The Stop the War Coalition organised an AntiWar Mass Assembly in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 8th October 2011 to protest the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. Some of the speeches and photos from the rally as presented below.
Thousands attend the rally at Trafalgar Square
Our world needs YOU to end war
Crowds at Trafalgar Square
All war is child abose
Crowds at Trafalgar Square
Speeches at rally in Trafalgar Square
Hetty Bower, 106 years young peace campaigner
" So we are at war.. this is where the lies begin.."
Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks
" War by media.. Let us ask ourselves what is the average death count attributed to each journalist?"
John Pilger, journalist and documentary maker
" For such journalists there are two types of humanity in war.. there are worthy victims and unworthy victims.."
George Galloway, Stop the War Coalition
" Orwell said in 1984 Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.. lets hope we are not still here 10 years from now!"
Jemima Khan, Human Rights Campaigner
" There comes a moment where you have to ask what is more dangerous - terrorism or counter-terrorism?"
Lauren Booth, Sami Ramadani & Yvonne Ridley
Joan Humpheries, grandson killed in Afghanistan
" He was killed not by Afghanis, but by the British and American governments.. they have total responsibility for his death"
A L Kennedy, Award winning author
" Your are many.. they are few"
Brian Eno, musician & composer
Seumas Milne, journalist & writer
Joe Glenton, anti-war soldier imprisoned for refusing to fight in Afghanistan
Mark Cambell, University & College Union
Sukri Sultan and Shadia Edwards-Dashti, students against the war
Sanum Ghafoor, Activist Video Blogger
Elvis McGonagall, Stand-up Poet
Howard Blake, world renowned composer
Mark Rylance, actor director and playwright
Rebecca Thorn (singer) & Roger Lloyd Pack (actor)
Sanasino al Yemen, Spoken word artist
Lowkey, Poet activist
Rally at Trafalgar Square
Cut War Not Welfare
USA Out Of Everywhere!
I Love Gaza
Cut War Not Welfare
Free Palestine
Cut War Not Welfare
Cut War Not Welfare
Free Palestine
120 black balloons to signify the 120 months of occupation of Afghanistan
120 black balloons each with the words "bring them home"
No more imperialist wars
www.antiwarart.co.uk
Give peace a chance
Welfare Not Warfare
lunch break - the protest continues - "AfghaNOstan"
Cut War Not Welfare
Artist Kaya Mar, www.kayamar.co.uk
March to Downing Street
106 years of age, Hetty Bower leads the march from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street
Hetty Bower, 106 years young, marching from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street
"Scalp bounties were the payment of a fee for proof of death of an Indian, any Indian, on a graduated scale. At the top of the scale they would pay the highest amount for proof of death by way of the production of a scalp, or bloody red skin - origin of the term 'red skins' - of an adult male Indian. Half that fee would be payed for proof of death by the same means of a adult female, quarter to be payed for proof of death of a child, child being defined as as a human being under 10 years of age down to and including a fetus.. every single colony on the east coast, every state of the Union and territory of the United States within the confines of the 48 contiguous states, had in place, in some period of its history, a scalp bounty - removed usually when there were no longer sufficient number of Indians left to kill to warrant its continuation..that's as absolutely clinical a genocidal policy as is possible to envision, they weren't interested in any particular Indians, any Indians would do and they would pay for proof of death - they wanted all of us dead."