Webdiary columnist Harry Heidelberg returns for 2004 with a report on the anti-war protests in Switzerland. He believed Bush and supported the war (Yes, it really is about getting the weapons). Now he’s anti-war (Bush and Howard the living dead as our democracies awaken) and proud to protest.

 

Yesterday I was sitting in my apartment in the middle of the Swiss capital, Bern and heard the noise of protest outside my window. I live on the main street of the old town so whenever something big is happening (which is surprisingly often); I hear about it. I rushed to my front window and was shocked to see thousands marching down my street and police in full riot gear.

I’d remembered the last people who were in this apartment had cautioned me to close the windows should there be a riot. They’d said the tear gas gets really unpleasant when it is floating around the dining room. I laughed at this seemingly unlikely idea. It is actually practical advice though if you live on Kramgasse in Bern. (For Harry’s new Switzerland blog, with photos of the protests, go to kramgasse.)

Bern has a reputation as being one of the most beautiful and smallest capitals in Europe. Beneath the calm exterior of this old town of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage significance issues bubble away and often manifest themselves in street protests. There is even a display at the main railway station indicating logistics of upcoming “demos/manifestations”.

In Switzerland, even protest is well organised and encouraged! There is a big anarchists group in this town known to create lots of trouble. They took over a school in the 1980’s and still hold it. They often ruin demonstrations of others. I was afraid this would happen yesterday when I saw unprecedented numbers of riot police. Each policeman was fully decked out and was carrying a large rifle, poised to fire. The rifles looked quite weird so I am not sure if they contained gas canisters or rubber bullets. I never found out because the protest took on an extraordinary character.

I grabbed my digital camera and started taking pictures of the protesters. At one point I got into an argument with a French-speaking Swiss. He was telling me to stop taking pictures. I can’t speak French so I started yelling back at him in broken German. In the end he started speaking to me in English. It turns out he thought I was a cop. I happen to dress like and have the manner of a cop (unfortunately). I said, “Hey I LOVE what you are doing, that is why I am taking pictures”. He was delighted and shook my hand. Switzerland is the land of the hand shake and constant greeting rituals. Any excuse to do it!

At that point I decided to join the protest.

I was originally for the war in Iraq so it was a big step for me to take. It was exhilarating, liberating and empowering. The pretext for the war has turned out to be false so I am now unambiguously against it.

It’s a pity that I only realised after the fact but at least I’m not clinging onto the lies anymore. I was one of those people who believed the leaders of some of the top liberal democracies in the world when they told us there was a clear and present danger. I’ll never believe them again.

Yesterday’s protest in Bern couldn’t have been more eclectic. There were people from all walks of Swiss life, with all kinds of agendas. The thing we have in common is that we are not happy with the way the world is being run by the Angloshere. Here in Switzerland, public opinion against the war was near to 100% and I have never heard a Swiss politician utter a word in favour of it. In that sense there is no division in Swiss society on such topics. There is only unanimanity.

I was impressed by the variety in the protest and the good natured feel it had. People enjoy protests. In the German part of Switzerland they call them “demos”.

So we marched around and around the old town and ended up in a square called Weisenhausplatz. I was concerned that the square wasnt going to be big enough to accomodate the crowds. Announcements were being made in German, French and English for people please move to the back of the square because the whole town was being jammed up with protesters tailing back from the square. In the end, most of us could fit in and the music started.

The first performace was from an AMERICAN. This had special significance for me because I’m a friend of America and worry sometimes about “anti-Americanism”. The performance showed that the link between protest against the current US administration and and anti-American feeling more generally is one that should be treated with care. The song was original, in English and VERY funny. There is a tradition in Switzerland of using cutting, biting satire in protest. Sometimes it is far more effective than unrefined anger. I thought it was very clever to kick off with an American singing about his President in a very Swiss style. A powerful message. The concert continued into the night.

I’ve often thought the word “solidarity” is done to death in continental Europe. Yesterday, I felt it and loved it.

Democracy is so precious. The sanctity of the individual citizen in a democracy expressing themselves is a beautiful thing. War is not.