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Assault and Pepper | Horror Stories | Hot Stuff | Crap Arrest | This One's for Pa! | Dark Ages | SchNEWS in brief | Cops & Robbers | Quito Fooling | and finally...

ASSAULT AND PEPPER

Thousands took part in last Thursday’s nationwide day of action against the threat of war on Iraq. In Brighton, SchNEWS joined in with hundreds of others for the best bit of direct action on the city streets since the heady days of Reclaim The Streets parties way back in 1996.

The Brighton demo started at 3pm with a critical mass bike ride from Sussex University with the Peddlers for Peace blocking both lanes of traffic and, despite the best efforts of the cops, riding triumphantly all the way to the war memorial at the Old Steine. Over 500 people from a range of backgrounds - students, Christians, greens, socialists, anarchists and a peace choir were entertained with speeches, MCs and some crazy dancing people before they set off to block the main roundabout by Palace Pier. Seeing as it was Halloween the cops, who had obviously done their PR training with the Seattle police department, were busy dishing out their own special trick or treats - a pre-emptive blast of pepper spray, boots and batons for all the poor protesters who were just too tired to carry on and ended up having to sit down in the road. Still, what did the demonstrators expect? They were only trying to protest that thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians could be killed, while the police had the much more important task of keeping the traffic moving. And contrast this response to the City’s small traders, who for the past few months have been disrupting traffic by driving through town at a snails pace in protest at increased parking fees, without a whiff of pepper spray or baton in sight.

One man was taken to casualty after being pepper sprayed twice. The weapon in his hand was a notebook in which he was recording police ID numbers, many of which weren’t on display. He told SchNEWS “Ironically one of the justifications given for attacking oil-rich Iraq is Saddam’s brutal treatment of dissenters in his country. He has been accused of using chemical weapons such as mustard gas to suppress rebellion. How lucky we are to live in a civilised country where pepper spray is used instead.”
According to their own rules cops can only spray when they are physically threatened – and apparently people sitting cross-legged in the road posed such a huge threat – but the heavy-handed tactics only succeeded in partly clearing the roundabout and nudging the crowd into going on a walkabout. The demo outmanoeuvred the cops for hours, heading towards key spots around the city, with riot wagons scurrying to get numbers to block-off roads.

Even the local rag, The Argus, said “The fact that so many people in Brighton alone were willing to take to the streets shows the strength of public opinion and that cannot be ignored by politicians.” The cops capped off a great day with the old chestnut that it was a small minority of troublemakers who had spoiled it for everybody. We agree and they are based at John Street Police Station.

* Next Wed (13) Sussex Action for Peace Benefit Night with various DJ’s at Club New York, Dyke Road, Brighton £5/£3

* The next Rebel Alliance, Brightons get together of direct action groups, will also be about ‘Peace and Pepper Spray’ with a discussion and short film about the anti war demo. Monday 18th Nov Brighton Unemployed Centre, 6 Tilbury Place 7pm

* March for Peace in Brighton on 23rd November. Meet 12pm Preston Park. 07815 983022 sussexactionforpeace@hotmail.com

Were you baton charged or sprayed?
Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to see any CCTV footage of yourself. This would include both footage from static CCTV cameras (there are loads in Brighton, including one above the roundabout by the pier) and hand held cameras carried by police evidence gatherers. All you need to do is send a letter with your name and address, a description of yourself, where you were and at what time. You will also have to send £10 to cover costs. (cheques payable to S.P.A.) Send to Data Protection Officer, Sussex Police, Malling House, Church Lane, Lewes, East Sussex. Tel: 0845-6070999.
More info and a sample letter can be seen at www.mtcp.co.uk/campaigns/dataprotection.htm

Horror Stories

There were an estimated 150 different anti-war actions and events across the country this Halloween. Here are some of the highlights:

London Before sunrise “No war on Iraq” was projected on Parliament in massive letters.
Bedford The Britons V Bush demonstration attracted 150 people – the largest protest in the towns recent history.

Cardiff On the 30th, protesters halted the Welsh Assembly and scattered Mass Destruction Flyers about. One of the protesters zip-tied himself to the speakers desk as security and police bundled the protesters out of the chamber.

Cambridge Women in Black supporters ‘died’ outside Great St Mary’s, while 230 students occupied the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency building on New Museum’s Site. Some lecturers cancelled their lessons in solidarity.

Essex University: Air raid sirens played over a sound system! Hundreds gathered to watch as the deafening crash of bombs rolled over the campus and 50 performed a die in.
Leeds Students disrupted lectures, occupied the Business School and local BBC studios, then joined the main Leeds protest outside Yorkshire TV.

Liverpool Students backed by the lecturers union walked out of lessons and some occupied Senate House, the main finance and administrative building of The University of Liverpool.

Manchester Despite heavy handed police and use of police horses Oxford Road (one of the main streets) was occupied for an hour by up to 1000 protestors, accompanied by a samba band.

Sheffield University occupied, Bikes not Bombs ride, large rally and a samba procession.

Walthamstow: A Territorial Army base graffitied with “Fight the rich not their wars”.

More reports: http://uk.indymedia.org

* The Stop the War Coalition have called another mass London demo on February 15th 2003.

* Plans are still underway for widespread civil disobedience as soon as any military action against Iraq begins.

HOT STUFF

Pepper Spray is not in fact made from pepper, but from a synthetic substance called PAVA which when sprayed causes burning to the skin, eyes, nose, mouth and breathing passages. The good news is that the effects are temporary. But for infants, the elderly, people who suffer from respiratory diseases, etc. the risks are possibly life-threatening.

If the police carry on behaving like this on demos it would be a good idea to start carrying goggles. If you are sprayed the best treatment is to wash your eyes with a solution of half-liquid antacid (like Maalox) and half water, or failing that just use water. To treat skin wipe with a cloth saturated with vegetable oil, and immediately wipe off the oil with alcohol (But don’t get alcohol in your eyes, it will hurt as much as the spray!) For more info on pepper spray and first aid see www.blackcrosscollective.org

Crap Arrest of the Week

For doing as you're told!
At an anti-war demo outside Yorkshire TV in Leeds, a policeman asked a protestor to move his bicycle backwards, which he did. In doing so, the cyclist bumped into an officer who had suddenly appeared behind him, and was arrested for assaulting a police officer!

This One's for Pa!

Our guess is that you’ve never heard of the investment firm the Carlyle Group. Well there’s a reason for that—even Business Week describes it as, “One of the most powerful, well connected and secretive organisations in the world”. Founded fifteen years ago by Ronald Reagan aide David Rubenstein, the company shot to the top when Frank Carlucci, former US Secretary of Defence, joined the team and started acquiring a list of staff that’ll leave conspiracy theorists with unpleasant stains on their trousers.

Carlyle now boasts the likes of James Baker, former Secretary of State, Arthur Levitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Karl Otto Pohl, former president of the Bundesbank. The list also includes former presidents of South Korea and the Philippines, and our own man of morality, John Major. But wait! There’s more! CEO Carlucci is a ‘close friend’ of Donald Rumsfeld, current US Secretary of Defence, and also sits on a board of ‘independent’ defence analysts. Bush Senior also holds large interests in the company. Add to this the fact that Bush Jr himself was given a seat on the board of one of the Carlyle group’s first companies in 1990, and you begin to wonder exactly how big this ‘revolving door’ between government and politics really is.

But this isn’t just your average love affair between business and government. Carlucci and chums have used their extensive political connections to acquire control of heavily regulated industries at bargain prices, most notably defence companies. At present Carlyle owns United Defence, the fifth biggest arms contractor in America, Bofors, a Swiss munitions manufacturer, and since September the 3rd of this year, a substantial stake in Qineteq, the research branch of the MoD. What does this mean? Basically as the bombs fall and the sabers rattle, Bush’s mates and his family are getting rich. Don’t believe us? Ask them.

Carlyle sold United Defence stocks on the stock market only one day after Congress ratified Bush’s new Defence Budget for the War Against Terrorism (a wee $11 billion more than the previous defence budget). Carlyle cleaned up $237 million in one day and spokesmen for the company admitted that the timing was fully intentional. Not to mention the renewed contracts that United Defence received to the tune of $2 billion.
So daddy Bush is doing very well out of the new crusade. Sickening, but not really unexpected, nor in this system of ours, illegal. What has got the watchdogs howling, however, is the fact that the Bin Laden family themselves were stakeholders in Carlyle until October of 2001, as part of a deal brokered by Bush Snr himself! Funny that when the administration was freezing the assets of any organization with links to terrorism this didn’t include daddy’s piggy bank! www.dyncorp-sucks.com/carlyle.html#Citigroup www.hereinreality.com/carlyle.html www.eco-action.org/porkbolter/carlyle.html

Dark Ages

Work has started on construction of a privately financed road at Bilston, 8 miles south of Edinburgh. The road will destroy a local woodland, part of which is an SSSI. The woods contain many mature trees and a medieval bridge and tower. A protest camp was set up in June this year—they desperately need more people and more tat! Directions by car - take the A701 towards Pennicuik until you get to Bilston. Search for a metal gate on your left (opposite VW garage), go through & follow the path. By bus - take the 37A from E’burgh towards Pennicuik, get off at the 1st bus stop in Bilston.
Contact the site mobile 0798663249 or email: bilston.glen@dhmail.net

SchNEWS in brief

• SchNEWS is really desperate for people to help with the mailout for a couple of hours on Friday afternoons. Give the office a call if you can help ** On Wednesday, Clive Codona, Chair of the National Travellers Action Group, lost his appeal at the High Court and so the travellers who bought Woodside campsite in Bedfordshire are once again facing eviction. Bailiffs are expected 5pm today (8th) where Clive will ask them just where he and the other 27 families are supposed to go? Tel 01767 681 651 www.f-f-t.demon.co.uk/fft/WOODSIDE.HTM ** Brighton’s premier pirate radio station Radio 4A is on the air this weekend (8th –10th). 107.8FM and www.piratetv.net, details at www.radio4a.org.uk ** RIP. John Moore, primitivist writer and poet, died suddenly on October 22. John was one of the UK’s leading primitivists and frequently wrote articles for Green Anarchist and other publications. ** Around 200 people reclaimed the streets in Copenhagen last Friday, protesting against big business & private cars and demanding the right to party! ** Copenhagen is also the setting for mass protests against the EU Summit there from the 12-14 December. www.disobedience.dk ** Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship is currently on a three month educational tour of UK ports including Trinity Quay Plymouth Wed 13th, Poole Quay 16th-17th, Liverpool, Greenock, Belfast, Dublin, Cardiff, Plymouth, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Ipswich and London. 020 7226 6059 www.greenpeace.org.uk/rainbowwarrior.htm ** The Berkshire Citizens Inspection Agency (CIA) will be visiting 2 nuclear weapons establishments this weekend, where they will demand to carry out inspections to ensure that the weapons establishments are complying with international law. The team will be visiting Aldermaston today and RAF Welford on Saturday. 0118 966 8328/07790 409339 ** Some people from Brighton will be taking a mini-bus up to Harrow on the 15th. If you’re interested, come to the next Brighton No Borders meeting, Monday the 11th at 7:30pm, Unemployed Centre, Tilbury Pl.

Cop8 & Robbers

The COP 8 UN Climate Change conference in New Delhi fizzled out last week – the latest in the series of meetings which benefit the five star hotel industry more than the environment. Each time the UN climate folks meet they tinker with their ‘declaration’ – and now it doesn’t even mention the Kyoto protocol! Kyoto was supposed to be a pledge for the US, Europe, and Co. to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2%. Sounds good, except when you consider that experts agree this figure should be 60-90%. In short, the New Delhi conference was a complete sham. But as a sidenote, the US—who cause 25% of worldwide emissions and aren’t even signing up for Kyoto—were said to be happy with the ‘progress’. 01865 241097 www.risingtide.org.uk

Quito Fooling

While thousands of UK residents took to the streets this Halloween to fight against the impending war, people in North and South America were making their voices heard against yet another Big Business trade agreement. In the Americas, October 31st was a Hemispheric day of action against the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), a pending trade agreement between every nation in North and South America barring Cuba. Based on the model of NAFTA and the WTO, the FTAA goes far beyond the trade liberalisation schemes brought about by those models, giving multinational corporations sweeping authority over virtually every aspect of life in the Americas. By promoting IMF-style Structural Adjustment, the FTAA will bring about the privatisation and downsizing of public services such as health care and education and will also ensure that all public utilities - water, power, and telecommunications - come under the control of the private sector. Many in South America are certain that the FTAA will also wipe out small farmers and hand corporations a sweeping new set of tools to evade environmental and labour laws.

On October 31st, Quito, Ecuador was the unfortunate home of a FTAA Trade Ministers meeting. In response to this meeting, 15,000 people took to the streets. The crowd was nearly 90% campesinos (peasant farmers) and indigenous peoples, and chants of “No queremos, y no nos da la gana, ser una colonia, norteamericana,” (“We don’t want, and it doesn’t do us any good, to be a North American colony”) were heard everywhere. After being met by seas of teargas, the demonstrators marched to the Suissotel, where the trade ministers were meeting with assorted CEO’s and trade lobbyists. There the crowds stood outside the gates and demanded that some of their representatives be allowed to speak with the ministers. Eventually, 40 representatives of social movements from across the hemisphere were allowed in. What followed were two amazing hours of the FTAA trade ministers being forced to stare real people in the face. The protestors who had been allowed in chanted and yelled at ministers, aiming much of their noise at Bob Zoellick, the US Trade Rep. One woman from Nicaragua seemed to sum it up when she addressed the trade ministers, “Don’t think you can simply take your picture with us and push forward. We will stop the FTAA.” www.indymedia.org www.stopftaa.org

* Solidarity demos against the FTAA Trade Ministers meeting in Quito took place in many cities across the Americas. On the 31st, 5,000 marched against the FTAA in Sao Paolo, Brazil. On the same day, 10,000 marched in Montreal, Canada. A few days earlier, on the 28th, 13 San Francisco activists occupied the entrance to the world headquarters of Bechtel Corporation. Bechtel, one of the world’s largest engineering firms, was targeted by the San Francisco activists because of its strong support for the Free Trade Area of the Americas and its frontline position in the rush to commodify and privatise the world’s dwindling supply of fresh water.

...and finally...

During last week’s anti-war actions, protesters in Swansea chose Sainsbury’s to make their protest taste better. They invaded the store and occupied certain areas. Customer service obliged them by announcing the following over the intercom: “Sainsburys apologise for the inconvenience, there is an anti-war protest going on in aisles 6,7,8,and 9.” ...www.indycymru.org.uk

Disclaimer
SchNEWS warns all readers the sting in the disclaimer can be peppered with enuff puns to make your eyes water or make you gag. Honest.

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