Stopping the City to Stop the War

Various acts of civil disobedience took place on Friday 21 March, including blockades of Princess Parkway and Oxford Road in the morning (see photo on right). At lunchtime, there was a student action, of which Graeme gives a personal report:

As Oxford Road literally filled with police on foot, in riot vans and on horses, student stop the war campaigners addressed a rally at 1pm outside the main Art's building. Networking Newsletter learned soon after that the rally had headed off down to Princess Parkway as police were clearly going to scupper any attempts at road-stopping outside the university. Despite careful attempts to go down in small groups, police caught on and positioned themselves at the pedestrian crossing. As the photos (bottom right) show, the result was a complete stalemate. For every two people waiting to go out onto the road and sit down, there was at least one police officer. After 10 minutes or so, police 'herded' the protestors on the far side over the crossing and then forced the near side group to join them. What followed left the would be road blockers incredulous. We were herded back up to Denmark Road over about half an hour. Those who tried to leave were pushed back into the 'herd'. I was literally picked up by the neck of my jumper and shoved back in. Given the weight of numbers of the police, we were completely at their mercy. Some of those who tried to push back or argue were carried to police vans. Eventually we were held in Denmark Road and allowed to leave in groups of four, one every two minutes. As someone who believes in the right to protest, especially against an illegal and internationally codemmed war effort, I am left feeling insulted and patronised. Loud chanting and discussions to plan a meeting in the Student Union later in the afternoon sent a clear message: you won't stop us making our voices heard. Related Articles Latest anti-war news and contacts

Blockade on Oxford Road   Below: students attempting to block Princess St: Stalement between police and protesters Police block protesters Police herd protesters