The remains of a truck hit during bombing raids is seen on the road near Al Hillah, Iraq, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Baghdad Tuesday April 1, 2003. (AP Photo/Ali Heider)
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ARTICLES Bush and Blair - humorous video Surveillance/Censorship of Musicians Mood changes as America finds war is not a video game Iraq War Fuels Abuses in 14 Countries - Amnesty Egypt Struggles to Control Anti-War Protests Music Mercy Mission to Give Iraqi Kids Hope
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Surveillance/Censorship of Musicians Hip Hop Artist Michael Franti Speaks Out on U.S. Government Surveillance of his Band and MTV Self-Censorship Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org/franti.htm "There's a lot of us who are now making a blip on the radar... [the government is] starting to pay attention and collect information" "Our label received a letter, a mass e-mail from MTV instructing the fact that no videos could be shown that mentioned the word bombing or war." NOTE: THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT DEMOCRACY NOW! March 27, 2003 Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Host: For nearly a decade hip-hop artist and activist Michael Franti has been a leading progressive voice in music. He grew out of the Bay area music and political scene of the 90's and in 1986 he founded the drum and bass duo "The Beatniks" paving the way for his next musical endeavor "The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy". His most recent musical project is the musical collective "Spearhead" begun in 1994 and he's used his music to push social boundaries, speaks out against sexual violence, encourages his community to prevent the spread of HIV and has been very vocal in his opposition to war. And now it maybe the reason why the government is looking at him and his group Spearhead. Welcome to Democracy Now Michael. Michael Franti: Hi Amy. Amy Goodman: It's good to have you with us. Can you talk about what's been happening as you've been touring the country with songs like "Bomb da World." Michael Franti: Well we've been touring for the last year and a half performing that song and everywhere we go it gets standing ovations, people begin to cry. People are just very grateful to hear any voice out there right now who are speaking in support of peace and human rights. Amy Goodman: What's happened as you've been on this tour?
And basically what this signals to me is that—I don't feel like we're being particulary singled out or under any investigation for any activity because all the activity that we do is very much above board and all the events where photos were taken out were all public things we were at. But what it does signal to me is that there's a lot of us who are now making a blip on the radar, you know, whether we're organizers at rallies, whether we're musicians, whether we're people who are speaking out, authors, writers, actors. And we're beginning to make little blips on the radar. They're starting to pay attention and collect information about what's going on. You know , more important to me or more important than me you know, being a part of that is the fact that our civil rights are being eroded across the board for every person. And for musicians in particular it's a really hard time. Last week our label received a letter, a mass e-mail from MTV instructing the fact that no videos could be shown that mentioned the word bombing or war. No videos could be shown that had protesters in it. Any footage from military—they gave a list of prior videos that could not be shown, yet MTV has aired videos that show troops saying goodbye to their loved ones and going off to war in a very heroic fashion and troops which are gonna be coming home traumatized, wounded and dead and then be treated and thrown onto the scrap heap of veterans, as we've seen veterans treated in this country. And at the Academy Awards, there were also letters and talk that went around saying not to speak out. Radio—mainstream radio, Clear Channel in particular, of course has put the word out not to air songs that are in opposition to the war and in support of peace. Meanwhile, our song "Bomb Da World" which we just put out is now in heavy rotation on a top youth radio station in Australia and in Denmark and it's expected to get added to a lot of stations in other countries. Amy Goodman: A few days ago, Democracy Now! Correspondent Jeremy Scahill and I were at the Ani DiFranco concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to talk about Democracy Now and the importance of independent media in a time of war, just before she went on. And Clear Channel, which owns New Jersey Performing Arts Center, runs that venue, told her no political information could be given out and threatened—it seemed the venue threatened to close down the concert if there was any political speech. Michael Franti: It's incredible, it's outrageous and I think it's something that we all need to be aware of and need to support the art, you know, whether it's music, whether it's films, whether it's dance performances or whatever, this is the last place, apart from Pacifica and a few other stations around the country, where these voices are being heard. Amy Goodman: And Clear Channel that runs 1,200 radio stations now, runs many of the big venues in this country for musicians. Michael Franti: So it's important that we call these stations and demand that these voices be heard. Amy Goodman: Well Michael Franti, I want to thank you for being with us, as we go out with your voice, with "Bomb Da World."
Mood changes as America finds war is not a video game Andrew Gumbel Los Angeles Independent.co.uk 25 March 2003 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=390525 All of a sudden, brutal reality is kicking in. Before the Iraq invasion started, many Americans imagined the campaign in terms of Hollywood movies or the video-game abstraction of the television coverage of the first Gulf War – that virtual reality in which we drop bombs and only the enemy dies, and off-camera at that. But after the setbacks, guerrilla-style ambushes, downed helicopters and disturbing images of US soldiers dying or being taken prisoner over the past two days, the mood has changed abruptly, "My God, this is getting much messier than I thought," was the reaction of one young Californian nursery school teacher yesterday. Her colleagues all concurred. Across Los Angeles, the mood was overwhelmingly one of consternation and just a little dread. "I have a sick feeling about where this is all heading. They made us believe this would be a cakewalk, and now look what is happening," another woman, a writer married to an entertainment lawyer, said. "This can only make the world hate us Americans more." In what is perhaps a sign of the times, she did not want to be identified by name. It is hard to know exactly how representative such views are, especially since southern California has been a bastion of anti-war sentiment. At least some people who believe in the war were quoted yesterday saying that casualties and setbacks were to be expected as part of the mission. But it is also true that the Bush administration massively raised expectations regarding the speed and ease of the military operation to topple Saddam Hussein. Before the war started last week, the President himself talked – in his televised statements, in his 6 March news conference and in his weekly radio addresses – as though the fighting was already over and the reconstruction of Iraq had begun. Earlier this month, with war already looking inevitable and dominating the news, 43 per cent of respondents in a New York Times/CBS poll said they expected a quick and successful campaign. By the end of last week, with the first bombs raining down on Baghdad and ground forces racing to secure the oilfields in the south, that number had risen to 63 per cent. More than half said they thought the war would end in a matter of weeks. Now, however, the trend has been reversed. In another poll published in yesterday's Washington Post, 54 per cent now believe the United States will sustain "significant" casualties in Iraq, up from 37 per cent in a similar poll taken on the first day of the war last Thursday. One respondent in the new Washington Post/ABC poll, Daphne Nugent, 40, from New York, commented: "I didn't expect there to be this much trouble. And I'm a little upset by what I'm hearing in terms of the casualties and the prisoners of war. I thought it would end pretty easily and quickly, the war part of it anyway, not the occupation part." Other New Yorkers, including those who survived the destruction of the World Trade Centre, have also described their mixed feelings at seeing similar scenes of buildings under aerial bombardment in Baghdad.
From LMNOP | Resources | Stockwatch Financial markets are also reacting. After eight straight days of gains, the Dow Jones index plunged 300 points by lunchtime yesterday, although it later recovered slightly. Crude oil prices are also rising in response to the prospect of a longer war. Several things make this war very different from other recent US military campaigns. It is much less dependent on air power alone, which has made the fighting and the dying much more immediate. And it is much more overtly about taking territory. This is no quick in and out, as were the Nato campaigns in Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999. As several soldiers at the front have come to appreciate, this is very different from 1991, when the US-led coalition concentrated on kicking Iraqi forces out of a country, Kuwait, that had invited it in to do so. "People thought the Iraqis would be waving little American flags like it was occupied France in World War Two," Vincent Cannistraro, a retired CIA counter-terrorism expert, commented. "This is not an occupied country. It is Iraq and it is run by Iraqis, and for better or worse they are not welcoming Americans as liberators." Both pro-war and anti-war voices agree, in fact, that this is likely to turn into the most in-your-face conflict that American troops – and, just as significantly, American public opinion – have faced since Vietnam. "This kind of thing has not been seen on US television screens for more than 30 years," Sandy Cate, an anthropology professor from San Francisco, said. "You've got one, perhaps two, generations who have grown up with no idea of what war is really like, other than the cartoon violence they see at the movies. Well, now they are learning." Part of the change in attitude is due to the media. Unlike the first Gulf War, when journalists were kept well away from the front, reporters are now "embedded" with army units and equipped with the technology to transmit words and images from the field. Some media critics have worried about journalists over-identifying with their units, but they also concede that the arrangement is providing much more detailed and less sanitised coverage than in 1991. These are very early days, and expert opinion is divided on the degree of public tolerance for casualties. One sociologist, James Burk, told The Washington Post he thought the public would accept casualties as long as they are incurred "in pursuit of a mission that they think is reasonable". But others, including John Mueller of Ohio State University, believe tolerance will be very low. Nobody in government has so much as mentioned body bags, he observed.
Rumsfeld 'wanted cheap war' BBC News Sunday, 30 March, 2003, 17:02 GMT 18:02 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/americas/2899823.stm US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forced his military chiefs to accept his idea that a relatively small, lightly armed force should go to war with Iraq, it is being alleged. The New Yorker magazine quotes unnamed Pentagon sources as saying that Mr Rumsfeld insisted at least six times before the conflict on the proposed number of troops being reduced. In an article to be published on Monday, the magazine says Mr Rumsfeld overruled advice from the war commander, General Tommy Franks, to delay the invasion of Iraq. The defence secretary has flatly denied overriding military commanders. "You will find, if you ask anyone who has been involved in the process in the central command, that every single thing that they have requested has, in fact, happened," he said on the US television network, Fox News.
The BBC's correspondent in Washington, Justin Webb, says Mr Rumsfeld is a famously abrasive character who has been accused in the past of bullying his generals. Our correspondent says these fresh allegations are likely to cause a political storm and lead to further difficulties for the defence secretary and his team. The article quotes a former intelligence official as saying the war was now a stalemate. " [Rumsfeld] thought he knew better " Military planner But Mr Rumsfeld says the US has "no plans for pauses or cease-fires". The article says the army is running out of cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs, and that there are maintenance problems with tanks. "The only hope is that they can hold out until reinforcements arrive," the official told the magazine. A senior Pentagon planner said Mr Rumsfeld wanted to "do war on the cheap" and thought precision bombing would bring victory. "He thought he knew better [than military officials]. He was the decision-maker at every turn," the unnamed planner said. Franks 'overruled' The article says General Franks wanted to delay the invasion until the American troops denied access to Turkey had been brought to Kuwait, but Mr Rumsfeld overruled him. It says the defence secretary also rejected recommendations to deploy four or more army divisions and to ship hundreds of tanks and other heavy vehicles in advance. Instead, Mr Rumsfeld preferred to rely on equipment which was already in Kuwait, but was insufficient, the magazine says. Our correspondent says Mr Rumsfeld and his team desperately need some decisive victories in battle if the American people are to continue to believe what the White House is telling them - that this war is going roughly according to plan.
Pepsi smash in India BBC Monday, 31 March, 2003, 07:28 GMT 08:28 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2901923.stm Leftist rebels have attacked a Pepsi warehouse in southern India in protest against the US-led war on Iraq. Police say 10 armed rebels belonging to the outlawed People's War Group (PWG) entered the warehouse in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state late on Sunday night. They ordered four employees to leave the premises before smashing cases containing hundreds of Pepsi bottles. This is the third such attack on American cola companies in Andhra Pradesh since the Iraq war began. The Press Trust of India quoted witnesses as saying the rebels fired gunshots in the air and shouted anti-war slogans. The PWG has called on people to boycott American and British goods to protest against what it describes as "naked aggression" by the United States and its allies on Iraq. "The invasion of Iraq is the imperialist design to control its oilfields besides attempting to redraw boundaries of West Asia in favour of the Anglo-American surrogate state of Zionist Israel," the rebels said in a statement. REBEL VIOLENCE Last week, the rebels bombed a Pepsi warehouse in Andhra Pradesh and attacked shops selling Coca-cola and Pepsi in the state. Coke and Pepsi are seen as symbols of the US. No one was hurt in the attacks but the owner of the warehouse said the damage was estimated to be worth more than $20,000. Police said rebels left a note at the scene of the blast which said the action was in protest against the American-led attack on Iraq. The note also demanded immediate withdrawal of US forces from the Gulf. In late 2001, the PWG targeted the multi-national soft drink companies in the state to condemn the US invasion of Afghanistan. The PWG is active in five Indian states and says it represents the interests of landless farm workers and peasants. It targets rich landlords and farmers, accusing them of exploiting the labourers. Thousands have been killed since the rebels began fighting 20 years ago.
More Journalists Jailed in Climate of 'War On Terrorism' WASHINGTON, Mar 31 (IPS) - The number of journalists thrown in prison around the world rose sharply in 2002, in contrast to a fall in the number of those killed in connection with their work, according to press watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Nineteen media workers lost their lives last year, just over half the total of 37 in 2001 and the lowest death toll in any year since the New York-based Committee first began tallying work-related deaths of reporters in 1985. The sharp reduction in deaths, it said, was due primarily to the end or winding down of several lethal wars around the world during 2002, particularly in Afghanistan where eight journalists were killed covering the U.S. military campaign against the Taliban in 2001. The relative quiet there, as well as cease-fires or peace agreements in Sri Lanka, Angola, and elsewhere also reduced the risks of casualties among reporters covering those conflicts, according to CPJ's latest annual edition of 'Attacks on the Press.' The report says the re-occupation of the West Bank by Israeli forces and an abrupt rise in violence there claimed the lives of three journalists and wounded several others. While CPJ noted the fall in fatalities, it also stressed that the number of journalists in prison rose sharply last year and suggested that Washington's "war on terrorism"--and the speed and determination with which a number of allied governments have used it to crack down on opposition press--bore a not insignificant amount of responsibility. CPJ has also raised concerns about the ongoing U.S.-led attack on Iraq . Last week, the group asked U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to explain the bombing of Iraq state television facilities in Baghdad, which it says are protected under the Geneva Conventions governing conduct in wartime. United States officials claim the station is being used for military purposes. "We are concerned that U.S. forces may have targeted Iraqi media to halt government propaganda, especially coming as it does after Iraqi TV broadcast footage of U.S. POWs and dead American soldiers. The fact that the Iraqi government used state-run television to air these images in possible violation of the Geneva Conventions does not justify an attack," said the letter. By the end of 2002, 136 journalists were in jail, a 15 percent increase over 2001 and "a shocking 68 percent increase since the end of 2000, when only 81 journalists were imprisoned," according to an introduction to the 424-page report by CPJ director Ann Cooper. "Strong pressure from international organizations, the media, and governments worldwide, including the United States, was probably responsible for the decline" in jailings achieved during the 1990s, according to Cooper. But "certainly the stigma associated with jailing a journalist has faded." China, already the world's leading jailer of journalists since the late 1990s, added five more to its list for a total of 39 in prison by year's end. With 18 journalists behind bars since September, 2001, Eritrea led the rest of the world in the number of imprisoned journalists, said Cooper, who noted that U.S. officials have been uncharacteristically muted in their criticism of the crackdown by President Isaias Afwerki. In a December visit, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld told reporters who asked about press freedom in the strategically located country that Eritrea "is a sovereign nation, and they arrange themselves and deal with their problems in ways that they feel are appropriate to them." Afwerki has invited Washington to establish a military base in Eritrea from which it could presumably pursue operations across the Red Sea into Yemen and other parts of the Arabian Peninsula. With 16 journalists in jail at year's end, Nepal ranked third, a result of its declaration of emergency and enactment of sweeping anti-terrorism legislation between November 2001, through last summer in connection with military campaigns by Maoist rebels through much of the countryside. Hundreds of journalists were detained initially, although the vast majority have since been released. Among the 19 journalists killed during the year, the one that drew by far the most media attention was the execution last January or early February of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was abducted in Pakistan by Islamist militants while he was investigating a radical Islamist groups in that country. Men later tried and convicted for the murder said they acted to protest the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Pakistan's co-operation in the campaign. But most of the journalists killed in 2002 were murdered in direct reprisal for their reporting on other issues, including death squad activity by Colombia's right-wing paramilitary forces, drug trafficking in Brazil, and corruption by officials in the Philippines and Russia. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was particularly deadly for journalists. Two Palestinian journalists and one Italian photographer were fatally shot by Israeli army forces on the West Bank in separate incidents whose precise circumstances remain the subject of different accounts. Three journalists were killed in Colombia, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Russia during 2002; two in Pakistan and the Philippines; and one in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Uganda, and Venezuela, says the report. But CPJ also recorded the deaths of 13 other journalists, including five in Colombia, where the motives for their killings remain unclear. Besides Colombia, which has proved the world's most dangerous place for media workers over the past decade, two were killed in India, and one each in Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Nepal and Russia. There were some bright spots during the year as well, according to the report. Russian journalist Grigory Pasko, for example, was paroled for good behavior last January after serving two-thirds of a four-year prison sentence. He was originally put in prison for reporting on environmental damage caused by the Russian Navy in a case that became a 'cause celebre' for CPJ, Amnesty International, the Sierra Club , and a number of other environmental and human rights groups. CPJ also noted the conviction of six men for the 2000 murder of Mozambique's top investigative reporter, Carlos Cardoso. The circumstances of that case suggested the involvement of the son of President Joaquin Chissano, and the judge has vowed to continue the investigation. "But in most other cases," Cooper wrote in her introduction, "officials investigations of journalists' murders are half-hearted or nonexistent." Even in cases where witnesses have positively identified suspects, governments of too many countries do not follow up, either because of corruption, intimidation, or because the government itself may be involved.
Iraq War Fuels Abuses in 14 Countries - Amnesty WASHINGTON, D.C. March 31 (OneWorld) - Despite its stated intent to promote democracy, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq so far appears to be reducing the exercise of important human rights in many parts of the world, according to human rights group Amnesty International. An analysis of events in 14 countries, mainly in Europe and the Islamic world, suggests that the war has spurred a backlash against human rights since it began March 20, the London-based group said in a report released Sunday. "Governments appear to be using the world's focus on the theater of war to violate human rights shielded from public scrutiny," the group said. "From Egypt to the USA, from Belgium to Sudan, governments must...refrain from using the war in Iraq as a pretext for curtailing or abusing these rights." Most of the abuses resulted from governments attempting to prevent people from demonstrating against the war or in some cases, using excessive force against demonstrators. In addition, western governments in particular have restricted the rights of asylum in ways that violate international standards, Amnesty said. The report is one of many expected from international human rights groups about how governments will use the ongoing hostilities to deflect attention or justify abuses. Human Rights Watch and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, for example, have already released strong statements against the U.S. decision to automatically detain asylum-seekers from 34 countries, including Iraq. The new report does not deal with abuses committed either by Iraq or the U.S.-led forces that launched the invasion. But it cites six countries, including the twin leaders of the attack, the United States and Britain, where freedom of expression and assembly have been compromised since the war's launch. In Britain, anti-terrorism laws have been invoked in some areas, granting police special powers to "stop and search" people without probable cause if police suspect they were engaged in a criminal act. Dozens of people have been stopped under those provisions, the report says. In the United States, dozens of people, including bystanders, have been arrested for disrupting traffic or other public-order offenses, and there have been allegations that some peaceful demonstrators were beaten by police after being arrested. In Belgium, more than 450 anti-war demonstrators have been put in a kind of "preventive detention" for up to 12 hours. In Turkey, laws restricting the rights to freedom of assembly and association have been used to prevent protests altogether, while in Jordan at least 17 anti-war activists, including the station manager of Arab Television and two prominent politicians, have been detained and are believed to be held incommunicado. In Egypt, hundreds of people associated with the anti-war movement, including lawyers, journalists, academics, students, and even members of parliament, have been arrested since the war began and some have reportedly been tortured, according to Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, and local rights groups. Similarly, Egypt has been the scene of some of the worst examples of police using excessive force in dispersing or breaking up anti-war demonstrations. Dozens of activists were severely beaten and hundreds more injured when police in Cairo used water cannons, clubs, and dogs against demonstrators in a series of protests that have taken place since March 20. In Yemen, an 11-year-old child and two protestors were shot dead during violent clashes between police and at least 30,000 demonstrators in Sana'a on March 21, while in Sudan three students were reportedly killed during several demonstrations in Khartoum. In Turkey, riot police reportedly beat demonstrators during anti-war protests near transit points for U.S. forces in Istanbul and Ankara and used excessive force to disperse about 5,000 people outside the Beyazit mosque in Istanbul. On asylum issues, the report noted that Washington's 'Operation Liberty Shield,' which requires the authorities to detain all asylum-seekers from Iraq and at least 33 other as yet unnamed countries at the time of their entry into the United States, constitutes a "clear breach of international legal standards" that could affect thousands of people fleeing persecution. The report also notes that Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Britain have all frozen decisions on asylum claims by Iraqis, although Sweden will give permanent residence permits to unaccompanied children.
Egypt Struggles to Control Anti-War Protests
The previous weekend, Cairo had witnessed two days of protests like nothing seen since the 1970s, complete with a day-long occupation of the central Tahrir Square on Thursday and running battles between riot police and demonstrators trying to reach the square again on Friday. At times, security forces were overwhelmed; at times, they reacted savagely, beating protesters with their batons. The regime cracked down. By nightfall, Tahrir Square was like an armed camp. According to human rights groups, a massive campaign of arrests has picked up 800-1,500 people -- including two members of Parliament. Though some detainees have now been released, Human Rights Watch verified that several were severely beaten while in custody, to the extent that many suffered broken arms. Even those protesters who are out of jail face the prospect that their cases will be referred to Egypt's notoriously opaque State Security Courts. But Mubarak's regime is responding to anti-war sentiment in Egypt with more than repressive security measures and large-scale detentions. As the March 28 demonstration showed, the regime recognizes the need to provide a state-sanctioned outlet for the growing rage over the US-led assault upon Iraq. Crowd control and specially printed placards were supplied by the Muslim Brotherhood, the officially outlawed party that is widely regarded as the strongest organized opposition to the nominally secular government. Brotherhood cadres sporting black bandanas dotted the demonstrators' ranks, and yellow-sashed marshals periodically ordered sections of marchers to slow down. "Whenever the government is threatened by the street, it goes to the Brotherhood," commented veteran activist Muhammad Waked. TAKEOVER
The protest had originally been scheduled for 1 pm on "the day after America begins bombing," according to the e-mail and text messages circulated in advance. Events began early when a few hundred students from the tony American University in Cairo (AUC) made their way to the Omar Makram mosque on the far edge of the square, about as close to the US Embassy as anyone was allowed to go that day. The students were soon joined by a small contingent of Muslim Brothers who conducted a symbolic prayer overseen by their Supreme Guide Mamoun al-Hodeibi. Security forces closely hemmed in what looked set to become the usual symbolic demonstration. But the crowd managed to burst through the cordons toward the main square, where they met other groups of leftist and Nasserist activists. The result was a surprisingly ecumenical demonstration that featured the stylish AUC students, hardened activists, Islamists and passersby. Aside from a few scuffles on the edges, the protest remained peaceful, as anti-regime slogans filled the air. "Mubarak! Leave! Leave!" chanted protesters. "Alaa [Mubarak's son], tell your dad that millions hate him!" Other chants accused the Egyptian government of failing to take the long-term implications of the war in Iraq seriously. "Mubarak, wake up! Tomorrow the bombing will be in Bab al-Luq," demonstrators shouted, referring to a nearby neighborhood. State security officers witnessing the demonstration affirmed that they were allowing the anti-regime tenor of the demonstration, and that the seeming takeover of the square was in fact part of their plan to gather small, disparate demonstrations under their supervision. "Our policy is to collect them in one place and control them," he said. But several times throughout the day, hundreds of demonstrators broke off from the main group and marched down the streets toward the US Embassy. When they encountered the cordons of riot police, they began tearing up pieces of pavement and throwing rocks, while chanting "Close down the embassy, take down the flag!" and "There is no god but God, and Bush is the enemy of God!" In the small side streets about a block from the embassy, the march was met by more riot police and a water cannon. Eventually, the marchers were dispersed and allowed to rejoin the main demonstration, which continued to occupy the square until almost midnight. RUNNING BATTLES
While the melee at the mosque doors continued, however, bystanders gathered in clumps of vocal protest in the streets around the mosque. Soon up to three distinct crowds waving banners and loudly denouncing the US invasion of Iraq -- as well as the Egyptian regime -- confronted police. The small groups were ruthlessly broken up with attack dogs and water cannons, sending individual demonstrators fleeing into the narrow alleys of the nearby market. Modifying a well-known chant at soccer games, onlookers declared, "Stop! Look! Egyptian is beating Egyptian!" Eventually, one large group of several thousand protesters remained about 100 meters up the street from al-Azhar. After burning makeshift American and Israeli flags, they turned away from the security forces and headed toward downtown, approximately an hour away at a normal walking pace. All the while, groups of police clashed with the marchers and herded them toward the wide European-style boulevards and squares which lead to Tahrir Square, close to the Nile River. The way to the square, however, was blocked and soon masses of angry youth were surging through downtown, crashing into one wall of riot troops after another. Several different groups converged on the Nile from different directions, and some 10,000 protesters spilled out of the downtown streets into the area just north of Tahrir Square between the Ramses Hilton and the Egyptian Museum. There the demonstrators overwhelmed units of riot police and set fire to a water truck busy reloading one of the water cannons. Marching along the Corniche, they stopped to torch the poster of Mubarak outside the ruling party headquarters and burn all the foreign flags outside the Nile Hilton. They even attempted to march on to the US Embassy before being scattered by a massed phalanx of riot police. "Today wasn't like yesterday at all," said one activist, surveying the smoldering remnants of the water truck and the squads of police rounding up the remaining demonstrators. "Security was definitely not in control of the situation, because people were not willing to give up." CRITICAL PERIOD PAST Though the Egyptian regime is wary of all types of organized protest, it will intervene most forcibly to channel popular anger over the Iraq war and other regional issues away from the government. Mubarak's own statement upon the outbreak of war on March 19 focused on Saddam Hussein's role in bringing Washington's wrath down upon his country. His statement provoked a response almost as rare as rioting in the capital, when 26 intellectuals signed a counter-statement in the Nasserist weekly al-Arabi blaming the war on US "colonialist aggression." Most of the signatories are sufficiently prominent that they won't come to harm, but nonetheless it is an unusual step for Egyptian intellectuals to directly contradict Mubarak in a major publication. Intellectuals, however, are not the ones to lead street demonstrations and already, a week after March 20-21, there is a sense that momentum is being lost. "There is no continuity, there is no enlargement," said Abd al-Moneim Said, director of the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. "Obviously there is no core organization working with the demonstrations." If there had been, the authorities moved quickly to neutralize it, first by surrounding the Lawyers' Syndicate on March 21 and arresting activists inside, and then by going after well-known activists in their homes over the next few days. According to those involved in the protests, the opportunity to build on the spontaneous explosions of anger was squandered. Whether helped along by state security intimidation or internal disarray or both, the critical period passed. "By being a little bit disillusioned and confused and not knowing what to do, the leadership decided to resort to conferences and seminars to figure out what to do," said one activist who preferred to remain anonymous. MATURING STREET POLITICS Still, the takeover of Tahrir Square and even the government-approved demonstration on March 28 are part of a slow expansion of the purview of Egyptian street politics -- which had been moribund for most of the Mubarak era. Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada, demonstrations (though often small and encircled by large security presences) have become an almost weekly feature of Egyptian life. Under Egypt's 1981 emergency law, recently renewed for another three years, public assembly of any kind is prohibited. Occasional demonstrations have mostly been penned inside mosque or university premises. Today, however, there is talk at the Interior Ministry of allowing organizers to obtain permits for demonstrations, a measure never before discussed. Emad Shahin, professor of political science at AUC, considers the regularity of street protest itself a significant development. "The continuity of demonstrations will teach people," he says. "People are maturing politically."
The state appears determined to stop nascent anti-government dissent in its tracks, as shown by the arbitrary campaign of arrests and the decision to coopt protests emanating from al-Azhar by bringing in the Muslim Brotherhood. For their part, the Brotherhood are only too happy to raise their profile in society and do something that slows the relentless campaign of oppression against them. On February 27, the Brotherhood, together with a few other opposition parties, staged a rally of 140,000 at Cairo's main stadium that was markedly devoid of anti-government slogans, as was the procession starting at al-Azhar on March 28. Mubarak himself has gone out of his way in recent speeches to affirm that Egypt is not aiding George W. Bush's "coalition of the willing" in its war effort -- something that crowds in the region, especially Syria, do not believe. For now, anti-war demonstrations are back within the relatively safe confines of university campuses or are carefully orchestrated with the government's blessing. But as the war in Iraq drags on -- exactly what the Egyptian regime feared would happen -- and anger grows at images of Iraqi casualties, street politics may take over Cairo on subsequent occasions.
Music Mercy Mission to Give Iraqi Kids Hope In the past three-and-a-half weeks, artists across the globe have joined forces to be part of the biggest charity record in almost a decade: The Mirror-War Child Hope Album. Today we're announcing the final line-up for Hope, to be launched on Easter Monday. All profits from the album will go to children in war-torn Iraq. Recorded in 25 days with artists cramming into studios to be a part of the phenomenon, Hope features an array of the best names in the music business. Paul McCartney, David Bowie, George Michael, Ronan Keating and Travis have donated exclusive, specially-recorded tracks. They are supported by new songs by Avril Lavigne, Blue, Beverley Knight, Moby, New Order, Basement Jaxx, the Charlatans and Spiritualized. New ballads appear from Beth Orton, Tom McRae and Billy Bragg and Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens. The response from the music industry to Hope has been resounding. The album will be released at no profit by WEA Records and several studios, dozens of managers and hundreds of musicians have given their time free to make the project happen. Plaudits have already come in from the record industry led by the musicians' bible, Music Week. The album began with a single track from George Michael, a version of Don McLean's The Grave, and has grown to 17 tracks. Paul McCartney took time out from his European tour to record a live version of his folk song Calico Skies in just one take. David Bowie has re-worked his hit Everyone Says Hi. Ronan Keating covers Elvis' song In The Ghetto and New Order covers their favourite reggae protest song Vietnam, by Jimmy Cliff. Fran Healy took a break from recording Travis's new album to write a song about events in Iraq, called The Beautiful Occupation. And Lee Ryan, of Blue, was inspired to write Stand Up As People as an anthem for children everywhere. Beverley Knight has reinvented the Stevie Wonder classic, Love's In Need Of Love Today. Avril Lavigne interrupted her UK tour to ensure that her cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door was ready in time for the record to be cut. War Child's James Topham said: To have musicians of the quality of Paul McCartney, David Bowie, George Michael and New Order involved speaks volumes. Children are always the first victims of war. Experts say at least 500,000 Iraqis will be affected by the war, with thousands of deaths and millions displaced. Key agencies have appealed for cash to feed the hungry, house the homeless and deliver clean water, medical supplies and sanitation.
Peace Train, the track he has reworked, was written three decades ago: But the message continues to breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions and there is a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again. THE HOPE ALBUM QUOTES: Whatever the politics, or rights and wrongs of war, children are always the innocent victims so I am delighted to make this small contribution to a magnificent project that I hope goes some way to alieviating pain and suffering. Calico Skies has a poignant verse about the futility of wars and I hope it's appropriate in the circumstances. - PAUL McCARTNEY London, March, 24, 2003 As a member of humanity and a Muslim, this is my contribution to the call for a peaceful solution to the dangerous path some world leaders today seem to be taking. I pray for the children and families whose lives are lost or shattered by the war and its bleak after-effects. Peace be with you. - YUSUF ISLAM Dubai, March 26, 2003 Ours is a simple song and it's an equally simple truth that war has innocent victims, many of them children, who deserve our compassion and need our help. Albums like this shouldn't need to be made but we hope our tiny contribution will go some way to helping War Child alleviate the inevitable humanitarian crisis that will follow this war.- BASEMENT JAXX London, March 26, 2003 Since we did a track for the Help album for the Bosnian crisis, it made a difference with the monies raised. The Curtis Mayfield track We Got To Have Peace is very poignant at this time. Check the lyrics: Save the children.' And all the soldiers that are dead and gone, we can only bring back one'. - Martin Blunt, THE CHARLATANS Manchester, March 26, 2003 I can't begin to address the suffering of the children whose lives have been shattered by war but I can express my hope that we work together to help alleviate their suffering. - MOBY Australia, March 27, 2003 Our prayers are with all those affected by this war. We hope that by contributing to the Hope album, we can help raise the much-needed funds that will provide immediate aid and relief to the children of Iraq. - Fran Healy, TRAVIS Bath, March 27, 2003 Adults always pick their politics but children have it thrust upon them and are the ones who end up being maimed or killed for it. It is horrible to see in the aftermath of any war Vietnam, Afghanistan or any one that it is the children who suffer the most. - Peter Hook, NEW ORDER Manchester, March 26, 2003 When I wrote Stand Up As People I wanted to record it as a charity single for War Child. When I heard that the Mirror was putting together a peace album for War Child, it seemed like the perfect home for the song. - Lee Ryan, BLUE London, March 27, 2003 Music makes a difference to people's lives anyway but to make a practical improvement such as food, shelter, medical assistance, shows that there is still hope to cling on to. It would be nice to think there will one day be a time when a War Child album isn't necessary but until then, anything that makes a difference has to be worthwhile. - TOM McRAE Dijon, France, March 28, 2003
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Up-to-the-Minute Emergency Responses to War With Iraq throughout the Bay Area: NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
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Michael Franti: Well, what's happened most recently is that we performed at
a rally on March 15th in San Francisco and the next day on the 16th—that,
that rally was out here—and on the 16th on the East Coast, a band member of
mine who prefers to go unnamed, his mother received a visit from two plain
clothes men from the military and this band member of mine has a sibling who
is in the Gulf. And they came in and talked to her and said you have a child
who's in the gulf and you have a child who's in this band Spearhead who's
part of the "resistance" in their words, and they had pictures of us
performing the day before at the rally, they had pictures of us performing
at some of our annual concerts that we put on that are in support of peace
and human rights. They had his flight records for the past several months,
they had the names of everybody who works in my office, our management
office "Guerilla Management". They had his checking account records. They
asked his mother a lot of questions about where he was, what he was doing in
this place, why he was going here. They confiscated his sibling's CD
collection that they had brought over to listen to while they were in the
Gulf, and basically were intimidating—told her which members of the press
she could talk to and which members of the press she should not speak to.
'Abrasive character'
For the second consecutive Friday, thousands of Egyptians gathered at
Cairo's al-Azhar mosque on March 28, 2003 to voice their opposition to the
US-led invasion and bombing of Iraq. But it was immediately apparent upon
arrival at al-Azhar that the March 28 demonstration would be very different
from the dramatic protests of the previous week. Riot police lined the
streets leading to the 1,000-year old mosque, but the state deployed only
token forces around the building itself, in contrast to the massive presence
on the previous Friday. Instead of clubs and riot shields, anti-war cartoons
drawn by some of Egypt's more famous caricaturists were arrayed in front of
the mosque. Instead of police commanders, Muslim Brothers wearing badges
issued by the "order committee" bustled around the street. Following noon
prayers, a very orderly crowd of 10,000 marched out of the mosque away from
downtown Cairo and dispersed peacefully within an hour. Three effigies with
Halloween masks for heads bore the requisite Israeli, British and American
flags, but the protest leaders refrained from shouting slogans against the
regime of President Husni Mubarak.
The regime's twin strategies of repression and cooptation aim to reduce the
likelihood that the March 20 popular takeover of Tahrir Square in downtown
Cairo will be repeated. Normally a snarl of honking traffic that pedestrians
cross at the peril of death, the square belonged to the demonstrators on
that day. For about 12 hours, they wandered almost bemused across its
suddenly car-less expanse. "This is the first time we've made it out of the
cage," said one jubilant activist. Riot police were present in vast numbers,
but only on the edges of the square. They had surrendered the center, which
was filled with some 3,000 people listening to speeches and chanting
slogans.
These confrontations were harbingers of the next day's events, when security
forces locked down Tahrir Square with massive numbers of troops to prevent
it from being occupied again. Instead, smaller, roving groups of
demonstrators ran through downtown, neither "collected" nor "controlled,"
and periodically clashed with police. The demonstration on March 21 began in
Islamic Cairo at the al-Azhar mosque. Following a quick sermon by the
state's leading cleric, Muhammad al-Sayyid Tantawi, in which he spoke
vaguely about solidarity with the Iraqi people in the face of their
hardships, the chants and slogans began immediately. Riot police immediately
blocked the main doors and refused to allow worshippers to leave, trapping
them in the small vestibule. Worshippers responded by breaking up furniture
to trade blows with the batons of police and throw their shoes, all the
while chanting, "With our blood and soul, we will sacrifice ourselves for
Islam." In Egypt, that particular chant usually references Palestine or
Baghdad.
Two weeks before the March 20-21 protests, while the government was holding
its own rally to hail national unity, a little-noticed knot of 150 people
protested the renewal of the emergency law half a block from the Parliament
building. Traditionally, protests in Egypt have concerned regional politics,
whether Israeli incursions into the Occupied Territories or sanctions and
war upon Iraq. During Israel's major invasion of the West Bank in the spring
of 2002, crowds in Cairo and Alexandria added to a wave of pro-Palestinian
protests across the Arab world. But the protesters on March 5 represented a
public mobilization over a domestic political issue. The 150 activists were
surrounded by twice as many riot police, with plainclothes officers on hand
to prevent bystanders from joining in. Their numbers seemed insignificant
compared to the hundreds of thousands bussed in by the ruling party to
applaud the government, as well as say a few words against the war in Iraq.
However, the explicitly anti-government message expressed outside
Parliament -- its fire directed at Mubarak and also at his son Gamal --
probably could not have been heard publicly a year ago.
Speaking from Dubai, Yusuf Islam saluted the Mirror and War Child for taking the lead in compiling the album in aid of small and harmless souls.
