[Dissent-fr-info] One month till 10th anniversary of Seattle N30

[Dissent! France Info Newsletter]

One month till 10th anniversary of Seattle N30

With one month to go till the 10th anniversary of the
seattle/euston/worldwide demonstration/protests/riots that successfully
disrupted the WTO (and began a process whereby that organisation
continues to struggle to get a new round of trade talks going...) and
highlighted the growing anti-capitalist, alter-globalist movement of
movements, it's time to start planning anniversary actions... Climate
Justice Action are organising an N30 Climate Day Of Action
 http://www.climate-justice-action.org/news/2009/09/17/n30-climate-day-of-action/#at
. Below is some more info on that, and then some info on what happened
in the UK/world 10 years ago.

Climate Justice Action are organising an N30 Climate Day Of Action
 http://www.climate-justice-action.org/news/2009/09/17/n30-climate-day-of-action/#at

"Help Organize for Urgent Action on Climate Change

The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a North America-based network of
organizations and activists who have joined together to build a North
American climate justice movement that emphasizes non-violent direct
action and public education to mobilize for effective and just solutions
to the climate crisis.

The Mobilization for Climate Justice invites communities, organizations
and activists across North America to join us in organizing mass action
on climate change on November 30, 2009 (N30). N30 is significant because
it both immediately precedes the upcoming UN Climate Conference in
Copenhagen (COP-15) and is the ten-year anniversary of the successful
shut down of the WTO in Seattle, when activists worldwide came together
to demonstrate the power of collective action.

The Copenhagen climate meetings will be a major focus for international
mass actions this November and December, and the MCJ is linked to these
efforts as well.

Urgent action is needed around the Copenhagen climate talks because this
is where governments around the world plan to finalize the international
climate regime that will take effect when the Kyoto Protocol climate
agreement expires in 2012. So far it appears that the new climate
agreement will be nothing more than business as usual-sacrificing real
action on climate change in favor of market-based approaches that
enhance corporate profits, while delaying urgent measures to forestall
catastrophic global heating.

A Radical Change in Direction is Urgently Needed"


 http://bak.spc.org/N30london/index.html - has info on actions that took
place in london

"OUR RESISTANCE IS AS TRANSNATIONAL AS CAPITAL!"
--"NICE ONE SEATTLE!"--

LONDON WAKES UP TO GLOBAL ACTION 30.11.99

In an action designed to raise awareness of capitalism and the WTO,
around fifty people gathered in and around Euston station at 9:30am to
begin distributing leaflets and stickers to commuters and passers-by.
Previous to their arrival the concourse had already been staked out by
dozens of police teams and even more media. The assembled crowd was
later joined by small autonomous groups from other areas of London, and
continued to hand out large amounts of information.


CONSTRUCTION WORKERS SAY NO2WTO

At 12pm the Construction Safety Campaign held a demonstration outside
the Canadian Embassy (Canada House) on Trafalgar Square. The
construction workers and their supporters were protesting at Canada's
attempt to use the WTO to reverse the decision by several EU countries
to ban asbestos use. Under WTO rules the ban is seen as a barrier to
free trade. Here in the UK, the Institute for Cancer Research expects
the current numbers of asbestos related cancers to double in the next
ten years.

Like the previous action, the protesters were accompanied by large
numbers of police and journalists, and the event passed off peacefully.

Following the demonstration the crowd marched past Downing Street while
others briefly blockaded Oxford Street in a sit down protest.


STUDENTS TARGET CITYBANK

The Lewisham branch of Citybank was picketed throughout the afternoon by
a small group of students. The bank is one of the major holders of
students loan debt. The global trend to underfund and privatise services
that accompanies the expansion of free trade has hit education in the
UK, with student grants being scrapped in favour of personal loans. The
latest round of trade talks threaten to expand this trend throughout
health and transport.


NIGERIANS PUT THEIR PRESIDENT AND SHELL ON TRIAL

President Obasanjo of Nigeria and Mark Moody-Stuart, of
Royal-Dutch/Shell faced a people's court in London to answer a number of
charges relating to human rights abuses and environmental devastation in
the Niger Delta. This piece of street theatre was performed by Nigerians
exiles and British environmental activists outside the Magistrates Court
in Covent Garden at 2:30pm Others from different campaigns had also
attended to show solidarity. More from www.oilcompanies.org/trial


RALLY AT EUSTON STATION

Nearly two thousand people gathered at Euston station at 5pm for a rally
jointly organised by Reclaim the Streets and the London Strike Support
Group designed to highlight the links between the free trade agenda of
the WTO and the privatisation of public transport in UK. The event was
endorsed by the London Transport Council of the Rail Maritime and
Transport Union (RMT), whose speaker detailed the opposition to Tube
privitisation and the real concerns for safety should it go ahead. As
banners were hung the rythms of a samba band mixed with speeches from
representatives of various campaigning groups. Although the main focus
of the rally was transport, there were also speakers covering a wide
array of issues linked to the WTO and the system it governs.

Genetic Engineering Network illustrated how free trade rules make it
impossible for people to choose what they eat, putting them in the hands
of corporations that push GMO's down their throats.

A speaker from Voices in the Wilderness criticised the British and
American governments for maintaining heavy economic sanctions against
Iraq. The group openly break sanctions to take medical supplies to Iraq,
where it is widely accepted the sanctions are causing severe shortages
of food and medicines killing thousands, particularly children.

Campaign Against the Arms Trade highlighted the links between
politicians and the global arms market. While admitting it was not the
WTO that controlled the worlds arms production, the speaker went on to
place the blame for the worlds conflicts on companies like the UK's GEC
Marconi, the labour government's so called ethical arms policy, and the
inherent greed for profit that places money before lives.

There was also support for the plight of American journalist Mumia
Abu-Jamal, in death row since 1982 as a result of a thorougly rigged
trial in which he was convicted of shooting a Philadelphia policeman. A
former member of the Black Panthers and the environmental-anarchist
community MOVE, he is widely considered a political prisoner.

Talking from Reclaim The Streets another speaker urged the importance of
placing the WTO in the context of capitalism and its effects, and cited
the growing nature of international solidarity and protest. One of the
final speakers called on people to 'Reclaim Mayday' in the year 2000 as
part of a global day of action.

As advertised the speeches ended at 7pm to resounding cheers with a
final speaker congratulating everyone on a successful day and a
remarkable gathering of issues.


RIOT AT EUSTON STATION

At around the same time as the first reports of police violence in
Seattle arrived to London, part of the crowd that had been previously
attending the rally at Euston station made an attempt to break away
towards one of the main traffic arteries in the capital. Although the
whole area was surrounded by police, protesters were directly met by a
small number of police officers and a confrontation erupted. Police were
initially driven back but a line of officers in riot gear rapidly formed
and a series of charges and skirmishes on both directions ensued. There
were diverse opinions among the protesters about the right course to
follow, many openly calling to pro-activelly confront the authorities
while others opted for passive resistance and some for withdrawal.

A small group of protesters switched their attention to an unmarked
police van and proceeded to turn it over, to a mixture of booing and
cheering from fellow protesters. In the following half hour there were
several attempts to set the van on fire which on some occasions were
thwarted by other demonstrators. Finally, the van caught fire and was
surrounded by around 30 photographers, at which moment police decided to
clear the station parade, advancing in perfectly structured lines. The
van had been left isolated and unattended near the crowd for several
hours, with 12ft metal poles attached to its top, in a remarkable flaw
of police organisation.

Most of the protestors left the area by 8pm while around 500 people, now
roughly divided into three groups, continued to clash with police. The
first group was driven towards King's Cross, with several unsuccessful
attempts to blockade the road by sitting down. They were finally
dispersed after 9pm. A second, smaller, group stayed dancing in front of
police lines in Eversholt street and gradually dispersed. The third
group was less fortunate and, after some heated physical confrontation,
was completely surrounded by a triple line of riot police who identified
and photographed all of them before their release. The area was
completely clear between 12 and 1am.

The latest reports speak of 38 arrests, 4 of them in connection with the
carnival in the City of London on J18, and 7 casualties with different
injuries (including a policeman with spinal injuries) none of them
life-threatening. Road traffic and public transport were severely
disrupted by the events.

PIRATE RADIO BLOCKS YUPPY RADIO

Interference FM, the pirate radio collective that broadcast across
London on J18, repeated their feat in protest at the commoditisation of
the airwaves. They transmitted on the frequency used by Millennium FM
106.9. This commercial broadcaster prides itself in targeting an A1
audience, those with the highest purchasing power, and fuels values
based on greed and profit. The pirates were taken off air at around 4pm
in a large operation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI),
responsible for enforcing the state control of radio and TV transmissions.


'Other' News Snippets:

- Throughout the night on N30 a live audio feed ran a scanned frequency
of the Seattle Police Department radios over the Internet, allowing
listeners to hear the latest developments in Seattle as the 'troops'
moved in, and the curfew began.

- The official WTO website (www.wto.org) out of action at 2200hrs
30/11/99 it reappeared but some time later.

- The RTS UK site and the Electro Hippies 'Virtual Sit In' was
temporarily off the air on N30. A message on the RTS site said:

''Sorry this site was down for some of November 30. Techhies turned off
the webserver while they investigated a huge increase in traffic.
Immediate suspicions of a Denial of Service attack by pro-WTO forces...
or promised activity by the Metropolitan Police to thwart protest
plans... but no! It turns out there were 100,000 hits on the
electrohippies site, from people wanting to know more about their
"virtual sit-in" - a Denial of Service protest against the WTO. So one
could claim that virtually that many people joined the action on Tuesday.''
Electro Hippies site at
http://www.greennet.org.uk/ehippies/action/index.htm

- Seattle Independant Media Centre went off the air 07.40hrs 01/12/99 -
back up again by 1000hrs 01/12/99

- Police attack reporters as they try to enter the Seattle Independent
Media Center. Report from  http://www.ainfos.ca
Pursuing protesters, a line of some 35 police in full riot gear
stretched across the 3rd Ave. between Union and Pike some 10 feet North
of the Independent Media Center (at 1415 3rd). Approximately 10
protesters sat across from them 30 feet to the South, with another 20
persons scattered around the block among the sitters. The seated
protesters repeatedly asked the riot police what they wanted from the
protesters, pointing out that when they had tried to leave, they were
attacked. The riot police, wearing gas masks and full body armor, said
nothing. After several minutes the line of protesters grew to about 15.
Seconds later a concussion grenade landed and exploded among the seated
protesters. Simultaneously, the riot cops charged, spraying pepper spray
and tear gas at anyone they encountered including journalists filming
outside the door of the IMC. The IMC filled with gas as people grabbed
for masks and scarves. An ambulance was called for a bystander who was
rushed into the IMC after being hit by what was believed to be a
concussion grenade in the face. Over 100 journalists were held hostage
by the police for approximately one hour until they were allowed to
leave. Cartridges from concussion grenades and two different types of
rubber bullets were found in the street and brought back to the IMC. A
curfew has been declared for the downtown Seattle area after 7 pm. 30.11.99

- The possession, sale or wearing of gas masks made illegal in Seattle!!
2.12.99(?)

- Hundreds of arrested protestors have cut their plastic handcuffs with
nail clippers, barricaded themselves in the buses used to take them to
the nick and are refusing to even give their names. Many others continue
civil disobediance after arrest - Seattle 2.12.99




Selected Global Reports:  http://bak.spc.org/N30london/world.html

Includes for theUK:

Cardiff, Wales: In Cardiff an anit-WTO procession marched through the
centre of town.
Bangor, Wales: A coalition of groups held a nonviolent and colourful
protest march in the high street in bangor, north wales. organised by
gwynnedd and mon EF! the demo attracted a big range of allies including
the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru whose leader Dafydd Wigely emailed
a message of support. what was exciting was that this was a demo that
had such a radical agenda and yet still attracted so much "straight"
political support and public interest -we ran out of leaflets in about
10 minutes!!! (and got more...)
approx 40 people attended the demo (a lot for bangor as it goes so no
bwhahhahas please...!)- a lot of new faces- and there was good press
coverage and, on the streets, a lot of people who wanted to get info,
talk over the issues etc.
so "just" as a public education exercise this was very positive as the
seed for future coilitions it was also very positive- good connections
made- the EF! group has got a lot more interest as a result which in
turn has rekindled motivation. more actions to follow!!

Leeds, England:In Leeds city centre, around 50 protestors (and yet more
SWP sads) were faced by over 300 cops. In the face of these daft odds,
people wandered around, handed out leaflets outside scummy companies,
and generally had a laugh.

Manchester, England: 12.30pm Lloyds Bank on Cross Street is occupied and
shut down by 50 activists, who then proceed to block the street outside.
Pictures:  http://www.nowto.fsnet.co.uk/news.htm

Totnes, England: A disused garage and an old Toll House, soon to be
"luxury flats" have been squatted in Totnes, South Devon to draw local
people’s attention to the WTO.

Below is from Wikipedia (so if you don't like it, you can edit it ;-)):

"On the morning of November 30, 1999, the Direct Action Network's plan
was put into action. Several hundred activists arrived in the deserted
streets near the convention center and began to take control of key
intersections. Over the next few hours, a number of marchers began to
converge on the area from different directions. These included a student
march from the north and a march of citizens of the developing world who
marched in from the south. Some demonstrators held rallies, others held
teach-ins and at least one group staged an early-morning street party.
Meanwhile, a number of protesters still controlled the intersections
using lockdown formations.

The control of the intersections, plus the sheer numbers of protesters
in the area, prevented delegates from getting from their hotels to the
Convention Center. It also had the effect of cutting the police forces
in two: the police who had formed a cordon around the convention center
were cut off from the rest of the city. The police outside of the area
eventually tried to break through the protesters' lines in the south.

That morning, the King County Sheriff's Office and Seattle Police
Department fired pepper spray, tear gas canisters, stun grenades, and
eventually rubber bullets at protesters at several intersections in an
attempt to reopen the blocked streets and allow as many WTO delegates as
possible through the blockade.[13] At 6th Avenue and Union Street, the
crowd threw them back.

The situation was complicated around noon, when black-clad anarchists
(in a formation known as a black bloc) began smashing windows and
vandalizing storefronts, beginning with Fox's Gem Shop. This produced
some of the most famous and controversial images of the protests. This
set off a chain-reaction of sorts, with additional protesters pushing
dumpsters into the middle of intersections and lighting them on fire,
deflating the tires of police vehicles,[14] non-black bloc demonstrators
joining in the property destruction, and a general disruption of all
commercial activity in downtown Seattle.

Other protesters tried to physically block the activities of the black
bloc. Seattle police, led by Chief Norm Stamper, did not react
immediately, because they had been convinced by protest organizers
during the protest-permit process that peaceful organizers would quell
these kinds of activities.

The police were eventually overwhelmed by the mass of protesters
downtown, including many who had chained themselves together and were
blocking intersections. Meanwhile, the late-morning labor-organized
rally and march drew tens of thousands; though the intended march route
had them turning back before they reached the convention center, some
ignored the marshals and joined what had become a street-carnival-like
scene downtown.

The opening of the meetings was delayed, and it took police much of the
afternoon and evening to clear the streets. Seattle mayor Paul Schell
imposed a curfew and a 50-block "No-Protest Zone".

Over 600 people were arrested over the next few days. One particularly
violent confrontation occurred the evening of November 30, when police
pursued protesters fleeing from downtown into the bohemian neighborhood
of Capitol Hill, using tear gas, pepper spray, and physical force.[15] A
police order that day also banned the use or sale of gas masks downtown,
provoking criticism.[16]"

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