150,000 in Montreal--Echec a la guerre

JBrown72073 at cs.com JBrown72073 at cs.com
Tue Feb 18 10:21:40 PST 2003



>From a friend in Montreal, where it was effing cold:

Everyone was surprised - but not shocked. The organizers in Echec a la

guerre, simply couldn't imagine so many would turn out yesterday - when the

temperature was a bitter -20 Celsius /-5 Fahrenheit . The main metro line

broke down 20 minutes before the starting time, and thousands had to walk

several kilometres just to get to the march. Still, there were SO many

people.

Today, everyone is still buzzing, and optimism is in the air that we can

slow down and stop this rush to war. On Thursday and Friday, the English media could

barely find time to sniff at my calls for some publicity. Now they are

calling me/us for interviews (as if we have this magic touch that pulls

150,000 people out of a hat!)

Of course, our job was easier than in the U.S. which more or less put their

NYC march under Marshal Law - with a court ordered anti-march, police sharp

shooters training their guns on the demonstrators, and 25 cow-pens for the

100,000 or so that actually were able to get pass the initial police

barricades to the United Nations. Plus they have a relentless idiotic

pro-war media.

Already, plans for other anti war projects like

passing a city council resolution and a creative action to blockade the US

consulate are appearing more possible.

I started in the middle of the march and walked or politely shoved my way

toward the starting point. People were packed together - not just because it

was cold, but because we were in a human traffic jam.

My team was putting up florescent placards on light poles announcing next

Friday's "Block the Empire" action- where we will block the US consulate.

People everywhere helped me hoist them high on the poles.

These were not the usual suspects we sometimes encounter at our protests.

By our big yellow Block the Empire banner, people were grabbing flyers for

the event out of our frozen hands. What a great feeling when people applaud

a banner promoting direct action.

Hoping they show up Friday. _____ Jenny Brown



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