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Depressingly poor attendance at North London Anti-War march Dec 8th

shocked and depressed | 08.12.2001 12:49

No more than a hundred demonstrators - twenty of those selling left wing newspapers.

I've just returned from the start of the Stop The War Coalition's march and rally in North London.
I am very depressed! Despite a wide poster and leafleting campaign in the weeks leading up to today, there were no more than a hundred people gathered, and probably twenty of those were selling left wing newspapers.

Admittedly it was a bitterly cold morning, and it's coming up to Christmas and all that, but I'm really surprised and very down-heartened that there could have been 60,000 or more demonstrators in London just four weeks ago and yet so few bothered to turn up today.

If there had been a couple of hundred or more, I would have marched too, but with so few, I think it could actually do the anti-war movement more harm than good to publicly show such tiny support.

Perhaps the mainstream media has won the battle and people are forgetting the lies, the continually changing war aims, and the humanitarian crisis. I thought the tactic of having local marches this month was good, as they would be more likely covered by local papers where the national media ignores tens of thousands gathering in London, but if other marches are as badly attended as today's I hope another national one can be organised soon to keep the pressure up.

shocked and depressed

Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

Agreed!

08.12.2001 13:11

Agreed!
Agreed!

Still lots of leaflets given out going from Manor House Station up to Wood Green, and quite a bit of noise made, but yeah, very disappointing numbers - at least it was showing opposition and I saw quite a few people pleased to see the march.

Norf


never knew!

08.12.2001 14:02

I'd have been there - but i never heard about it!
maybe I wasn't checking everywhere, but I look at indymedia regularly and I'm on MWAW's mailing list... maybe an announcement here beforehand would have got a few more people along?

zedhead


this is the inevitable result of the

08.12.2001 17:41

the ineveitable result of the co-alitions general policy: quietist, pro- labour party, reformist, pacifist, non-challenging of the social order, enthusiastically backed by the false marxist posers of the SWP !
just recently we saw perhaps the largest march in central london since way- back- when, and to what effect ? it obeyed all the rules, and got about 2 mins publicity:

''good evening, heres the BBC news; this happened, blair said that, a bunch of commies in trafalgar sq (no arrests), and now the sports results...''

im not advocating that there should be uproar, pandemonium and chaos, just that any so-called anti-war campaign must understand the importance of remaining independent of any party in government, particularly one that craves it at the expense of the working class as much as labour does.

bill bore


Courage

08.12.2001 20:45

Like zedhead, never heard of the march, otherwise would have been there.

However,in my opinion, even if only ten people march, this is worthwhile. Most people are sceptical about the reasons put forward to justify the slaughter and oppose extending the war to Iraq and across the rest of the world. If they see that a few people are willing to demonstrate that they strongly object, they are more likely to voice their own doubts.

On the evening of the day after the bombing started I was cycling past the statue of Edith Cavell off Trafalger square where a few women holding a silent protest. This moved me more than the large protests i have since been to, and I am sure affected many other people as well.

frax


still happenin

08.12.2001 21:38

over 600+ in sheffield today, lively and vibrant, not too many placards, down on last time though 2000!.see tomorrows imc for full report.

protest and survive


It's too cold man

08.12.2001 23:46

No way am I going on another anti-war demo until February at the earliest.

Lemming
mail e-mail: avlemming@hushmail.com


dont trust the mainstream media to broadcast

09.12.2001 06:23

Dont bother to trust the mainstream media to report on anything do it yourselves
Hand out flyers of IMC coverage post the pics in cafes

Find video of the march and show it to neighbors.

Lots of things then when people realize that they are fed worthless garbage they will get bored
and read somethings really worthwhile.

atimm


Over 200.000 at North London Anti war march

09.12.2001 10:33

Over 2,000.000 people marched through North London yesterday with costumes and street performers steel bands, it was bigger than the notting hill carnival !!
well if the BBC and corporate media can do it why can't can't we ?

Media has three meanings in the dictioanary one is an ancient town in NW Iran.

Media Event = an event that is staged or exploited by the
mass media, whose attentions lends it an apparent impotance.

Which means if they, the mass media, are not interested the event has no apparent importance ? I think this is the case
End result Herr Blair decides what is and what isn't important

If the fledgling independent media is to have any effect perhaps it needs to use some of the tactix employed by the
corporate media, perhaps with lowering ourselves to their levels, but at least fighting back. It's a question that should get more attention in this forum, methods of manipulating the media and getting 'our' version onto the front pages are paramount to winning .

of course there is the issue of remaining credible, but that doesn't seem to bother the corporate media..

propaganda


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