Greek General Strike and Worldwide Actions Against the War
April 3, 2003
edited from corporate news
A nationwide strike called to protest the war in Iraq shut down banks, stores and government services, and disrupted flights Thursday in Greece, where thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in several cities. About 10,000 people shouting anti-American slogans filed past the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy in Athens, and 15,000 marched to the U.S. consulate in the northern port city of Thessaloniki. Police said all rallies were peaceful (they lied).
The public in NATO-member Greece is overwhelmingly opposed to the war and all main political parties — including the governing Socialists — support the near-daily demonstrations at the U.S. Embassy. Still, the government has let the United States use Greek airspace and a U.S. Navy base on the island of Crete in the war.
Demonstrations flared in several other countries Thursday, including Muslim-dominated Niger.
Students in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, hurled eggs and red paint against the fence of the U.S. Embassy. Some protesters carried posters with a picture of President Bush (news - web sites) and the text: "Wanted — dead or alive. Preferably dead. Reward — peace."
In Pattani, Thailand, a predominantly Muslim town, an estimated 30,000 people prayed in the streets. Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated Thursday in Thailand's largest protest against the war in Iraq. "I think what Bush is doing is equal to Satan's work. Why can't he find a better way to stop a problem?" said Waetalee Waebuyi, a 21-year-old student. The protesters burned an effigy of Bush in a symbolic recreation of hell.
In Malaysia, about 2,000 members of the largest political opposition group burned U.S. flags and effigies of Bush in Kuala Terengganu, a town about 200 miles from the capital, Kuala Lumpur, the national news agency reported.
About 3,000 people marched through the main financial district in Manila, Philippines, beating drums and yelling "no to war." Some kicked around a stuffed toy dog with a mask showing the face of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq. A protester carried her portrait and a live python to portray her as a traitor.
Thousands of Indonesians staged protests in several cities as the US-led war against Iraq entered its third week, with some burning President George W. Bush in effigy. At least 5,000 university students demonstrated in the city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, police said. They arrived by car, motorbike, truck and bus to hear two hours of speeches in the central square before dispersing peacefully.
At Cirebon in West Java some 2,500 people rallied outside city hall and torched a Bush effigy, the state Antara news agency said.
Another 1,000 Islamic boarding school students took to the streets of Semarang city in Central Java.
In Jakarta some 200 people picketed the US embassy and later the United Nations. They called for the UN to bring Bush and allied leaders before a war crimes tribunal.
Some 200 students at Surabaya in East Java pelted the US consulate with rotten eggs and tomatoes after burning a US flag, ElShinta radio said.
Anti-war protests were also reported at Bandung in West Java and Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, has seen daily protests since the attacks began but almost all have been peaceful. The government has strongly criticised the war as an act of illegal aggression.
Link: http://www.geocities.com/insurrectionary_anarchists
