“The people are more powerful than the cops, the mayor, or NATO”
Fight Back! interviews Joe Iosbaker, the Chicago spokesperson for the United National Antiwar Coalition and a leader in the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda, on the massive May 20 protest at the NATO Summit.Fight Back!: Please talk some about what happened at the march on the NATO Summit and who was there.Joe Iosbaker: 15,000 people rallied and marched against the war makers’ summit on a scorching hot day here in Chicago. It was a very broad gathering, involving the Iraq Veterans Against the War, National Nurses United and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. We had music by Tom Morello, Rebel Diaz, David Rovics and Outer National. Carlos Montes came from Los Angeles, straight from the political persecution trial he is facing. Students came from Utah, Florida and all over the Midwest.
Chicago, IL – In the largest anti-war protest ever held in Chicago, 15,000 people took to the streets marching against the NATO military summit. Inside McCormick Convention Center, politicians, generals and bankers discussed the faltering U.S./NATO war and occupation in Afghanistan. They also forged agreements that set the stage for destabilizing and overthrowing independent governments in places like Syria and Iran.
Chicago, IL – Over 300 people gathered on Saturday, May 19 in a Chicago park to demand healthcare, not warfare. Protesters gathered outside a CTA train station and then rallied at Horner Park on the North Side. Protest leaders gave speeches opposing the war and poverty agenda of the NATO and G8 summits. They demanded money for healthcare and ending homelessness here at home, not for the war in Afghanistan.
Chicago, IL – Angered by a police raid and arrests of Occupy protesters in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, 1500 protesters marched and rallied here May 19. The protest marched from the Federal Reserve Bank, the main protest site for Occupy Chicago, up to Daley Plaza. A roar went up when the march stepped off with hundreds of young people taking to the streets, chanting, “This is what democracy looks like!” and “No war for oil! NATO off Afghan soil!”
Chicago, IL – In the first large demonstration of the NATO summit, 4000 nurses gathered in Daley Plaza at noon on May 18. National Nurses Union members and supporters demanded an end to the bailing out of Wall Street and for a tax on its profits.
Chicago, IL – NATO opponents debated NATO apologists at the Pritzker Military Library in the Chicago Loop on May 17. The debate was sponsored by the National Strategy Forum. Reflecting an attempt to respond to anti-war protests and mass democratic movements like the Arab Spring, the debate was titled, “Social Responsibility and National Security: Towards a New NATO.”
Chicago, IL – Dozens of U.S. military veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan plan to return their medals to the commanders they served under on Sunday, May 20. Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will lead thousands of anti-war protesters from Grant Park to the site of the NATO summit in downtown Chicago. Outside McCormick Place, the veterans and service members will return their medals to NATO commanders. Veterans of the U.S.-led NATO war and occupation in Afghanistan will march side by side with the group Afghans for Peace at the head of the march organized by the Coalition Against NATO/G8.
Chicago, IL – People from around the world are coming to Chicago to protest NATO and the G8 on May 20. On May 17, international spokespeople gathered at the 8th Day Center for Justice in the Chicago Loop for a press conference in support of the protest against war makers and bankers.
