Day X, Stop the war in Ira

Introduction: War has started

The US led imperialist assault against the people of Iraq means huge destruction and the loss of many lives. A high tech capitalist superpower is indiscriminately attacking a people already subjected to recent wars, UN sanctions (’a slow genocide’) and regular US/British air attacks. Despite all the hypocritical talk of waging war to create ’peace’, of so-called ’nation building’ and of ’liberating’ Iraq and so on, this war will result in further death and poverty for workers and young people in Iraq.

Over the next few days our special Day X feature will bring reports from around the world of the initial wave of anti-war protests and demonstrations.

CWI online, 20 March 2003.

Global protests: School students to the fore

Millions have protested against the start of the US led imperialist war against Iraq. As the reports from CWI sections posted on this site show, many of the demonstrations have been led and dominated by school students, aged from 11 years upwards. The CWI sections and International Socialist Resistance, which initiated Youth Against the War (YAW) in many countries, have played a key role or the main role in organising many of these protests.

CWI online, 21 March 2003.

England and Wales: 100,000s of school students strike and 100,000s march

On the evening of Day X, school students in Newcastle upon Tyne organised a sit down protest in the road. The police announced that, if the school students did not move in two minutes, they would start to arrest the ringleaders. First one school student, then another, then all of them, shouted, "I’m a ringleader, I’m a ringleader".

Ken Smith and Hannah Sell, Socialist Party, London

Pictures: Seattle, US (10), Southampton, England (3) and Portugal (4)

CWI pictures from around the world.

CWI online

Greece: Massive protests in Athens and Thessaloniki

Reports and picture from Greece

Andreas Payiatsos, Athens and Nikos Epanastasiadis, Thessaloniki

Sunday 23 March 2003

Austria: March 20 Anti-war protests demand strike action

The anti-war protests in Vienna and Salzburg on 20 March, partly led by the ISR and SLP, Austrian section of the CWI, demanded strike action by the unions as part of the international movement. Between 10.000 – 15.000 school students took to the streets on day X in Vienna following the call of ISR and the official school student representation in Vienna. The ÖGB (trade union federation) youth sector joined the mobilisation. The media coverage was quite good. The demo passed the ÖGB headquarters, the University and the US Embassy. One of the main slogans alongside "strike against war" was "education not bombs". Also the far right Austrian government was attacked for its policy of militarisation.

Franz Breier Jun, Sozialistische LinksPartei, Vienna

Saturday 22 March 2003

Italy at war

After the signing up of Italy by Bush onto the list of nations supporting the war, the Italian parliament yesterday officially conceded to the USA the use of bases and air space. Nevertheless demonstrations against this have gone ahead, even at the time the agreement was being discussed. The parliamentary vote saw defections from the majority and an opposition resolution was presented by the Olive Tree coalition and the Rc together.

Fabrizio Cucchi, Florence

Spain: Students lead the way

The discovery that the bombing of Iraq had started was met by outrage, walkouts, road blocks and demonstrations involving up to 50,000 university and school students in Barcelona yesterday (Thursday), according to press reports.

Chris Ridge in Barcelona

Northern Ireland: Thousands of school students walk out…thousands locked in

Across Northern Ireland thousands of students walked out of schools on Day X, responding to the call from Youth Against War. The mood was determined.

Socialist Party and YAW members, Belfast

Republic of Ireland: Angry protests at parliament and US/British embassies

A protest organised by various anti war groups including the Irish Anti War movement was held outside the Dail (Irish parliament) where a debate over the continued use of Shannon airport for US war aircraft to land and re-fuel was taking place. In the end, the government carried the debate by 77 votes to 60 and have disgracefully allowed the US to continue to use the airport. This implicates them and so-called ’neutral’ southern Ireland in the war.

Michael Murphy, Socialist Party, Dublin

Italy: "The parallel war" of huge protests

No village or town in the country was without some kind of anti-war protest on Day X as people came out to oppose the war against Iraq. There were 85 major demonstrations in 36 provinces. There were strikes, marches, sit-ins. Traffic was stopped and railway lines were blocked as workers students and others came onto the streets.

Gerri Creegan, Naples

Sri Lanka: Socialists’ anti-war poster campaign

As soon as the first bombs dropped on Baghdad, members of the United Socialist Party (USP) in Sri Lanka (section of the CWI) got to work making more than a hundred large hand-written posters with the slogan ’Bush, get out of Iraq! Let the Iraqi people take action!’

USP, Colombo

Belgium: CWI leads country wide anti-war protests

Tens of thousands joined in Day X protests in Belgium. The Linkse Socialistische Partij/Mouvement pour une alternative Socialiste (LSP-MAS), the Belgian section of the CWI, played a key role in all the biggest demonstrations. It is no coincidence that the biggest demonstrations were in Gent, where we have a strong basis. But also in Antwerp, Brussels, Liège and Leuven we played an important role in the big demonstrations.

Geert Cool, LSP/MAS, Belgium

Czech Republic: Anti-war movement gathers momentum

Up to 2,500 people protested in Prague on Day X, which is a big step forward for the Czech anti-war movement.

Vasek Votruba, Socialistická alternativa Budoucnost, Prague

Portugal: Protesters picket the US embassy

The first day of the US led imperialist assault on Iraq has hugely increased the disgust and opposition from workers and youth against this war, against US imperialism and against the right wing Portuguese government that supports the war.

Jose David Gregorio, Alternativa Socialista, Portugal

Germany: 150,000 on school students’ strike

Youth against War (JgK), a German-wide campaign of school students, students and apprentices, which was initiated by members of Socialist Alternative (SAV, the German CWI section) and International Resistance (the German section of International Socialist Resistance), brought out more than 150,000 school students on March 20.

Sascha Stanicic, SAV, Berlin

Sweden: Tens of thousands students strike

The immediate response from thousands of school students when the US war started was to leave school, strike and march. The central square in Stockholm was once more packed with ten thousand school students, as well as other squares around the country.

Elin Gauffin, Stockholm

Australia: Fifty thousand protest in Melbourne against Howard’s war role

As the bombs started falling on Baghdad on March 20, over 50,000 people gathered spontaneously in Melbourne, Australia, for the first of many rallies to come. Pictures.

Denise Dudley, Melbourne, Australia

Canada: Thousands protest in Toronto’s financial district

The first full day of the war saw protest actions throughout Toronto. A vigil has been set up at the peace fountain in front of Toronto City Hall and will be maintained throughout the conflict.

Andy Lehrer, Socialist Alternative, Toronto

United States: Eight thousand Seattle Students walk out

The student walkout in Seattle on Thursday 20 March was a tremendous success. Students from over 30 Seattle colleges, high schools and middle schools (8 colleges and 22 high schools and middle schools) took part in the walkout. There was a North side rally of 7-800 students at the University of Washington (UW), and a South side rally of 2000 students at Seattle Central Community College (SCCC). Both rallies than marched to downtown Seattle and had a citywide student walkout rally there.

Philip Locker, Seattle and Ted Virdone, Oberlin, Ohio.

Thursday 20 March 2003

Sweden: 1,000 students strike in Umeå

March 20 saw around 1,000 school students participate in a strike and midday demonstration in Umeå in northern Sweden.

Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna, CWI in Sweden.

Australia: 20,000 at Sydney protest three hours after war declared

Approximately 20,000 people lined the streets of Sydney just 3 hours after war was officially declared on Thursday (March 20), demanding Australian troops be withdrawn immediately and Liberal Prime Minister Howard end his slavish support for the Bush war machine.

Socialist Party, CWI in Australia

Where next for the anti-war movement

SO THE ’liberation’ of the Iraqis is beginning – with massive carpet bombing. The US military have planned to use ten times the amount of bombs dropped in the whole of the last Gulf War in the first 48 hours of this war. They are prepared to use ’moabs’, nicknamed the ’mother of all bombs’, which are 40% more powerful than the lethal daisy cutters. Plus Bloody Big Bang and Dictators and weapons of mass destruction

Three articles from The Socialist.

Spontaneous school walk outs in Britain

Socialist Party member, Steve Bush, describes a spontaneous school strike against war that took place yesterday in the town of Tiverton in Devon, England.

Steve Bush, Devon.