Jaajef wa G-L
FYI
Tony
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following are eyewittness reports of today's and ogoing
action and
the "state of emergency" declared in Seattle against those
protesting world corporatization. For more info. and up to the
minute reports from Seattle and actions taking place around
the
world see:
http://206.168.174.20/imc/
and Z net's web site :
http://zena.secureforum.com/wtowatch/index.cfm
End Corporate domination!
Altaf
Eyewitness to Day One
By Peter Bohmer
Yesterday was a good day. Today was incredible. This will
be an
eyewitness account of someone who only saw a tiny per
cent of
what has been going on. I arrived Sunday night and went to
the
direct action office against the WTO where people have been
meeting for a week to plan direct action. A large number of
people,
maybe 2000 in total, met in affinity groups to plan direction
action.
While I was there, a few affinity groups squatted (occupied)
some
nearby vacant housing with the plan to turn it over to
homeless
people after the protests against the WTO. The energy,
initiative,
was incredible.
Monday, November 29th, I spent the afternoon at a Filipino
Community Center in the Rainier Valley section of Seattle.
The
People's Assembly, a primarily Filipino and Filipino-American
group that is affiliated with the Filipino left, were organizing a
march
today that included anti-WTO people from South Korea,
Japan, and
the Philippines as well as the various groups from the United
States such as the Mumia Abu-Jamal Defense Committee.
Their
programs yesterday and their march today of the People's
Assembly, which I attended were one of the few parts of the
protest
thus far that was led by people of color, primarily Filipino,
and
where the meetings and marches were multi-racial.
There was also an inspiring panel of women from Malaysia,
Korea,
Thailand, and the Phillipines who called for an end to the
colonialism of global capitalism, and combined in ways that
are not
often done issues of gender, class and global capitalism.
Last night, Monday, after a huge program at a local
Methodist
church where Vandana Shiva, Congresswomen Maxine
Waters,
AIL-CIO President John Sweeney an many religious leaders
called
for a cancellation of the debt of the poorer countries of the
world, a
good sized march of maybe 8000 marched to a place where
the
World Trade organization was having opening ceremonies.
The
slogan was Break The Chains of Debt. Some people chained
themselves near where the delegates were meeting.
Jubilee 2000 Northwest did not want a confrontation with the
police
and ended the demonstration soon after when we arrived
there. The
march was strong but not very militant. Today was a totally
different story. By 7 A.M., thousands of people met at two
main
points and a few smaller points to shut down the WTO and
that is
what we did. By 8:30 AM every intersection leading to where
the
WTO delegates were meeting was impassable. People
chained
themselves together, built barricades of whatever was
available to
throw into the streets. No vehicles could pass although some
delegates tried to arrive by foot. The WTO cancelled their
meetings
in the morning.
Every cop in Seattle was on duty backed by secret Service
and
many other law enforcement officials. They used large
amounts of
tear gas as well as pepper gas and shooting rubber pellets at
high
speeds to try to take control of the streets. We just moved to
other
streets. Thousands of anti-WTO protesters controlled for
many
hours large parts of downtown Seattle.
It is difficult to estimate the numbers but it was definitely in
the
many thousands who stayed in the streets. The People for
Fair
Trade/Network Opposed to the WTO also had a huge rally
and
demonstration, 30,000 plus I heard, that crossed the direct
action
and linked together in a few places although the solidarity
seemed
limited. The delegates to the WTO had a second session
planned
for 2 P.M. As far as I know, that was also cancelled and it
seems
like little of the business of the WTO to extend the
agreements is
happening.
Demonstrators continued to control the streets although the
police
often forced people out through the use of tear gas and
charging,
arrests seemed minimal in the afternoon. In mid afternoon,
the
Governor Gary Locke, a corporate Democrat announced a
curfew,
state of emergency, and the call up of the National Guard,
although
unarmed for 7 P.M.
At this time, 8:45 there are a few demonstrators in downtown
Seattle and a significant amount of trashing going on,
breaking
windows of some stores. According to the media it is people
of
high school age, mainly white, who are not carrying anti
WTO
signs. During the day, a few stores such as Nike, the Gap
and
other users of sweatshop labor had their windows broken but
it was
quite isolated.
Tomorrow, militant protest will continue. Being right in the
middle of
it, the direct action seems very positive--thousands of people
closing down Seattle for one day to challenge corporate
power and
their exploitation globally. One reporter I spoke to from
Geneva,
said Clinton in announcing the meeting in Seattle at their last
big
meeting in Seattle promised tranquillity and a welcome of the
WTO
in Seattle. It has been anything but that today. Tens of
thousands
are confronting power in Seattle on November 30th. The
struggle
continues.
by The Phantom 10:16pm Tue Nov 30 '99
A journalist's account in words and pictures of a day of
protest in
Seattle.
As dusk fell over Washington State's largest city, the world
watched. With National Guard troops on standby and heavily-
armed riot police maintaining a very visible presence, Seattle
has
been declared a 'no-go' zone with a curfew effective from 7pm
(Pacific standard time). The streets of the usually sedate
North
Western city - more famous for its coffee than its history of
urban
resistance - are now quiet following a massive 'mop-up'
operation
by the Seattle Police Department.
With indiscriminate usage of their arsenal, police officers
were
successful in ensuring protestors and delegates alike
suffered the
stinging effects of teargas, plastic buckshot anti-personnel
rounds
and percussion grenades. Middle-aged white men in suits
staggared from their WTO Convention meetings into the
city's
network of streets swarming with conflict. The sight was
bizarre.
An escalation to violence did not seem likely this morning as
peaceful non-violent actions erupted around the major roads
which
lead to the city's Convention Centre. Protesters linked arms
in
efforts to prevent the delegates from meeting. The police,
who were
desperately trying to keep roads open, were effectively
outnumbed.
a controversial subject with many independent sources
claiming
heavy-handed policing provided the initial wave of
confrontation -
By 7.45am Johnnie Walker, a member of the Bananarchy
Movement, joined his fellow anti-Chiquita activists in the
formation
of a human chain. The termainl activist in the chain locked
his neck
to a metal fence with a bycicle U-lock. Walker said, "We're
protesting because Chiquita does not recognise worker's
rights in
Latin America, that they block Carribbean banana producers
from
getting a fair price - and Chiquita are going to try and get to
the
WTO".
Delegates suddenly appeared with a police escort, and the
line
concentrated around the new arrivals. "Back off - you're
gonna
break this guy's arm" shouted a protestor as 19-year-old
Mick
struggled to breathe against his restrictive U-lock.
By 10 o'clock, the junction of Union and 6th Avenue was
awash
with people. There was a tense atmosphere as riot officers
startedto put on gas marks. "They're getting ready" shouted
a man
in a yellow hat. A young woman with a loudspeaker reminded
the
crowd of the motives of the demonstration: "This is a
peaceful
protest - sit down and stay sitting. We will not move and we
will not
be provoked".
Police numbers are swelled and within seconds the thick
grey
smoke of tear gas permeated the air. People were being
dragged
behind police lines and sprayed in the eyes with pepper
spray. The
line of protestors fell back and the junction of Union Street
and 6th
Avenue fell under police control. Delegates began streaming
through police lines as people shouted, "corporate scum -
you'd
sell your own children!" There's a lot of laughter as one side
of the
Avenue shouted "we love you" and the other responded with
"we
love you too".
The next few hours were a constant to-ing and fro-ing
between
police and protestors as tear gas, pepper spray and plastic
buckshot were blasted indiscriminately into the crowd. By
the time
the 35,000-strong AFL/CIO union-sponsored march arriveed
at
12.30pm, the crowds of protestors who had maintained their
blockade for over 5 hours were showing signs of fatigue. A
young
woman lay on the road recieving medical attention for
buckshot
wounds to her face, others were getting water poured over
their
eyes to relieve the effects of stinging tear-gas. The arrival of
crowds
of unionists, developing world activists and a host of
progressive
organisations' representatives brought a mellow atmosphere
to the
proceedings. Children, older people, striking steel workers
and
international NGO delegates worked their placating magic.
"I'm
here to offer support, chase girls and party" jokes 51-year-old
Larry
from the ILWU in Portland, Oregon. As if in response to
Larry, a
troupe of topless women danced past in a protest as part of
the
larger demonstration.
Spanish WTO Convention delegates Jose and Salvador sat
at the
Seattle's Best Coffeeshop opposite Pike Street Market. "We
have
been invited to attend to the conference. I think it's a problem
now -
people have travelled far from around the world. They have to
spend
a lot of money to get here. They are ministers who have been
democratically elected". I asked, Can the protest stop the
WTO?
"They can't stop the international trade" says Jose.
At the Federal Building on Second Avenue, Norm Stamper
(Seattle's Chief of Police), began to answer questions from
the ten
or so journalists awaiting the city's official response. "They
said it
would be the biggest protest of the century and they were
right" he
said cooly. Having declared the police had not used certain
anti-
personnel weapons, he refused to discuss how a journalist
present
at the press briefing had possession of a mini-rubber bullet.
He
joked, "[I'd better not] drop it - I'd hate to see what that does
in this
room if it went off".
Back on the streets the tension was rising. Police remained
intent
on clearing the streets. Battles raged with between
http://206.168.174.20/imc/
the eclectic collection of protesters and police as tear gas
canisters flew.
Within a few hours word had spread about the curfew
announced at
a Mayoral press briefing at 5.00pm . The police broke up the
protesters into increasingly smaller groups and pressured
protesters to leave the streets. Bill Clinton is expected to
arrive
tomorrow and it is unclear how State authorities intend
handle the
situation . One thing, however, is certain: 1999 is a date
Seattle
will never forget. As protestors blocked the streets,
the
police responded with overwhelming force, using the latest
sub-
lethal weapons.
The six police agencies bringing force to bear in Seattle,
outnumbered and out-spirited, are responding with outbursts
of
violence using the latest sub-lethal weapons. Many
eyewitnesses
report that rubber bullets, tear gas grenades, hand-held
pepper-
spray canisters, flash-bang grenades, an armored personnel
carrier, and an attack helicopter are all part of the
department\'s
crowd-control arsenal. There are also reports of the use of
paint
pellets to mark protestors for later apprehension.
Islam and Social Justice Page:
http://www.wco.com/~altaf/altaf.html
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