Re: Eyewitness account of nonviolent action at WTO

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Message text written by INTERNET:greg@mediacy.com

"shutting down the conference was an act of violence, in that it
deprived the delegates of their rights to association, assembly and
speech."


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If this were simply a matter of the protestors objecting to the policies of
a democratic institution I might agree with you. But the issue of
legitimacy was also central to the anti-WTO protesters who kept the
delegates from meeting.  They were making the statement that the
institution itself was not legitimate and had no right to exist. Their
reasoning was straightforward: Over ninety-nine percent of the earth's
population has no say in the decisions of this body, and yet these
decisions (which are made behind closed doors) affect everyone and
everything on the planet in consequential ways.

It is akin to some of the challenges to the US war machine during the Viet
Nam era. When the Catonsville Nine, led by the Berrigans, forcefully
confiscated draft files and burned them (a violent act?), they were
disputing the legitimacy of the institution itself, not just its policies.

Pat Loy
Baltimore