by Victor Grossman
Berlin, Germany
[5/21/02] Today was the big day, the climax of the George W. Bush visit to Berlin, his speech to the Bundestag and other dignitaries Ð but no one else. The whole government region, extended to the luxurious Adlon Hotel where the Bushes spent the night, had been swept clean of cars, pedestrians, and probably any stray dogs or cats. Manhole covers were sealed down, the adjacent Comic Opera cancelled performances, tourist boats were unable to pass along their Spree River routes, gliders, zeppelins, kites and all but police helicopters were banned from the skies. The Brandenburg Gate area, usually jammed with tourists, looked like a scene from Waiting for Godot. And all Berlin waited Ð for George W. Bush.
Most newspapers did their best to make it a happy welcome: the whole front page of one tabloid said "Good morning, Mr. President" and others printed the US flag to be placed in shop windows Ð to counteract that other side, those few who did not welcome George W. Ð one of the tabloids called them "the idiots".
On the eve of the visit more than a hundred thousand such "idiots" from all over Germany gathered to march from Unter den Linden to Alexanderplatz, the central square of east Berlin. Somehow the New York Times man couldn't count above 20,000 and managed to mix up the "two demonstrations," as he called them, "run by the former Communist party and the Greens".
In truth, the Greens' demonstration consisted entirely of about ten party leaders trying to rationalize their support for Bush policies as coalition partners in the government. A few less disciplined participants in the big march defied the rules by shouting "hypocrites" at them, and one young hothead got close enough to pour soda water onto the head of Green chairperson Claudia Roth. So after ten minutes the Green demonstration disbanded. Leaving the field to the "other" hundred thousand . Yes, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) did take part in the big one, but did not "run it" any more than the people from 240 other organizations planning and leading the event: Christian groups, leaders of the two biggest industrial unions in the world, a wide assortment of leftwing, environmental, anti-globalization and even young Green or Social Democratic groups, who defied all warnings of their elders. Somehow all of this varied crowd, including those who spoke, was overlooked by most of the media).
The next day, when Bush arrived, the parade was not quite so huge, since thousands had departed for cities all across Germany to demonstrate in their home towns. At 6 PM Ð after speeches and some very political, very loud music Ð a group of high school oil can drummers began their rhythmical call across the downtown area Ð and across Germany, since others were "drumming for peace" in over fifty cities. Then they paraded as on the day earlier to the central square (nicknamed "Alex" in Berlin) for more speeches and more music. The motto of both demonstrations was "We don't want your war, Mr. President!" and "We don't want any wars!"
For several weeks the media pundits had been vociferously worrying about the violence which was certain to occur. They looked sad when they said it, but looked even sadder when they didn't get it, since nearly all of the hundred thousand were against, not for violence. But on Wednesday evening, shortly after the Bush family, Powell, Rice and the others had landedarrived, some violence did finally begin. It is impossible to say who started it Ð there are always small groups of youngsters who love to throw bottles or small, throwable sidewalk plaster stones at "bulls" Ð at least some of whom are undoubtedly agents provocateurs Ð but the police certainly provoked the crowd, first of all by there universal presence alone. There were so many cops and police wagons (also from all over Germany) the downtown area looked like a city under siege; all wore shin and chest armor worthy of an ice hockey player. Some reports told of how the last few hundred of the young demonstrators Ð relaxing after the long hot day, were lying peacefully on the lawns of the Lustgarten, listening or dancing to music from the stage, when a company of cops swarmed in, told them 9 PM had been the deadline, and to move on in a hurry. Some didn't, the attacks started, bottles and stones flew, so did clubs, water cannon and tear gas Ð and some of the angriest youngsters broke a few bank and shop windows. The hoped-for action had occurred, though it involved at most a tiny fraction of the hundred thousand, and the tabloids had their stories. The Bush entourage heard none of it, they were being wined and dined in an exclusive restaurant far distant from any of the angry citizenry, or any citizenry at all.
Then came Thursday, the meeting with Chancellor Schroeder and the long-heralded Bush words to the Bundestag. The speech was about average on the George W. Bush scale but elicited enthusiastic applause from the two government parties and three opposition parties, applause after nearly every second sentence, a method borrowed perhaps from the US Congress, though there have been many other precedents. Only one group sat on their hands and almost never applauded: the cameras rarely showed this leftwing corner, but I did see them applauding when Bush called - in words at least - for a sovereign Palestinian State. But the 37 PDS delegates, the "bad boys" of the German Bundestag, who have dared to oppose sending soldiers to Bosnia, Kossovo and Afghanistan and are just as stubborn on economic and other issues, were even more impudent, or at least a few of them were. At one point during the speech there seemed to be an angry hubbub somewhere in the big hall. Bush ignored it and continued with his frighterning platitudesÐ with no comment from the TV speakers. Only later did we learn that three PDS delegates did not only refrain from most of the applause but waved a big sign saying "NO WAR, MR. PRESIDENT!" And one young delegate, Carsten Hübner, known for his constant struggle to get criticism of the US death penalty and for freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, refused to take part in the Bundestag meeting altogether. He objected to the "Bush government policy of massive militarization of international relations", preventing international agreements and promoting a "conflict of cultures". He added, "My protest is no more anti-American than that of nearly all demonstrators these past days. But it is directed against a policy which evokes worldwide fear and bitterness, but also democratic resistance. My objection to aggressive neo-liberalism is just as great as that against Islamic terror and other forms of anti-human despotism. "Ich bin ein Amerikaner" exactly because I sharply criticize this president and his policies, just like American intellectuals, human rights activists and the peace movement there. And they are not alone. Even a majority of the voters chose another candidate."
Some of the politicians from the two government partes dared to voice mild criticism of Bush policies on the Kyoto Agreement, the World Court and even on war against Iraq, and even Bush chose his words on these subjects very carefully. The demonstrations in Germany, and perhaps elsewhere, despite the media blindness, are not going altogether uinnoticed. But a lot more continuing pressure is surely necessary. The group "Axis for Peace" which organized the big rallies, and which was marked by a gradual if sometime difficult search for mutual agreement by nearly all the groups, plans to meet again in a week to keep the ball rolling.
Special Addition: for Mumia Abu-Jamal supporters
At the biggest demonstration, the one on the eve of George Bush's arrival, with participants estimated between 70,000 and over 100,000, the block of the Mumia Abu-Jamal network, though not one of the larger groups, had two of the largest banners in the parade, one of them reading "Bush executed 152 people in Texas. No more! Free Mumia Abu-Jamal!" These and the smaller banners were carried by activists from Berlin, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Mannheim and other cities and were greeted by all they met.
On the second day Ð the day Bush landed in Berlin Ð there were big meetings before and after the parade Ð this time with about 30,000 participants, since many had returned to their cities all around Germany for demonstrations there. At the first meeting, next to Berlin's huge cathedral, a message written by Mumia for the occasion was read to the crowd, which listened in total, attentive silence until the end and then broke forth in tumultuous applause. So while the main thrust of the three days of demonstrations was against war and military aggression, against US domination of the wporld and official German support of it, with calls for action against the warmakers, Mumias words stressed the connection between the domination and suppression of other countries, often with military might, and the cruel repression of people everywhere, incluiding those in the USA. So in these memorable three days of determined demonstrations by mostly young Germans he was not ignored or forgotten! And representatives from the Berlin Mumia committee had taken an active part in organizing the extremely successful demonstrations by the "Axis for Peace"! Unlike Bush, Mumia was an American the huge crowds could identify with!
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[posted 5/24/02]
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