Brussels protest: 'Bush is not welcome!'
By
John Catalinotto
Brussels, Belgium
Published Feb 23, 2005 10:48 AM
"Bush is not
welcome!" That was the message here on Feb. 20-22 from the Bel gian peace
movement, progressive groups and a good portion of the population.
U.S.
President George W. Bush arrived here the evening of Feb. 20 to try to mend the
relations with his imperialist allies in Western Europe that he had shattered by
unilaterally launching the war on Iraq in 2003. How much he offered the
government leaders is still an open question. He offered nothing to the European
working class, youth and students.
Brussels: Anti-Bush demonstrators
take their protest to the steps
of the stock exchange.
WW photo: John Catalinotto
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And they came out to show him what they
thought of him on the first day in symbolically just the right place: the bourse
or stock exchange in downtown Brussels, a marketplace for international
capital.
On the steps outside the distinguished old building 1,000 people
gathered, young and old, Belgian-born and immigrant. The BRussells Tribunal and
the StopUSAggression anti-war group brought signs giving 20 examples of
countries the Pentagon has bombed since 1945. To them, Bush is a war criminal,
but not the only one.
Their message to European leaders was, "Don't follow
Bush into Iraq or into any new wars against Iran or Syria or North
Korea."
A representative of the Troops Out Now Coalition in the U.S. told
protesters about plans for demonstrations there on March 19 and of the growing
resistance among GIs to participating in the occupation of Iraq.
Following
the demonstration, hundreds from the crowd, which was mostly youths, overstuffed
a local theater for an evening of political discussion and cultural events. This
included a talk by Francois Houtard, an elder statesperson of intellectual
opposition to U.S. aggression and a key motivator of the World Social
Forum.
The next day there was a massive police presence around Brussels,
with many streets and metro stops blocked and schools closed for the day. It
looked something like the state of siege in New York during last August's
Republican National Convention.
Still, 4,000 Belgians jammed the streets
across from the U.S. Embassy. They expressed their displeasure with Bush for the
wars he unleashed, and also for failing to sign the Kyoto accord setting limits
on the use of fossil fuels. Demonstrations around the city are also expected on
Feb. 22, when Bush will be leaving for Germany.
Coordinated local protests
are expected throughout Germany on Feb. 22. The following day, when Bush meets
German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder in Mainz, thousands are expected to be
there from all over the country--in another city under police siege.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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