Belfast Spells Out Message to Bush

antrim | anti-war / imperialism | news report Friday November 21, 2003 01:22 by Lesley Veronica - Direct Action Against Apathy Lesleyveronica at hotmail dot com

On Wed 19th a number of activists staged a protest outside Belfast City Hall in the early afternoon. The atmosphere was lighthearted even if the message was not. Resplendent in freshly prepared t-shirts a number of the group performed a series of carefully choreographed manuevres in order to spell out simple but clear messages of abhorence for the Bush visit and the policies of his administration in general.

After a somewhat shaky start the move from one slogan to another, No More Oil War quickly leading to Bush Not Welcome or, my personal favourite, Bush Terror Man became smooth and eye catching. Passers-by mostly on shopping trips or out of work for lunch were supportive with a number stopping to join in, the bravest even donning t-shirts and joining in the line up!

This was an excellent opportunity to remind people that the war in Iraq is not over and that the Bush administration poses a huge threat to civil liberties both globally and in the USA. People are generally disgusted that British tax payers have paid for this visit, having already seen resources moved from public service funding in order to pay for the war they didn't want. To have an untried and apparently untouchable war criminal breeze into town and be treated to a state banquet gives a clear illustration of the type of 'democracy' that can be expected from both of these states!!

Bush isn't welcome in the UK, he isn't welcome in Ireland and as he encroaches upon American civil liberties more and more I suspect he's not going to be welcome there much longer either.