Response to Does the Irish Anti-War Movement condemn terrorist attacks enough?
Liam , it's good to see someone articulate exactly my thoughts on some elements of the Anti-War [and, as it happens, the so-called anti-globalisation] movement. Some of the protests I've attended in Dublin - at the violence of the reclaim the streets rally and at the government's decision to join the PfP without a referendum, were populated, quite predicatbly, by members and supporters of the far-left parties; SWP, WP, SF and the Socialists.
This is quite right as many of the issues concerned are of much relevance to them.
However, often it is the only mouth-pieces of the political parties which speak at these events. It is also common that the organisers of these protests are members of political parties or have very close ties with them. Such a strong connection to party politics often leads to a party-driven agenda seemingly becoming apparent - for instance the leaflets for these protests often come emblazened with the motif for some of these parties (if memory serves me right Fianna Fail had many protests at this tactic using our postmarks before the election).
However well-intentioned these parties are, it is uncomfortable for some protestors [while finding common-ground with them do not agree with their ideologies] to find a dearth of neutral speakers at these rallies, especially when the politically-affiliated speakers diverge into party rethoric (which often happens).
Perhaps, given the reaction here to this question, it might be worth it for the Irish Anti-War website to distance itself from the established political parties and concentrate gaining the trust of the broad support for the peaceful resolution of conflict.
Created By: mike m