Global Anti-war Assembly Calls for Global Resistance on 20 March

Global Anti-war Assembly Calls for Global Resistance on 20 March

The General Assembly of the Global Anti-War Movement called on the world to fill the streets on 20 March to demand an end to the occupation of Iraq. The General Assembly of the Anti-War Movement convened on 19 January at the World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India.

Meeting for the whole day, the Assembly began with an assessment of the current political situation, followed by reports from various activists involved in various anti-war movements around the world. Reports were also made by many anti-war campaigns such as the World Tribunal on Iraq, the "Close the US bases" campaign, the Campaign for Disarmament, the Occupation Watch Center, the Caravans to Iraq and the Civil Missions to Palestine. It ended with a session dedicated to strategizing on ways forward and common campaigns to be supported.

Envisioned to be the biggest and most representative meeting of the anti-war movement since the invasion, the Assembly was a collective effort by anti-war coalitions spanning all continents of the globe.

The Assembly had more than 100 endorsers from the largest anti-war coalitions around the world including the European Coalitions which organised the massive marches on February 15th last year, Stop the War Coalition in the UK, United For Peace and Justice and ANSWER in the US, the Anti-War Coalition in South Africa and the Asian Peace Alliance, as well as various social movements, trade unions and farmer and peasant groups such as the CUT in Brasil, the Social Movements Network and Via Campesina.

Competing with the lively drumming of nearby cultural performers, the dust and noise from the constant flow of passing demonstrations and the general chaos of the WSF, the Assembly discussed, debated and strategized on the ways forward to globalising the resistance and ending the occupation of Iraq.

The Assembly ended with the call for an International Day of Action on March 20, the anniversary of the attack on Iraq. It calls for all movements in all continents to organize mass protests on that day to demand the end of the occupation of Iraq. Different countries will organise protests of different scales and forms; the important point is to mark the anniversary across the world.

Resistance in Iraq and around the world is growing daily and March 20 will be the day when the global resistance tells not only Bush but all the occupation troops and warmongers that the movement will not rest until the occupation of Iraq and Palestine and the "war against terror" is ended.

For more information, please contact: Mary Lou Malig