European Social Forum closes with demonstration and actions
19 Oct 2004 14:15 GMT
The European Social Forum has ended on Sunday, with a large demonstration and a number of autonomous actions (Clowns actions and Pro-capitalist block). The demonstration had a clear anti-war character and attracted a large number of people who did not attend the ESF. Reports and photos [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6].
A group of activists from the anti-capitalist block were detained at King's cross station in an attempt to prevent them from joining the march [1 | 2 | 3 | Global Project]. They were eventually allowed to leave and when they finally arrived at Trafalgar Square some tried to get to the stage in what some describe as storming the stage. The police possibly in cooperation with the organisers made several arrests including an Indymedia volunteer and member of the ESF organizing body.
Solidarity actions were called, and a number of Clowns invaded Charing Cross police station (Video). Those arrested including a Greek activist are due in court on Monday. The ESF organisation, and the events during the demonstration, have been the subject of a lot of controvesy [In depth: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Previous: 1 | 2 | 3]. Some also resented the lack of coverage of actual ESF events [1] on Indymedia and the mainstream media [1 | 2 | Don't hate the media - just publish on indymedia].
[More: Timeline | All UK ESF reports | ESF daily coverage: Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Other languages: German | Dutch | Dutch and French | Català | Castellano 2 3| Hungarian | Portugese | Russian]
Get a freakin' grip!!!
was hfx_ben 21.Oct.2004 07:58
The post at uk.indy was totally lame ... when I tried to post a link to this page there, I got Apache Tomcat/4.0.3 - Error report Apache Tomcat/4.0.3 - HTTP Status 500 - Internal Server Errortype Exception reportmessage Internal Server Errordescription The server encountered an internal error (Internal Server Error) that prevented it from fulfilling this request.exception javax.servlet.ServletException: Can't connect to database: java.sql.SQLException: SQLException occurred in JDBCPool: Connection refused. Check that the hostname and port is correct, and that the postmaster is running with the -i flag, which enables TCP/IP networking.
params: org.postgresql.Driver, jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/uk. Please check your username, password and other connectivity info.
at mir.servlet.AbstractServlet.init(AbstractServlet.java:203)
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I also got an error when I started to post this comment, here.
geeeeeeeeezus
ESF + Beyond ESF both great, please stop infighting
activist 21.Oct.2004 10:50
Thousands of people, activists, trade unionists, refugees, peace campaigners, anti-racists, all sorts, came to the ESF and the Alternative Spaces around it, heard some fascinating speakers and debates, took part in inspiring events, and the whole thing ended up with a big and vibrant Stop War demo.
This should be an opportunity to spread positive ideas and re-energise the whole anti-war and anti-capitalist movements.
But it won't be if we waste all that energy fighting each other! Too many postings and comments on the ESF section seem to be attacks and counter-attacks. A plea to ALL sides, I don't care if you are socialist/anarchist or horizontal/vertical/whatever, please stop making heat only when we need light.
ESF and the alternative events were great, really a life-enhancing experience. Let's remember that and focus on developing positive links and initiatives for peace and social justice.