Coalition Against the War - Meeting 02/11/01

"I’d just like to write a short article about a public meeting which I attended last Friday night at Leeds University’s conference auditorium.

Today's protest was organised by the one-month-old ‘Leeds coalition against the war’ (i.e. the ‘War on Terror’).

Being a pacifist and not believing that killing in revenge is the way to go, I thought this might be worth giving up a night in the pub for.

Well, it was….I’m no political writer but here’s a brief summary:

The meeting was extremely well attended (I’d say at least 500) by all kinds of people. There was an impressive range of speakers including Harold Best (MP for Leeds North West), the ex Chairman of CND (the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), Liz Davies (a lawyer who wasn’t allowed to stand as a Labour candidate as she was considered too left wing), the Leader of Leeds Grand Mosque, a local schoolgirl and a Politics lecturer.

Although some of them did go on a bit, they all made extremely intelligent and salient remarks, to the effect that Islam is not to blame for the ruthless acts of a few people (i.e. the September 11^th bombers) but that revenge by killing innocent Afghanis is absolutely not the way forward. Liz Davies made the especially good point that seeing someone dying on TV is extremely emotional and terrible no matter who has killed them and why.

Unfortunately I went on the last minute and didn’t take a paper and pen, so I can’t go into more detail. I really just wanted to let people know that this meeting not only happened but was a major event, and that there is organised opposition to this war in Leeds.

I found the whole experience both interesting and invigorating, I felt that rather than just being an individual with an opinion I was part of a much broader movement. I was also extremely impressed at how well organised the event was considering the Coalition is so young.

I also did not manage to catch the coalition’s website address, but believe it can be found via www.leftalliance.org.uk. There are also several local groups, e.g. ‘Chapel Allerton against the War’.

The meeting was followed by a peaceful rally and march the next day (Saturday 3^rd) in the city centre, I unfortunately was at work but have heard good reports.

Anyone wanting to write a further article about this, or in detail about either event, is welcome to contact me via Leeds365." - Catherine Tonge

Further to Catherine's article, the following was submitted by a Leeds365 visitor:-

ARMIES OF THE NIGHT REVISITED - PEOPLE OF LEEDS FACE UP TO OUR VIETNAM - a report on Nov 3rd Leeds Coalition Against The War march

"Saturday 3rd November saw the latest action in the local campaign against the war in Afghanistan, as hundreds of people gathered outside the Art Gallery demanding an immediate end  to the US bombing raids.  The event was organised by the Leeds Coalition Against The War, an alliance involving groups such as CND, the Muslim Foundation and the Socialist Workers Party, as well as individuals from the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats and New Labour.

Following a march through the city centre the crowd reassembled to hear speeches from members of the Committee, who whilst universally condemning the attacks on the World Trade Centre cited a variety of reasons as to why they opposed the response being taken.  Basically, the points made were that the war was unjust, likely to be counterproductive and, given the long history of Western state terrorism, hypocritical.  The atmosphere on the day was upbeat, fuelled by the drummers and samba band who accompanied the march as well as by the feeling that popular opinion in Britain was beginning to be swayed.  Certainly the large turnout provided evidence for this, especially when coupled with the estimated five hundred people who had attended the meeting held at Leeds University the previous evening.

The event ended with the organisers stressing the importance of ensuring a large turnout for the national anti-war march in London on the 18th November." - Danny Millum

Ollie from Penzance sent us an Anti-War song called "THE FACTS", that he's written & recorded, Click Here to download the mp3