POLITICS-EUROPE: Pacifists Protest Against Possible U.S. Action

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Analysis - Yojana Sharma

BERLIN, Oct 3 2001 (IPS) - Anti-war rallies have been held in London, Barcelona, Frankfurt Rome, Amsterdam and several German cities to protest against possible U.S. military action in retaliation for the attacks on New York and Washington on Sep 11.

Protesters fear their governments will drag the world into an escalating cycle of attack and counterattack.

But with emotions still running high in the aftermath of the attacks, and European governments still making belligerent noises in support of Washington’s determination to retaliate, the anti- war demonstrators, which include many school children admit it is not easy to be a pacifist in the current climate.

Pacifists are finding they are overshadowed and shouted down by those who want action to stop terrorism. And they are particularly critical of President George W Bush’s statement that anyone who is not with the United States is with the terrorists.

“Currently one-third of U.S. citizens doesn’t want retaliation if it means killing thousands of innocent civilians. President Bush is wrong to effectively brand them traitors,” notes Britain’s Green party which is battling to have its voice of reason heard within the United Kingdom, whose government is Bush’s staunchest supporter.

Germany’s Green party, like Britain’s Greens, has its roots in the pacifist movements of the 1960s and 70s. Unlike the British Greens the German party is in a better position to make a real political difference. It is the junior partner in the country’s ruling coalition with the Social Democrats. But the party of pacifism is deeply divided within.

Green Party politician Joschka Fischer, who is Germany’s foreign minister, supports U.S. military action, which the party’s grassroots see as a betrayal of the Green’s anti-war roots. Some are calling for Fischer to step down and for the Greens to leave the ruling coalition rather than compromise their principles.

Many political commentators, including Green Euro-MP Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a close friend of Fischer’s, have been predicting the end within weeks of Green participation in Germany’s governing coalition.

Many of the 16 regional Green Party organisations in Germany say they are against the use of German soldiers in support of the United States, and a grassroots determination not to support military action is getting stronger by the day.

“This issue is capable of blowing away the Greens,” said Reinhard Loske, a party deputy.

Political commentators have noted that when party leaders in a pacifist party are calling for support for military action, there is little hope left for pacifism in the political mainstream.

But pacifism is far from dead. Even as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder arrived in Brighton, England, to support British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s pro-military stance at the British Labour party conference Monday, the British Green party wrote an open plea to Fischer to withdraw his “unequivocal support for U.S. military action”.

“If the Greens give up the role of pressing for peace … then who is left to argue for a saner world?” said Penny Kemp, chair of the England and Wales Green party in an open letter to Fischer.

“The future of civilisation lies in the pursuit of international security through peace and cooperation, not through an escalating cycle of violence,” said the British Greens.

“We are confident that sufficient intelligence can be gathered to allow the international courts to prosecute whoever is responsible for the attacks of 11 September. If it can’t be, then carrying out reprisals against innocent bystanders is morally indefensible before civilised people and is not an acceptable alternative,” the Green Party said.

Those arguing for a “saner world” have kept their voices low. Pacifist, who include activists from human rights, religious and women’s groups, but also many ordinary citizens, do not want to be misconstrued as condoning the deadly attacks and the loss of thousands of lives in New York and Washington.

And those who have been outspoken have not necessarily had the public’s sympathy. In Berlin, Germany’s public prosecutors said they were charging anti-war protesters with slander for chanting “USA, international centre for genocide” at a recent demonstration.

In such a climate, the doves have had to drop outright anti-war slogans in favour of a more considered approach. “Supporting the war cries of the hawks misunderstands the nature of our friendship with the US,” said Harald Fiedler of the Confederation of German Trade Unions. “Friendship also means preventing someone from engaging in foolish actions.”

Europeans have a duty to stop the United States, he said, urging caution. “We share your grief, America – totally. But you must share our concerns,” said Yasmin Alibhai Brown, a Muslim commentator in Britain.

Demonstrations have been held, if small ones, and television debates which allow pacifists to push their view are also few and far between but there have been clear indications that many members of the public do not support the United States in all-out war.

Germany’s Army reservists, for example, are calling in as conscientious objectors in large numbers.

“Normally we would get about two calls from reservists to inform us of objections. At present we are getting between 10 and 20 a day,” said Michael Berendt of the Campaign Against Conscription, which advises objectors.

“During the war in the Balkans it was far fewer,” he added.

German Reserve troops can be called upon in case of crisis but they can exercise their rights as conscientious objectors, although it is more difficult to have a case recognised as conscientious objection as reservists volunteer for military service than as someone who did not volunteer in the first place.

“Of course opinions can change during one’s lifetime,” Berendt said.

Other organisations say that many reservists object to the idea of carrying out military action on unarmed and innocent civilians in Afghanistan, rather than against military action.

And if the United States and its allies begin attacks that are seen to be against the innocent, the pacifist movement could well grow from the 10,000-plus — marching against war in Rome and in German cities over the weekend — to thousands more.