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AP. 6 November 2002. Thousands protest pending war, globalization in front of U.S. base near Pisa.
PISA -- More than 3,000 Europeans shouting "Yankees Go Home!" gathered outside a U.S. military base Wednesday to protest U.S. threats to attack Iraq, kicking off five days of anti-war and anti-globalization demonstrations.
Helicopters hovered overhead and police in riot gear stood between protesters and the entrance to Camp Darby, a U.S. Army and Air Force base outside Pisa -- an indication of tight security the government has mobilized for the anti-global meeting.
The meeting, to be held in nearby Florence, is expected to attract thousands of anti-globalization protesters from around Europe for a series of discussions on globalization and a major anti-war protest Saturday.
Ahead of that, Italian unions organized the anti-war demonstration Wednesday at Camp Darby, which featured protesters from Greece, Spain, Italy and Britain toting banners saying "Drop Bush not Bombs!" and yelling "Yankees Go Home!"
"These are not wars against terrorism," protest organizer Piero Bernocchi of the Italian union group Cobas told the crowd.
"These are wars to dominate the world, and for oil and money, terrorism is just an excuse."
Shops in central Florence shuttered their glass-front windows and at least one McDonald's took down its "golden arches" for fear the American fast-food chain could be a target of protesters.
Amid stepped up security and border patrols, demonstrators attending the Florence meeting were arriving in Italy on Wednesday by bus, train, boat and even dinghy.
Outside Camp Darby, the protest of about 3,000 people was peaceful, with demonstrators marching for a variety of causes: Palestinian statehood, a more equal, globalized world, Basque rights, and for the United States to call off its threatened war on Iraq.
Luca Guido, a 20-year-old student from Salerno in southern Italy, was sending several messages with his presence at Camp Darby.
"NATO feeds the war for economic interests and is only pushed by financial groups," he said as he helped wave an enormous Palestinian flag.
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ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org with photos (soon)
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