On the night of January 15/16, numerous concerts, sit-ins, marches and antiwar actions took place throughout Italy.
The three main union confederations -the CGIL, the Italian Confederation of Free Unions (CISL) and the Italian Union of Workers (UIL) called for a 15 minute work stoppage in all enterprises at midday on January 15. Since the outbreak of the war, the unions have been calling for local work stoppages, for example on Monday January 17 in Milan and Florence.
On January 17, demonstrations took place in many cities, the most important bringing together 100,000 in Milan. Antiwar initiatives continue throughout the country and many schools and universities are on strike. The following Saturday there were further demonstrations including one of 50,000 in Rome.
Antiwar committees exist in many schools and also in factories, and Chris-
War shocks German society THE first direct German Involvement in war since 1945 - besides its financial contributions to the US-led war effort, the West German army has sent parachutists and fighters to a NATO base in Turkey - has aroused strong emotions among the population. There is a debate on the altering of the German constitution to allow the German army to Intervene beyond the country's frontiers.
Around 250,000 people - 100,000 in Berlin -took part in antiwar protests in the capitals of the main Länder on January 12, 1991. The moblilzations were headed by the left, In some regions the social democrats (SPD and the trade unions took the Initiative, in others the far left. On the day after war broke out, perhaps 150,000 people demonstrated in Berlin, some 15,000 in Stuttgart and 10,000 in Frankfurt. An estimated 300,000 people were involved in antiwar marches on that day.
Since then there have been endless demonstrations, rallies, blockades of stations and town centres and so on throughout the country, Including in small towns. School students are much in evidence, and in many schools peace assemblies have replaced the normal activities. The slogans most often heard are "withdrawal of German troops from the Middle
East" followed by "General strike against the war"
Numerous direct actions have been carried out. For example, on Friday
January 18, some 800 people blockaded the entrance to the airfield at
Hamburg, which Is used for logistical support to the Imperialist war machine, while 300 people occupied the stock exchange in Frankfurt. An attempt was made to prevent the departure of the German warship, Mölderf, from Kiel for the Gulf. A union representing 65,000 military auxillary personnel called on its members not to take part in the war effort.
On a number of days, the unions have called on their members to stop work for token periods. In some factories, including major enterprises such as Volkswagen Opel, work stoppages have taken place. The Natlonal Confederation of Labour (DGB) has called for a central demonstration In Bonn on January 26, a call supported by the SPD, and many Church organizations. A blockade of Bremerhaven harbour was also planned for tian organizations are playing an important role. Left currents inside the trade unions are putting forward the proposal for a general strike against war on January FRANCE A CROWD of 100,000 assembled in Paris on January 12, 1991, responding to the "Appeal of the 75", which brings together the Communist Party, the far left and personalities. Other large turnouts were registered in Marseilles (20,000), Lyon, Lille and Bordeaux. Despite a police decree forbidding peace demonstrations in Paris, the National Assembly debate on the war on January 15 was the occasion for a 10,000 strong demonstration, 15,000 people defied the ban on the evening after the outbreak of the war.
Further protests took place on January 226, with a march of 15,000 in Paris.* BRITAIN AS in many other countries, the Saturday before the start of the war saw an outpouring of pro-peace feeling. Some 80,000 marched in London, 8,000 in Manchester and 5,000 in Glasgow, and for the first time since the crisis began union and Labour Party banners were in evidence.
Women have been mounting a permanent peace vigil outside the Foreign Ministry. On January 15, several thousand demonstrated outside Parliament calling on the MPs to vote against war.
Demonstrations took place throughout the country on January 26, and a national march, for which the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is mobilizing, is planned in London for February 4. *
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mountains, where the regime is particularly unpopular.
The Gulf conflict is likely to have a severe effect on already fragile economies.
Morocco and Tunisia are being hard hit by the loss of tourist income (the latter coun try derives one fifth of its foreign earnings from tourism), while Algeria will suffer if
AUSTRALIA ON January 18/19, more than 100,000 people demonstrated against the participation of Australian warships in the attack on Iraq, and hopes are high that the prowar stance of the ruling Australian Labor Party leadership and the Australian Council of Trade Unions will face a major revolt. There were marches of 40,000 people in Sydney and Melbourne.
The major Sydney mobilization was organized by a left-dominated coalition. The chant "Hawke, Bush, go to hell, we don't want to die for Shell!" won out against the "Give peace a chance" choruses. When the march rallied outside the Israeli Consulate, calls for a general strike and a split in the federal Cabinet were applauded.
From the second week of January, protest and peace vigils have been constant, at least in the major cities. The coalition has committed itself to repeat the show of strength on January 26. * unions included the issue of war in their statement concerning the successful January 3 general strike. Among other things the union called for Turkey to stay out of the war unless first attacked by outside forces. The fact that "allied" planes are attacking from Turkish bases is being kept out of the Turkish media.
On Sunday January 13, over 50,000 people took part in an illegal antiwar demonstration in Istanbul. There are also reports of antiwar strikes. Big workers' demonstrations on Friday and Saturday 25/26 January are reported to have voiced opposition imperialist stand in the Gulf.* PAKISTAN THE involvement of Pakistan in the USled crusade has been met with massive outrage, including violent demonstrations.
According to newspaper reports popular feeling for Saddam Hisein is sweeping the country. *
GULF WAR ISRAEL ON January 12 a march "against racism and for JewishArab friendship" brought together several thousand Arabs and
Jews in the north of israel. answering a call from the Israeli
Peace Now movement, the Supreme Council of Arab Organizations in Israel and the Internafional Centre for Peace in the
Middle East.
On January 14, on the initiative of the Women and Peace movement, several hundred people assembled outside the United States embassy in Tel Aviv, the US consulate in West Jerusalem and the headquarters of the 6th fleet in Halfa. Their slogans included "Irag must withdraw from Kuwait, Israel from the Occupied Territories": "Immediate withdrawal of American
TURKEY THE leadership of the Türk-Is trade
Pro-Iraqi mood sweeps North Africa NORTH Africa has witnessed some of the biggest and most militant demonstrations against the imperialist attack on Iraq. As the January 15 deadline approached, tension rose in Tunis where the first, harshly repressed, demonstrations broke out on January 11. But it was the assassination, in Carthage, of PLO leaders Abu Iyad, Abu el Houl and Ahmed Oumari, that brought demonstrators onto the streets in their thousands in fifty different towns (15,000 at Tunis and 20,000 at Sfax), for the most part very young, with many women participating. Marchers burned the American flag, and carried portraits of Saddam Hussein, or Palestinian or Iraqi banners, to cries of; "Abu Iyad is not dead and the revolution is not finished!", "No concession, no capitulation, Saddam forward!", "A single people, a single nation!", "The generation of anger arises". The regime did not intervene despite the omnipresence of the army and the brigades of public order. Students on the Tunis campus organized general assemblies (that of the fundamentalist trade union drawing 7,000 people), marches and strike appeals. All schools and universities have been closed until further notice. In Algeria, numerous mobilizations of support for Saddam Hussein have taken place, for the most part spontaneous. At Constantine, following a public meeting, the French Consulate was sacked by demonstrators; several meetings of support for Iraq have also taken place in the interior of the country. Several of the "democratic parties" called for a demonstration for the morning of January 18 in Algiers. The fundamentalist FIS called another march in the afternoon which drew some tens of thousands of people, including many youth. Big fundamentalist marches took place in the other large towns, demanding military training for the youth. In Morocco, demonstrations are in effect banned following the general strike and riots of last December. King Hassan II sent 1,700 troops to "defend" Saudi Arabia last August. Hassan's principled stance against the occupation of Kuwait can be explained by the billions of dollars of aid he has received from the Saudis to fund his own bloody occupation of the western Sahara. Under the impact of public opinion, he has had to change his tone — he has referred to Saddam Hussein as his "brother", and has warned against an escalation of the war. Hassan's threat to introduce a state of emergency at the least sign of trouble has, for the moment, held back popular mobilizations and a possible explosion of youth. Meanwhile, troops have been moved for the first time from the western Sahara to positions in the northern Rif the price of oil should decline any further.
UNITED
STATES - See troops from the Gulf': "No Israell
Intervention in the Gulf War"
Many reservists have been called up by radio. According to some sources, many are considering disobeying. The Soldiers' Movement is calling on soldiers to refuse to carry out any illegal act, such as the indiscriminate repression of Palestinians.
During the night of January 14/ 15, a peace meeting organized by university teachers and some members of the Knesset (Israeli parliament took place in Tel
Aviv.
On Friday January 24 several dozen peace activists gathered outside the US embassy in Tel
Aviv holding placards saying among other things: "No to Saddam, No to Bush, No to War": 'Immediate ceasefire"; and "The Patriot can save our skins - but only peace can give us a future."
The organizers of this action sent a message of support to the organizers of the January 26 antiwar march in Washington.
Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are only allowed out of their houses for two hours a day. Otherwise they are being strictly confined to their houses, not even being permitted to go up onto their roofs. The Unifled
Leadership of the intifada has appealed to Palestinians in the territories not to respond to provocations, since Israeli soldiers have been ordered to fire on anybody defying the curfew. * February 4, 1991 • #199 International Viewpoint
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International Viewpoint #199 • February 4, 1991