BY DANNY FAIRFAX & SEAN HEALY
The World Trade Organisation's choice of the Persian emirate of Qatar as the venue for its fourth ministerial meeting was supposed to avoid massive protests. In the end, it only spread them to every corner of the world.
While protests at the last WTO meeting, in Seattle in November 1999, were concentrated in that city itself, this time demonstrations took place in more than 40 countries around the world.
Among the largest was a demonstration in Rome, which opposed both the war in Afghanistan and neo-liberal globalisation, as epitomised by the WTO summit. It occurred simultaneously with another manifestation, this one pro-war and backed by the right-wing prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
Using his considerable political and financial power, Berlusconi tried to coax Italians into attending his march by laying on extra transport and incessantly promoting it on his media networks. In spite of this, his rally only managed to attract 30,000 people, as compared to 100,000 for the opposition demonstration, which included various immigrant groups.
In Paris, 10,000 people assembled outside of La Bourse (the Paris stock exchange) for a protest called by anti-globalisation group ATTAC, in conjunction with left groups and trade unions. The protest, which included a large contingent of railway workers fighting against privatisation of France's railway network, marched to the Place de la Bastille. There were also actions in numerous other French cities, including Lyon, Bordeaux, Nimes and Nice.
Several protests took place across Germany. The largest was in Berlin, where 6000 took part in the anti-WTO protest, which featured a giant banner saying "Kapitalismus tötet!" ("Capitalism kills!"). Berlin's large Turkish community was prominent in the rally, which was addressed by Farooq Sulehria from the Labour Party Pakistan, who spoke about the large left-wing anti-war movement in his country.
The anti-war focus was particularly visible in the German protests, given that Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic-Green coalition government has just decided to send German troops into Afghanistan, the first presence of German soldiers overseas since World War II.
In addition, the interior minister Otto Schily has indicated he wants to implement new anti-terrorism bills, which are a "war declaration against the new peace movement and the opponents of globalised capitalism", according to Ebehard Schultz, a human rights lawyer speaking in Berlin.
Notable were also a wave of protests in Europe's most important financial centres. Frankfurt, mainland Europe's largest financial hub, was subject to several days of actions against the corporate domination which the city has become a symbol of. The numerous actions included street theatre and a blockade of Der Zeil, Frankfurt's multi-billion dollar shopping district, and culminated in a street march of 1000 people.
In Switzerland, often presented as the world's capital of docility and social cohesion, 10,000 protesters from across the country and from all social groups descended on Geneva's banking quarter, where symbolic actions took place.
Here police paranoia was at its worst. While no arrests were made, the massive police contingent charged protesters several times, attempting to force them out of the city's commercial centre.
London, which has the world's largest financial district, was host to demonstrations on November 3 and November 9. The first was a "trade justice march" of 5000 people, mainly featuring NGOs such as Oxfam and Fairtrade, which weaved its way over Westminster Bridge, past Parliament House and 10 Downing Street to gather in Trafalgar Square.
Among others, author Naomi Klein spoke to the crowd, saying: "The challenge for social justice movements is to connect economic inequality with the security concerns that now grip us all — insisting that justice and equality are the most sustainable strategies against violence and fundamentalism."
During the second demonstration, on November 9, protesters blockaded the Qatari embassy to show their opposition to the WTO.
Protests also occurred all the way across the Third World too, in countries which will bear the main brunt of pro-corporate trade policies.
In the Thai capital, Bangkok, more than 1500 farmers, jasmine rice producers, trade unionists and HIV/AIDS activists marched from Bangkok's World Trade Centre to the US Embassy.
Leaders from the Assembly of the Poor, Thailand's largest social movement, farmers organisations from around the country and the national AIDS networks, presented petitions to the US embassy representative Win Dayton demanding US action on drugs and rice patenting, and a change to the US position on WTO negotiations.
In India, where opposition to corporate-managed trade is particularly strong from farmers and unionists, and whose government has been forced to take a hard-line anti-WTO stance, more than 100,000 people participated in rallies in different parts of the country.
In Malaysia, 10,000 reportedly demonstrated, while thousands took action in Bangladesh and the Philippines. More than 20,000 marched through the streets of major cities in Turkey, while 10,000 protested against the WTO in Bulgaria on November 1.
Protests also took place across Africa and North and South America.
Despite its intentions, the WTO could not even prevent protests from taking place in Qatar itself, where demonstrations are illegal. While tight credentialing and visa processes prevented large numbers of people from civil society organisations travelling to the Persian Gulf state, those who did were still able to protest the imposition of "free trade" policies on the poor.
During the opening session of the conference on November 9, 50 activists lined both sides of the entrance to the main hall, waving signs saying "No voice at the WTO" and chanting "What do we want? Democracy".
While Qatari security officials initially prevented the demonstrators from entering the hall, they eventually complied with a pledge by the country's monarch not to prevent protests and allowed the NGO representatives to enter.
The next day, following allegations by Third World officials that they were being intimidated by representatives of rich country governments, activists again demonstrated, lining the corridor leading to the US trade representative's press briefing. Holding placards calling for "No arm-twisting" and chanting "US marines out of the WTO", the demonstrators were cheered by delegates and press alike.
According to respected anti-globalisation activist and writer Walden Bello, "many delegates have been muttering complaints about the US's imperial behaviour in Doha, exemplified by US trade representative Robert Zoellick who never moves without a Roman phalanx of US marines rudely jostling anyone who stands in their way".
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, November 21, 2001.
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