Massive Manchester Resistance to War
(This is a summary of anti-war events up to end of March 2003 but we also have the latest resistance reports)
Over the last few weeks and months there has been large scale resistance in Manchester to the UK/US war on Iraq. Although nothing on the scale of the national demonstration on 15 February in London, the numbers of people who've taken part in one or more rallies or acts of resistance in the city have been staggering; showing just how unpopular this war is with residents and workers of Manchester.
For the national demo in February, where there were close on 2 million people (the biggest rally in the UK for decades), a staggering 50 coaches full plus a chartered train (as well as those who made their own way) went from Greater Manchester. For those who couldn't make it, a rally was held in Piccadilly Gardens. As one of organisers, Margaret Gadian, said "Initially there were just a few people, but this soon became 500 and then 1,000 who decided to march from Piccadilly gardens to the Peace Gardens near Manchester Town Hall."
At the end of February, Greenpeace protesters - some dressed in tiger suits - closed down 4 Esso petrol stations in Greater Manchester, chaining themselves to pumps and hitting the emergency shut-off switches. One of the Ardwick protesters, Emily Armistead, said: "We are sending a message to Esso that they should stop fuelling the United States' requirement for oil which is what the war against Iraq is all about. We shall stay at the stations as long as we can and hope the message has got home."
A couple of weeks later, the face of war came home when the Chair of British Aerospace Systems - the UK's largest weapons producer and exporter - arrived to address a regional businessmen's dinner ("North West in Europe") at the Imperial War Museum North on Thursday 6 March. About 15 people from Bolton Quaker Peace Group and Manchester Campaign Against Arms Trade, plus a similar number of police & security guards, gathered outside the main gate to the museum for an hour for a good humoured protest. Although the protesters were not allowed to speak to drivers and passengers of cars arriving they did have a good display of placards on show and managed to leaflet a fair number of people walking in or being dropped off outside. (See "Site Unseen" on page 4)
Saturday 8 March was the date for a regional anti-war march in Manchester. Despite the rain over 10 thousand joined in. There were three marches, from Salford, South Manchester, and Cheetham Hill. All were sizeable, the largest being the one from the south, and met together at Albert Square. There were lots of placards and banners, good chanting, drummers and stilt walkers, lots of whistles and hooters. A mini-London in atmosphere, but rather more militant in tone and more ready to chant. Lots of young people; especially notable were the large numbers of young Asians, all very noisy and cheerful. A sizable part of the crowd braved the steady rain and wind to listen to the speakers, welcoming chances to join in chanting, strongly approving radical speeches and also demonstrating in their responses how very knowledgeable about world politics they were. The crowd cheered for the Palestinians, for the Kurds, for Asylum Seekers, they booed Blair, Bush and Sharon; and they strongly applauded the idea of people's power replacing Parliament.
Alongside the regional march was a peace camp. Several tents were pitched, with council permission, in the Peace Gardens over the weekend. The peace camp is now a "rolling peace camp" popping up in various city locations from time to time.
War Commences, Protests Mount
Unfortunately, Blair and Bush didn't listen to the majority of the world, and at 1am on Tuesday 18 March, Bush effectively declared war on Iraq. Local resistance was immediate, with activists closing Princess Parkway during the rush hour the next morning. Later that day, hundreds of school pupils walked out of their classes to march through Manchester. Over 600 youngsters brought traffic to a standstill on Oxford Road. The pupils had defied threats of suspension if they cut class to join the protest without parental permission. They came from schools across the city including Stretford Grammar, Trinity High, Oakwood High, Parrswood, Altrincham Grammar, and Levenshulme High. Many were wearing their uniforms as they carried placards with slogans such as "Welfare not warfare" and "An eye for an eye makes the world blind". Rachel Hopkins, 14, of Stretford Grammar, said: "The school said some of us could be suspended but we don't want a war." Classmate Sonia Raja, 15, said: "The government does not speak for young people. We are risking our education to say what we think."
The first bombs dropped on Iraq (or rather those that we know off and not counting the thousands dropped in the two "no fly" zones over the last ten years, and neglecting that "special forces" had been operating inside Iraq for months in all likelihood) about 02:30 on Thursday 20 March. The Stop the War Coalition had called for people to walk out of work the day the war started (I did, did you?) and planned a rally held that evening.
At 5pm on Thursday 20 March, a few thousand people gathered at Piccadilly Gardens for a peace rally. Speakers called on the Government to stop any military involvement in Iraq. After an hour of speeches, the crowd, swelling in numbers by the minute, marched around the city's main streets. They were applauded by most shoppers and brought many main streets to a complete standstill. The heavily policed march lasted two hours, culminating in another gathering at Piccadilly Gardens.
Various protests have been taking place, often daily, since the bombs started falling. These included blockades of Princess Parkway and Oxford Road on the morning of Friday 21 March. At lunchtime, University students were to block Oxford Road but the police had other plans and turned up en masse at a rally outside the main Art's building. Small groups of protesters tried to sneak away to Princess Parkway but the police caught on and positioned themselves in overwhelming numbers at the pedestrian crossing. After 20 minutes, police herded the protesters together and then herded them to Denmark Road over about half an hour. Those who tried to leave were pushed back into the "herd" - one person was literally picked up by the neck of his jumper and shoved back in. Given the weight of numbers of the police, the protesters were completely at their mercy - any who tried to push back or argue were carried to police vans. Eventually the police allowed people to leave in groups of four, one every two minutes. Despite being unable to make their anti-war message heard by blockading a road, the students' loud chanting sent a clear message: "you won't stop us making our voices heard".
On Sat 22 March there was another national demo in London (smaller but still the largest anti-war march ever during times when the country has been at war and again many coaches from Manc), coaches from Manchester to "Foil the Base" where people used foil to prevent the US' Menwith Hill spy base from working at full capacity, and a demo in Manc for those who couldn't make either of the two alternatives. Another big turn out in Manchester, with at least as many people as on Thursday's march, showing that the public's mood had not shifted to behind the war-mongers since "our boys" have been in action.
The protests have been from people of all ages and from all walks of life. On Sunday 23 March, over 30 taxi drivers from Chorlton went on an anti-war cavalcade to show their disgust at the bombing of Iraq, slowing down traffic into the city centre, losing fares to do their bit to stand up against Bush and Blair.
On Wednesday 26 March an activist climbed Hulme Arch, causing police to close Princess Road beneath for several hours and the next day over 200 protesters with banners, placards and a massive "Stop the War" banner stretched width-ways across the road stopped traffic on Oxford Road as they marched to the BBC studios, calling for unbiased coverage of the conflict. A Rochdale demo was also held. Another "liberate the BBC" march was held on Saturday 29 March
And the protests against war on Iraq continue with a "Blair's A Bloody Fool Day" on 1st April, obviously, and Stop the War Teach-In (2 April), more rallys (2 April), a "Reclaim the Bases" weekend (5/6 April), another national demo in London (12 April) and many regular vigils - see Events Listing and Regular Events pages for details. And there's a real chance for peace: Robin Cook is calling for withdrawal as the troops take a pause. (Latest resistance reports)
The above is a summary of what's been going on, based on contributions from ANSWER, Stop the War Coalition and local media, plus eye-witness reports. Thanks to Tony S, Graeme S, Richard S and Rob S for photos.
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The latest anti-war information can be found at the Manchester Stop the War Coalition web site or the Networking Newsletter Anti-War.
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