<nettime> Seattle impressions

["cisler" <cisler@pobox.com>]

<This is a very long ramble by a local member of Seattle Community Network.
There are lots of links which I have not checked>


Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 11:13:04 -0800 (PST)
From: Sharma <sharma@aa.net>
To: sharma@aa.net
Subject: If You Weren't Here, You Missed a Great Party!

(This is really long - it is an article I just finished about the WTO - if
you wish to not receive my writing in the future, please let me know.)

********************************************************
THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE by Sharma Oliver

What a week!! What really happened in Seattle at the WTO protests? What
will happen now? It's fascinating to watch as new bits of information
appear and the entire picture shifts. I am writing this during the weeks
after the WTO. How did you feel when you first heard the WTO was coming
to Seattle? What did you think when you saw the protests on TV? Were you
scared? Confused? Angry? Were you proud to be an American?

I was. More than ever.

Reading endless reports, listening to hearings, talking to those that
were there and those that were not, everyone has a different take on
what happened. Reality is such slippery stuff - as the chaos of change
danced and swirled through the streets of Seattle, whose reality was the
real one?

This has to be the most completely documented protest in history.
Thousands of people had cameras or camcorders, and the press was
everywhere. I ran out and got a video camera myself. As the police
became more aggressive, the news media (after initially being pretty
hostile or pathetic) got more and more interested and also, after being
gassed a few times without warning, became less sympathetic to and
identified with the police point of view. Early on some newsies would
use the term "we" when speaking of police actions. By the end, the
police were the police and the protesters were the protesters from much
of majority media, although some continue to seriously misrepresent both
the WTO and the protesters. NW Cable News and KIRO in particular did a
pretty good job covering the unfolding events after Tuesday night with
some notable lapses. Reporters from several stations privately told
protesters that they had turned in much more inflammatory footage,
showing much more police aggression, than hit the air and that they were
under pressure from their stations to make the police look good and the
protesters look bad.

WHY DID THE POLICE RIOT?
I wonder if we will ever know, or if it is even possible to know, what
or who really caused the police to ignore looters and gas and arrest
peaceful protesters? The police were definitely frightened and angry. At
least some of it may have been the pressure on them to protect Clinton.
We now know that Secretary of State Madeline Albright and U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno demanded that Governor Locke do whatever was
necessary to enable the WTO talks to take place. (Seattle Times:
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/local/html98/prot_19991216.html ) The
police certainly got more aggressive as Clinton's arrival got closer,
and particularly after he arrived.

Three hundred "unarmed" (with rifles) National Guard troops who turned
out to be "armed" with sidearms, joined in to "keep the peace" when an
emergency was declared Tuesday afternoon. CNN has since repudiated its
earlier "Special Forces" report regarding the numbers of military
deployed in Seattle for the protests, but it was still online at the
time I wrote this at their website at
http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/02/wto.05/index.html

Some of what looked to me like a police riot might be explained by the
police trying to undermine Police Chief Stamper. He came from outside
and was never embraced by the rank and file who felt he could not lead.
Seattle Mayor Schell and Stamper resisted pressure from within the
police department to have a major army ready for the protesters, so
maybe rank and file decided informally to follow the letter of their
orders to show Stamper that he doesn't know everything. And then when
the police found themselves totally unable to handle the number of
demonstrators who showed up, they freaked. Or maybe they got swept up in
the excitement of the moment. It has to be a rush for 400 cops to
confront thousands of protestors.

(It is beginning to sound as if Stamper provided pathetically poor
direction and leadership - so maybe they are correct. Officers report
being left in place with no food or bathroom breaks for hours at a time,
with calls and pages for direction going unanswered until eventually
their walkie-talkies went dead. Local restaurants took over supplying
food to the cops on the street. Stamper has now resigned, will Mayor
Schell be next?)

Two public hearings have been held by the Seattle City Council to allow
citizens to testify, the first at the library Dec. 8th  and the second
at Seattle Center on Dec. 14th. Each hearing lasted over eight hours
with hundreds of people speaking. One woman testified metro bus drivers
taking the cops downtown to confront the protesters said the cops were
negative toward the protesters and were looking forward to the action
against them. Will anyone follow up on this? Will bus drivers be willing
to testify after the incident last month when the mayor turned over to
the police testimony against police given with the promise of it being
kept secret?

Seattle City Council has now put up a WTO Citizen Comments Survey - the
information you put in this will be reviewed by "Seattle City Council's
WTO Accountability Review Committee. The Committee is responsible for
conducting an objective investigation of decisions made up to and during
the week of the WTO. Go to
http://www.pan.ci.seattle.wa.us/leg/council/wtosurvey.htm

To join a discussion board regarding the Seattle Protests, go to
http://www.netidea.com/smk/free-earth/seattle/discussion/

>From my point of view it looked as if the police were allowing the
property damage to have an excuse to really go after the protesters. If
you were watching TV, you may have noticed that the same few shots of
black clad, masked young men (the Black Block Anarchists?) smashing
windows with crowbars, or that one young woman throwing bags of coffee
out of the downtown Starbucks. Actual property damage has been greatly
exaggerated by the endless repetition of those few shots. That young
woman, whose face flashed round the world, has now come forward to be
arrested and stated that she knows nothing about the WTO, she was just
caught up in the excitement of the moment.

This website has an interesting analysis. Seattle 1-2-3: How to panic a
police force http://www.brasscheck.com/seattle

The initial teargas attacks began when protesters refused to clear an
intersection downtown - before a single window was broken or trash can
overturned. Rumors abound that at least some of the so-called "violent"
elements in the crowd were really agent provocateurs, smashing stuff to
make the protestors look bad - to make the larger public feel
comfortable with a violent police response. One black clad "anarchist"
reported being tackled by two men dressed exactly like "anarchists" who
then showed him their badges and said he was under arrest. Will we ever
know more about this?

WAS THERE POLICE VANDALISM?
Many instances of "agent provocateur" instigators setting up activists
for arrest took place during the Vietnam War protests. A somewhat
similar incident happened again just a few years ago in Seattle. In that
case the media reported that a group of white supremacists had been
arrested while getting ready to bomb a gay dance club on Capitol Hill. A
talk show host called the Hayden Lake enclave (which they belonged to)
and got Richard Butler, the leader of that group, on the phone. He, of
course, denied that his guys were involved in any bombing plans, but
then went on to express concern that one of the members of his group had
simply disappeared. He was afraid that the cops had harmed him. (I have
been unable to find the dates this happened. I was listening to the
radio when the talk show called him.)

A few days later it came out that the missing guy was actually an agent
provocateur who had gone to the Idaho group, joined it, and provided
lots of financial support. He presented himself as an explosives expert,
and then suggested that the group should go bomb a gay club in Seattle.
He provided the explosives, trained group members in bomb building and
detonation, and was the driving force leading this group from talk to
action.

Gee, whose idea was that? How was it decided by federal agents to target
gays? In the 60's federal agents at least focused on talking people into
attempting to bomb closed post offices, when did they decide to focus
fringe group dissatisfaction on killing people?

Again, will we ever know if some of the property destruction was done by
the gov to turn the public against WTO opponents?

There will undoubtedly be more infiltration in the future as police
forces all over the U.S. study what happened in Seattle to better learn
to control/stop future protests. What better way to learn of a group's
plans than from the inside? Of course most of these groups publish their
plans on the internet, so not much infiltration is needed to learn what
is planned. Agent provocateurs might again be used to attempt to turn
groups violent or destroy them through internal dissent

Speaking of "violence", I would like to encourage everyone to stop using
the term "violence" in relation to property damage. The word "violence"
needs to be reserved for damage to the living. If you break a window,
does the glass feel pain? The demonstrations may have done violence to
your ideas and feelings, or at least confused you, but I have a hard
time believing that the buildings thought about it much. The vast
majority of the violence which took place in Seattle was cops attacking
protestors.

Why did the cops freak out? Never underestimate the paranoia of cops.
(At least some of which is justified! Does copdom look like a desirable
career to you? It has been reported that the feds were telling Seattle
cops that they could expect 5-6 deaths within their ranks during the
protests.)

By the end there were few really serious injuries that I know of at this
time, and not all that much property damage, but enough to get world
media attention. (One doctor treating injuries reported broken teeth,
concussions, seizures, a broken jaw, many wounds/cuts and damage to
eyes. This has not been discussed on TV as far as I know. Look for his
report at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/) Many many people report the
police shooting "plastic bullets" at close range, grabbing demonstrators
and shooting pepper spray directly into their faces, indiscriminately
attacking and/or arresting non-protesters including elderly people who
lived in the neighborhood.

We are extremely lucky that the energy swirling through the streets did
not unhinge any of the area's armed loonies and bring them downtown with
guns blazing. One cop has been reported to have stopped a guard with one
of the delegates who was drawing his gun in response to the protesters.
My thanks to him. I realize that this might not be a popular position,
but in my opinion, most of the time the cops did a pretty OK job. (I use
the police riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago 1968
as a contrast.) The Fire Department Chief refused the request from
Schell (? rumor) to turn hoses on the demonstrators. My personal thanks
to the Seattle Fire Department for that wisdom and compassion.

TRASHING AND SOCIAL CHANGE
I remember very clearly how horrified most of us were when the glass
started breaking during the antiwar protests. Business owners could not
find enough glass to fix their windows. At the time I joked that the
glass manufacturers of America must be the real force behind the
revolution because they were making so much money off it. My next great
shock was when the gov started paying attention after the glass started
breaking.

Before the property destruction we were all seen as a bunch of annoying
students and radicals who could be ignored.  After, those who opposed
property destruction were seen as the responsible leadership of a
movement which must be respected.

Everyone hates negativity in political campaigns, but it continues
because it works. Until glass breaks, the status quo appears to ignore
the voices of protest.

While I never have and never will participate in window smashing, I also
oppose any idea or action that might help the gov prosecute those who do.
While I think they are naive to believe that most or even many people
would be willing, even able, to not have leaders, I believe their action
was necessary to attract worldwide media attention and get the
conversation going about the WTO. We humans are so obviously some kind of
a troop/pack/herd animal, look at how we live. We as a species are in a
crisis around not being able to develop/support the leadership we need at
this time in history. I do not support trashing. Still, I love the
visionary nature of anarchist writing, thinking and living. I admire their
determination to create a different world. I respect their energy and
dedication. They have chosen a dangerous path for themselves, and as any
people who challenge the US gov through actions which can be interpreted
as violent, they should consider what the gov did to the Black Panthers
and Weather Underground in the 60's and 70's.  They all ended up either in
prison or dead.

Property damage is shocking, and it creates change, but using it to
create change is fraught with peril. In social change there must always
be a goal, a target. Taking aim at the target, a problem to solve, an
injustice to be righted, we need to assume there will be unintended
results. Be careful of what you set into motion. Even if we hit our
target perfectly (unlikely), what other uses will that solution be put
to? Please keep in mind that every social problem we have today started
out as a solution to an earlier problem.

Just look at what the women's movement has brought about. Some really
great things, changes in opportunity and consciousness that have shaken
the foundations of who we think ourselves to be. But the women's movement
I was so much a part of also helped fuel the moral panic our society
suffers under now. Their alliance with the religious right in a war on
pornography turned into a war on sexuality, and teaching people to see
themselves as victims. Rather than leading us all in learning how to
take the energy of the pain of being human at this time in history, and
beauty, and compassion for all of life, the women's movement has led to an
unreal level of anger between women and men. And a moral panic in our
society.

An institution created and fueled as a result of that panic hit Wenatchee
in the early 90's, with all those people being falsely accused of child
sexual abuse. Most are now out of jail but are forever changed. Many
parents and children may never see each other again.

Who could have guessed that fighting for the rights of women and children
would lead to women and children becoming the victims of the network set
up to help them? Hundreds of people have been jailed all over the U.S. as
the result of similar false accusations, Thousands of people are in
prison, many falsely accused, many hundreds of thousands more from the war
on drugs which grew as the moral panic grew. I hope that the experience of
protesters who went to jail will turn some of them into prison reform
activists.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOOMERS?
I loved the mix at this gathering! Young and old, labor and environment,
many ethnicities, it was great! Many young people have asked me what
happened to the social activism of the boomers? Well, it was primarily
fueled by the civil rights movement, the draft and the Vietnam war. When
the draft ended, the vast majority of the protesters packed up and went
on with their lives. They got jobs, had children, bought houses, and
went to the mall.

Black led groups such as the Students Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
tossed out all the whites as Black Power found its identity. Many of our
leaders - the Kennedys, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Hampton and
others were assassinated either by the gov or with their complicity. The
gov also spent millions of dollars arresting and trying people on mainly
bogus charges around war resistance (they only got one major conviction
I know of, the Berrigan Brothers destruction of draft records), but
managed to financially break the progressives. We were practically
holding cake sales and car washes to pay for the defense on these cases.
Keep in mind that the Pentagon Papers case was dismissed with prejudice
(meaning it could be tried again) after the Nixon government tried to
bribe the judge with a supreme court appointment. Many of the Black
Panther leaders were either murdered by the government, ala Fred
Hampton, or imprisoned by the hundreds. The gov continues its war on
Black men to this day with roughly one in 4 being under the control of
law enforcement currently. It kindof wore us down.

Anarchists who have decided to "smash the state" would do well to look
at the Panther experience, along with that of the Weather Underground,
to see both how seductive aggressive direct action is, and what happens
when the gov comes after you.

Weather Underground people who successfully lived underground for
ten-twenty years, until they were finally caught or gave themselves up,
report that the most annoying thing about hiding out is that you have to
become super law-abiding. Not even a little casual jaywalking. Consider
having to live every minute of your lives following every little
nitpicking regulation to stay out of jail, and also not having the
freedom to speak up any longer. A nice quiet life, is that what you
want?

And make no mistake about what it would mean to go to prison. Prison is
a horror in this empire. When you go to prison, you more or less
disappear. To survive you pretty much must join your own ethnic group.
Every stamp you get, every piece of paper, every pen... must come from
somewhere. The food is horrible. It took me almost nine months to get
approval to send vitamin pills into prison to a friend. Another person I
know who was in Allentown federal prison when the Watergate felons
arrived said they were really glad to have some high class lawbreakers
for company because suddenly the food was edible, hot water was
available, the press were around to report on conditions and so on.
Before the Watergate crowd arrived the inmates had had to sue the
administration to force them to stop serving the prisoners old "C"
rations which had been declared unfit for human consumption by the
military and grabbed by the prison before it hit the landfills.


WINS AND LOSSES
How it looks to me - A few hundred cops and etc. tried to prevent tens
of thousands of protesters from stopping maybe 5000 people from having
some meetings. The meetings were stopped for the first five hours, at
the opening ceremony a protestor got on stage - near the end protesters
were able to get a banner up inside the convention center, and the
meetings ended without any trade agreements signed and no future plans.
The media of the world discussed the WTO and its plans widely. Even the
Prez said that the protesters will have to be allowed to become part of
the process in future decisions. After a lifetime of radicalism I never
imagined such a success. How sweet it is!

"This is what democracy looks like, this is what democracy sounds like"
resounded through downtown - I could not agree more. I do not want to
dismiss anyone's distress over the forms the expression of democracy
took. (Except for the distress of the corporations who didn't get their
way with us. I don't consider them persons, even though our courts do,
and I hope they lose their personhood soon. If they are distressed by
the disruption of their plans, hooray!) Downtown merchants are
complaining mightily about their lost $$$ but I wonder if it is really
lost? People will still buy for the holidays and maybe in the end it
won't be too bad for them. The cops have set up a charity selling
T-shirts to help them out.

Their employees took a hit as they did not get paid for the days they
lost and I sympathize most with those workers and small businesses who
lost income (and with people who were accidentally swept up in the drama
with an unwanted outcome). Like the people who disdain union membership
and cross picket lines, I hope those employees eventually come to
understand that without these protests, their jobs could easily be
downgraded to "compete on a level playing field" with jobs in China and
Mexico. How many have already lost their health and pension benefits, or
seen them cut in the name of corporate profits? I would be extremely
surprised if any of the fatcat businesses who had to close for a few
days decide to pay employees who missed work. But management, who are on
salaries rather than hourly, will they see their pay docked for those
days off?

Many protesters are distressed by the police actions, and by both the
trashing and the media emphasis on it. The message did get out. The vast
majority of the public saw it as a mainly peaceful protest and were
horrified by the police response. To the protestors, you have
accomplished much much more than you could possibly have imagined. This
is what democracy looks like.

BEING THERE NOVEMBER 30TH
There is no precedent for the coalition that came together to protest,
and stop, the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investments), fast track
and now the WTO. All the heavies were here from all the organizations
representing the environment, labor, family farmers, communities of
faith, social justice, consumers, health, and more. Downtown was a
carnival Tuesday until the teargas began hitting, and even during the
gassing most of that time. I did not get any video footage of police
attacks because I attempted to mainly stay where people were
celebrating. What creativity! It was wonderful!

I was there with my sister, Roxie, and when the gassing started we found
an open drugstore to buy saline and tissue. We then walked around
washing people's eyes who had been gassed and we got lightly gassed
ourselves a couple of times. That stuff is nasty! If this is the mild
response against protesters, I hope to never experience extreme
measures. Once again I discovered that I am a scaredy cat about facing
cops. The protesters who held their ground while being tear gassed, and
who regrouped again and again, have my undying respect and admiration.

About six pm the word spread that a 7pm curfew had been declared. While
my sister and I were deciding what we wanted to do, a pack of young
males, ages maybe 14-17, who did not look a bit like protesters, ran
past us through the crowd yelling. As a couple of middle-aged women, we
decided to walk rapidly in the opposite direction. I hope in retrospect
that everyone will be willing to make careful distinctions between
peaceful protesters, property damaging anarchists, and casual looters
who jumped at the opportunity.

That said, I believe all the groups, individuals, and the actions at the
protests played a valuable part in this drama. A world culture is being
born - will it serve life, or will it serve money? We each choose in a
thousand ways, every day, with our actions and our words, how we live,
how we spend our money - what we honor - life or money. We choose
leaders, or to become leaders, to create the world we want to live in.
Not choosing, like not voting, is supporting having the choice made by
others.

Watching the police line advance in their anonymous RoboCop costumes,
badge numbers hidden, slapping those long riot clubs against their palms
in unison like Darth Vader wannabes masturbating, my sister commented,
"Obviously these guys have seen Star Wars, but why of all available
roles did they decide to represent the forces of the Dark Star? Don't
they remember how the movie ended?"

The protesters were organized into affinity groups of 2-15, which made
it much harder for the police to have real control. This may have been
another reason the cops went a little nutty, because over time they
became more and more aggressive toward whoever was in their way. They
are just so  accustomed to having people follow their orders. Not that
day! Some of the protestors were pretty provocative - I doubt I could
just stand there while people spit on me. And some cops did get hurt
from thrown rocks and bottles. Maybe cops dressed in $2000 riot outfits
could not catch the fast young rowdies, so grabbed whoever was handy.
This over time included Richard McIver-a Seattle City Council member,
medics wearing big red crosses, reporters, at least one WTO delegate
whose papers they threw away, and a lot of people who were trying to
avoid arrest.

As it was getting dark, Roxie and I walked up to where we had parked our
cars on Capitol Hill (parking was a BIG problem downtown), washing eyes
as we went, and took my car to the "Convergence" on Olive and Denny.
There we looked for something useful to do. The medical team didn't need
any help so we joined the kitchen staff and washed dishes for three
hours.

The young people there were great. One couple from Canada, learning we
were old 60's rads, asked Roxie, "Were you guys a lot more organized
than we are?", causing Roxie and I to almost roll on the floor laughing.
These kids are organized! But so serious. I agree with Roxie that after
meeting them we older folks can feel more hope for the future of the
earth because we will leave it in their good hands. I hope many of them
choose to become activists for their whole lives.

One of the most amazing things I saw repeatedly was what looked to me like
a graceful equality between men and women, so complete that it appeared to
be unremarkable to those practicing it. Over and over I saw young women
and young men speaking to the group with megahorns with no tension over
who was going to get the horn next. In fact the groups appear close to
leaderless, with everyone having a time to speak until consensus is
reached.

Doing dishes in that kitchen was pretty strange, it like something out of
a medieval castle only more primitive. Hot water came from a big vat on
the stove. Bleach was not allowed and there was no place to stack dishes
once they were washed. Note for the future - if you ever attend some big
counterculture gathering, check out the kitchen before you eat anything.
I don't know that anyone got sick, but if they didn't it was more luck
than planning.

Speaking of illness, this protest was a major opportunity for some kind
of flu that has swept across the country now. The pepper and tear gas
made my throat and lungs raw, and I now think it knocked down my immune
system because I was coughing by the end of the protests. I have been
ill since, about two weeks. Many people are emailing WTO listservs about
getting sick as there is some fear that the gov may have used some sort
of non-lethal nerve gas against protestors. As far as my own illness
goes, it seems like ordinary flu (which I very seldom get) given a boost
by damage done to my lungs by the gas.

There is concern that the police may have used a non-lethal nerve gas in
some areas as people have reported a completely different set of symptoms
completely unlike those from teargas and pepper spray. Will we ever know?

Inside the Convergence we kept hearing that the police had followed
protesters up onto Capitol Hill (this was still Tuesday night) and were
coming in our direction with more teargas, so at about 11:30pm we
decided to leave. Driving back to Roxie's car, we got gassed again even
with the windows closed, hopped out and washed more eyes for awhile, and
then had to drive way around to avoid the main confrontation to get to
her car. (Note for future teargas encounters - have a bottle of saline
with a squirt top, first wash area around eyes with eyes closed, then
wash eyes. A dry handkerchief to breathe through during the gassing
seemed to help lessen effects on nose and throat.)

After walking probably 5-6 miles during the day and being lightly gassed
several times, we were exhausted, so went home to watch TV. It was
impossible during the day to really know what was happening beyond a few
feet. The cops would not allow any news helicopters into the air but the
noise from their Navy UH60 Blackhawk was ever present. Only they had an
overview of how many people were there and what was happening. I wonder
if they filmed? We will probably never know.

DECEMBER FIRST
Wednesday I awoke with a lot of aching personal reasons to get in
bettershape. As I did while running up the hill to get away from the TAC
Squad in maybe 1969 or 70, I vow to do a whole lot better from now on. On
TV the downtown confrontation between the protesters and the police looked
like an involuntary fitness program, and more than I was up to, so I
hesitated to go join in.

I could not stay away. About 4pm I went downtown and drove around the
edges of the confrontation, trying to decide what to do. Finding my lack
the information the previous day unacceptable, I first bought a handheld
TV to follow the action with. (As someone who watched TV about 15 minutes
a month before this, I now have one in my pocket. Life is so unexpected.)

Being too chicken to join any of the groups being chased around by the
cops, I was in a quandary. As seven pm drew near, I wondered if it would
even be reasonably safe to be downtown in a car. I watched on TV as the
main body of protesters decided to leave downtown and began walking
north on 4th Ave. Guessing that they would turn up Denny towards Capitol
Hill, I drove north and turned east up Denny. I arrived exactly as the
main body of protesters turned up the hill. Following them, separated
only by one copcar and one minitank (they call it a Peacekeeper) covered
with cops. I tried several times to get right behind the protesters, but
was yelled at and waved back by the cops.

A guy on a motorcycle who pulled up beside me suggested the group would
probably go to Seattle Central Community College so I cut over behind
the college, parked and joined the group in front. These folks have
sortof town meetings to make decisions, and it is very interesting to
watch them come to a consensus. Standing on Capitol Hill at 10pm with
nothing to do and nowhere to go, pumped from the energy of the crowd and
taking however minimal a part in an incredible protest, I did not want
to go home! I wanted to hang out with the group and talk. If Schell had
allowed/encouraged protesters to camp out at Seattle Center or maybe
Volunteer Park, in my opinion most of the problems on Capitol Hill would
not have happened.

Watching and filming as the group moved south on Broadway, they closed one
lane of traffic, then turned around at Pine and moved north, closing the
other lane, I got kindof bored after awhile and went back to my car and
drove around. A couple of blocks east of Broadway, near the Capitol Hill
precinct, I saw a group of maybe 30-50 cops standing in the street looking
rather purposeful and scary. I watched for them for awhile with nothing
happening so I drove around to Broadway and parked in front of Dick's
Drive-in several blocks north of the marchers. Sitting there trying to
decide what to do, I learned the cops had begun their offensive as
suddenly people started running toward me wiping their eyes. I got hit
with more teargas while making a u-turn out of the parking place to leave.

This was Wednesday night about 10pm or so. Parking further away and
walking back, I walked toward chaos. It was hard to grasp what was
happening with the clouds of teargas, people running to get away, the cops
in their bizarre outfits, Capitol Hill residents coming out of their homes
and businesses yelling at the cops to go away, protesters and residents
regrouping, chanting, and falling back from the stun grenades, plastic
bullets, and ever exploding canisters of gas.

I cannot think of a neighborhood in Seattle that would have been a
poorer choice for the cops to start a war in. Many, many political
activists live there, it is the center of gay culture, and numbers of
residents already feel that the police are an occupying army. The
neighborhood council has done a great deal of work to educate the police
and improve relations between them and the people who live there, but
tension persists. I doubt the Tuesday and Wednesday night police actions
helped.

WHAT WILL HISTORY SAY?  At the end of this article there are several web
addresses for further information on the WTO protests. I hope everyone who
was involved will write up their experiences and post them on the web.
History is written by those who write it down, and those who make sure the
records remain available.

I hope that people who question the government, and the multinationals
who own it, avoid buying into the attempt to split the participants into
the "good" non-violent protestors and the "bad" violent ones? Even the
fairly good reporting had a slant that was usually pro-police. I often
find that I think news coverage of something is good in direct relation
to how little I know about it. When I participated in the million queer
march on Washington in 1993, the official word was maybe 600,000. I was
there. I called a friend who worked for CBS who was at work in the
newsroom there. He agreed that it was at least one million, maybe 1.2,
but also said that there was not "support from above" to put that on the
air.

At the time I bought all the local newspapers with articles about the
march. One had a front page picture of the Names Quilt spread out one
the lawn with only a few people walking between the squares looking at
it. The caption stated that the photo was taken at 5pm on the day of the
march. It certainly did not look as if a million people were there. The
only problem was that I had been standing exactly there at 5:30pm the
day of the photo, and I would have been there at 5pm except it was so
jammed that it took me a half hour to work my way over to the quilt. I
mean totally jammed, difficult to avoid accidentally stepping on the
quilt! So this was a deliberate lie by the newspapers to try to make the
march look unsuccessful.

You all know you cannot always believe the majority press don't you? And
that there will always be spectators who will try to tell you afterwards
how you should have done something? Given those conditions, don't worry
so much about their approval. Are you aware that N30 (November 30th) was
an international day of action? That there were N30 protests in cities
all over the world? For more info on what else happened around the world
- November 30th International Day of Action - http://www.n30.org/ The
next world day of action will be Mayday 2000, what will you do?

The criticism I personally find the most annoying is from the people who
are now saying that the WTO was going to break down anyway from internal
disagreements and we are silly to think we had anything to do with it. I
disagree, we had a huge impact. But in the end we never know how something
might have turned out if something were done differently. All we ever know
is what did happen.

To those who say that the protests were insignificant I present the
following -

1) The British Council has made a commitment to present world leaders
with views on the future of the World Trade Organization (WTO) expressed
in a new online debate at <http://www.commonwealthvoices.org>. NGOs,
activists and citizens across the world are invited to participate.
2)  ARTICLE 19 <http://www.article19.org>, the International Centre
Against Censorship which campaigns for the promotion and protection of
freedom of expression, is facilitating the forum.
3)  OneWorld <http://www.oneworld.net>, which harnesses the democratic
potential of the internet for human rights and sustainable development,
has set up the site.
4) The British Council <http://www..britishcouncil.org will present key
outcomes of this debate to Commonwealth leaders and other
decision-makers.

Activists from around the world are writing and calling to say hello,
and to let us know we are appreciated and we are not alone. One of our
tasks is to counter the dismissals, put downs, lies and spin of the
supporters of the status quo, or of those who have drowned in their own
cynicism, with our own descriptions of what happened and what we are
doing. The people of the world will never speak with one tongue, or act
as one. Let each group find their own way to express both opposition to
the money machine and their support of life and creativity. Let a
thousand flowers bloom.

FROM THE PRINTING PRESS TO THE INTERNET
Gutenburg changed life more than any other person in history by making
it possible for all of us ordinary people to own books and to learn to
read and write. Life was very different when only the elite were
educated and could communicate other than face to face.

In the 60's a technological change occurred that enabled ordinary people
to produce newspapers. The invention of cold type systems in printing made
it possible for anyone with a couple of hundred bucks to put thousands of
copies of a newspaper on the streets. The Underground Press was born.

Previously it took a hot type machine costing maybe $150,000, and a
journeyman with five years of training, to physically create the plates
for printing a newspaper. The new technology enabled activists and
students during the Civil Rights Movement and then the Anti-Vietnam War
Movement to effectively counter the lies of the status quo. Before the
computer driven cold type systems came along, Gestetner duplicator
machines and the mail had been the only way to put out newsletters
previously, and that was what the Liberation News Service used to spread
the word to the Underground Press in the 60's.

The only way for our point of view to reach the public now, and the
history books of the future, is for us to write it down and see that it
reaches everyone. Now we have the internet. We are probably going to have
to defend it so get ready.

I also recommend two books - "A People's History of the United States -
1492 to the Present" by Howard Zinn and "Lies Across America - What our
Historic Sites Get Wrong" by James Loewen. Besides being amazing sources
of information which contradicts huge amounts of what you have been
taught about this country, they both show the importance of having a
media able to counter the lies told by the "official story".

The Independent Media Center has compiled a one hour video "Five Days
that Shook the WTO" from the 2 1/2 hours broadcast on Deep Dish TV on
that subject. If you would like to order it, send a check of $10-$20
(income sliding scale) plus $2.50  for shipping made out to "Independent
Media Center" to:

IMC
ATTN: Tape Request
1415 3rd Avenue
Seattle, WA  98101

206-262-0721
http://www.indymedia.org/


DECEMBER 2ND AND 3RD
What a difference a day makes, or an order from the Mayor to stop
attacking protestors! After Wednesday there were now almost 600 people
in jail, or on buses waiting to be processed, many with no water, food
or access to toilets. People were not being allowed phone calls or
access to attorneys. Many reports got out of very rough treatment of
some prisoners at both the Sandpoint facility and the jail. Amnesty
International is calling for an investigation.

Protestors going downtown still expected to be gassed and arrested, not
knowing that enough people had called the Mayor to complain about the
police riot the night before on Capitol Hill, which was televised for
hours. There would be no more teargas. They gathered on Capitol Hill
and marched to Victor Steinbreuck Park for a rally of over 5000 people.
Leaving there and going to Weyerhauser, across from the Four Seasons
Hotel full of WTO delegates, protestors and cops faced each other for a
very tense hour with no attack from the cops. People then decided to
march to the jail and demand the release of those inside, with the cops
blocking the entrance to the freeway but otherwise just standing by.

>From then on police either did nothing or provided an escort when groups
of protesters decided to march somewhere. This was somewhat disruptive
to traffic, but most people appeared to be tolerating it fairly well.
Quite a few people who were not involved appeared to have returned to
life as usual. The change in police attitude and behaviour was simple
astounding! And it was fun to have escorts around town.

People stayed camped out outside the jail until Saturday when the vast
majority of protestors were released. The labor march and rally used
people to spell out DEMOCRACY on the street. The WTO delegates went into
overtime but were unable to accomplish anything. Thousands of activists
from around the world met each other face to face and celebrated the
birth of a global rights movement.

DID WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
During the Seattle WTO talks the big four - U.S., Japan, Canada and
E.U., continued their previous habit of meeting privately, making
decisions and then presenting these decisions to the developing nations
on a "take it or leave it" basis. The U.S. never waivered in its
insistence on the GFLA, Global Free Logging Agreement, which would have
made national laws protecting forests from invasive species and the
control/labeling of genetically engineered food, trees and seeds just
one more "barrier to free trade" and therefore illegal.

In the week after the failure of the talks, I spent many hours watching
videos of the meetings inside the WTO which were televised on WTV. They
were absolutely fascinating, particularly the sessions on genetically
modified foods. These sessions from within the WTO confirmed my worst
fears that the companies which are pushing the "frankenfoods" are doing
so with no concern about the possible long term consequences of
unleashing these little genetic bombs on the enviroment. Like the
companies patenting lifeforms, selling sterile seed, and recycling
industrial wastes into food fertilizer to save money, the people who
make these decisions seem oblivious to the need to even look for
possible unintended side effects. What you don't look for, you seldom
find. Go to http://www.americanlands.org/ "information" and "global
trade" for more information.

While some delegates from developing countries were offended by the
protesters and their demands for environmental and labor protection,
others found them interesting. One delegate said that the presence of
the protesters showed him that there was not an absolute consensus in
the developed world to back up our governments demands, and that his
government would re-examine first world demands in light of the
protests.

Over 1500 groups from 89 countries have signed the "No New Round -
Turn-A-Round" letter. For more information or to find how you can be
part of this citizen fight for justice, go to
http://www.tradewatch.org/.

These 1500 groups are part of what a RAND research group called an NGO
(non governmental organization) swarm, with no central leadership or
command structure, multiheaded, impossible to decapitate, and able to
sting its target to death (or at least stun it, like they did to the MAI
plans).

Governments have been very effective in controlling or eliminating
opposition organized by a single group, or attempting to organize a new
political party to oppose the established parties, but a movement
comprised of thousands, or even million of groups worldwide, each
addressing their own area of concern while communicating and forming
coalitions via the Internet has incredible power.

While it is too soon to really tell how much impact this protest had, it
is already being acknowledged worldwide. It looks like a new day to me.

Is my generation, the boomers, beginning to reawaken? I hope so. Do me a
favor. If you are in your twenties or thirties, any time you meet
someone in their 40's or 50's, I hope you will ask them what kind of
world they had hoped to create when they were young. Encourage them to
recall their dreams. And then remind them that every society in the
world is controlled mainly by people over age 50. That's them, even if
they do not realize it. They now have experience, position, money --
they could help you create that world of peace and justice now. They
were going to do it for their children. Guess what, it's not too late.
Every minute seven more people turn fifty in the U.S. If you are over 40
I also ask you to do me a favor. Get off your butts and go to work
creating the world we yearned for in our youth.

But we who are older need you who are younger to remind us. Inspire us
to help you write a new chapter in the human story, a story where we
honor each other, and honor the earth.


FOR MORE INFORMATION

Direct Action Network
http://www.agitprop.org/artandrevolution/wto/index.html
The Direct Action Network's own website going up soon at
http://www.directactionnetwork.org.
http://www.ruckus.org/news/GlobalizeThis/
http://216.254.6.207/
http://www.geocities.com/deuce42b/wto/
http://www.seattlewarzone.org/
http://www.netidea.com/smk/free-earth/seattle/
http://www.10things.com/10things/pix/wto1.html
http://www.capitol-hill.com/
http://wtocaravan.org/protest.htm
http://www.members.home.net/scotte29/
http://www.onelist.com/community/JWTO
http://wtocaravan.org/
http://students.washington.edu/meesh99/
http://www.geocities.com/deuce42b
http://harbinger.itgo.com/

This is one the WTO is "deeply concerned" about at http://gatt.org/
because Director-General Mike Moore feels people might be confused by
it. Report at http://www.wto.org/wto/new/press151.htm. RTMark's
principal aim is to publicize corporate abuses of democratic processes.
Others of interest - http://rtmark.com/bush.html to learn more about
Junior Bush. http://yesrudy.com/ what is Rudy Giuliani up to?
http://rtmark.com/shell/ regarding Shell Oil

Amnesty International Calls For Full Inquiry In Seattle Police Abuses
http://www.amnesty.org/news/1999/25120399.htm

Seattle Food Not Bombs, http://www.scn.org/activism/foodnotbombs
Allegheny Defense Project, http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/adp
This analysis written by Phil Agre of UCLA is particularly thoughtful
and informative. http://commons.somewhere.com/rre/1999/RRE.Seattle.html
or http://www.egroups.com/group/rre/1205.html

Seattle coverage http://www.indymedia.org/
http://www.rewire.org/rewire.html
Seattle Police Scanner in RealAudio
http://www.2600.com/news/1999/1201-scanner.ram

WTO information, calendars, contacts: http://www.wtowatch.org/

http://www.peopleforfairtrade.org/

What's next? Reclaim The Streets NY  212-539-6746
http://reclaimthestreetsnyc.tao.ca/
http://www.wtowatch.org/relatedSites/  (annotated links)
http://www.seattlewto.org/wto_listservs_and_links.html
http://www.seattlewto.org/
http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/rulemakers/links.html
http://www.wtowatch.org/
http://www.ifg.org/
http://216.122.30.133/wto

IWW Call To Action Against World Trade Organization (WTO)
http://www.seattlewto.org/n30/iww/iww.html

http://www.eco-action.org/efau/contacts.html

PGA's Cross-Country Caravan to WTO by Reps of 71 Countries
http://members.aol.com/pgacaravan
http://www.the-mrea.org/
http://www.speakeasy.org/~dopewar/

Fight the anti-loitering law: http://freespeechseattle.org/

This is fun - Seattle music web - http://www.seattlemusicweb.com/

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