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diary of a 'nice' protester
Below is a diarty kept by a comrade who attended the anti-globalization demonstration that took place in Nice, France this December.
Wednesday 6 December:
Got up just before 5am to drive to Luton airport to arrive at 6am. Checked in and was conscious that this wasn't the normal clientele going to Nice - 4 women in front of me in the queue who I didn't know but definitely looked like demonstrators.
On the way through to the departure lounge bumped into half a dozen people I did know in a couple of different groups. By the time we boarded the plane it was clear that around 2/3 of us were going to the march. Someone brought maps of Nice and the programme for the next few days round the plane - it was certainly the first time I'd seen a plane leafleted. Later a friend told me she had been sitting next to the cabin crew and they'd asked her what was going on. Apparently this flight is normally pretty empty and the staff manage to get some sleep!
Arrived in Nice and its raining! It was warmer when we left London. Get a couple of cabs to the hotel. Taxi driver tells us that Nice is empty - people have been told to get out of the city before we arrive. The streets are empty - it's a strange feeling. Driver is friendly and sympathetic.
Arrive at the hotel and book in. Go and get coffee and breakfast and then off to the ATTAC photo call which involves half a dozen people diving into the sea with banners. Its still raining but its warmed up and there seems to be a lot of press. Get some snaps myself.
Wander through the old town, which is picturesque and quiet. Get some lunch, buy an umbrella and head for the demonstration. We think it starts at 2 but meet the head of the march about 3 kilometres from the Assembly point - obviously it started at 1pm.
Walk back to the Assembly point by the side of the demonstration, stopping to draw breath and take photos every so often. It's an extraordinary sight. Continental demonstrations are so different from those here in that virtually everyone carries an individual flag as well as the lead banners for each contingent and then some contingents also have hats or jackets in their union colours as well. Then there are flares and firecrackers and vans with loud hailers. There are no police marshalling us though when we pass the area where the conference centre there are police on every street corner. Only one or two may be visible but I'm sure there are far more hidden round the corner in case of any trouble.
Every European country you can think of is represented. Huge contingents from Italy - I reckon more than 10,000 and from Spain and Portugal - around 5000 each. A number of Eastern European countries - Poland, Slovenia, Hungary have contingents that are at least 500 strong. And then there are the French - probably about 1/2 of this mammoth demonstration. By now we have reached the Assembly point. The CGT contingent takes one and a half hours or more to pass us, then smaller but still sizeable contingents from the CFDT and FO. Oh, did I forget to say anything about the British. Well I did find the TUC contingent - which must have had all of 50 people in it - though there were probably around 500 of us, altogether in different parts of this huge march.
We finally leave the Assembly point just after 5pm - more than 4 hours after the march set out - and there are still people behind us. We join the ATTAC contingent, which is several thousand strong, noisy and jubilant. By the time we have been marching for less than 20 minutes the pavements are filling up with demonstrators returning to coaches and trains.
Just before we set off and announcement is made that more than 130,000 people have already joined the march. Of course may be this is optimistic - these estimates usually are - but it is definitely the biggest demonstration that I have seen for several decades. Bigger than the miners strike march in Hyde Park, bigger than the Poll tax demonstration. And this is a genuinely continent wide mobilisation. I wish we could import some of this militancy to Britain as we all chant "Our world is not for sale" . . .
Afterwards return to the hotel exhausted. Intend to read for a bit before going out for a meal - actually fall asleep while my room mate is in the shower. I'm exhausted. Out for dinner and then off to a rally at the convergence centre. Several thousand people packed into this room - and from the crowds outside there's been a fluid audience for some time. Sadly Jose Bove, star of the Millau demonstration in the summer didn't make it. Hear that a train with 800 Italians has been stopped at the border and not allowed through. Listen to Christophe Aguiton from ATTAC and Susan George - and some other speakers I don't know. Meet various people I know - from Britain, but also from France, Holland, Italy and Belgium. Cheers go up when we are told that the caretaker has agreed people can sleep here over night. This is the main reason we have booked into a hotel - it was not clear right up to this moment that there would be anywhere for people to sleep. The right wing mayor was extremely uncooperative - wouldn't even allow the marchers anywhere to put up a marquee.
Walk back to the hotel and collapse - its been a long day and there is another one ahead of us.
Thursday 7 December:
Up at 6.30. We are supposed to be at the railway station at 7.30 to march to the conference centre. Of course it takes longer than that to get organised - especially as we have to check out at this point.
Leave at 7.30 passed rows of police who are massing by now. Buses have already been diverted so we have to walk some way to the nearest stop. But we have performed a social service - buses are free in Nice today as the municipality is trying to persuade people not to use their cars because of the demonstration.
Get to the railway station but the demonstration has already gone. Stop and ask various people where it has gone and set off in the right direction. About 8.30 catch up with the first contingent in a side road near the conference centre. The idea was to surround the centre - to make clear our opposition to what is going on there which will make further attacks on workers conditions and services much easier. This is why we are taking different side roads. But the police have closed off such a big area that we don't seem to have the numbers.
Move down a little further and join a bigger group, led by French banner of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionaire. Communist Rifondazione from Italy and the British SWP are also in this group. After negotiations the SWP move off to block a different road. We stay with the LCR and move into the main street.
There are barricades across the side road down to the conference centre and a line of police in protective gear behind them. We chant and sing but don't make any attempt to approach them. Suddenly I have a strange taste in the back of my throat. It's like fireworks going off, the smell and taste of sulphur but much worse. I look down the road in the direction that the SWP went off into - and discover you can't see more than 20 yards. They are being tear gassed down there I realise as I hear explosions again sounding like a fire works display. People around me are starting to put on masks, tie scarves around their mouths and where they have them put on goggles.
I check I have my inhaler, worried the gas may provoke an asthma attack. My eyes are smarting and someone comes up and asks me if I need something for them. Presumably they look even worse than they feel! He washes them out with saline and I move back into the side street away from the drift of the gas. Within a few minutes of being able to breathe properly I feel much better and move back into the main group, tying my scarf tightly round my mouth. I am certainly not the only one to have needed time out.
By this time the gas has cleared down the road and we can see that the SWP has been forced to retreat. Within seconds we hear loud bangs from in front of us - this time we are in the firing line. Most of the shells fall behind us - a strange tactic if the idea is to make us retreat. I'm a bit more acclimatised now and manage not to be affected too much - though I do close my eyes a fair bit. There are two or three more volleys - during the last of which the shells are consciously fired so that they land where we are standing. This time we do move - some back into the side street, some to one side in the main road. After a few minutes we regroup and begin to move together down the side street away from the police lines. They are not satisfied but fire again.
By this time the SWP have rejoined us, having come round a side street and together we form up again and march away from the police lines. As later becomes clear, the plan is to go right round, though the old city and approach the conference centre from the other side. It is interesting that many people come out onto their balconies or open their windows as we do so - and the majority of them are supportive. I particularly noticed one women who I guess must have been in her 70s who was waving and crying when she heard us chant "No Passaran".
Soon we are joined by a third contingent, mainly comprised of Basques and together we march, shouting and cheering towards the rear of the conference centre - where we are met by yet more police and yet more tear gas…. At this point various people get their heads together, and it was announced that we would have a couple of quick speeches and then disperse. Actually we had speeches (from the SWP and LCR) and then we marched back to the Convergence Centre.
This section of the march had a rather different feel to it than the rest. We were walking away from confrontation so it seemed. My thoughts (apart from wanting a cup of tea) were that we had made a good show.
To have actually stopped the conference we would probably have needed 10 times more people. And while it is true that there should have been more people there from France, and while it seemed that there weren't enough Northern Europeans, and while it is also annoying that some people who went to Prague don't seem to see that the EU is the local agent of the IMF and the World Bank, then in the end it would have been extremely difficult to mobilise those sort of numbers - the relationship of forces just isn't there.
So I was thinking about all of this and chatting to various people about this and other matters when I heard a cashing sound behind me. I turned behind and saw that someone had just thrown a brick through a plate glass window. My reaction was to link arms again - we had become more relaxed as we were moving away from trouble. I wondered if this was an agent provocateur - it seemed such a foolish thing to do.
Anyway there is no sign of the police and we return to the convergence centre for more speeches. Unfortunately the acoustics are poor and there is no translation at this point so I don't follow everything that is said. People are starting to leave to return to their coaches and go home. Then some of the anarchists grab the mike to say someone has been arrested and we should all go to the police station. This doesn't seem such a good idea as there are dwindling numbers of us and it seems like the people proposing it are spoiling for a fight - for the sake of it. So most of us decide not to go and a few hundred people set off for the police station. I later hear that indeed I was right - this all degenerates into lengthy battles with the police - which then of course are what get a good deal of media coverage overshadowing the sustained tear gassing we have experienced early. Very frustrating!
By this time there are so few people left that we abandon the meeting and go off in search of lunch. Afterwards we make a quick visit to the old harbour then return to the airport and home. I'm exhausted but it has been a very worthwhile two days.
This diary was kept by a supporter of the International Socialist Group, the British sister group of Socialist Action/Youth for Socialist Action
