On the anti war protests in Denmark

The Danish right wing two party coalition government and the Danish People's Party (an extreme right wing party that supports the government from outside), have decided that Denmark should participate in the US led attack on Iraq. Denmark has sent a submarine and a warship - an extremely modest contribution - but the point is that they want to show that "we support our most important ally", as the prime minister has said. This decision was taken in parliament with a very small majority, while all the other parties, except for the two in government and the Danish People's Party, voted against.

Outside of parliament the opposition to the war and the government's support for it is even bigger. Like in most other countries there were big demonstrations already on the day the attack started. In many places spontaneous protests began, with students leaving their classes and blocking traffic with the slogan "We'll stop Denmark, until Denmark stops its support for the war". There were big demonstrations. Several thousands gathered in the centre of Copenhagen. There is a growing radicalisation, especially among the youth. Even very young school students participated and walked out of their classes. In the evening there were protests at 8 o'clock in many cities throughout the country. The news agency said there were 10,000 people on the protests in total, but in Copenhagen alone the central square, which can hold at least 15,000 people, was full.

On Friday there were more student strikes, meetings and demonstrations. On Saturday there were big demonstrations with more than 15,000 in Copenhagen, and several thousand in other major cities. There is clearly a basis for something big in this movement, but what we need is more involvement from the workers’ movement and strike action. Many unions have declared themselves in opposition to the war and many have supported the demonstrations, but so far no real lead has been given and there has been no call for strikes against the war and the government. This is the perspective we need to fight for.

In Århus - Denmark's second biggest city - there were also protests. The day the war broke out, 5,000 people gathered in the City Hall Square in the centre of the city. Normally demonstrations in Århus are not very big, but this was very different. A lot of people who had never participated in things like this before were at the demonstration. There were so many people, that a lot of people couldn’t get into the square and had to gather in the nearby streets. It was probably the biggest demonstration in Århus since 1985, when the big strikes took place and the workers raised the red flag from the building of the Danish Bank in the City Hall Square. The next day, a lot of students walked out from their classes and gathered in a demonstration.

And a short report from Oslo, Norway:

Around 15,000 people from Oslo were on the demonstration against the US-led war in Iraq. The slogan, which many people (youth, workers etc.) shouted from different parts of the demonstration, was: “one, two, three, four - we don't want your f***ing war!” Unfortunately some anarchists tried to transform the demonstration into a violent confrontation as they started throwing paint at the police. This kind of action does not help the antiwar movement to spread its influence among the mass of ordinary working people. It is in fact common knowledge that many ordinary rank and file policemen are probably also against the war. Worst of all, this kind of action only plays into the hands of those who wish to condemn the demonstrations and isolate the antiwar movement. What we need is mass action, big demonstrations and strikes and not individuals engaging in hopeless minor battles.

March 25, 2003.