Firstly, sorry about the title. There's just something about tabloid style headlines that I love. That and the Mirror had already taken "Give me hope, Joanna".
To mark the 2nd anniversary of the US assault on Fallujah a group of around 250 demonstrators, among them Joanna Lumley, congregated in Parliament Square for a reading of the names of 1000 Iraqi civilians killed by coalition troops. To list even this tiny fraction of lost lives took over 4 hours. A turnout of 250 for a demonstration would sometimes be seen as a disappointment. Not so for this one, as each person there faced arrest under new laws preventing unauthorised protests with a fine of up to £1000. The organisers were risking a year in prison.
With 5 minutes to go till the scheduled start of 12 noon the grass was entirely empty. Understandably no one wanted to risk arrest before the demonstration began but on the first stroke of Big Ben, all around the surrounding streets, people collected their placards, affixed their badges and marched purposefully in to the centre. Many assumed that the protest would be over within seconds but to the visible surprise of the organisers a human circle was able to form and the solemn recital began. I took personal security in the presence of Ms Lumley. No police officer in his right mind was going to arrest her, and by extension, the rest of us.
Names were read in small batches by those present. In contrast to the extensive biographies produced on fallen British soldiers the details here were embarrassingly brief. "Son of Hussain al-Hayali" read one. "Aged 5. Killed by gunfire. 14th February 2006". Some had known occupations and ages. Others did not. At times, the enormity of what was being described was too much and names were read through fought back tears. It was impossible of course to fully comprehend that each badly pronounced name represented a real person, with a real family, a real life cut short.
The day ended with a solemn funeral procession to Downing Street, again in direct breach of the law, led by members of the London Catholic Worker. Compelled by their faith to promote peace in any way they can, they consider this obligation to be far more important than any legal considerations.
In contrast with other smaller demonstrations no arrests were made, despite a constant but arms length police presence. That said, the threat posed by this pernicious legislation is no less great. At time of writing, the result of the government's appeal over the case of veteran Anti-war protestor Brian Haw who has carried out a permanent one man vigil outside parliament for almost 5 years is unknown. A Judge ruled last year that as his protest predates the legislation, there is no need for police permission but the constant embarrassment that he provides is too much for the government to cope with and so they remain determined to evict him. 11 people have so far been convicted for entirely peaceful activities in the Square with Sunday seeing the biggest mass act of civil disobedience so far against this war. If our right to freedom of expression is going to survive it must not be the last.
by Gabriel Vogt
For further background on the attacks on Fallujah please visit http://www.rememberfallujah.org/
Details of Brian's protest and of other events in Parliament Square at www.parliament-square.org.uk
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
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