Protests Around the World
Denounce U.S. War PlansRevolutionary Worker #945, February 22, 1998
As the U.S. escalates its threats against Iraq, people in many places have been organizing protests and resistance. In the first two weeks of February, at least 40 different actions took place around the world denouncing U.S. plans to bomb Iraq and calling for an end to the UN economic sanctions against Iraq.
There were protests in London, England; Oslo, Norway; Osaka, Japan. People marched in Amman, Jordan in defiance of a government ban. In the Palestinian West Bank the police tried to stop protests, but people demonstrated anyway.
In the U.S., there have been actions in many areas. The forces organizing these protests include International Action Center, Food Not Bombs, Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Catholic Worker, Vets for Peace (Boston), Bayaan International, League of Filipino Students, and Vietnam Vets Against the War Anti-Imperialist. The Student Peace Action Network held a national day of campus speak-outs on February 11.
Voices in the Wilderness has sent a new, eleventh delegation to Iraq to deliver $110,000 worth of medical supplies for children's hospitals. Their actions defy U.S. laws that threaten them with 12 years in prison. In a statement they said: "The real weapons of mass destruction in Iraq are the economic sanctions which have already killed hundreds of thousands."
The RW received a report from Seattle about a protest action at the Federal building there on Monday February 9. On short notice, 150 people hit the streets during rush hour to demand that the U.S. keep its hands off the Persian Gulf. One Vietnam vet at the march told the correspondent: "I'm down here because I'm sick of the U.S. trying to impose its will on people around the world. It's a rapist mentality: do what I tell you to do and you won't get hurt." An RCP supporter said: "The U.S. must pay a heavy political price around the world if they bomb Iraq, and we can be a part of doing that."
Protests have been called for Tuesday, February 17, including in New York, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Anti-Intervention Network and Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist have called for a day of protests--the day of/day after--in the event of U.S. attack on Iraq.
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