Activists Show Protest Is More than Being Against War

Thursday February 06, 2003 23:51

by Kevin-Scott

Serious challenges against the right to protest manifest in NYC and Shannon

It appears the NYC protest on Feb.15 will go on despite having been denied a permit for the march. The United for Peace and Justice Coalition has nevertheless called on marchers to come into the city. With little more than a week remaining and an assembly point yet unnamed, New York activists are frustrated with this indecision.

Commentators on the NYC Indymedia Website reflect this mood. As Captain Democracy put it, “Whether we have a permit or not, we will march! Let them gas us, beat us, or worse.” “This clearly exposes their claims that the United States is an ‘open and free’ society.”
In another comment left on the site, a quote by John F. Kennedy: “If you make peaceful demonstration impossible, you are only making violent resistance inevitable.”

Other groups like the Manhattan Greens are preparing options of where to meet, as well as feeder marches throughout the city.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, army troops are now in place around Shannon, a civilian airport: Irish AntiWar protesters have been arrested and others restricted in movement. The Freedom of Information Act of 1997 is facing a reversal challenge by members of the present government who in fact signed it into law.