Visit Sedgemoor Union for all your aural needs...
Sunday September 24th 2000 10:00am, a coach is waiting in the car park behind The Watershed cinema in central Bristol. It's passengers are milling around the car park, meeting each other- in most cases for the first time. These people have little in common with each other, they come from a complete cross section of age categories, educational, racial and economic backgrounds. The one thing they share is their political and social vision for the world, as one of the more eloquent passengers puts it, "We are against the global capitalist system with its logic of competition and profit. We want an alternative society based on the democratic control of the world's resources in order to meet human needs in an environmentally sustainable way."
The coach drivers looked just like the truckers and farmers responsible for the recent fuel 'crisis,' and their personal political affiliations couldn't differ more from those of their customers, and they did a bad job of hiding it. Personally, I can't think of anything more ironic than a pair of right-of-centre coach drivers being employed to drive 40 left-of-centre protesters to a march in the Czech republic -24 hours away. But the fact that we're paying the going rate seemed to be enough to convince them it was worth it.
Prague is the 'most beautiful city in Europe,' where the worlds richest and most powerful were gathered to discuss their plans for our money. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have come under increasing amounts of pressure lately. Protests in Seattle, Washington and London have begun to highlight their tactics for controlling the flows of global finance, and more & more people are beginning to sit up and take note. Prague was the location of their annual conference for 2000, and after the scenes of violence in the rest of the world, they were weary about what could happen. The citizens of Prague were advised to leave the city for the days leading up to the 26th, schools were closed, the police force was trebled in size, and Mcdonalds ordered new glass. Looking around the coach, it was hard to see why. We may have been a very random bunch of Bristolians, but we certainly didn't need a policeman each to stop us from destroying the Czech capital.
To make sure we got in, we took some pretty draconian steps. The coach was alcohol-free for the whole 24 hours leading up to the Czech/German border, all left wing paraphernalia was thrown away, we didn't bring gas masks, helmets or anything else that would identify us as 'violent rioters.' It still took us 2 hours to move 100 meters past the border guards.
That evening The South West Prague Coalition (the name of this random group of Bristolians) met in a trendy Prague night spot to discuss the next days events. The group includes a British lawyer, who flew out in advance to get acquainted with the city, and some of the other groups from around the world who were represented at the protest. She updated us on recent events, for instance the Czech government waived all rights to freedom of speech for the duration of the IMF conference, meaning that nobody was allowed to protest -individually or as part of a group- against anything, for the duration of the conference. In addition, the British and American police (and secret services) had become involved providing pictures of protesters (taken in London on May 1st and in Seattle), stun grenades and 'tactical information.' All this has been allowed by the recent extension to the anti-terrorist laws brought in as a reaction against violent football hooligans.
For me, however, this was a peaceful demonstration, during the day, some 10,000 protesters surrounded the conference centre from all directions (click here to see picture), sealing the delegates in for hours after the conference ended. I was on the yellow march, led by the Italian anti-capitalist group Ya Basta! (meaning, Enough!). Also on our march was a Greek communist group - who decided they didn't like Ya Basta! tactics, and decided to lead the march towards the conference centre themselves. They got no further though, the police were lined in rows, metres deep along the length of the bridge. So were the protesters, but after Ya Basta decided they'd had Enough! And left, the main protest was pretty much over. Some of the 'hard-core' stayed to attempt to continue the blockade, but when the police started inching forward, we all knew it was time to leave. That's when I met Naomi Klein, No Logo author, she was impressed with the turnout, and took time to interview me for channel 4 news- which was nice.
In the evening we reassembled in the city centre and surrounded the national opera house, where a performance and banquet were to be put on for the conference delegates. The opera/banquet were canceled, as was the next day of meetings, some journalists even reported that the delegates (trapped in the building) had actually taken the opportunity to discuss the legitimacy of the protests.
This was my first protest experience, and to tell the truth it was fun. I met people who felt the same way as I do about the world, and met a lot of interesting -and strange- people who don't. Knowing we all have a common goal is comforting though, and only by meeting others who feel the same and are willing to say so can we really form a vision of what we want OUR world to be like. I recommend the experience to anyone who feels concerned and world debt, the environment and profit hungry multi-national corporations. Even if you don't change the world there and then, you're part of the process of looking for solutions, just by being there, and talking and listening to people. Seyi Rhodes