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CounterPunch
February
15, 2003
Not in My Name, Mr. Blair!
At Last! Proud
to be British
By LINDA S. HEARD
Febuary
15 was the first day in ages that not only I am happy to be British,
I'm even prouder to be part of the human race. On that historic
day one million-and-a-half protesters surged into Central London
from all over the country to form the largest anti-war demonstration
that Britain has ever witnessed.
This was a manifestation of the will
of the British people. This was a message to Tony Blair, the
British Prime Minster, which read: Not in our Name. No war with
Iraq.
Dr Aziz Tammimi of the British Moslems
Association admitted that while the protestors may not be able
to make a difference, it was their duty to try.
And try they did. These were not what
are often referred to as 'the usual suspects', members of the
Communist Party, Green Peace, and CND. These were grannies and
grandpas, lawyers and doctors, secretaries and nurses. They were
all creeds, colours and age groups. These were people who had
never marched before in their lives.
As they surged up the mall, squeezed
through Piccadilly and wended their way to Hyde Park from the
Embankment, high profile speakers had already began their passionate
speeches to the hundreds of thousands brandishing anti-war placards
and even Iraqi flags. Their messages came in different forms,
and they spoke with differing accents and even in multiple languages
but they all said essentially the same thing: No war in Iraq.
The Rev Jesse Jackson said: "Don't
kill them to save them". He appealed to the world to 'choose
life over death and not to choose sides but to choose peace'.
He asked France, Germany, Russia and Belgium to keep hope alive.
The activist Bianca Jagger maintained
that any state, which goes against the will of the people would
create anarchy instead of the rule of law.
The playwright and activist Tariq Ali
urged the crowd to "punish the warmongers at the next election.
In times of crises it is right to bring down a Prime Minster.
Bring Tony Blair down."
Labour Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn
told his government: Stop now or pay a political price. Corbyn
complained: "The image of this country around the world
because whenever Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney
speak, all our Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary can say is
'me too'.
He said: "The message today in London
and Glasgow is this. Why are we spending three-and-a-half billion
pounds on a war that nobody wants when there is an HIV Aids pandemic
sweeping Africa and one quarter of the world's children are dying
of starvation. For those who say this is a necessary and just
conflict because it will bring about peace and security. September
11 was a terrible event but 8,000 deaths in Afghanistan did not
bring back those who died in the Trade Centre. Thousands more
deaths in Iraq will not do that either."
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said
that three-quarters of London opposes an attack on Iraq. He said
the war is not about human rights or weapons of mass destruction
but about who will control the second largest reserves of oil
on the planet.
He said: "Can we be proud to be
dragged along by George W Bush? He got his daddy to get him out
of national service. Where I come from we call that cowardice...
Are we supposed to send our young men and woman to die for this
creature? I don't think so."
Veteran politician Tony Benn, who recently
interviewed Saddam Hussein, said that if there are to be inspectors
in Iraq, there should be inspectors in Israel, inspectors in
Britain and inspectors in America.
"I want to see sanctions on arms
manufacturers all over the world," he said. "I want
to see the money spent on weapons of mass destruction instead
spent on hospital and schools all over the world."
The leader of the Liberal Democrat Party
Charles Kennedy was on the podium too. "Given the evidence
offered by Dr. Blix yesterday, there can be no just or moral
case for war with Iraq. Without a second United Nations resolution
based on authoritative fact from the weapons inspectors, I can
assure you there is no way in all conscience that the Liberal
Democrats would or could support a war with Iraq and we will
not."
Labour Member of Parliament George Galloway
accused the Prime Minister of being the governor of the 51st
state of the United States. He said: "We don't want Bush's
wars and we don't want Star Wars and we don't want to be in an
alliance of an axis of evil with General Ariel Sharon either.
I say to Mr. Blair that if he, despite this great demonstration
today, despite the overwhelming feelings around the world against
the war, if he takes Great Britain over this cliff with G.W.
Bush, then he will break the Labour Party he is supposed to lead."
Blair may be displaying bravado when
he said today before his party in Scotland: "I do not seek
unpopularity as a badge of honour but sometimes it is a consequence
of leadership."
Harold Pinter, the distinguished playwright
called the United States "a monster out of control".
He said: "It is a country run by a bunch of criminal lunatics..."
He called the planned attack on Iraq "premeditated mass
murder". He ended by saying to Tony Blair: "Resign,
resign, resign".
Lindsey German of Stop the War Coalition
was one of the most militant speakers. She told Blair: "We
will bring you down. You will not survive as Prime Minister of
this country and you do not deserve to survive as Prime Minister
of this country."
German went on to say: "On the day
that war breaks out we are asking people to strike to stop this
war. We want you to stop your labour, to occupy your colleges
and to walk out of your schools. We want you to go to your two
centers and city centers. We'll be doing that in London. They
won't get their cars through White Hall and Westminster."
She complained that the government had
tried to stop the marchers gathering in Hyde Park for health
and safety reasons when they cared little about health and safety
when they planned to bomb the Iraqi people
George Bush says his patience is running
out, but the message from the British people was that their patience
is running out with him and with their own leader Tony Blair.
The London demonstration and its one-and-a-half-million
protestors were just a drop in the ocean of the numbers out in
the street worldwide on February 15, a historical day. Over ten
million people were doing likewise in more than 65 cities worldwide.
Rome saw two million on its streets telling their Bush supporter
billionare leader that humanity is more important than oil, weapons
and domination. Not in our name.
The people have spoken loud and clear
and this columnist is delighted to say that she's one of them.
Wake up and smell the democracy, Mr. Blair. Not in my name.
Linda Heard
is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be reached
at: freenewsreport@yahoo.com
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