news from Seatte check out http://www.indymedia.org

the following text is a personal account of what is happening in seattle
washington regarding the world trade organization protests.
the text is written by Adam Gottlieb, a member of the campus/community radio
station ckut fm in montreal canada.  adam is in seattle volunteering
at the independent media centre.


-----Original Message-----
From: jo sun [mailto:tenderflake2000@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 12:08 AM
To: susan@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: do-something@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: seattle kerfuffel


hi susan & robbie & charles... thinking of you & some
thoughts of sudden return to "babylon" (it's beautiful
actually, but only because everything is
higgeldy-piggeldy) & there's a lot of ugliness too...


nov. 30

it's a zoo here... i'm in the independent media
centre, there's print & audio & video & internet and
all kinds of media here & trying my best to help out
wherever i can (recording interviews, uploading audio
to internet...) in appreciation of having free
computer/long distance/etc. access

cops are sweeping through downtown seattle shooting
off tear gas grenades to clear the area, and they just
came by our building (about 100 people in size up CKUT
upstairs area)

after the CKUT report (2 pm), jenni and me had gone
back out to stand as buffers between riot-cops and 30
or so people locked down to a platform they built at
the corner of 6th avenue and pike, at one corner of
the sheraton hotel where the WTO delegates were slated
to meet. they had been locked down since 7 am, and
unlocked themselves at 4:30 pm; meanwhile, protesters
blocking the entrances to the sheraton since 7 or 8 am
also disbanded at the same time. as far as i could
tell, this took care of the major groups of people in
the downtown area still at risk of arrest or attack by
police.

i asked around a bit about other groups. at the start
of the day, there were supposed to be 15 "affinity
groups" (people with common interest or hometown,
etc., as was done for opération salami and g-plan)
doing direct action around town. one group was the
lock-down i mentioned. another group tried to block
the I-5 highway into town, the report i heard is they
didn't succeed. i don't know if the groups that
blockaded the sheraton were affinity groups or not.

we were in one of the door blocks, apparently not an
affinity group, from early until just before I called.
Morale was pretty good, it was a bit lacking
inspiration at times but generally here and elsewhere
there seems to be emerging a more inspired kind of
civil disobedience incorporating theatre,
puppet-making, singing, drumming, joking with cops
(seriously!), and so on. All of this from more
numerous people more experienced in good-organizing
and sophisticated practices including lcok-downs and
multi-media distribution. At one point we got
tear-gassed, I got thrown around a bit and jenni got
clubbed a couple of times.

We're going to spend the night in the media centre.
Just munched on some cold turkey from fridge & all
feels very surreal, most stores are closed as the
national guard has been called in and a 7 pm curfew
declared. We tried to go back to where our bags are
but at 6:15 pm helicopters were already raining down
pepper-spray, so we doubled back. Would probably be
more fun to be up at the welcome centre where dozens
of people will be with food. Oh well (laugh!)

I've never been so accepting of the prospect of being
arrested, even if here that would mean being deported.
I've felt like a chicken sometimes being involved in
major actions as a journalist, with the protection and
luxury that affords. Maybe nothing's changed, it's
just the all-encompassing nature of the issue or the
particular confluence of circumstances, but somehow I
suspect travelling and farm living have deepened my
love of people and the earth to the point where I am
that much sure of what I need to do.

*

now for the more straightforward news report.

Hopefully, there's been a lot of coverage out east.
The mainstream commercial and state (CBC) media in
B.C. and Washington state have been giving the WTO
meetings and protests front-page coverage for days.
And, their editorial positions have been surprisingly
neutral or even respectful of the protesters as
well-reflected, well-intentioned people.

My guess is that at least 100 000 people were
protesting today. There were a couple of reports that
the AFL-CIO (coalition of labour unions) alone sent 50
000 people, and there were calls for a general strike.

At 7 am we gathered at Victor Steinbeck Park near
Seattle's amazing food market. We were scheduled to do
some direct actions, then go to a free Sweet Honey in
the Rock show at 10 am and from there leave on a
demonstration to the Sheraton at 12:30 pm. I still
don't know if Sweet Honey in the Rock ever played, and
I really doubt that Jello Biafra and Spearhead are
doing their free show tonight, what with the curfew
and all. The 7 am action was the demonstration - at
least for those of us who were not in one of the
lock-downs and such already underway by that time.

Just a parenthesis here... the organizers of this week
of activities have done an impressive job, with
amazing free shows, supporting the ongoing
steelworkers' strike, staffing and equipping the
independent media centre, holding workshops to teach
people how to participate in a non-violent civil
disobedience action, arranging for on-the-spot
around-the-clock legal support, arranging billoting
for thousands of activists from around the continent
and a few from Europe.

Returning to the protests... throughout the day the
number of participants swelled. By late afternoon,
Pike Street, a major downtown artery, was packed from
3rd avenue to 6th avenue, and up and down each of
those sidestreets for up to half a block in each
direction. The police had cordoned off the labour
protesters from the others, so that when you looked
past a line of riot cops at the people-packed
intersection of, say, 4th and Pike, a little further
up the street you saw a whole other mass of protesters
behind another police line. Only the media seemed
allowed in the interstices between the two.

And there were a ton of video cameras, photocameras,
and TV crews. On the whole, the protest went very well
and few cops or protesters freaked. Still, I'm
surprised the police did as much as they did.

The last report (8 pm) is that 16 people have been
arrested by Seattle police. Now, county, state, and
federal troops have also been involved, so the total
count may be higher. Some people were clubbed, others
were shot with rubber bullets, still others pepper
sprayed, and many tear-gassed. I mentioned the police
basically gassing an entire four-by-two block area,
then downtown being rained on with pepper spray. Each
has been documented first- or second-hand on photo,
audio, or video.

I haven't seen or heard of any protester shoving or
hitting police. There were incidents of protesters
being pushed by frustrated delegates trying to break
the barricade to the Sheraton, and of protesters
shouting at delegates and police. There has been a lot
of protester grafitti, and some vandalism such as
setting a trash container on fire, overturning
newspaper vending machines, and breaking store
windows. This to me is the most disturbing in some
ways, because it gives opponents of the protests
"proof" to point to of the protesters' violence and
lawlessness, and even to justify repression. Whereas,
what I saw was that most of the looting followed acts
of repression, and that a hundred thousand people who
no doubt have their differences managed to come
together for an intelligent and effective action.

I say effective, firstly because the WTO delegates
were only able to meet in the afternoon. You might
remember that at Opération SalAMI in Montréal, the
delegates were not able to meet at all the day of the
protest. (SalAMI parentheses: that was also to block
WTO delegates from attending a meeting to advance the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment. The hotel where
the meeting was to take place was blockaded and over
100 people were arrested. The MAI has encountered
similar resistance in many countries, to the point
that the current WTO negotiations are not manifestly
about the MAI at all, but rather about advancing
MAI-style provisions in the context of existing or
developing international trade and investment
agreements.) Secondly, as I said the press coverage
out here has been astounding. I think anytime TV
watchers and radio listeners and newspaper and
magazine readers are allowed to see that so many
people are willing to risk arrest and injury for a
"cause", many more people may begin to get involved.
The MAI-awareness movement has succeeded in making a
very abstract, secretive project sensible to many
people, I think particularly capitalizing on
widespread wariness about genetically-modified and
chemically saturated foods. One amazing thing about
this week's protests, again somewhat like Plan G and
SalAMI, is that affinity groups and demonstrators have
few leaders and many people capable of coordinating
direct actions and acticuling their significance.

So much so that I would rather find someone here to
speak directly to you and CKUT listeners about the
whole issue of globalization. Technology has been a
bit of a problem. And often I feel I should move aside
and let other people make their meaningful
contributions. But then, I am coming to accept that I
have a gift for articulating these things and that I
should use it, if sensitively. So here goes...

*

globalization
what does it mean
to you
to me

globalization
a four-letter word (count 'em!)
G A
T T

General agreement on tarriffs and trade
>From the ashes of war the allies made
A plan
Never let it happen again
The dollar beat by the mark or the yen
Understand?

Protectionism decreed
To build our industry we need
Tarriffs that's taxes on imported stuff
We're raking it in we can't make enough
But wait!
Our rich and our poor can't buy any more
We need foreign markets now open that door!
Free trade

Our products don't suit you?
You block us we'll sue you!
World court
Sounds so nice international community
Means we can kill steal pollute with impunity
Hegemony

Globalization
Shifts its shape
M A I
A P E C
N A F T A

Multilateral agreement on investment have you heard
The sneak attack was beaten back it's on the ropes so
spread the word
And keep fighting!
Asia pacific economic cooperation
It's on our plates pepper-sprayed opposition
Ain't biting!
And the north american non-another-fuckin' trade
agreement
Cost thousands of livelihoods taught one deadly lesson
Learn it!

Step right up and test your globalization information
Tell me why it is the world's most powerful
non-governmental organizations
Are based in the centres of capital accumulation not
population?

The world bank
Ain't it time we give thanks
For this friend of the pork
Based in _______ (new york)

And the world trade organization
Evangelist of liberalization
How can we believe a
Word that you say when you're based in _______
(geneva)

Now some times big things are in small places you'd
think it's a contradiction
If you're a billionaire corporation where'd you call
home think tax evasion

Alexis nihon's mall
Made a killing and it's all
Watched by piranhas
In ________ (the bahamas)

And sean connery
Yes even a celebrity
Can make enough to win
A place in ________ (grand cayman)

Globalization
Homogenization
You do
Like me

What? They'd rather eat haggis than burgers?
Quick! Send a franchise a team of adverters!
Crusade
Drive down the prices pay lower wages
Run mom and pa out of business
We've won
Captive empoverished malnourished billions
Have they forgotten they don't need no one
Just to
Grow
Their own food and build their own shelter
Teach their kids and care for their elders
Together

Corporations and states moved in not long ago
Where did the knowledge and resources go?
They're ours!

In particular I'd like to know
Where did land-based cultures go
To the museum
And see the show
Primitive people
They're so cute
Make yummy food
And danceable music
Their bones are used to fake history
Their genes make war and pharmacy
Um hello
We're still here
It's time yopu repay us
-- Here kid have a beer!
It'll help your modernization
'cause backwards is nice and all
but it's only one half of the profit equation
the other is shopping malls
speak english
don't pray
live poorly
and pay
for it all

globalization
is ripe for subversion
we are
one nation

entertainment too is a natural resource
pirated by hollywoods of course
take it back
radio and print, word of mouth and live music
it's the medium that counts, not the companies that
use it
use you
'r own skills wisdom and information
share them with others and get to creation
any questions?

*

dec. 1

Spearhead played last night, after all. When I got off
the 'net with you I heard that their show had been
cancelled but that they and some other musicians
(Jello Biafra, Kris Novaselic, Jim Paige) wanted to do
a free show in solidarity with the people's actions
against the WTO. So here a few of us were out past
curfew going downtown where there were actually people
about, to go to this show... which was loving and
recharging and just the right thing to make it all
feel right. It's so amazing when stars do that. And
Michael Franti was so there, he was in the protests,
his heart was out there at the show. Wow!

Today's activities have been different. I woke here in
the media centre at 7am to find out a few actions were
already on. Within an hour, 8 of the at least 40
protesters gathered in a park next to the Westlake
Center had been arrested. There were tons of reports
of people just walking in small or big groups being
arrested, particularly people who looked like
protesters. Throughout the day there have been
gatherings and dispersings (with arrests) throughout
the city centre. About 250 people we arrested this
morning. Still later, a busload of people sent into
town by an NGO (I don't know the name) were arrested.
Also, there was a march of about 300 people through
town, followed by another labour march of I don't know
what size, then a procession of 1500 people leading to
a sit-in. For the second night in a row, police have
hassled and gassed young people in the area where many
of the out-of-town activist are staying (Denny Way, in
the Capitol Hill district). The only direct actions
that haven't gotten busted are activist cleanup's of
some of yesterday's grafitti.

The resilience and determination of people who have
come to Seattle to advance critical awareness of the
WTO is amazing. The police have kept up the barrage of
tactics - pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets,
clubbings - today cleaning up, people being easier to
arrest what with smaller support groups and fewer
media around. There are reports that they are starting
to identify group "leaders" and singling them out for
arrest. For example, International Forum on
Globalization environmental director Victor Menotti
was grabbed right after giving a speech. At SeaTac
airport, labour activists are being searched for
anti-WTO literature.

As of 10 pm December 1, over 500 people arrested today
are being detained in buses at Sand Point, one of the
Seattle area jails. Some have been tear-gassed and
pepper-sprayed there, in addition to all the assualts
survived on the streets today.

*

I said I'd try to articulate the problems with
international free trade and global capitalism.

Often cited is the erosion of national environmental
and labour standards to a lowest common denominator.
This can occur because -- under the General Agrement
on Tarriffs and Trade (GATT), North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and other free trade
agreements -- no country may restrict another
country's access to its markets. Access restrictions
include: import taxes (tarriffs) designed to encourage
consumers to buy from domestic producers; import bans;
subsidies to domestic manufacturers, enabling them to
undersell foreign producers. Free trade agreements, to
various extents, allow restrictions so long as they
are applied on the grounds that products derive from
environmental or labour exploitation or are themselves
toxic. However, the country applying the restriction
has the burden of proving that the trade measure is
not disguised protectionism of domestic industry.

In most test cases I'm aware of, WTO (which
administers the GATT) and NAFTA commissions have ruled
against the restricting country. In the former case,
there is the US' ban on mexican driftnet-fished tuna,
which is associated with harm to dolphins. In the
latter case, there is Canada's ban on american MMT, a
carcinogenic gasoline additive, as well as import
taxes on US publications (particularly Sports
Illustrated) which do not meet canadian-content
regulations even if published in "canadian" editions.
On this last point, cultural protection does not enjoy
even the flimsy standing environmental and labour
concerns do under global free trade deals.

There is a flip side to this, a possible subversion of
those very same trade deals. Theoretically, one
country could sue another for having weaker
environmental or labour or cultural-protection
standards, on the grounds that these enable domestic
industry to lower costs and thereby undersell
competitors. In other words, under the GATT and NAFTA,
lax environmental, labour and other standards are just
as much of an "unfair subsidy" as are stringent
standards.

Then of course there is the possibility of fighting to
scrap the whole international free trade and
investment project, which is what this week's fruition
of resistance and education has done, ironically,
using tools of international networking.

I think many people's understanding of and ability to
use the internet and other media has helped muster
this power. Fundamentally, it's the spirit of
solidarity in education and action that so many people
have cultivated, that has made it happen.


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