Successful Anti-War action in Ireland
Successful Anti-War action in Southern
Ireland
Youth Against the War, the campaign set up by Socialist
Youth, the Irish section of ISR, organised a successful walkout of school
students in North Dublin yesterday. At 12.30 school students walked out of their
school and assembled at the County Council Offices in Swords town centre to
protest at the drive to war on Iraq and the shameful role of the Irish
government in allowing US warplanes refuel in Shannon Airport.
Over 150 students
took part in the action and 30 joined Youth Against the War committing
themselves to organising walkouts on "Day-X". We now plan to
establish a Socialist Youth branch in the area to co-ordinate action in all the
schools on the day the war begins.
In Cork, a Youth Against the War group was set up in one school with the
support of two teachers and in another school leaflets were distributed calling
on students to join YAW. In both schools many students gave a commitment to
attend an anti-war demonstration this Saturday in Cork City.
Youth Against the War received enormous media coverage for the actions we
organised and for our call for widespread walkouts and strikes on
"Day-X". 3 national newspapers covered the action, as did 3 national
radio stations and 3 regional radio stations including one youth station. We
were the second item on the main evening news on the main national TV station.
We are planning to
call for national lunchtime protests and possible walkouts next week and to set
up YAW groups in as many schools as possible. On "Day-X" we are
considering a nationwide school student strike.
Matt Waine, Dublin
No to war on Iraq - England and Wales
School students strike against the war
We reproduce below
reports from International Socialist Resistance, the anti-capitalist youth
organisation which has organised a Youth against the War campaign responsible
in many areas for the strike call to students on March 5th.
Coventry
Max Toynbee from
Finham Park school reports:
“At my school we
got about 35 people to a meeting at which Dave Nellist spoke (A Coventry
Socialist Party councillor for St Michael’s ward). A teacher spoke in favour of
war just so that people had to the arguments in favour of it presented to them.
It was really good.
A lot of people
there were year seven students, who are in the first year of secondary school,
11 and 12-year-olds. It was great seeing younger students there, and not just
the older students.
It was good in
town as well. We got about 40 or so people onto the demonstration like the
Godiva statue. There was students from Sidney Stringer, Barrs Hill, Finham Park
sixth form, Stoke Park, The Butts College, Tile Hill college, Coventry
University, and probably some other schools and colleges that I don't know
about. We did the short, lively march around town. We had a megaphone and we
were doing some good chants. Then me and a girl called Michelle, who is also an
ISR member at the college in Coventry went into the council house and asked to
see a Labour councillor to see if they could justify their position on the war.
A councillor did come out and spoke to the rest of the demonstration --
councillor Heather Parker, who represents Foleshill ward in Coventry, but her
arguments didn’t convince any of the students.
The day was very
successful. We recruited a lot of people to ISR and more and more people are
getting involved in ISR in Coventry. There were a few problems in terms of
organising in schools which we can work on for the next time, but over all the
day was a big success.”
Sheffield, Yorkshire
In Sheffield 400
students took part in the strikes showing their opposition to the war and cam
out on strike on the 5th March.
Around 150 came
from King Edwards; there were many students who took part in the strikes from
over 10 other schools from across the city. There were also FE students who
took part.
When students
arrived in the city centre, there was really lively march around the city
centre with loads of chanting and singing – which then went onto the FE college
and another school and went round calling for students to ‘Come Out and join
our protests’.
ISR members and
supporters collected over 90 names of school students who want more information
from over 11 schools and 4 college sites.
This took place in
the background of some head teachers and the education department trying to
stop the walkouts through the press including the head teacher for m High
Storrs School sending letters home to parents telling them students had been
given ISR flyers!!
Gavin Martin from
High Storrs School said: “There was a lot of interest
about walkouts in many schools across Sheffield including my own school which
actually sent out a letter forbidding anyone to go to the march in town.
Despite this around forty or fifty people from my school joined others to march
the streets of Sheffield in the rain. We went to schools, colleges and the
university to join with more young people of Sheffield and we saw some students
who wanted to join the protest being held back by teachers who were trying to
separate us from their students. As we marched we received a great deal of
support from the public and many people honked their horns or showed other
signs of approval. At the peak of the march I would estimate that there were
probably up to a thousand protesters, maybe even more, despite schools
condemning the walkout idea. Many more people would have come if possible and I
am sure there will be a massive turnout for any similar protest on ‘Day X’.”
This shows the
determination of young people to show their anger at war on Iraq – now onto
building for ‘Day X’ walkouts and action!! There will also be a Stop the War
Coalition demonstration on Saturday, which over 3,000 people are expected to
take part in.
Leeds
In Leeds, up to
300 students walked out against the war. Many were from Notre Dame 6th
form college and there were 50-80 from the university and some from the Art
College who were also joined by a number of students from local schools. All
met up for a really good, lively protest.
A number of ISR
members and supporters are now continuing the protests and are on hunger strike
in the city centre. This has received lots of press coverage, and the students
are appealing for people to join the hunger strikes and show support – more to
follow.
London
‘Education not War’ protest at Parliament and Downing St
Downing Street and Whitehall came to a
grinding halt for an hour on 5 March when 500 school students took a rolling
protest from Parliament Green down to the gates of Downing Street.
School students
from across London – from north, south and west - and even from Potters Bar in
Hertfordshire came to the demonstration. Throughout the day new groups of
students arrived after walking out of their school. Some had just heard about
the action on the news and decided to walk out.
A number of
students had been threatened with exclusion but as many said: “They can’t
exclude all of us if we stick together”. Some had brought homemade banners,
taking estate agents’ hoardings.
School students
sat down in front of Downing Street and it took police nearly an hour to move
them to the other side of the road. In some individual cases the police were
exceptionally heavy-handed but did not pursue the full riot tactics that they
normally do when ploughing into demonstrations. Obviously, police wading into
school students with batons and horses is not the sort of publicity the
government wants at the moment.
The protest made
the national TV news and ISR member Chaminda Jayanetti was interviewed and
appeared on the BBC 6 o’clock news.
School students
were joined by students from Brunel and UCL universities in London. Students
from Fortismere school, South Camden Community School, Elliot School, Lady
Margaret School, Acland Burghley, Parliament Hill and Dame Alice Owen’s School
all signed up to link up with ISR for future actions on Day X. The ISR leaflet
and action plan of how to take action on Day X was eagerly taken up by many of
those on the protest.
Lewisham school students march out of school to protest against the war
A lively, noisy
picket line of a couple of hundred school students at Sydenham girls school
started a day of protest against the war in Lewisham. Teachers tried to bully
students back in and even went so low as to use the anti-trade union laws to
get the young people to go in to lessons.
The students, who
have been leafleting and preparing banners and stickers for the strike, were
not to be deterred from this opportunity to get their voices heard. Hundreds of
students marched from Sydenham Girls to Forest Hill Boys School where teachers
locked the students in and prevented them from joining the demonstration. Many
of the Forest Hill lot broke out the back gate and came down to join the rally
in the local park. All the way while we were marching the chants of No Blood
for Oil and NO War brought workers out to the pavements and windows to support
us and most of the cars beeped in support of our protest against Bush and
Blair’s war.
After the rally
the police also tried to bully us out of having a demonstration and after we
went up to Sedge Hill school where the students were again locked in by the
teachers we had a really bizarre police chase with about 20 of us on a bus and
a van load of police following us and stopping at all the stops!!
When we got up to
Christ the King where we had planned a lunchtime rally the police were already
on the gate. Students were asking the policemen what they thought of the war
and were horrified when they said they weren’t allowed to have an opinion!
One student from
Year 8 said: “It’s a big privilege to me to say what I want to say. People
think that we’re too young to have a say. Today’s been really good so people
know that we have a right to a say.” Another from Year 10 where loads turned up
said: “Teachers not letting everyone have a say even though it’s our right to strike.”
To get a range of our articles on Socialist Youthgo to the sitemap and for Youth Against the War.
For reports of the Bush-Blair war on Iraq
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