Can the anti-war movement walk _and_ chew gum?

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday March 03, 2003 12:55 by Ray - none

February 15th was a great day for the anti-war movement in Ireland, with over 100,000 people turning out to oppose the war. But does that mean that every demonstration has to be a repeat of F15? Are we incapable of walking _and_ chewing gum at the same time?

Getting large numbers of people out on to the streets is a good thing. Opinion poll after poll has shown that most people oppose war in the gulf, and want Ireland to remain neutral. But its one thing to hear it in an opinion poll, another to see tens of thousands of people marching against the use of Shannon as a US military staging post.

But there is a big difference between saying that 'large marches are great', and thinking that 'large marches are the be-all and end-all of the campaign'. Especially since we've already gone about as far as we can go with that tactic. And while it was quite successful in some ways, it has also failed in its stated aim - to stop the war, or at least take Ireland out of it. Bertie is still sitting on the fence, planning to quietly back Bush and Blair. And US troops and equipment are still passing through Shannon every day.

So its time for another tactic. _Supplementing_, not replacing, the mass protests. Its time to chew gum down in Shannon, and last weekend was a pretty good start. Hundreds of people turned up, many of them travelling long distances, to take part in direct action. Despite all of the scare-mongering from the media, our opponents (and, regretfully, some people who should be on our side), the protests passed off peacefully. GNAW said they would engage in non-violent direct action, and that's exactly what they did. They didn't manage to pull down the fence, but there's always next time.

Because there has to be a next time, for both the mass marches and the direct action. There's no contradiction between the two, and there's no reason why one shouldn't support the other. Mass marches in Dublin, direct action in Shannon - its a natural tactical division. Mass marches will always be bigger in Dublin, because its easier for most people to get to. Direct action will always be more appropriate in Shannon, because that's where the planes are landing.

GNAW has consistently supported the mass marches in Dublin, because it has always realised that the two tactics are complementary, and both can help in reaching our goal. Hopefully, by the time the next Shannon protest comes around, the IAWM, PANA, and the various political parties, will all have realised that diversity of tactics actually makes this movement stronger - and the only thing that weakens us is when other groups are attacked for straying from the 'one true path' of marches and speeches.