Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition, informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group that campaigns against the United Kingdom's involvement in military conflicts.
It was established on 21 September 2001 to campaign against the impending war in Afghanistan. It then campaigned against the impending invasion of Iraq; the 15 February 2003 protest organised by the Coalition along with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Muslim Association of Britain, was the largest public demonstration in British history.
Since then, the Coalition has campaigned against the 2011 military intervention in Libya and opposed UK involvement in the War against the Islamic State, stating that airstrikes would only fuel extremism. It opposed sending military aid to Ukraine during the Russian invasion, stating that it risks starting a war between NATO and Russia, a position which drew criticism from Andrew Fisher. It has called for ceasefires in the Russo-Ukrainian War and in the Gaza war.
The group has [|been criticised] for allegedly excusing military aggression by enemies of the US and UK, and critics accuse it of being "more anti-West than anti-war".
Formation and leading members
The impetus to form the Stop the War Coalition came following the September 11 attacks in the United States. The Coalition was launched at a public meeting of 2,000 people at Friends House on Euston Road in London, on 21 September which was chaired by Lindsey German, then active in the Socialist Workers Party. "The Stop the War Coalition has been formed to encourage and mobilise the largest possible movement against the war", said the founding statement. "Its aim is simple-to draw together everyone who wants to stop this madness, and to present the anti-war arguments which are squeezed out of the media." Among the sponsors of the Coalition were the former Labour Party MP Tony Benn, and the Labour MPs George Galloway, Tam Dalyell and Jeremy Corbyn, in addition to Tariq Ali, Harold Pinter, Suresh Grover and Andrew Murray.German became Convenor of the Coalition and a meeting on 28 October settled the Coalition's official aims. This meeting also elected a steering committee which consisted of representatives of Labour Left Briefing and the Communist Party of Britain. Representatives of the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Alliance for Workers' Liberty failed to get elected, although both became members of the Coalition and participated in its activities. At this time, it was alleged that the SWP dominated the organisation, although German, John Rees and Chris Nineham would leave the SWP in 2009. The Conservative MP Julian Lewis, in a letter to The Daily Telegraph in 2003, referring to Andrew Murray's involvement in the Communist Party of Britain, wrote that he "had thought" his "days of unearthing totalitarians at the heart of 'peace movements had ended when the Soviet Union collapsed, but Murray was now in a "key position, being quoted by the anti-war media as if he were a representative of democratic politics".
In this early period, Stop the War had a broad base. Ann Treneman wrote in The Times in January 2003 that the "two most obvious strands" of StWC support consisted of "the Establishment and the grassroots. This makes for some very strange bedfellows, who include retired generals, old peaceniks, former ambassadors, anti-globalisation protesters, Labour activists, trade unions, the Muslim community". By the time of the February 2003 march in London, Greenpeace, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party were among the 450 organisations which had affiliated to the coalition, and the coalition's website listed 321 peace groups.
At their initial meeting the Coalition also adopted the slogan "Against the racist backlash", stating that a war against Afghanistan would be perceived as an attack on Islam and that Muslims, or those perceived as being Muslim, would face racist attacks in the United Kingdom if the government joined the war. The Coalition worked closely with the Muslim Association of Britain in organising its demonstrations.
Andrew Murray was its first chair from 2001, and its vice-presidents have included Kamal Majid and George Galloway. Salma Yaqoob is a patron. Chris Nineham is a vice-chair.
Iraq War and War on Terror (2003–2010)
Buildup to the Iraq invasion
The largest demonstration organised by the Coalition was the mass protest on 15 February 2003 in London against the imminent invasion of Iraq. It is said to have been the largest ever such event in the UK with estimates of attendance ranging between 750,000 and 2,000,000 people. The march was begun by police earlier than planned because of the number of people who had arrived at the two starting points. Speakers at the rally in Hyde Park included Tony Benn, Jesse Jackson, Charles Kennedy, Ken Livingstone, Mo Mowlam and Harold Pinter. StWC had forecast at the end of January that about 500,000 protesters would be on the march.File:Parlsquareprotests.jpg|right|thumb|The Stop the War Coalition's 'Day X' demonstration as seen from the roof of the House of Commons.
As the military build-up continued, StWC urged its local groups and supporters to organise actions on the day the invasion of Iraq began. As this date was then unknown, it was dubbed "Day X", which eventually fell on 20 March 2003. Despite having very little time to put plans into action, events took place up and down the country: in London there was a large protest in Parliament Square; in Nottingham traffic outside an army recruitment centre was blocked for a while; and large numbers of school students walked out of lessons.
Following the beginning of the war and the events of Day X, the Coalition organised another national demonstration on the next Saturday, 22 March. The turnout for this march did not match the demonstration of 15 February. Stop the War said up to 500,000 attended and fellow organisers CND said between 200,000 and 300,000 attended. It was the largest anti-war demonstration held during wartime and had been organised with only a week's notice.
According to journalist James Bloodworth, in early 2003 Stop the War released a statement signed by officers of the Coalition appearing to support the Iraqi insurgency, recognising "the legitimacy of the struggle of Iraqis, by whatever means they find necessary, to secure such ends", which led to the resignation of former ASLEF union leader Mick Rix from the StWC executive, saying: "If you think I am going to sit back and agree with beheadings, kidnappings, torture and brutality, and outright terrorization of ordinary Iraqis and others, then you can forget it." An Early Day Motion was proposed by Labour MPs including Harry Barnes condemning their position and asking the group to "reassure the public that they have not lost their moral bearings."
Anti-war activities (November 2003–2005)
The Coalition held a series of protests during November 2003 climaxing in a march on the 20th protesting against what it said was the aggressive foreign policy of U.S. President George W. Bush, and against the continued U.S. detention of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, which protesters have said is an illegal infringement of human rights and the Geneva Conventions. A march past parliament was organised climaxing in a rally in Trafalgar Square. A papier-mâché statue of Bush was toppled in an action reminiscent of the much televised pulling down of a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad by American soldiers. Speakers included politician George Galloway, then SNP leader Alex Salmond and Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. The coalition estimated that 300,000 people were present at the demonstration, while the police put those attending at 100,000 people.On 19 March 2005, StWC organised a large demonstration in Westminster with supporters marching from Hyde Park to Parliament Square via the US embassy. The supporters were calling for the invading troops to move out of Iraq, for the US to not attack Iran and Syria, for the British government to halt reductions in the civil liberties of British citizens including the right to protest and a free trial, and for a reduction in racism in the UK.
The date was chosen as the it was the international day of anti-war demonstrations, as called by the Assembly of the Social Movements at the 2004 European Social Forum. Estimates of the number of marchers vary from 45,000 by the police to over 100,000 by StWC to 200,000 by some observers. The protest was the first occasion on which a march had passed the US embassy in London since the protests over the Vietnam War.
John Rees has written: "Socialists should unconditionally stand with the oppressed against the oppressor, even if the people who run the oppressed country are undemocratic and persecute minorities, like Saddam Hussein."
Commentators such as Observer columnist Nick Cohen and Independent columinst John Rentoul accused Stop the War of being pro-Hussein. StWC was criticised by journalists such as Cohen for its refusal to condemn attacks on US and other foreign troops occupying Iraq, and refusal to condemn foreign insurgent fighters who have entered parts of the country. Cohen criticised the relationship of the StWC with organisations he considers reactionary such as the Muslim Association of Britain. He accused the coalition of ignoring the requests of secular trade unions and Kurds in Iraq. Cohen stated that there is a contradiction between the StWC's call for respect for human rights and its links with organisations that Cohen said call for the death penalty for homosexuality and apostasy.