Report on anti-war Demo in Moscow Wed, 9 Feb 2000 04:55:16 -0500 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Mon, 7 Feb 2000 02:59:47 EST RUSSIA INFO-LIST - from International Solidarity with Workers in Russia - ISWoR **************************************************** On Saturday 5 February, an antiwar demonstration took place in Moscow's Pushkin square. The demonstration was called jointly by a number of anarchist and ecologist groups including Anarchist Antiwar Movement, Dikobraz Group, Ecologist Movement "Rainbow Keepers", Localization Program of Socio-Ecological Union. The Movement for a Workers Party (MWP - Moscow branch, a collective of socialist groups who have been highly active in most of the recent workers struggles), and who have called a demonstration against the war later this month (for which ISWoR has been raising support), attended the demonstration too with their slogan "If you vote for Putin you vote for war". A member of the MWP who was present reported how the demonstrators condemned "the police state" in Russia, all forms of racism, repressions etc. "They also spoke about high costs of the Chechen war, about those wounded and killed, about casualties among women, children, old people. They also stressed that the war was broken in the interests of the ruling classes and that poor people are facing the consequencies." Because they knew that right-wing elements were included among the organisers of this demo, the Movement for a Workers Party had decided in advance to participate with their own separate slogans. Fortunately as already described much of the slogans and ideas advanced by the other groups were anti-capitalist and in harmony with the MWP'ss own. Nevertheless, some right-wing pro-US capital elements were present too. They raised slogans in defence of Babitsky, the Radio Free Europe journalist who was the object of media attention worldwide when he disappeared recently in Chechnya. Radio Free Europe is the notorious right-wing US-funded broadcasting network which played a major role in promoting McCarthyite politics in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. One of the original organisers of the 5 February demo was a group attached to the Socio-Ecological Union (SEU). The SEU is a major conduit for US capitalist money aimed at manipulating sincere anarchist and ecologist activists to serve the economic and strategic interests of US big business against threats from the Russian capitalist elite, (much of which has become hostile to the US in the last two years and especially since the US intervention in the Balkans.) Correction: In a previous Russia Info List message, we mentioned that Zaschita trade union had voted to participate in the antiwar demo later this month organised by militant workers. We are now informed that this is an error. Although many of the union’Äôs most active militants belong to the MWP, (the collective of groups who have called the demo), nevertheless no official representative of Zaschita was not present at the meeting in which this decision was made. We are further informed that although Oleg Shein and other prominent activists of Zaschita have publically opposed the war, nevertheless the union itself has yet to take an official position. We apologise for any confusion caused. Lisa Taylor *********************************************************** The RUSSIA INFO-LIST - puts out information and analysis from a wide range of sources. Messages posted to Russia Info-List do not necessarily reflect the views of ISWoR. If you have something you would like to distribute on Russia Info-List, or want to help in our practical solidarity work, contact: ISWoR@aol.com Box R, 46 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RZ, England ISWoR website - http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/index.html ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-02.09.00-04:55:17-20621