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From a March Against War
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A
Scot anti-war protester holds a dove of peace during a
demonstration against war on Iraq in Glasgow, February 15,
2003. Photo by Jeff Mitchell (Reuters) |
The
battle began at the station as we made our way to join the “Stop
the War” march in Glasgow, Scotland – part of the international
day of protest, which has seen countless people coming out to
express their outrage about the prospect of a US/British invasion of
Iraq.
The
march, which took place on February 15, 2003, had been well
publicized so that there would have been plenty of time for rail
authorities to make provision, but when we got there we had to queue
for ages for tickets only to be prevented from boarding the empty
train that was waiting on the platform. We were given misleading
information about platforms and times only to be locked into a train
not knowing whether it was moving or not. Then we were told, in no
uncertain terms, to get off and join carriages at the back. They
finally got us on our way, but we felt that we were being prevented
from free movement as we would have had, had we been ordinary
passengers.
The
march was so big that when we got to Glasgow we were able to join it
at the station with still two hours worth of people ahead and
behind. I have never seen such numbers, even during the
anti-apartheid days. Along with Muslims were peace activists,
socialists, Christians, Green party members and Scot Nationalists,
union bodies, firemen, students and, of course, countless people
with no label, just people who had decided that they were obligated
to show their dissent. In their posters and pictures there were the
reminders of the children Bush and Blair were intending to kill, and
those who were already dead.
Across
oceans they establish their bond with the families of Iraq.
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There
was not much chanting on this march as there usually is in marches
of that sort. There were a few exuberant whistles, trumpets and
bagpipes – this being Scotland – but mostly the mood was of
respectful quiet. Yet people now know in this country that marches
can send a message and give a push, but they are not enough in
themselves. They know that they can’t go home after a day in the
frosty sunshine and feel they have done their bit, because
demonstrations can only be one weapon in their armory.
Blair’s
response to the crowds that thronged his conference center there in
Glasgow was given a little earlier than scheduled. He was whisked
away to be saved from embarrassment. Rather than be shamed
into a rethink by these millions of dissenters, he just applauded
the fact that we are able to express free speech in this country, as
if by his largesse he would allow the people their protest, yet he
was going on with his agenda regardless.
Helicopters
that circled overhead attracted our attention, but it was the window
of one of the council flats that was more cheering, where a mother
and her children waved at the crowd and staged their own little
protest with homemade banners several stories high. Across oceans
and along avenues of protest they establish their bond with the
families of Iraq.
I
pray that Allah brings about the wishes of the protesters on the
march, because as one of the banners at the march had it, we are
told in the Qur’an that they may plot and plan but Allah is the
best of planners.
Sarah
Louise Baker is a Muslim British novelist who lives in
Edinburgh, Scotland. She embraced Islam while working in Japan in
1990. Her novel, From Utah to Eternity, on Islamic
conversion, was based partly on personal experience. She just
finished a book about everyday experiences of wearing the hijab (the
Islamic headscarf). You can reach her at baitulankaboot@yahoo.co.uk
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