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Published on Sunday, September 29, 2002 in the lndependent/UK
'This War is Wrong and We Won't Stand For It'
Eye witness: Up to 350,000 people marched in London yesterday against
military action in Iraq. And they were not the 'usual suspects'
by Simon O'Hagan
Hundreds of thousands of protesters gather in London's Hyde Park on
September 28 to demonstrate against a possible military strike on Iraq.
REUTERS/Peter Macdiarmid
The voice of middle-class England was how Debbie Mainwaring described
herself yesterday as she stood amid the clamor of one of the biggest
anti-war demonstrations ever, and it was clear that she was not alone. The
sheer numbers who turned out to express vociferous opposition to military
action in Iraq – between 150,000 and 350,000 on the central London march –
meant there was no way they could be dismissed as "the usual suspects" of
the hard left.
It took something to prompt Mrs Mainwaring and her family, from Walthamstow
in east London, to take to the streets. But as anxiety increases over the
prospect of the US launching an attack, the message of the people was being
driven home to President Bush and Tony Blair, a man widely characterized as
his unquestioning accomplice: this war is wrong, and we won't stand for it.
The scale of the turnout could be explained partly by the fact that this was
two marches in one. For the Muslim Association of Britain, the issue was
primarily freedom for Palestine. The Stop the War Coalition's aims were
self-evident, and the demonstration was merely the latest in a series it has
mounted since before the US went into Afghanistan. But it had never drawn
support like this before, and the scenes along the Embankment, where the
wait to get moving lasted up to three hours, could be compared only with
last week's effort by the Countryside Alliance. September, it seems, has
become the marching season.
"Whatever you think of rural issues, I think it's fair to say that the
issues at stake on this march are rather more serious," said Lindsey German,
the Stop the War Coalition convener. When the march finally ended in a vast
rally in Hyde Park, Ms German was one of those who addressed the crowd,
along with Tony Benn, George Galloway MP, Ken Livingstone and other leading
figures in the anti-war movement.
But the day was only partly about people like them. It was equally about the
thousands who, as with the Countryside Alliance march, were losing their
marching virginity, and clearly feeling pretty pleased about it. In their
very ordinariness they added up to a presence that Mr Blair might struggle
to ignore.
Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector, speaks to thousands of peace
protesters gathered in Hyde Park after marching through central London from
Embankment to demonstrate against an invasion of Iraq, in London, Saturday,
Sept. 28, 2002. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
There was no more unlikely figure to be making his marching debut than Scott
Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector and now scourge of the Bush
administration. "Never been on a march in my life," he said. "But the
message we have to get across is so much more important than any discomfort
I might feel." Mr Ritter was over from his home in Albany, New York, for the
Labour Party conference, and then was persuaded to join the march. "All I'm
trying to do is uphold the principle of the rule of law. The US is engaged
purely in regime removal, and that is in direct contravention of the UN.
Their behavior is anti-democratic. I'm not sure how much impact this march
will make on people in the US, but if it puts pressure on Blair and then he
changes his attitude to Bush, then it will have helped."
Mrs Mainwaring, meanwhile, couldn't remember when she had last been on a
march. "I'm a moderate. But I heard this being dismissed on the TV as a
socialist thing, and I was determined to show that it isn't." Kevin
Waddington, from King's Lynn, Norfolk, added: "It was important to show Tony
Blair that he is simply not acting in accordance with the views of the vast
majority of people in this country. The so-called evidence in his dossier is
almost entirely speculation.."
A variety of shades of opinion were gathered, and you could argue that the
items on the agenda weren't all consistent with each other. But the main
thrust of it – that many in Britain have no stomach for war and are not
prepared to give Mr Blair the backing he seeks – was undeniable.
On the march
Reverend Garth Hewitt, 55, vicar of All Hallows' on the Wall, City of
London. On the march because: "We've lost sight of morality and people seem
to think that violence is a solution." Will be marching with a cross given
to him by the Bishop of Jerusalem, Riah Abu El Assael, a Palestinian Israeli
citizen. "I'm marching for the bishop's community as well," Rev Hewitt said,
"that their suffering will be stopped. I don't understand where Blair is
coming from. I think he's deserting his moral responsibility."
Anas Altikriti, 34, Iraqi living in London. On the march because: "We refuse
to be desecrated and tarnished with the blood of innocent children of
Palestine and Iraq. Everyone here and most people in Iraq pray to see the
back of Saddam Hussein, but to do this with force is entirely unethical and
will not achieve its aims. The Iraqi people will have to bear the brunt
again and be torn to pieces. It's not fair for a whole country to suffer for
the actions of one individual."
Sue Davis, 75, retired churchworker from London. On the march because:
"There will be a huge conflagration in the Middle East if we declare war.
The focus for me is the tragic situation of the ordinary people in Iraq who
will be bombed and who will lose any of the infrastructure they have built
up since the Gulf War."
Liz Hutchins, 27, head of student CND in London. On the march because: "I
think this is an unjust war and people in Britain have a special
responsibility to speak out against it as Blair has made us Bush's number
one ally. I'm speaking out against our Government's support for the US. This
is said to be the biggest peace demonstration in a decade and hopefully that
will send a powerful message to Downing Street. It's about humanity and
speaking out for a just and fair world."
Salma Yaqoob, psychotherapist and mother of two from Birmingham. On the
march because: Treatment she received on the streets in the days following
11 September. "There was a lot of hostility towards Muslims. It was the
first time I'd ever experienced a racist attack. A man came up to me and
spat at me." Made the journey to London despite being heavily pregnant.
"According to UNICEF, half a million Iraqi children under five had died by
1995 as a result of the war and the sanctions."
© 2002 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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