Peace actions Leiden 19/20 December
nowar - 20.12.2001 22:28
[report in English] vredesaktiviteiten in Leiden op 19 en 20 december; verslagen
Peace demonstration and meeting in Leiden, The Netherlands, 19 and 20 December
On the two consecutive days of Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 December, there were an information meeting and a peace march in Leiden, The Netherlands. The Leiden Anti War Committee had again organized them, after the earlier demonstrations. Both events showed that the peace movement sees that the misery of war is not over for the people of Afghanistan; and now threatens to engulf the people of other countries like Somalia or Iraq. At both events, the Anti War Committee explained their emergency action plan: if the US Bush administration and its allies will attack a second country after Afghanistan, then on the very day that that attack starts, people will meet for a protest demonstration at the city hall square (Stadhuisplein) in Leiden, at 7 p.m. If the attack starts in the evening, Dutch time, then the demonstration will be at 7 p.m. the next evening. In many other cities and villages in The Netherlands, indeed throughout the world, there are similar plans.
The informational meeting on Wednesday 19 December was in the Antonius (St. Anthony) hall in Leiden. There were five speakers: on NATO and fundamentalism; on the economic and social background of the war "against terrorism"; on Western prejudice against Muslims and other "non Westerners" ever since Hegel; Wil van der Schans of "Jansen en Jansen" on threats to civil liberties in NATO countries disguised as "anti terrorism"; Ibrahim Al Bazz, chair of the organization of Palestinian residents in The Netherlands, on the increase in violence against the Palestinians. Many people of the audience participated in the interesting discussion.
The next evening at 8 p.m.., people gathered at the city hall square for the peace march. More people came than to the peace demonstration in Leiden before it; from middle aged people who had come from the village of Noordwijkerhout, to squatters, to young students. The biggest, yellow and black, banner said: No to war, no to terrorism. Behind it came a white banner against the arms trade. People shouted: Stop the war, peace now! One, two, three, four, we do not want war here; five, six, seven, let the Afghans live [Dutch: leven]! [Dutch Prime Minister] Kok, shame on you, blood is on your hands! George Bush, monkey´s head [Dutch: apekop], see to it that the war stops!
In spite of the freezing cold rainy weather, there were many spectators in the Breestraat, the main shopping street of Leiden, on this pre Christmas shopping night. The demonstrators arrived at their destination: the monument to the anti Nazi resistance fighters of World War Two; where a short speech reminded them of the future plans of the peace movement.
 Website: http://www.wereldcrisis.nl
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