Encyclopedia > Global protests against war on Iraq (pre-war)
Global protests against war on Iraq (pre-war)
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Protests were held worldwide in opposition to the war, including in Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, and the United States, where Americans attended a rally in Washington, DC. The U.S. Park Police, which oversees activities on the Mall, no longer provided estimates of crowd size, but said that protest organizers only had a permit for 30,000 demonstrators. According to rally organizers, 200,000+ Americans were in attendance.
October 26, 2002 protest rally
A protest rally in Washington, DC to express their opposition to war against Iraq, with 40,000+ Americans in attendance, according to rally organizers. (However, most major media organizations and the US park police have stopped making official estimates about crowd sizes years ago, after lawsuits by the organizers of the "million man march".)
January 18, 2003 protests
On January 18, demonstrations against war in general or the expected war in Iraq in particular took place in villages, towns, and cities around the world, including Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, London, Dublin, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Cologne, Bonn, Gothenburg, Florence, Oslo, Rotterdam, Istanbul and Cairo. NION and ANSWER[?] held anti-war protests in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, California. In San Francisco, between 150,000 and 200,000 people attended the demonstration. The San Francisco police had originally estimated the crowd size at 55,000, but admitted later that they had badly underestimated the number and changed their estimate to 150,000.
February 15, 2003 protests
| February 15 protest attendance | |
| Rome | 3,000,000 |
| Barcelona | 1,300,000 |
| London | ≥750,000 |
| Madrid | ≥660,000 |
| Berlin | ≥500,000 |
| Sydney | 250,000† |
| Seville | ≥200,000 |
| Damascus | 200,000 |
| Montreal | 150,000 |
| Melbourne | 150,000† |
| Paris | 100,000 |
| New York | ≥100,000 |
| Oviedo | 100,000 |
| Dublin | 100,000 |
| Los Angeles | 100,000 |
| Glasgow | 80,000 |
| San Francisco | 65,000† |
| Oslo | 60,000 |
| Brussels | 50,000 |
| Bern | 40,000 |
| Sao Paulo | 35,000 |
| Stockholm | 35,000 |
| Copenhagen | 25,000 |
| Vancouver | 20,000 |
| Helsinki | 15,000 |
| Vienna | 15,000 |
| Luxembourg | 14,000 |
| Toronto | 10,000 |
| Amsterdam | 10,000 |
| Auckland | 10,000 |
| Austin | 10,000 |
| Cape Town | 10,000 |
| Johannesburg | 10,000 |
| Tokyo | 5,000 |
| Quebec City | 3,000 |
| Dhaka | 2,000 |
| Ottawa | 2,000 |
| Kiev | 2,000 |
| Chicoutimi | 1,500 |
| (Total of above figures) | ≥9,500,000 |
| †: 14th or 16th February | |
| Source: The Globe and Mail (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030214.wxmood0215/BNStory/International) and others | |
Much larger protests in over 600 cities on February 15 drew millions of protesters in total. In Rome one to three million people were on the streets in one of the Italian capital's largest ever mass demonstrations. In London, estimates of the number of marchers varied from 750,000 to over 1.5 million, the largest demonstration in the city's history. In Berlin there were half a million in the largest demonstration for some decades. There were also protest marches all over France as well as in many other European cities, drawing attendance figures in the tens of thousands per city. In Ireland, one hundred thousand turned out in Dublin, for a parade that was originally expected to draw one fifth that number. Protesters demanded that the Irish government ban the United States military from continue to use Ireland's Shannon Airport as a trans-atlantic stop-off point bringing soldiers to the Middle East.
In Spain, Barcelona city hall and the Guardia Civil cited 1.3 million protesters, marching from the Passeig de Gràcia to the Plaça de Tetuan [1] (http://es.news.yahoo.com/030215/4/2jpbr), though the Delegación de Gobierno said 350,000. Government sources estimated protests at 660,000 in Madrid. The small Asturian city of Oviedo (pop. 180,000) had a turnout of 100,000. [2] (http://www.abc.es/Guerra/noticia.asp?id=162389&dia=hoy)
Protests were held in Australia (the previous day), South Africa, Syria, India, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and the USA, among many other countries. Hundreds of thousands turned out in New York City, near the United Nations Building[?]. More than one hundred thousand people protested in Montreal despite wind-chill temperatures of below -30°C, and in Chicoutimi 1 500 people braved a -40°C wind-chill temperature including gusts of wind reaching 50km/hr, in what was surely one of the coldest marches on the 15th of February.
In San Francisco, a protest was held on February 16. Protest organizers and police agreed that the crowd count was 200,000. A San Francisco Chronicle photographic investigation, on the other hand, estimated that the number at the peak period was closer 65,000, although it did not say how many people attended during the entire time of the demonstration. [3] (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/02/21/MN240732.DTL) This dispute highlights the continuing debate over the accuracy of crowd estimates in large public demonstrations.
In Baghdad several thousand Iraqis - many carrying Kalashnikov rifles - also joined with the global protests.
Protests continued on February 16 in Australia, with 600,000 demonstrating in cities around the country.
On March 3 (2003-03-03) more than a thousand readings of Aristophanes' anti-war comedy Lysistrata were held in 59 countries as part of the Lysistrata theater project [4] (http://www.pecosdesign.com/lys/).
Students held protests and walk-outs against the war in a number of countries, including Canada, Sweden, Spain, Australia, Bangladesh, Egypt and the USA, on March 5. [5] (http://cbc.ca/stories/2003/03/05/studentwar030305)
On March 8, 40,000 people protested in Hibiya, Tokyo. Other Japanese cities also had demonstrations. [6] (http://give-peace-a-chance.jp/e38/index.htm)
| March 15 peace protest in Montreal |
Many of the protests were smaller than those in the same cities a month ago; an exception was that in Montreal, which upped its turnout to 200,000 people, one of the largest in the world and by far the largest in Canada. The turnout may have been related to solidarity against American anti-French sentiment, which was a common theme for many of the protesters.[10] (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030315.wprot0315_3/BNStory/Front) A further 15,000 protested in Quebec City. [11] (http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/article/1,63,0,032003,229853.shtml) 55,000 protested in Paris, and 4,500 to 10,000 in Marseille. [12] (http://www.cyberpresse.ca/monde/article/1,151,0,032003,229861.shtml)
100,000 protested in Berlin, some 20,000 protested in Athens, close to 10,000 people marched in Tokyo, and tens of thousands in Washington DC. Organizers claimed between 30,000 and 45,000 people turned out, while The Oregonian and the Associated Press estimated between 20,000 and 25,000 people attended, closer to the number in Portland who participated in the January 18 protest. [13] (http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1047819332322011.xml) Thousands more marched in cities worldwide including Bangkok, Seoul, Hong Kong, Amman, Calcutta, Melbourne, Christchurch, Dunedin, Paris, London, Portsmouth, Leeds, York, Exeter, Newcastle upon Tyne, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Nicosia, Moscow, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Vancouver, Halifax, Ottawa, and Toronto, as well as cities in Yemen, Turkey, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.
[14] (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/15/sprj.irq.main/index) [15] (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/15/sprj.irq.protests/index) [16] (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/03/15/protest030315) [17] (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030315.wprot0315_3/BNStory/Front) [18] (http://es.news.yahoo.com/030315/44/2lwzu)
More than 6,000 candlelight vigils for peace were held on March 16 in more than a hundred countries. [19] (http://www.moveon.org/vigil/)
A "Walkout" happened in many schools in the United Kingdom where students walked out of school, some risking expulsion and detention, in order to protest at Westminster.
Protests after the official start of the war
For more information on protests after the official beginning of the 2003 Iraq war, see Global protests against war on Iraq.
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq and the 2003 Iraq war.
- American popular opinion of war on Iraq.
- American government position on war on Iraq.
- Catholic Church against war on Iraq.
- Worldwide government positions on war on Iraq.
- Popular opposition to war on Iraq.
- The UN Security Council and the Iraq war.
- Non-violence.
- Pacifism.
- Independent Media Center.
- MoveOn (http://www.moveon.org) - Democracy in Action.
- United For Peace (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/) - A U.S. resource for anti-war activists
- Not In Our Name (http://www.nion.us) - A Statement of Conscience Against War and Repression
- Not In Our Name (http://www.notinourname.net/) - NO War on the World NO Detentions & Round-ups NO Police State Restrictions
- TFF (http://www.transnational.org/) - The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research
February 15 marches
- BBC News story: Millions join anti-war protests worldwide (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2765215.stm)
- CNN News story with quotes from protesters (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/15/sprj.irq.protests.europe.quotes/)
- BBC News story: New Yorkers join anti-war protests (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2766917.stm)
- The Globe and Mail - Anti-war protests held worldwide (attendance figures for world cities) (http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030214.wxmood0215/BNStory/International)
March 15 marches
- Worldwide figures (La Presse (Quebec), in French) (http://www.cyberpresse.ca/monde/article/1,151,0,032003,229861.shtml)
- Worldwide figures(New York Times; requires free registration) (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/international/16DEMO)
- CBC News (Canada) - report on Australian marches (http://cbc.ca/stories/2003/02/16/peaceactivists030216)
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