WSM Protest Against Militarism

On Nov 2nd 2008 at around 11am the WSM and other anti-war and anti-imperialists protesters gathered in Belfast for a small static picket in opposition to the Royal Irish Regiment march.

The atmosphere on the day was extremely tense. Heavily armed PSNI were covering the city centre. In addition about 35-50 thousand people came out to support the RIR.

Because of these conditions protesters were unable to meet at our originally intended destination and we had to regroup in another location on Castle Street. The protest took place in an area which was completely surrounded by heavily armed PSNI.

The R.I.R. are returning from devastating wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to parade in Belfast. These wars have seen the death of millions of civilians and the near complete destruction of domestic infrastructure.

The state has very cynically attempted to use sectarianism to divide and conquere the anti-war movement in the North. This march would likely not have gone ahead in other places in the U.K. or it would have seen widespread resistance. It is only because of this cynical manipulation that they were able to have a march celebrating these murderous campaigns with very little resistance.

The WSM is committed to creating a space for resistance to imperialism and war outside the sectarian narratives that the state actively promotes to serve its own interests.