th.
Action in Chicago:
In Chicago, over 180 antiwar protesters gathered in Federal Plaza Monday evening for a hastily called emergency rally and march to protest the attack on Fallujah and the continung occupation of Iraq. [ Photos ] Similar protests are being organized in dozens of cities across the US, and around the world. On Thursday, November 11, a Veterans Day Protest against the War in Iraq, sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Against the War will be held at 11 AM, corner of Wabash & Wacker, Chicago.
Related Links: Iraq Occupation Watch | Electronic Iraq | Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism | Peace Pledge Chicago | Vietnam Veterans Against the War | IMC-UK | SF Bay Area IMC
San Diego Action
lotus 10.Nov.2004 01:54
Nov. 10 Emergency Protest vs. Fallujah Attack
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/106559.shtml
San Diegans concerned about peace and justice are uniting to protest the U.S.'s latest barbaric attack on the Iraqi people: "Operation Phantom Fury," the assault on Fallujah. Activist San Diego and other local organizations have called for an emergency protest WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 4 to 6:30 p.m., outside the Federal Building, Front and Broadway downtown. The San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice is organizing its own event the following Saturday, November 13, 1 p.m. at the same site.
Best Wishes To Fallujah's Freedom Fighters!
American Citizen for a Free Iraq 10.Nov.2004 05:14
Reclaim your country from its occupiers. It's your right to resist under the Geneva Conventions. You're fighting for freedom; U.S. dupes are fighting for oil profits: you are fighting the just fight!
Defiance amid carnage
Sntz You! 10.Nov.2004 16:16
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3999899.stm
http://www.nodo50.org/csca
http://english.aljazeera.net
Eyewitness: Defiance amid carnage
As US forces battle insurgents in streets strewn with rubble and corpses, Iraqi sources question the claims that the US controls much of Falluja. The BBC News website spoke by phone to Fadhil Badrani, a journalist in the city who reports for the BBC World Service in Arabic.
The heaviest fighting has been in the north of Falluja
I went for a walk around the city last night after the Americans pulled back.
It was very quiet - often the only sounds coming from the movement of fighters along streets and rooftops.
In places, it was also very dark, with only the occasional rocket or flare lighting the way.
Wherever I went, I found broken buildings and bodies - local people and fighters killed on the streets.
Clutching weapons
I also saw four crippled US tanks and three abandoned Humvees.
In Hasbiyyah, I found the bodies of eight US soldiers lying on the ground.
Click below for a satellite image of Falluja
Enlarge Image
Some of them were badly mangled with various bits blown off. Others were in better condition, as if they had taken small-arms fire.
I noticed two of the US soldiers were still clutching their guns tightly across their chests. But most of their weapons were missing by the time I got there.
Some of the dead are beginning to rot in the streets.
But the living do not exactly smell great either - I have not had a bath for a week. Nor have I shaved.
There is no real rest here, day or night.
Jolan flashpoint
The US brought in a very big force on Wednesday morning.
The mosques no longer broadcast the daily call to prayer but nor are they silent.
US soldiers evacuate a wounded colleague from Falluja
Every time a big bomb lands nearby, the cry rises from the minarets: "Allahu Akbar" [God is great].
The worst fighting is to the north of the city, in the Jolan district.
This is where a lot of the fighters have been based.
Incidentally, it is also where US security guards were ambushed in April, leading to the first siege of Falluja.
I think it is misleading to say the US controls 70% of the city because the fighters are constantly on the move.
They go from street to street, attacking the army in some places, letting them through elsewhere so that they can attack them later.
The fighters have told me they are prepared to resist the Americans until the death.
They say they are fighting not just for Falluja, but for all Iraq.
They express confidence that they will win in the end.
They say the idea is to inflict enough casualties on the American troops to force them to reconsider their mission.
News from Iraq also on www.streamtime.org
cecile 11.Nov.2004 09:29
Streamtime is a project of Radio Reedflute in collaboration with Rastasoft, developed with artists and activists from Iraq and elsewhere. Streamtime is a loose network of media activists dedicated to assist local media to get connected. Streamtime uses old and new media for the production of content and networks in the fields of media, arts, culture and activism in crisis areas, like Iraq.
http://dynebolic.org/
http://www.dyne.org/
http://www.rastasoft.org/
First radio streams from Halabja and Baghdad:
On Wednesday 14th. of July 2004, between 11 a.m. and 1.30 p.m (CET) the first live streaming radio transmission was realized from Baghdad, facilitated by the Streamtime campaign. On the 30th of June, two weeks before, the first ever internet radio program came from the Kurdish village of Halabja, which suffered a poison gas attack by order of former Iraqi president.
The radio transmissions made from Iraq can be downloaded from the site.
On Streamtime also links to Iraqi bloggers from in and outside Iraq.
related url's:
Die-in Held to Protest All-Out Attack on the City of Fallujah
Shayn Peitsch 14.Nov.2004 23:13
Protestors lying down in front of Portage Place (shopping centre) in Winnipeg,MB
November 10, 2004
Winnipeg, Mb
A group of about 40-50 people participated in a die-in on Tuessday, November 9th, in front of Portage Place. The action was called by the Applecart Collective to show solidarity with the residents of Fallujah who are currently under siege by coalition forces.
The US military has been bombing the city for the last few weeks to "soften" the resistance fighters who are embedded deep within the Sunni city. The activists and students laid down on the filth-ridden cold pavement to symbolically "die" at the start of rush hour.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Columbia University School of Nursing, and the College of Medicine at Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad has released a report that estimates up to 100,000 Iraqi's have died as a consequence of the US-led invasion in the past 20 months. The ground attack has begun days after the election of George Bush.
The action began at approximately 4pm as a group of students from the University of Winnipeg marched from in front of Wesley Hall carrying banners and signs, chanting at various intervals "US, UK, get out of Iraq today" and "Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam."
The general mood of the crowd began to liven up as the marchers came upon the front doors of Portage Place. They were met there by a small crowd ready to start the die-in. As organizers handed out signs to participants, put on garbage bags to appear as though they were wearing body bags and positioned the large banner which stated "End the War, Another World is Possible" in a strategic viewing spot, the expected police escort showed up. At first, they idly watched on with bemusement as the growing crowd got ready.
The die-in began with a fiery masked speaker denouncing the illegal US/UK actions in Iraq, while stating support for the besieged citizens. Reporters from various media outlets also came out to cover the event. CKUW, the University of Winnipeg's community radio station had a reporter wandering the crowd recording the various sounds and interviewing participants and curious bystanders alike. Unknown mainstream media cameramen were also out, videotaping the protest. Several onlookers also taped the die-in with their cell phones. Now that's independent coverage!
This reporter was approached by a police officer and asked about what I knew of the groups' plans. When the response that this was a mutual gathering of concerned citizens and fellow humans, the police officer, apparently unsatisfied with the response, told the reporter that he should inform the group to eventually peacefully disperse, or the officer would be forced to "shut down the protest." The same officer approached one of the organizers and demanded complete cooperation with the officers' orders, or face arrests and charges under the highway and traffic laws. A member of the group stated that "The cops actions were expected."
The group migrated to the American consulate. After a quick die-in there and a swift police response to block the doorway of the building, the remaining members of the dwindling group decided to go back as a group ot the University, for the sake of everyone's personal safety and privacy.
"Many of the troops entering Fallujah are new marines, unexperienced with warfare. The US is bombing the city in order to minimize US casualties while increasing civilian deaths and injuries." The overall response of the participants was concern for the citizens in the city. The organizers seemed pleased with the turn-out. "Everyone I talked to was really supportive."
After a quick wrap-up, the group dispersed, leaving on a note of rejuvenation.
Iraq Body Count
pachamerica 16.Nov.2004 04:23
Over one third of the people who were killed under the TWENTY FOUR YEAR dictatorship of Sadaam Hussien were killed in the last two years in Iraq. We are all tired, so many of us have protested and protested and we have all been suppressed, but we must keep moving and finding differnt tactics because this war went too far before it happened and now it is nothing short of cultural genocide. Take a look at the numbers:
http://www.iraqbodycount.net/It really doesn't matter whether the war is run by Bush or by Kerry, all that matters is that we stop it, now.
Solidarity
Eurocentrist 29.Nov.2004 23:15
I don't care about the causes I was only at the protest because of the very beautiful young white women who were there. I don't care about starving Africans or animal rights.