Protests against the 2003 Iraq war: Encyclopedia II - Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - Prior to the invasion of Iraq

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - Prior to the invasion of Iraq

These protests are said to be the biggest global peace protests before a war actually started; the peace movement is compared with the movement caused by the Vietnam War.

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - January 16 2002

Protests were held worldwide in opposition to a war with Iraq, including in Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, and the United States, where Americans attended a rally in Washington, DC. The U.S. Park Police, which oversees activities on The Mall, stopped providing estimates of crowd size after being threatened with lawsuits by the organizers of the Million Man March, but said that protest organizers only had a permit for 30,000 demonstrators. According to rally organizers, more than 200,000 Americans were in attendance.

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Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - October 26 2002

Protests took place in various cities across the world. Over 100,000 people took part in a protest in Washington. 50,000 people took part in a demonstration in San Francisco.[2]

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - October 31 2002

Around 150 protests took place in the UK across the country, including Critical Mass bike rides, occupations, and mass demonstrations in Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow and London. Protests also took place in the US.[3]

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - November 9 2002

Demonstrations against the war at the end of the first European Social Forum in Florence, Italy. 1,000,000 people according to the organizers, 500,000 for local authorities.

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Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - January 18 2003

Anti-war demonstrations, focusing particularly but not exclusively on the expected war with Iraq, took place in villages, towns, and cities around the world, including Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, London, Dublin, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Cologne, Bonn, Gothenburg, Florence, Oslo, Rotterdam, Istanbul and Cairo,

NION and ANSWER jointly organized protests in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, California.

In San Francisco, between 150,000 and 200,000 people attended the demonstration. The San Francisco police had originally estimated the crowd size at 55,000, but admitted later that they had badly underestimated the number and changed their estimate to 150,000. The day started with a waterfront rally at 11 am, followed by a march down Market Street to the Civic Center.

In Washington, thousands of people (CNN estimate) demonstrated through the city, ending with a rally at The Mall. Among the speakers was Rev. Jesse Jackson who told the crowd that "We are here because we choose coexistence over coannihilation." [4]

The protests were planned to coincide with the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. [5]

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - February 15 2003

Millions of people protested, in approximately 800 cities around the world. Listed by the 2004 Guinness Book of Records as the largest protest in human history, protests occurred among others in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Syria, India, Russia, South Korea, Japan, and even McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The largest demonstation this day occurred in London, where 2,000,000 protesters gathered in Hyde Park; speakers included the Reverend Jesse Jackson, London mayor Ken Livingstone, and Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy.

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - March 8 2003

Three separate marches converged on Manchester Town Hall, UK. Official estimates put the number of participants at 10,000 (although this was disputed by organisers), making it the biggest political demonstration in the city since the Peterloo Massacre in 1819[6].

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - March 15 2003

Spanish and Italian cities showed some of the largest turnouts against their governments' pro-war stance, with more than 400,000 protesters in Milan, more than 300,000 in Barcelona forming a mile-long human chain [7], and more than 120,000 in Madrid [8]. Marches also took place in Seville, Aranjuez, Palencia, and in the Canary Islands [9]. Many of the protests were smaller than those in the same cities a month ago; an exception was that in Montreal, which upped its turnout to 200,000 people. The turnout may have been related to solidarity against American anti-French sentiment, which was a common theme for many of the protesters.[10] A further 15,000 protested in Quebec City. [11] 55,000 protested in Paris, and 4,500 to 10,000 in Marseilles. [12] 100,000 protested in Berlin, some 20,000 protested in Athens, close to 10,000 people marched in Tokyo, and tens of thousands in Washington DC. Organizers claimed between 30,000 and 45,000 people turned out, while The Oregonian and the Associated Press estimated between 20,000 and 25,000 people attended, closer to the number in Portland who participated in the 18 January protest. [13] Thousands more marched in cities worldwide including Bangkok, Seoul, Hong Kong, Amman, Calcutta, Melbourne, Christchurch, Dunedin, Paris, London, Portsmouth, Leeds, York, Exeter, Newcastle upon Tyne, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Zurich, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Nicosia, Monaco, Santiago de Chile, Havana, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Vancouver, Halifax, Ottawa, and Toronto, as well as cities in Yemen, Turkey, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.[14][15][16][17] [18] (Some articles include: Worldwide figures (La Presse (Quebec), in French), Worldwide figures(New York Times - requires free registration), CBC News (Canada) - report on Australian marches.)

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - March 16 2003

More than 6,000 candlelight vigils for peace were held in more than a hundred countries [19].

Protests against the 2003 Iraq war - March 19 2003

Across the United Kingdom tens of thousands of school students staged walkouts.

In Birmingham 4,000 (BBC estimate) striking school students held a demonstration which ended at Victoria Square. Though there were some reports of some students throwing coins, West Midlands police said that the protests were "buoyant rather than boisterous" and no arrests were made. The demonstration later moved on to Cannon Hill Park. The son of Lord Hunt a junior health Minister who quit his job over the march was amongst the students in attendance [20].

In West Yorkshire around 500 students (BBC estimate) walked out of Ilkley Grammar School, reportedly one-third of the student body. In Bradford up to 200 students (BBC estimate) gathered in Centenary Square.

Demonstrations also took place in the city centre in Leeds and Horsforth. [21].

A large protest took place at Westminster where London school students gathered.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prior to the invasion of Iraq", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki