Manchester Anti-War Demo: September 23rd 2006
The Celtic Heritage Trust decided to join the F8 Republic and attend this people’s demo- we consider that the underlying aggravators of war directly challenge the concept of sustainable development and are thus bound in political- religious power struggles. Our attendance at the demo was to bring to the Labour parties’ attention that their policy to adhere to sustainable development was in direct contravention to some of the issues relating to the war in Iraq.
The theme was of the overall Demonstration was "Time To Go" - which was a call to get troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. It was estimated 20,000 people took part. the Stop The War Coalition had expected about 100,000. One of the organisers, Yasmin Ataullah of the British Muslim Initiative, however estimated the figures of demonstrators at 40,000 or higher. Yasmin stated that the demonstration had been one of the biggest mobilisations outside London. This is our version of the events first hand.
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The Celtic HeritageTrust would request that you follow the below link- before you make assessment as to why we Actioned at Manchester |
Most of the Governments of this world have signed up to concept the of Sustainable Development- Perhaps if they saw reason to activate their committments - then real purpose could be achieved |
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Happy Xmas (War is Over) |
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WAR CONTRAVENES SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT One of our most ancient Celtic Traditions is to share informaiton via song-poetry |
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We left our Headquarters on the Friday evening, staying overnight at one of founder members community space somewhere in Yorkshire - (Thank you folks) leaving early morning to head back to Manchester. On arrival in Manchester the first visual 'impact' was the police presence which seemed to be rather over intensive considering the demo had been developed by a reputable organisation some monthes before hand.
Clearly there was some expectation of trouble- from whom one does not know! However, we were speedly set up and then listened with great interest to the speeches that were being made by the Stop the War Coalition and the supporters of the march such as George Galloway and Bianca Jagger. The speeches were extremely difficult to hear because of the massive crowds that were present and the constant buzz of Police and Media helicopters that were circling continually above. What we were very impressed with were the diversity of culture present - which in itself demonstrated how human kind 'can and do' work together to achieve common goals! The question is why we/they are not allowed to develop these most instinctive attributes in a natural way! It is notable that related issues are not limited to the situation in Iraq but are issues that affect communities globally- and that the communities need the opportunity to make known there opinion. FREEDOM of SPEECH is a very important part of our culture and we must ensure that we maintain this right. Again there was a great 'corporate element' present- much T-shirt selling - we feel that when priced reasonably these types of action are an excellent way to raise funds for an organisation - What we do mind is the often aggressive promotional manner in which they are sold.
The March started peacefully at 13.30 and it took some time to move out of the square due to the numbers - we remained with F8. After one hour a call was made for all the marchers to lay down where they were - This action was 'in respect' of all the individual victims of war and members of armed forces that had lost their lives in wars name.. Manchester was at a stand still the moment was quite inspirational and we commend the organisers for innovating in such a way - especially as we witnessed disabled communities making evry effort to take part. The mark continued for some 15 minutes.
The peoples protest was very well organised however due to lack of food- water during the march we nipped into an inn to catch some refreshment (the police were restricting access to shops on route). We were able to spot the march from an upstairs window- What we did notice and thought to be very worrying is that whilst around 25,000 were marching through the street below 'whistling- druming- singing- chanting-' huge carnival type models and people in non-formal dress - the people in the inn were firmly 'visually' glued to a 12 foot wide television screen in which two presenters were discussing the ins and outs of a football mach (not Manchester related) that had happened earlier. Nobody seemed at all interested in the action that was occurring outside
On our return to the square /meeting point further presentations were made - However the Celtic Heritage Trust was disappointed that very little reference was made with regards to the consequence of war and the commitment made by governments to the concept of sustainable development.
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Author: Michael Jensen Keywords: Anti-War
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One of our less able members remained in the Inn and we requested he just keep an eye on the march and photograph anything that he thought to be of interest. Our member captured the following shots.
Our member also stated that after the intensive police presence a whole array of road sweepers followed clearing away every shred of evidence that a protest rally had ever taken place. Te Celtic Heritage Trust was rather concerned that the police felt that such an intimitating presence was necessary - the whole emphasis of the march related to the pacifist approah to human conflict. ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN ONE GIANT LEAP FOR NATURE |
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