Kez
22nd March 2003, 16:53
This is my report on what happened on march 19th at the anti war demo, James also went, so if he wud like to add few comments plz do so
Report on Student Strike: Albert Square, Manchester, 19th March
Like many students, I took a train into Manchester, at 9 in the morning with an open-minded friend looking forward to meeting a congregation of 50-100 people in Manchester and to be able to talk to them. As I arrived at our small towns train station with my friend, there were already 8 other students waiting to take the train also, this was a great surprise as I previously believed in what the media and “education” institutions preached in that the student movement is impotent.
The March was supposed to start at 12:00; however there were already 100 students by 11:15, and by 12:00 around a thousand (with only 2 policemen). Despite the fact that the SWP had already hijacked the demonstration, there were already loud slogans and chants being called out, NOT by the SWP but by individuals within the crowd, some of whom not even affiliated to any party. SWP control was poor, merely being able to chant from there megaphones slogans and sell their “paper”. There were people climbing up onto the statue of Albert in the square and placing placards in its hands, and wrapping a Che Guevara flag around its neck as a scarf. Also a handful of Socialist Appeal pamphlets were thrown from on top of the statue to the crowd below, until a police call for them to come down (at which point there were now 10 policemen).
The march began still with around a 1000 students and down the road, slightly fired up by the slogans they themselves had created and started (“such as 1,2,3,4 we don’t want no [explicit] war” and “5, 6, 7, 8 stop the killing stop the hate”). It was here that the real pitiful attempt of organisation was shown of the SWP, We were little than 10 minutes into the march when the “leadership” realised it didn’t know what to do, it was only from marchers inside who told the people on the megaphone to call the marchers to sit down in the road and block it. We then marched onto Cooper Street blocking the road heading towards Oxford road (by which time there were 20 police officers some on horseback). Another sit-down was organised to which the most naďve police officers tried to break into onto horseback, onto to be defied by the brave marchers who didn’t move. Soon after it emerged that that there WAS no leadership, and different members of the marchers began to take control of the marchers (although not in a sectarian way, but they saw the need for a leadership, especially if police tactics to split us succeeded), these emerging leaders or organisers were more often than not the more experienced protestors (around the age of 25) or were more open figures within a group of people (i.e. from a certain school). Fortunately there was no sectarianism from the Muslim comrades of the group.
Two hours into the protest, the number of marchers had reached its peak of around 2000 (if not above) along with the amount of police presence (with 4 riot vans and 6 police vans, with 60 police officers, 40 riot police, and 20 police with horses. It was at this stage that the most disgusting of tactics was used by the police to suppress this peaceful protest (which included many children as low as the age of 12). Apart from being blocked by simple policemen, they now blocked us with horses and threatened to trample us if we did not move from sitting in the road. For an hour they successfully kept us moving until the first real confrontation in front of the BBC, where we sat in the middle of one of the busiest roads during lunch rush hour where they used riot vans and riot police to block 2 exits and normal police officers to split us up. Soon having seen this had no effect they used fire engines (which had no siren on flashing lights on or fire-fighters with uniform on) to split us up by coming straight through us on 2 occasions, quite happily the SWP told the crowd to move for the fire-fighters putting us in the mouths of the police to pick us off. (Where the SWP really that stupid to not think “surely the police would have told the fire-fighters that this road was blocked? How will those people in “danger” be saved? Fortunately, the group was a unified unit and only 1 was arrested to the screams of “scum” by the protestors.
Once the situation was over and we had been moved on (not by the police but our great “principled” leaders the SWP) we were blocked in on 1 road twice once by a unmarked white van which had just decided to park across both lanes, and then the police had use the builders of a site nearby to use their crane to block us. This lead to the first and only major split of the day, where one smaller group blocked the crossroads outside oxford road station, and the other remained down the road blocking another crossroad, this was the case for 30 minutes, which gave the groups a chance to fill up with desperately needed food and drink (after running for an hour from the police in a game of “tag”, it also gave the smaller group which I was in to regroup and to see what to do next. In the meanwhile several buses were turned back and every time to a great cheer from the smaller group. Only cars that sounded the horn 5 times were allowed through our blockade. These activities must have been of great interest to those queuing up to go to the Odeon Cinema at the side of the road. Another 10 minutes later, after maintaining a unified state, there was a huge roar from behind the smaller group, it was from the larger group breaking through the police lines and running towards the smaller group.
From here we ran towards Albert square where we would stop and end the protest march, only to be stopped and penned in by the police, this was the peak of all the adrenaline of all the marchers, we were in the final stage of the march which had been organised as the day went along. At first before re-enforcements came in around 20 people were able to break free and go to the square where 6 riot police cars and their inhabitants were waiting to pen them into a bigger one where they could be dispersed in small groups. This standoff led to the casualties of the day, as people teeth were knocked in, and thrown to the ground to be arrested. There were occasional cases of breakouts, but only to be silenced by the baton of the police, and those who were about to escape went back to help their fallen comrades, only to be pushed back into the pen or launched into a police van, here the biggest number of witnesses to the march stood and gave support to the most part, to the marchers.
40 minutes later after the standoff, the police realised they had to let us go to let afternoon rush hour to commence and us blocking the roads would not help, we went to the square where we relaxed and talked about the days events. As people relaxed after 5 hours walking, running, shouting, the silence was only broken by occasional sounds of uproar of the marchers, as individuals were arrested and taken away. The people sitting down were being filmed by policemen, quite openly even the children, when asked by one of the more senior protestors if it was necessary to film the youngest children the policeman replied “we’ve seen cases as young as 12 who cause trouble”. Revolutionaries at the age of 12? The Revolution is nigh!
At the end of the day, I walked to a member of SWP and asked him if he could use his megaphone to congratulate the students of the day on what they have done, he replied in a cold tone “that would not be necessary” but what not? Had these students not risked themselves by not attending school? Should they not be given encouragement for being more conscious of what they are doing? Its not as though the SWP gave out a single shred of paper with a Marxist perspective of why there was this war, and yet you dare not to congratulate them on their work?
All in all, it could be said to have been a most productive day, when the protestors knew war was to be declared regardless of what they or anyone did. The bankruptcy of the state had been revealed. The Brutality of the state had been revealed. It is now the students and the workers of now and the future that holds the power. 2000 students on the 19th of March ran a mockery of the British Capitalist State, what can be done with 57 million?
Report on Student Strike: Albert Square, Manchester, 19th March
Like many students, I took a train into Manchester, at 9 in the morning with an open-minded friend looking forward to meeting a congregation of 50-100 people in Manchester and to be able to talk to them. As I arrived at our small towns train station with my friend, there were already 8 other students waiting to take the train also, this was a great surprise as I previously believed in what the media and “education” institutions preached in that the student movement is impotent.
The March was supposed to start at 12:00; however there were already 100 students by 11:15, and by 12:00 around a thousand (with only 2 policemen). Despite the fact that the SWP had already hijacked the demonstration, there were already loud slogans and chants being called out, NOT by the SWP but by individuals within the crowd, some of whom not even affiliated to any party. SWP control was poor, merely being able to chant from there megaphones slogans and sell their “paper”. There were people climbing up onto the statue of Albert in the square and placing placards in its hands, and wrapping a Che Guevara flag around its neck as a scarf. Also a handful of Socialist Appeal pamphlets were thrown from on top of the statue to the crowd below, until a police call for them to come down (at which point there were now 10 policemen).
The march began still with around a 1000 students and down the road, slightly fired up by the slogans they themselves had created and started (“such as 1,2,3,4 we don’t want no [explicit] war” and “5, 6, 7, 8 stop the killing stop the hate”). It was here that the real pitiful attempt of organisation was shown of the SWP, We were little than 10 minutes into the march when the “leadership” realised it didn’t know what to do, it was only from marchers inside who told the people on the megaphone to call the marchers to sit down in the road and block it. We then marched onto Cooper Street blocking the road heading towards Oxford road (by which time there were 20 police officers some on horseback). Another sit-down was organised to which the most naďve police officers tried to break into onto horseback, onto to be defied by the brave marchers who didn’t move. Soon after it emerged that that there WAS no leadership, and different members of the marchers began to take control of the marchers (although not in a sectarian way, but they saw the need for a leadership, especially if police tactics to split us succeeded), these emerging leaders or organisers were more often than not the more experienced protestors (around the age of 25) or were more open figures within a group of people (i.e. from a certain school). Fortunately there was no sectarianism from the Muslim comrades of the group.
Two hours into the protest, the number of marchers had reached its peak of around 2000 (if not above) along with the amount of police presence (with 4 riot vans and 6 police vans, with 60 police officers, 40 riot police, and 20 police with horses. It was at this stage that the most disgusting of tactics was used by the police to suppress this peaceful protest (which included many children as low as the age of 12). Apart from being blocked by simple policemen, they now blocked us with horses and threatened to trample us if we did not move from sitting in the road. For an hour they successfully kept us moving until the first real confrontation in front of the BBC, where we sat in the middle of one of the busiest roads during lunch rush hour where they used riot vans and riot police to block 2 exits and normal police officers to split us up. Soon having seen this had no effect they used fire engines (which had no siren on flashing lights on or fire-fighters with uniform on) to split us up by coming straight through us on 2 occasions, quite happily the SWP told the crowd to move for the fire-fighters putting us in the mouths of the police to pick us off. (Where the SWP really that stupid to not think “surely the police would have told the fire-fighters that this road was blocked? How will those people in “danger” be saved? Fortunately, the group was a unified unit and only 1 was arrested to the screams of “scum” by the protestors.
Once the situation was over and we had been moved on (not by the police but our great “principled” leaders the SWP) we were blocked in on 1 road twice once by a unmarked white van which had just decided to park across both lanes, and then the police had use the builders of a site nearby to use their crane to block us. This lead to the first and only major split of the day, where one smaller group blocked the crossroads outside oxford road station, and the other remained down the road blocking another crossroad, this was the case for 30 minutes, which gave the groups a chance to fill up with desperately needed food and drink (after running for an hour from the police in a game of “tag”, it also gave the smaller group which I was in to regroup and to see what to do next. In the meanwhile several buses were turned back and every time to a great cheer from the smaller group. Only cars that sounded the horn 5 times were allowed through our blockade. These activities must have been of great interest to those queuing up to go to the Odeon Cinema at the side of the road. Another 10 minutes later, after maintaining a unified state, there was a huge roar from behind the smaller group, it was from the larger group breaking through the police lines and running towards the smaller group.
From here we ran towards Albert square where we would stop and end the protest march, only to be stopped and penned in by the police, this was the peak of all the adrenaline of all the marchers, we were in the final stage of the march which had been organised as the day went along. At first before re-enforcements came in around 20 people were able to break free and go to the square where 6 riot police cars and their inhabitants were waiting to pen them into a bigger one where they could be dispersed in small groups. This standoff led to the casualties of the day, as people teeth were knocked in, and thrown to the ground to be arrested. There were occasional cases of breakouts, but only to be silenced by the baton of the police, and those who were about to escape went back to help their fallen comrades, only to be pushed back into the pen or launched into a police van, here the biggest number of witnesses to the march stood and gave support to the most part, to the marchers.
40 minutes later after the standoff, the police realised they had to let us go to let afternoon rush hour to commence and us blocking the roads would not help, we went to the square where we relaxed and talked about the days events. As people relaxed after 5 hours walking, running, shouting, the silence was only broken by occasional sounds of uproar of the marchers, as individuals were arrested and taken away. The people sitting down were being filmed by policemen, quite openly even the children, when asked by one of the more senior protestors if it was necessary to film the youngest children the policeman replied “we’ve seen cases as young as 12 who cause trouble”. Revolutionaries at the age of 12? The Revolution is nigh!
At the end of the day, I walked to a member of SWP and asked him if he could use his megaphone to congratulate the students of the day on what they have done, he replied in a cold tone “that would not be necessary” but what not? Had these students not risked themselves by not attending school? Should they not be given encouragement for being more conscious of what they are doing? Its not as though the SWP gave out a single shred of paper with a Marxist perspective of why there was this war, and yet you dare not to congratulate them on their work?
All in all, it could be said to have been a most productive day, when the protestors knew war was to be declared regardless of what they or anyone did. The bankruptcy of the state had been revealed. The Brutality of the state had been revealed. It is now the students and the workers of now and the future that holds the power. 2000 students on the 19th of March ran a mockery of the British Capitalist State, what can be done with 57 million?