After
months of preparation on the part of protesters
and police, many of whom expected a Genoa-style
bloodbath, the marches and rallies that took place
Saturday were, for the most part, anti climactic.
While
up to 15,000 took to the streets, they did so by way
of three distinct events, all of which were to converge
outside the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the world's
elite was gathering for the third day of the World
Economic Forum here in New York.
The International Action Committee held
a permitted rally outside the hotel, while
Another World is Possible rallied at Central
Park, from which they would make their way
to the Waldorf-Astoria for a rally with the
protesters with Reclaim the Streets. This
was perhaps the most eventful and certainly
attracted the most numbers. Lacking a city
permit, the crowd of about five to eight
thousand left from Columbus Circle at 1 PM,
after a pageant staged by puppetistas from
Arts-in-Action's theater troupe with Reclaim
the Streets.
Protesters
marched peacefully for several hours, many
bearing signs demanding "resistance
to corporate colonialism," "death
to the WEF," and "no more sweatshops." Many
conveyed messages of individual dissent,
but all seemed to center around issues of
sweatshop labor, workers' rights, police
brutality, animal rights, environmental degradation,
and the failures of capitalistic approaches
to basic needs, particularly of those in
indigenous nations via corporate globalization.
Medics and legal personnel traversed the
crowd, ready to come to the aid of the activists
at any call, along with a communications
team to alert fellow activists of significant
occurrences throughout the march. Medics
could be distinguished by their red and white
clothing, many sporting vests with pockets
stuffed with supplies and all with medical
crosses on their arms made with red duct
tape. The People's Law Collective documented
arrests. Police told The Earth Times these
had totaled 38, mainly for disorderly conduct
and unlawful assembly.
The demonstration included a 40-foot long
orange dragon decorated with slogans, and
a samba band which comprised drums, buckets,
pots, pans and jugs from water coolers. Some
of the more interesting samba instruments
were made from big orange and white concrete
blocks, and there was what appeared to be
a bathtub cut in half.
The main part of the 30-piece band was at
the head of the march, but there were many
scattered throughout the crowd with similar
instruments, all playing to the same beat
and forming tight rhythms which could be
heard from blocks away. Activists said the
band was really the heart of the march, and
indeed the music seemed to both carry and
reflect the energy and spirit of the group.
Musicians revealed that they had rehearsed
for weeks with their makeshift instruments
to come together in this way.
Scores of police cars were present at every
turn, and all streets within the vicinity
of the Waldorf were blocked off. By 5:00
pm, tension between protesters and police
was far more prominent than any action against
the WEF. Protesters remained blocked inside
a small area between police barricades for
two hours, unable to reach the Waldorf in
spite of the permit they held for a rally
there until 8:00 pm. Police argued that the
protesters were within sight and sound of
the hotel, and that they had orders not to
allow them past this point.
One
officer told The Earth Times he was not
going to
allow activists past the barricade
because he smelled vinegar, which clued him
in that "they were probably doing something
wrong." Activists claimed they were
soaking masks in vinegar to cover their faces
because they feared police were going to
spray tear gas. "They confiscated some
of our goggles earlier," said Christina,
26, an anti-globalization activist from New
York. "That's like firing a bullet and
saying you can't duck."
The
People's Law Collective settled the matter
with
police, and activists reconvened
behind more barricades for chants, songs
and samba, after which many began to disperse.
Police conceded that it had been a "pretty
successful day," in that arrests had
been minimal and that all of the rallies
lacked any real violence. Activists didn't
seem as complacent. "If everything goes
peaceful, the police get all the credit," one
remarked. "If things turn violent, we
get all the blame."
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