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NEW YORK World Economic Forum protests
Another march saw up to 3,500 marched in an unpermitted Reclaim the Streets demonstration to the Waldorf-Astoria. As of 1:00 pm, Reclaim the Streets had joined up with Another World Is Possible for their march to the Waldorf. Word on the streets is that the combined marches number over 10,000 people. Groups of police began attacking the march and again arrested 5 for violating the mask law, plus the offence of getting beaten up by cops. The demo did make it to its destination but there arounf 5,000 cops in the city defending 2,700 delegates at the WEF forum. The police presence and the aftermath of 11 September has had a negative affect on the anti globalisation movement. Rolling into New York on the coach from the north, my eyes first hit the high rise apartment blocks of the Bronx. Stark, monolithic rundown buildings with nothing around them but a strip mall a mile away. Not everyone has realised the American dream that’s for sure. Welcome to New York, The Big Apple. A city “that tolerates protest and contrary ideas”, says Eric Laursen of Another World is Possible (AWIP), one of the organisations protesting against the World Economic Forum (WEF) A city that tolerated dissent… until now. Now it is welcome to the police state. “New York’s Finest” are everywhere. 4,500 cops and secret service officers have been bribed with massive overtime to police the city for the 3,000 WEF “movers and shakers” of corporate capitalism. There are snipers on the rooftops surrounding the Waldorf Astoria where the WEF meetings take place. There is a no-fly zone in force in the area. There are two cops at every McDonald’s, Starbucks and Citicorp in the city. Thanks to the repressive policies of the previous mayor, Rudolph Giuliani (“Freedom is about authority”), protesters in this city can’t even carry wooden sticks to hold their placards or banners. And the new mayor, Bloomberg, is taking a page straight from Giuliani’s book. The police have been instructed to enforce an 1845 law that bars three or more protesters from wearing masks during marches. They are out to prove in no uncertain terms that New York is indeed “open for business”. But it is closed for the people who want to exercise their democratic rights. What astonished me when we landed was mesmerising number of American flags. Everywhere: on the coaches, the subway, flying from pickup trucks, off every porch, in every café or shop. You can’t turn around without seeing the red, white and blue. The hysteria and the nationalist fervour whipped up by Bush through the media since 9/11 hardly seems to have abated. I think that this has had a tremendous effect on the anti-capitalist movement that it hasn’t been able to recover from, yet. Certainly this is the case with the NGO and official trade union components. The NGOs and the reformist wing of the movement have completely backed out of the anti WEF protests. The Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Drop the Debt refused to support or organise for the demonstrations. The reason they gave was because Another World is Possible, the organising coalition, “couldn’t guarantee non-violence”. Even Kevin Danaher said that Global Exchange would focus instead on the alternative World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. What about thinking globally, and acting locally Kevin? The AFL-CIO is also very cautious. Their March for Global Justice was downgraded to a static demo outside GAP because the police refused them a legal permit. They did manage to assemble fifty east Asian women garment workers from the Unite union. About 1000 of us were penned in across four blocks, surrounded by cops, with horses just around the corner. There were rallying speeches but no mention of Saturday’s demo. The main demo on Saturday has been called under the Another World is Possible banner which includes Students for Justice, Anti-Capitalist Convergence and RTS and the far left notably. the ISO. The AWIP applied for a permit to march which the cops granted. They are expecting 10,000 to march. I’ll be one of them! |
NEW YORK - Jan 31 - Feb 3, 2002 |
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For the whole week police have had a heavy presence on the streets. On the Saturday of the big demonstartion (2 February) the city has the police begin to make arrests at 10 a.m. The first arrests were made at the corner of 52nd and Park at the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Rally. According to Indy media reporters police made two arrests apparently for breaking the City's mask law.