PEOPLES PRESS INTERNATIONAL (PPI) - - - a public service of CADRE (Citizens for a Democratic Renaissance) http://cyberjournal.org - - - ppi.018-Geneva: It started out peacefully... Richard K. Moore - - - Republication permission granted for non-commercial and small-press use with all sig & header info incorporated (in some form), please. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Geneva, 16 May. It was a clear sunny day at the Place de Neuve, and as the demonstrators gathered for the "Manifestation" it was difficult not to imagine oneself back in Golden Gate Park, or perhaps Berkeley, in the sixties. The demonstrators had come from Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, and also were included many people from Africa, Latin America, India, and other countries from what people here call "The South". These "Southerners" did not make the long journey here for the manifestation but were already here for other reasons, as students, diplomatic interns, etc. etc. I've been told that Geneva is not accustomed to major street demonstrations. The occasion of this one was the upcoming "Ministerial" meeting at the UN, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). The bigwigs are gathering to celebrate the progress of "free" trade, and the people gathered to protest the suffering brought by that same "progress". The banners and placards were militant and colorful... "The WTO kills people: kill the WTO", "Free trade or liberty, you choose", "Solidarity against Capitalism", "Globalization is global poverty", etc etc. Most were in French, many in German, many were cartoons/graphics, and some were decorated vehicles ("floats"), so it is not easy for an inexperienced reporter such as myself to adequately convey the picture to you. Though the messages were militant, the mood of the people was festive and peaceful. Except for a tiny few. There were no police in evidence and the traffic had been rerouted to give the parade a chance to go all the way across town up to almost the very gates of the WTO building. It was there that a police barrier and a handfull of police with helmets and shields were encountered. The crowd remained peaceful and the speeches began. After thirty minutes or so of speeches, out of the crowd flew a beer bottle toward the police, and then another, and over a few minutes it grew to an ongoing mini-barrage. The police, to their credit, simply ignored the bottles. No _immediate harm was done, but I knew it was a very unwise development and shouted out "Boo!" and "Stupido!" loud enough to be heard. No one else seemed particularly concerned but the organizers of the days events moved the truck and sound equipment well back out of the way and not long thereafter the event was over, or so it seemed. It was only while walking back to the center of town that I saw the damage which had been done by a tiny minority... broken windows in banks and MacDonalds, and at least one smashed car. Please don't misunderstand, I'm _not expressing "bourgeois outrage" at such minor damage -- if all the MacDonalds in the world were to be destroyed (and especially if the insurance companies refused to pay) the world would be a much better place, imho, although I'm certainly not advocating any such tactics. The point of my objection is that a _tiny minority was misrepresenting the intent of the overwhelming majority of those who chose to "manifest", and that the news reports will undoubtedly carry the whole thing as "a violent demonstration by an unruly mob", which was _not the case. If any of you have seen reports on the days events here in Geneva I sincerely request that you write in and describe their tenor. And it got worse later. I thought it was all over, and eventually ended up at Flannigans (Geneva's "Irish pub" and where the "craic is great"). When they kicked us out at 2 am and I went outside the pub I could hear the helicopter. It was circling and had one of those awful spotlights (one of the things that drove me to leave the US when I did). I could see the spotlight was on the very plaza ("Place de Circque") near which I was staying and that was also the campground for the manifestation organizers and volunteers. Hurrying down there to see what was going on I could hear the pops of tear gas cannisters, and as I got still closer the sounds of rocks being thrown could also be heard. Again it was a tiny minority, perhaps a dozen, who were making trouble while the bulk of the campers were sitting around campfires at the other end of the park. (How easily they could have stood between the police and the idiots and put an end to the unfortunate developments.) Only in the morning did I find that several windows in shops (random shops this time) had been broken as well as those of some construction machinery that happened to be in the park. The word on the street became the next morning... "They pretend to be against globalization, but they're attacking small shops. Now they're gone and the WTO can go on to do its work". So what is the bottom line on all this? No one was hurt (as far as I know), the damage wasn't very extensive, and everything will be cleaned up within a day or two. The _point is that Geneva and the police had been as cooperative as they could be to the demonstration planners. They gave them a good route; they stayed out of the way; they let the people have their day. But a tiny minority gave the whole thing a violent tone and the event will be recorded as a "violent demonstration". What do you think will happen next time a demonstration is planned? Will the city be as welcoming? Will the police come on the scene with a chip on their shoulders? Will 20,000 people again be willing to "manifest"? Who has benfitted from the semi-violent turn of events? I now understand why the anti-Vietnam marches in Berkeley always had "monitors" who marched alongside the parades, separating the demonstrators from the police and from the windows. Democracy is not about a minority setting the agenda for the majority, whether that minority be a few fat cats at the WTO or a few drunken kids who like to throw their empty beer bottles at police (or a few hired agent provacateurs, which they may well have been). To the police in Geneva I, as one individual, express my apologies for the behavior of the few and my gratitude that they did not respond with billy clubs as they would have in the US or the UK. rkm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Seeking an Effective Democratic Response to Globalization and Corporate Power" --- an international workshop for activist leaders June 25 <incl> July 2 - 1998 - Nova Scotia - Canada --- Restore democratic sovereignty Create a sane and livable world Bring corporate globalization under control. CITIZENS FOR A DEMOCRATIC RENAISSANCE (CADRE) mailto:•••@••.••• http:http://cyberjournal.org --- To subscribe to renaissance-network, send any message to: •••@••.••• --- To subscribe to cj, send any message to: •••@••.••• --- To review cj archives, send any message to: •••@••.•••
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