UK Anti-militarism Feature Archive
Stop the War- Stop the City!
22-03-2003 23:00
Direct actions and peace demonstrations took place again today. In Edinburgh, lots of speeches and a die-in in front of the Scottish Parliament started the anti-war protest, before school students speeded the demonstration off to Princess Street to block the traffic several times with sit-ins before marching to the US consulate followed by another row of speeches.
Then back to Princes Street with more Sit-Ins and Die-Ins to Charlotte Square.
Police until then has been astonishing relaxed, but become violent, aggressive and provoking when plain-cloth policemen brutally tried to arrest a protester for no apparent reason which kicked off the bystanders to intervene, resulting in more arrests and detention.
Whereas the speakers of the rally tried to support police tactics by asking demonstrators repeatedly not to bother, the police had to let the detained people go due to crowd pressure.
The crowd finally walked off to have a solidarity picket in front of St.Leonards police station, St.Leonard Street.
The demonstration broke through police-lines, when police tried to block their way.
The solidarity picket is still continuing after 10 pm on Saturday night.
In Glasgow there was a big demonstration, and protesters were boxed in for over one and a half hours by police.
Hoosie, from Faslane Peace Camp has been beaten up by police and is now hospitalised with bruised kidney and bruised liver.
He was arrested on Thursday at an action for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
More direct actions against the war reported
22-03-2003 23:00
The British army building in Glasgow has been attacked by protesters on Sunday night. Resistance is also awakening in Galloway, where depleted uranium is tested. From Dundee, first independent reports and pictures come in about anti-war actions during the last week. In Dumfries pupils went out of school to demonstrate, too. For Edinburgh a big demonstration has been called for next Saturday, as well as for a critical mass on Friday evening and anti-war actions on Thursday midday.
No War!
21-03-2003 23:00
As we are still waiting for incoming anti-war reports, there has been a pro-peace confetti action in Edinburgh.Anti-war confetti- action in the Scottish Parliament
Direct actions when bombs drop- now!
20-03-2003 23:00
Direct actions and protest are also planned for Friday the 21st in front of the Scottish Labour Conference in Dundee.More calls for demonstrations are out for Saturday, when anti-war demonstrators will meet up in Glasgow and in Edinburgh at 12 noon at Parliament Square, and all over the world in bigger and smaller cities to raise their voice against the war.
<a href="/en/2003/03/58848.html">Looting</a> against the war in Edinburgh!
20-03-2003 23:00
Edinburgh was again facing a traffic collapse when 2 demonstrations blocked Princes Street on Thursday, the day when war broke out.The protest at noon broke out from Parliament Square and onto Princess Street. Police tactics got more confrontational with horses, motorcycles and lots more forces employed to try to disempower the protesters, such as tried by speech-showering politicians.
This did not stop demonstrators running into the capitalist shops owned by multinational corporations and looting stuff whilst shouting anti-capitalist slogans, redistributing it to fellow protesters or just throwing it away.
Some people were arrested or detained by the police during the protest.
A solidarity picket took place in front of the police station.
The Peace protesters were released as soon as the last demo finished.
Banner drop and civil disobedience in Aberdeen!
20-03-2003 23:00
The city centre was brought to a standstill when protesters broke through the policeline in Aberdeen to reclaim public space from commercial business making.
A banner drop was also taking place. Some people were arrested.
Read this excellent report by Aberdeen Anarchist Resistance!
Scotland resists against the War!
20-03-2003 23:00
Direct actions and protests were held all over Scotland on Thursday, 21st of march. There were protests in Glasgow ( beware: big file-size of pictures).
Demonstrations and disruptions were also held in Dundee, and in other cities, towns and villages around Scotland, including Lerwick on the Shetland island.
Spontaneous Protests Against War
20-03-2003 02:10
Listen to UK No War radio stream
Thursday 20th - UK roundup
The morning was widely dominated by school students. They occupied Lancaster town hall, shut down the centre of Leamington Spa and took to the streets of Northern Ireland |pics. Meanwhile a Manchester head teacher has taken up police tactics to intimidate pupils who protest against the war.
A rally took place in Manchester's Picadilly Gardens, drawing over 5,000 people. A similar rally occurred in Birmingham.
In Oxford, thousands of people converged on Carfax tower, holding a rally at 6pm before civil disobedience blocked three bridges. There were reports of police over-reaction to the sit downs. See pictures.
Demonstrations against war raged through Sheffield for 9 hours today, there were multiple sit-down protests, the main roundabout into Sheffield from the M1 was occupied 3 times, petrol stations, the local BBC office and the police HQ were targeted by protestors. [Photos | Video1 | Videos2].
In Bristol, the centre of the city was gridlocked as thousands joined protesting students in blocking roads. Crowds pushed through police lines and the M32 was blockaded (1, 2)
In Glasgow, 2-3000 people halted all traffic around George Square at the heart of the city and the crowd took control over traffic at the whole Charing X interchange up till midnight, with a peace camp parked in a yellow junction box. In Edinburgh, demos and student strikes have been going on since Monday. Protesters stormed the castle and Princes Street several times, listen to audio report on thursday demos and summary of events.
In Brighton (pics), over 1,000 protested with some occupying the Town Hall while disobedients shut down Worthing. Up to a thousand school kids were holding a demomnstration inside school grounds in Glastonbury - supported by the school authorities who even called the local media to come and film the event.
Read about the peace camp in York.
In Swansea 200 protesters staged sit-down actions at major road junctions around. A march and Esso blockade was held in Halifax(1) (2) and fifty anti-war protesters blockaded the entrance the main Esso garage in Yeovil. An anti-war rally and vigil was held in Stoke-on-Trent, and students rallied on campus in Keele, and in Leeds council workers joined students for a day of protest, and further actions took place in Aberdeen, Barnsely, while in Cardiff evening protests brought the city to a standstill, which were later attacked by police
Thursday 20th - Breaking News timeline
Click here to see the timeline of events unfold thoughout the day.
Around the world:
150,000 demonstrators were reported in Athens and 15,000 in Thessaloniki as well as other Greek cities [report], as well as demos in Moscow and Holland; riot police attacked protesting lawyers in Jordan whilst thousands took to the streets in India. Tens of thousands of students left school to protest in Germany [video]; 15,000 blocked motorway north of Barcelona as 10,000 protested outside US consulate [pics 1 and 2], students and teachers went on strike; thousands more protested in Rome, Italy, Madrid where riot police charged the demonstrators [pics] and France. In Stockholm a demo took place at the US embassy. People burned US flags. Riot police, police dogs and teargas were brought in.
Photo gallery of protests in several Spanish cities
Dawn bombing in Baghdad as Bush Announces: War has Begun
19-03-2003 19:10
[All UK local time]02:50 Explosions and sirens as UK/US forces target central and southern Baghdad, near the edge of the city. It seems the attack has been limited and the trumpeted "shock and awe" mass bombing will come at a later stage. Rumours in the media point at a possible attempt to kill some Iraqi officials after intelligence on their whereabouts.
03:15 Bush announces to the global media the start of the war, in a speech full of enemy demonisation -- children as human shields -- and nice PR-fodder about Iraq's people, culture and religion.
03:30 Main Iraq radio taken off air. Now it broadcasts psy-op UK/US propaganda.
04:00 Bush calls it a day, and goes to bed. The Pentagon has confirmed the attack was just an opportunity strike intending to kill senior Iraqi leaders in their sleeping hideout. Cruise missiles were fired from US warships and warplanes also took part in the bombing. Reports in Al-Jazeera talk about three dozen bombs.
Students Show Initiative And Political Radicalisation
19-03-2003 06:45
On Monday, 700 students took to the streets in in Totnes, South Devon, with over 200 blockading a petrol station. Students at Atlantic College in South Wales joined in a Global Peace Vigil as part of a worldwide show of opposition to War on Sunday. Members of University College London stop the war coalition dropped a banner reading 'No war for oil' and 'End the occupation' in Oxford Street during the Friday lunch hour, while others blocked traffic outside Parliament (die-in pics).
Six pupils from Hove who walked out of school last week to take part in an anti-war demonstration were suspended for two months and not be allowed back till their GCSE examinations. Eighteen students at another School in Herts, have been also been excluded for participating in an anti-war rally. Police refused to monitor an anti-war demonstration by more than 500 children in Oxford last week and blamed their schools and parents for allowing it to happen. The pupils brought chaos to the city centre after storming out of schools at lunchtime. In Sheffield on March the 5th, angry pupils stormed into 4 different colleges after having made their point in a noisy protest at the City Hall [Pictures and report].
This follows the thousands of children that have walked out of their schools across Britain and globally. Many student anti-war demonstrations since the beginning of March co-insided with the 'Books not bombs' campaign.
Manchester road block, Nottingham march and Sheffield die-in in anti-war protest
18-03-2003 23:36
On Tuesday in Manchester, Hulme & Whalley Range residents blockaded Princess Parkway in opposition to the intended 'war' with Iraq. Princess Parkway, one of the main roads into Manchester city center was blockaded from 8:00am to 9:30am by anti-war activists erecting a tripod of poles in the middle of the road while one person hung down from the apex. Traffic quickly stacked back causing chaos. The blockade ended with four arrests and a lot of traffic congestion. [Report | Manchester Indymedia]. Later on the day, a peace vigil was held at Rochdale Town Hall.
Meanwhile, people marched and gathered at Chetwynd Barracks, Nottingham to protest against the imminent war. The Barracks are the Britsh Army centre of mobilisation of the reserves [Report].
On Monday, Sheffield activists staged a die-in outside the Sheffield Armed Forces Careers Office [Report | Pictures]
Edinburgh Anti-war Protesters storm the Castle and block Princes Street
17-03-2003 23:00
An Anti-War demonstration took place this morning in Edinburgh, amongst the protesters mainly school students, who went on strike.The activists stormed Edinburgh Castle, which is not only a main tourist attraction, but also a military garrison. After blocking the entrance for about an hour, the demonstration moved on to the front of the Scottish parliament, and then, further to Princes Street, where the traffic was blocked and a sit-down took place.
Later, the protesters tried to raise their opposition in front of the US consulate, but police hemmed the protesters in and allowed them to leave in small groups.
[ full story | pictures]
Anti-War actions at RAF Leuchar- Tornado damaged!
12-03-2003 23:00
Access has been gained and a hangar was entered at the Royal Air Force base in Leuchers near St.Andrews in Fife, when a Tornado Aircraft was damaged by 48-year-old Ulla Roder. Tornados are among the aircraft being deployed to the Gulf and part of the air-defense.Also, Roz,33, from Edinburgh, and Petter,22, from Glasgow, face two charges at Cupar Sheriff Court relating to the perimeter fence and spray painting.
On Saturday a group of anti-war activists held a protest at the very same base near St.Andrews in Fife .
[update and description of action |full report | Trident Ploughshares |BBC report | Anarchist Black Cross | Earth Liberation Prisoners]
Faslane Peace Camp needs more guests!
10-03-2003 23:00
Faslane Peace Camp, exists to protest against nukes and war for 21 years, and has become the activist centre of Scotland.The next big direct action will be at the Big Blockade in April- see Calendar, but at the moment, Faslane Peace Camp is in urgent need of guests.
[ report | Faslane Peace Camp | Blockade]
Aberdeen is marching against the war
08-03-2003 23:00
The biggest march in Aberdeen for perhaps a decade took place on Saturday the 8th of March protesting the war on Iraq, and the persecution of the Palestinian people by the Israeli military state.
Activists in Aberdeen and beyond are preparing for the next direct action, taking place next Friday at 12 noon in front of the local army recruitment centre on Belmont St.
[full story | another report ]
Edinburgh March against the War - 6.3.2003
06-03-2003 23:00
On Thursday, 6th of march, there were two demonstrations happening in Edinburgh, which joined together in front of the Scottish parliament.Both demonstrations were quite large compared to other demonstrations in the last years.
[ report | pictures of SSP]
Italian Protesters Stop U.S. Military Trains
25-02-2003 23:00
Activists opposed to a probable war in Iraq took advantage of a national train strike to start a series of blockades of trains in several northen Italian cities. On the night of Friday 21st Feb, about 120 Disobbedienti protesters stopped a train in Padova that was moving U.S. military equipment from Vicenza to the U.S. base of Camp Darby near Pisa, forcing the train to take a different route. The protests continued Saturday, with organizers stating that thousands of activists were involved in the actions across the country. Some of the actions and blockades that taken place include Padova, Brescia, Verona, Bologna, Fornovo,Monselice, Ferrara, Empoli, Tombolo, and Pisa [1 | 2], with reports that the protests are rapidly spreading across Italy. Meanwhile the British consulate was also occupied in Torino [Photos]. Other actions are also expected in Ferrara, where police attacked a crowd of 1,000 people, as well as in Udine. At Magdalena Isle near Sardinia, another 1,000 activists were roughly cleared out by police. For breaking news and updates in English language see Global Radio feature and IMC-Italy Trainstopping feature.
The press release announcing the blockades stated that activists were targetting rail stations because "the military are using the civilian transport network to move military equipment. There are 26 trains expected and we want to block them because we don't want this war." Read more
At the same time, since the 23 February, the train personnel has been defined as "military personnel" by the Italian governemt. Although so far the train workers do not get much support from their official labour union, the dock workers' union has announced that they will not load military equipment on the ships.
Live radio reports from Sherwood Comunicazione | IMC-Italy
Millions March Against the War
16-02-2003 06:16
For full coverage of F15 in London, timelines of events including first hand reports, photos and videos see our special feature in IMC-UK Major Reports page.
International Demonstrations against War and Imperialism, 15th of February.
15-02-2003 23:00
On Saturday, 15th of February, masses will take the streets all over the world to protest against the forthcoming war in the greed for oil and economical control of resources. As the politicians are getting shit-scared, the suspension and abolition of democratic, constitutional and human rights to assemble on the streets to voice alternative opinions are excluded in the lie of "security". The demonstration in Glasgow is expected to be one of the largest Scotland has seen in a long while. The Labour conference will simultaneously take place, and Blair is planned in to speak at 2pm.
[more feature on global imc about February, 15th | feature on global imc about the cancelled demos | call for red and black block at Scottish demo | International anarchist call for global action against capitalism and war]
Huge demonstration in Glasgow!
15-02-2003 23:00
The peace demonstration in Glasgow was absolutely massive. It was at least the 50 000 reported earlier, but numbers were also said to be 80 000 or even more.
The march was colourfull and peacefull, there were no incidents. Four “ arrests ” were made, but people were released without being taken to the police station.
Protests against politicians plans to bomb Iraq's citizens in the name of humanity and the greed for oil were held all over the world, and are said to be the biggest in a long, long time, probably since the Vietnam war.
Protests occurred even in small villages and cities, like the 600 persons strong demonstration in Lerwick on the Shetland Islands. (BBC)
Approaching the elections in Scotland on 1st of may 2003, there were people present across all political persuasions. The university of Strathclyde distributed an “ International survey of anti-war protesters ” (tel: 0141 548 2214). This survey is co-ordinated by Prof. Walgrave of University of Antwerp, Belgium and distributed at the protests all over the world, asking the protesters about their political beliefs and experiences.
[ report from Glasgow | personal account |another personal account | pictures of Glasgow demo | more pictures | even more pics | further pics | nice pics ]
