Anti-Capitalist Contingent at February 15 Anti-War March in Vancouver
February 15, 2003
by Angry Prole
More than 30,000 people took part in the February 15 march against the war on Iraq in Vancouver.
Anti-capitalist groups that took part included the Anti-Poverty Committee, No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, the Vancouver chapter of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees, and the Filipino Youth Alliance.
A small black bloc of anarchists and some supporters formed at the beginning of the march and initiated several anti-capitalist chants and songs such as "Sabotage the war machine!" and "All we are saying is give class war a chance."
One anarchist yelled "Solidarity with the hooligans in Greece" in reference to the anarchist mobilizations in Athens and Thessaloniki that developed into clashes with the police.
Near the end of the march the black bloc pushed over a newspaper box into the street, prompting a few marchers to yell at the black bloc and then pick up the newspaper box and put it back into place.
Anti-capitalists attempted to organize a last-minute breakaway march to the US consulate but were not able to pull enough people together to carry it out.
The Vancouver police appeared to be using undercover officers to moniter and control the demonstration rather than their usual aggresive uniformed and horse units. The crowd was so massive that it could not fit in the art gallery square where the march ended and many streets around it were blocked by traffic as a result.
Overall the day's efforts were a small step in the right direction, a step out of the swamp of pacifist symbolic protest and towards cohesive anti-capitalist organizing in Vancouver.
Class War chants from Vancouver march