"The march organizers insist they have not had any trouble during seven previous events and insist Thursday's protest will not be hijacked by anarchist groups."
American Expatriates to Lead the Protests Against Bush
by Marie Woolf
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1115-01.htm
American Expatriates to Lead the Protests Against Bush
by Marie Woolf
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1115-01.htm
American Expatriates to Lead the Protests Against Bush
by Marie Woolf
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1115-01.htm
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graphic:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/images/bush_london_graphic.gif
President Bush may be subjected to the humiliating sight of an effigy of himself being dragged to the ground by anti-war protesters in London's Trafalgar Square next week. But if police and White House officials have their way, the president, who had the staunch support of Britain's Prime Minister during the Iraq war, will be spared the embarrassment of seeing a re-run of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue during the Iraq war. Photo by Reuters Graphic
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Americans marching beneath a banner proclaiming "Proud of My Country, Shamed by My President" will lead a demonstration against George Bush during his state visit next week. The Stop the War Coalition, which is organizing the rally, expects up to 100,000 people to take to the streets of London and express their hostility to the American President.
Trade union members, Muslim groups, environmentalists and peace activists will join forces for the march, with about a hundred US expats, who are adamant the event should be perceived as an indictment of their President, not a snub to their country.
President Bush may be subjected to the humiliating sight of an effigy of himself being dragged to the ground by anti-war protesters in London's Trafalgar Square next week. But if police and White House officials have their way, the president, who had the staunch support of Britain's Prime Minister during the Iraq war, will be spared the embarrassment of seeing a re-run of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue during the Iraq war. Photo by Reuters Graphic
Luke Robinson, 29, a website developer from the United States who has lived in Britain for four years, is among those who will attend the protest. He will be joined by American academics and City workers."Most of us love our country and won't take any anti-American sentiment but we feel this guy is leading us down a bad path," he said. "Allowing a fully fledged state visit is [sending] a bad message that Britain is really backing Bush. The pictures from this visit will definitely be used in his election campaign."
Demonstrators carrying placards reading "Bush - Blair Dumb and Dumber", "Bush Eco-terrorist" and "George W.ar Criminal", as well as blood-splattered anti-Bush banners, will gather in Trafalgar Square where a mock statue of the US President will be symbolically toppled.
Coachloads of demonstrators who oppose the war in Iraq and Mr Bush's environmental and economic policies are to be bused in from Wales, Scotland and the West Country among other points. Michael Moore, the American film maker and comedian who is known for his outspoken views on the US leader, is donating $1,000 to transport demonstrators in from Manchester. Pupils missing school, worshippers from mosques around Britain and a busload of pensioners from an old people's home in Hounslow, west London, will also join the march to express their anger at the visit. Alongside them will be members of the far-left Socialist Workers' Party, the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, and peace demonstrators from CND and other anti-war groups. A large contingent of Greens will make their feelings known on President Bush's environmental policies. They plan to express their opposition with a week of events including a street party and an anti-Bush home-made T-shirt competition outside Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening.
"Bush would be better off staying at home to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming than coming to Britain," said Spencer Fitzgibbon, a former army officer and member of the Green Party executive.
The exact route of the march is still being negotiated with the Metropolitan Police, who will have 5,000 officers on duty. The protesters want to parade past the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street but police have suggested a shorter route, which would keep them away from Whitehall.
There will be 500 stewards to try to ensure the march does not deteriorate into the sort of violent attacks on American businesses, such as McDonald's restaurants, that have marred anti-capitalism demonstrations in recent years.
The march organizers insist they have not had any trouble during seven previous events and insist Thursday's protest will not be hijacked by anarchist groups. Meetings with the police yesterday were said to have been constructive. They will meet again on Monday to discuss the route.
A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said: "We are not anti the American people - in fact many share our reservations about President Bush. This is about the President. There are 500 local Stop the War groups who are bringing people from around the country and the phones are ringing non-stop. We are making 6,000 placards."
The march represents the main event in four days of anti-Bush events, for which the President has drafted in an entourage of more than 500 people, including up to 200 secret service and security personnel. On Tuesday activists are organizing a public rally in London with high-profile speakers including the acclaimed playwright and actor Harold Pinter, and the Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, whose story inspired the Tom Cruise film Born on the Fourth of July. The former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn and George Galloway MP, who was recently thrown out of the Labour Party for his public comments about the war, will also speak.
There will be a march to the American consulate in Edinburgh on Wednesday and a petition from people throughout Britain will be presented to Downing Street on Monday.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1115-01.htm
by Marie Woolf
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1115-01.htm -
graphic:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/images/bush_london_graphic.gif President Bush may be subjected to the humiliating sight of an effigy of himself being dragged to the ground by anti-war protesters in London's Trafalgar Square next week. But if police and White House officials have their way, the president, who had the staunch support of Britain's Prime Minister during the Iraq war, will be spared the embarrassment of seeing a re-run of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue during the Iraq war. Photo by Reuters Graphic
-
Americans marching beneath a banner proclaiming "Proud of My Country, Shamed by My President" will lead a demonstration against George Bush during his state visit next week. The Stop the War Coalition, which is organizing the rally, expects up to 100,000 people to take to the streets of London and express their hostility to the American President.
Trade union members, Muslim groups, environmentalists and peace activists will join forces for the march, with about a hundred US expats, who are adamant the event should be perceived as an indictment of their President, not a snub to their country.
President Bush may be subjected to the humiliating sight of an effigy of himself being dragged to the ground by anti-war protesters in London's Trafalgar Square next week. But if police and White House officials have their way, the president, who had the staunch support of Britain's Prime Minister during the Iraq war, will be spared the embarrassment of seeing a re-run of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue during the Iraq war. Photo by Reuters Graphic
Luke Robinson, 29, a website developer from the United States who has lived in Britain for four years, is among those who will attend the protest. He will be joined by American academics and City workers."Most of us love our country and won't take any anti-American sentiment but we feel this guy is leading us down a bad path," he said. "Allowing a fully fledged state visit is [sending] a bad message that Britain is really backing Bush. The pictures from this visit will definitely be used in his election campaign."
Demonstrators carrying placards reading "Bush - Blair Dumb and Dumber", "Bush Eco-terrorist" and "George W.ar Criminal", as well as blood-splattered anti-Bush banners, will gather in Trafalgar Square where a mock statue of the US President will be symbolically toppled.
Coachloads of demonstrators who oppose the war in Iraq and Mr Bush's environmental and economic policies are to be bused in from Wales, Scotland and the West Country among other points. Michael Moore, the American film maker and comedian who is known for his outspoken views on the US leader, is donating $1,000 to transport demonstrators in from Manchester. Pupils missing school, worshippers from mosques around Britain and a busload of pensioners from an old people's home in Hounslow, west London, will also join the march to express their anger at the visit. Alongside them will be members of the far-left Socialist Workers' Party, the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats, and peace demonstrators from CND and other anti-war groups. A large contingent of Greens will make their feelings known on President Bush's environmental policies. They plan to express their opposition with a week of events including a street party and an anti-Bush home-made T-shirt competition outside Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening.
"Bush would be better off staying at home to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming than coming to Britain," said Spencer Fitzgibbon, a former army officer and member of the Green Party executive.
The exact route of the march is still being negotiated with the Metropolitan Police, who will have 5,000 officers on duty. The protesters want to parade past the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street but police have suggested a shorter route, which would keep them away from Whitehall.
There will be 500 stewards to try to ensure the march does not deteriorate into the sort of violent attacks on American businesses, such as McDonald's restaurants, that have marred anti-capitalism demonstrations in recent years.
The march organizers insist they have not had any trouble during seven previous events and insist Thursday's protest will not be hijacked by anarchist groups. Meetings with the police yesterday were said to have been constructive. They will meet again on Monday to discuss the route.
A spokesman for the Stop the War Coalition said: "We are not anti the American people - in fact many share our reservations about President Bush. This is about the President. There are 500 local Stop the War groups who are bringing people from around the country and the phones are ringing non-stop. We are making 6,000 placards."
The march represents the main event in four days of anti-Bush events, for which the President has drafted in an entourage of more than 500 people, including up to 200 secret service and security personnel. On Tuesday activists are organizing a public rally in London with high-profile speakers including the acclaimed playwright and actor Harold Pinter, and the Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, whose story inspired the Tom Cruise film Born on the Fourth of July. The former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn and George Galloway MP, who was recently thrown out of the Labour Party for his public comments about the war, will also speak.
There will be a march to the American consulate in Edinburgh on Wednesday and a petition from people throughout Britain will be presented to Downing Street on Monday.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1115-01.htm 
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Comments
Hide the following 14 comments
progress for the progressives
16.11.2003 11:08
anarchists will be kept at bay; mcdonalds shall be safe.
god bless america
mike
Bush, Blair, the Queen...
16.11.2003 12:42
(and that's gonna take more than just the toppling of a symbolic statue.)
angry
angry
16.11.2003 13:01
X
Progressive liberal bullshit.
16.11.2003 13:50
Imperialist violence. Salvador. Afghanistan. Libya. the list goes on.
Democracy? Stupidity!
Kyoto treaty is not good enough.
Consume. Obey. Choke.
Your liberalism will change nothing.
Middle class collusion.
Brown nose with the politicians.
brown nose with the celebrity system.
Watch the spectacle.
Blame the anarchists like a fucking coward.
Make some more money.
Corporate apologists.
Fat cat NGO chairman.
Service industry.
Just raise money. Charity Street Mugging.
Buy the bloody t-shirt/badge/banner/magazine- and dare I say it newspaper.
Ex-pat makes my skin crawl. To lead? Fuck your hierarchies.
City of London. Gross international worker - fleecing the poor all over the planet. Fleecing the local poor here.
Any more property speculating socialists?
Don't change nut'in geeze
Propaganda Technique
16.11.2003 14:29
The press could just as easily have asked if they anticipated a race of super-intelligent wallabies hijacking the protest, and would have gotten largely the same sort of answer. But asking the "anarchist" question allowed them to attach a misleading headline, spin the import of the article, and sow dissent between the anarchists and other activists protesting the war.
Don't buy it! If you are going to get angry, get angry at the media whores who seek to play you against each other!
Jethro
scare stories
16.11.2003 16:30
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Bushmonkey
16.11.2003 21:44
all over our human history countries have tried to dominate the people of this world.
The American Zoo Administration and their bushmonkey are just playing war games. Thats what happens when you get board of your own country.
saidmalachi
e-mail:
Saidmalachi@Aol.com
Hijacking
17.11.2003 12:24
Just make sure that an effective shutdown of the city isn't hijacked by moderates, reformists and centralists.
the us-ss wanted london shut down so shrub could examine his empire and have free reign over the city of london. but it's much better if intelligent activists shut down the city so shrub can't go anywhere! shame him. i urge you all for the sake of the planet and it's people to shame him. sit down in rows on the road and stop him from making any moves. london can not be conquered so easily. we won't give up our city to this unelected chickenhawk texan.
sean
well said Jethro
17.11.2003 18:04
kurious
AMERICAN SUPPORT FOR GREAT BRITAIN
17.11.2003 21:19
CURTIS NORDAN
e-mail:
cnordan@knology.net
who's london? our london!
17.11.2003 21:45
dan
Um, Curt...
17.11.2003 22:14
dave
No time for polite behaviour...
18.11.2003 12:54
Nick
re:
18.11.2003 22:54
while i wholeheartedly agree that this is not a time for strictly 'polite' protest- because an unjustifiable war, based upon lies, proceeds as i type this - i disagree with your belief that americans bear collective responsibility for the war.
first, george w bush lost the popular vote in the 2000 election.
furthermore, a sizeable percentage of eligible voters did not even bother to vote in 2000, probably because the political system was, and is, so rigged with money and so far-removed from actual democratic representation.
secondly, the american people, like the british people, were never given an opportunity to 'vote' on whether to invade iraq. of course, this notion is ridiculous because nation-states have never called for popular-votes on whether or not to engage in war.
i would guess that at least as many people strongly opposed the iraq as those who strongly supported it, with most americans floating through uncertainty and uneasiness, punctuated by the pre-war barrage of saddam/WMD propaganda, and finally leaning towards opposition as quagmire becomes apparent.
we, the american people, cannot bear collective responsibility for what our crazy leaders have done since september 11th, 2001! we live in a police-state. have you heard of the patriot act? do you ever listen to donald rumsfeld's press conferences? you know the history of dick cheney? we are fucking fucked over here. give us a break, we're up against a police-state and a population which is force-fed shit information, 24-hours a day, by self-declared experts. have you ever watched a broadcast of fox news?
many of us over here in america are trying to resist, in the little ways that we can, but it ain't easy.
iraq sure as hell ain't my responsibility- i work 40/hrs each week, drink too much on the weekends, read the newspaper with coffee each morning, and so on. i'm an american, not a texas oil tycoon, for fuck's sake.
that said, we hope you give W a riotous welcome in london this week.
jersey