February 26 2003

Life During Wartime

Before you pat yourself on the back for attending the peace march last week, think of Jeremy Corbyn, who is helping lead the opposition to the impending war on Iraq within British Parliament, where he represents North London. He marched at home Feb. 15 – and then managed to reach San Francisco in time to speak at the Civic Center rally the next day.

When Corbyn stopped by our office Feb. 17, he pointed out that he was helped by the spinning of the earth. "If it spun the other way, I couldn't have done it," he piped.

But Corbyn is focusing his time these days on significantly more likely events – like British participation in a war that about 80 percent of the public there opposes.

"I think a war with Iraq is fundamentally a war about oil, natural resources, and American military power," he told us. "I was one of those in the 1980s who was opposed to arms sales to Iraq by Britain and America. We were told we were damaging British interests and jobs."

The former trade unionist said antiwar forces in the United States would do well to emulate the cooperation with labor groups that is a major part of British protests.

Corbyn said a general strike is possible in Britain, with the transport unions moving to convene a special congress of the trade union movement – something that hasn't happened since the miners' strike 20 years ago. In early February the train drivers union refused to move a freight car of ammunition ostensibly intended for the Persian Gulf.

When it comes to opposing the war, Corbyn said, "the unions provide a good structure, because they have the organizational experience and the political clout."

But while he spurs peaceniks everywhere to do better, he also seems genuinely positive about global antiwar efforts thus far. "I've been to every big demonstration in London in 30 years, and I've never seen anything like it," he said of the mobilization there. Corbyn said the San Francisco rally, while not nearly as large, had an impressive fervor. (He also was visibly proud to have shared a stage with Joan Baez.)

In both places, he was impressed by the number of young protesters, observing, "The politics of peace have really taken off from the Rambo culture of the '80s."

Corbyn did, however, notice some distinctions between the two gatherings. Did you know, for instance, that protest signs are "more fun" over here? (There goes British pride in their supposed national wit.) His favorite of the many hand-lettered signs he saw in San Francisco: "A Texas village has lost its idiot." (Tali Woodward and Matthew Hirsch)

Most charges dropped

While all but one of the protesters arrested in connection with the breakaway march and ensuing melee Feb. 16 have been released, and most have seen their charges reduced or dropped altogether, allegations persist of undue violence on the part of both protesters and police.

Some 45 protesters involved in the "unpermitted" action that followed the official antiwar march were arrested. Most faced misdemeanor charges for failing to disperse and were released the same day. All of those low-level charges were dropped Feb. 20, according to John Viola, an attorney with the National Lawyer's Guild who represents many of those arrested.

Seven originally faced felony charges ranging from battery on a police officer to interfering with public transit, the District Attorney's Office reduced most of the charges to misdemeanors.

One protester, 27-year-old Broderick Harrison, still faces two counts of felony vandalism in connection to an earlier, Jan. 18 protest, during which police allege he broke the glass doors of the Immigration and Naturalization Service building on Washington Street and attempted to break a Victoria's Secret window at the Embarcadero Center. As of press time, Harrison and Jack Bay, a 19-year-old facing four misdemeanor counts (battery, resisting arrest, and vandalism) from the Feb. 16 action, were the only ones still in custody at San Francisco County Jail.

"The activists who were there that day were taking a very active and encouraging stance against a war that should not be happening – a war that's totally unnecessary and a war that's endangering millions of people's lives," Viola said. "As a movement in general, we should realize that people are going to choose different tactics.… People should think about what they would do to prevent a mass murder from occurring."

Close to 1,000 demonstrators participated in the breakaway protest, which began shortly after 3 p.m. and lasted about three and a half hours. Most demonstrators had left by the time the majority of arrests took place.

Viola said he has received numerous reports from legal observers and others at the breakaway march of police brutality and targeted arrests.

"The police seem to be more serious about protecting property than protecting people," said Oscar Thornton, a self-described "anarchist-communist" who participated in the unofficial actions following the last three mass antiwar marches in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2002, Jan. 18, and Feb. 16. Officers rushed to safeguard storefronts, yet had no qualms about beating up protesters or driving police cars into a crowd of demonstrators at high speeds, he argued.

The San Francisco Police Department would not say exactly how many officers responded to the breakaway protest, but spokesperson Dewayne Tully confirmed that more than 100 cops were involved. The force included tactical personnel and motorcycle and mounted units, as well as deputies from the Sheriff's Department, and officers from multiple stations.