HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Oxford Indymedia

Albright definitely gets the message that she is not welcome in Oxford

sociétélibre | 28.10.2003 21:50 | Anti-militarism | Oxford

On Tuesday October 28th, Madeleine Albright came to Oxford form a signature session of her new book at Borders, followed by a talk at the Oxford Union. Many actions took place very succesfully; she definitely got the message that she wasn't welcome in Oxford.

Here is a report of what I saw or heard of, and a few pictures I took.

banners outsite Borders
banners outsite Borders

vigil at the entrance
vigil at the entrance

more banners and vigil
more banners and vigil

welcome to Borders!
welcome to Borders!

cops accompany protesters out of Borders
cops accompany protesters out of Borders

loud radical poetry inside Borders
loud radical poetry inside Borders

posters and pots and pans inside Borders
posters and pots and pans inside Borders

posters without flash :-)
posters without flash :-)

the signature session, well attended by cops, security guards and photographers
the signature session, well attended by cops, security guards and photographers

heated discussion...
heated discussion...

the discussion continues...
the discussion continues...


It all started around 5:30pm in front of Borders. The signature session was meant to start at 6:00pm. A vigil was held outside Borders to welcome people going to the session, remembering the 500 000 Iraqi children that were "a price worth paying" according to Albright. Protesters also had many banners and posters and were handing out leaflets explaining why they were protesting against Madeleine Albright. Then protesters went inside Borders. The session was downstairs, and most protesters were refused access to the basement, although quite a few managed to go to the session anyway. Protesters upstairs in Borders read loud radical poetry, shouted slogans, hold banners and made lots of noise and rhythms with pots and pans, all along the session, which finally started quite late, around 6:40, and lasted less than an hour.

Also, at least a dozen protesters managed to get downstairs to deliver their message to Albright in many different ways. We unfortunately couldn't see exactly what was happening downstairs from the ground floor, but as I understood die-ins were staged, with fake blood, and other actions. Many protesters were accompanied out of Borders or upstairs by cops.

Then Albright tried to leave Borders. Many people thought that actions were all over... definitely not! While the session was going on, protesters blockaded all the entrances of Borders to make sure that Albright couldn't leave Borders for her talk in the Union. She tried to leave by a hidden garage, where her car and her officers were waiting for her. But protesters sat down in the street and stopped her from leaving Borders, while dancing at the rhythms of pots and pans... She had to wait in her car for a while, until cops decided to take her out and run through Borders to board a police van waiting for them at the front. But protesters were faster than them and reached the van before it left, shouting slogans and delivering loudly their message to Albright. The van finally left, but when it arrived to the Union, which is very close to Borders, protesters were already there waiting for Albright. When Albright saw that, the van turned back and left probably for a hidden entrance to the Union.

She probably managed to get into the Union, probably a bit late. But many protesters were at the talk inside the Union, prepared to ask her very difficult questions. Definitely it wasn't an easy night in Oxford for Madeleine Albright...


Here is what was written on the leaflet handed out at Borders and at the Oxford Union:


MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: WAR CRIMINAL?

Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, is in Oxford to promote her memoir.
Tuesday 28 October 2003: Borders (6 pm), Oxford Union (8.30 pm)

Albright presents herself as a multilateralist, feminist, and liberal icon.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

- Justified death of half a million children in Iraq as a result of sanctions: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it" ("60 Minutes", 12 May 1996).

- Stalled deployment of further UN troops in Rwanda and threatened to veto any proposal that would increase UNAMIR forces in the country. 800,000 people died in the ensuing Rwandan genocide (Human Rights Watch).

- Advocated bombing of Serbia in 1999, despite CIA warnings that this would increase Serb violence against Kosovar Albanians. Overrode Colin Powell's reluctance to commit military forces until there was a clear political objective with comment: "What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?" 580,000 people displaced, several thousand killed in the resulting ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; 500 Serb civilians killed in illegal NATO airstrikes (Human Rights Watch).

- Consistently blocked UN attempts to criticize Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Warned Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali not to publish UN report stating that Israel's 1996 bombing of the U.N.-run refugee camp in Qana, Lebanon, which killed more than 100 refugees, was intentional. Threatened to veto Boutros-Ghali’s second term as punishment for disobedience. Successfully executed punishment.

HOW DIFFERENT IS ALBRIGHT FROM BUSH ?

- Albright criticises Bush for saying: "At some point, we may be the only ones left. That's ok with me. We are America." She advises a more multilateralist approach. ("Bridges, Bombs, or Bluster?", Foreign Affairs, Sept/Oct 2003)

- Albright in office sounded exactly like Bush:
"If we have to use force, it is because we are America! We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall, and we see further into the future." (NBC Today show, February 19, 1998)
"We recognize this area as vital to US national interests and we will behave, with others, multilaterally when we can and unilaterally when we must." (Middle East International (London), Oct. 21, 1994, p. 4)

- Apologises for using phrase "assertive multilateralism": "By this I meant that when America acted with others, we should lead in establishing goals and ensuring success. I didn't in any way rule out the possibility that we would have to act on our own in self-defence or to protect other vital interests - multilateralism certainly has its place as a foreign policy tool, but the term is without appeal - especially to Americans. The word has six syllables, includes some Latin, and ends with an "ism"." (Madame Secretary, p. 176)

sociétélibre

Comments

Display the following 6 comments

  1. Update — sociétélibre
  2. War Criminal in Norwich Tomorrow night. All Welcome!! — Gnasher
  3. Albright's most foolish comment — Niki
  4. That Comment — t
  5. sorry about the soya dessert — tasted too good
  6. Nice one! — Col Buendia
Publish your news
-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Oxford Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech