REPORT ON THE MARCH 17 LONDON VIETNAM PROTEST
By Ernest Tate
London
The March 17 rally and demonstration organized by the Vietnam Ad Hoc Committee was one of the largest and most militant demonstrations to hit London since the antifascist struggles of the 1930s.
More than 30,000 people surged through the streets to express their opposition to the Vietnam war and their "solidarity with the Vietnamese people against American aggression," as tke campaign poster stated.
The March 17 action received even wider support than the successful October 22 rally of last year.
Prominent in the demonstration were a number of well-known personalities in the entertainment field. Actress Vanes-~ sa Redgrave addressed the rally, having flown from Rome to attend. She stated that she was in total sympathy with the aims of the action, and read messages of support from the Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni, and Marcello Mastroianni, the movie actor.
The statement from Antonioni declared: "This is a shameful war. The Amer-— icans are not only fighting a war against Vietnam but one against themselves as well....I unite myself vigorously with your demonstration." Also present was Mick Jaeger of the pop group, the Rolling Stones.
A message of solidarity from Bertrand Russell was read.
The mass meeting in Trafalgar Square was addressed by ten speakers: Reg Taylor, Labour party and Amalgamated Engineering Union local leader; Tariq Ali of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC); John Palmer of International Socialism; Igor Webb, a young American from the Stop- It Committee; Subid Ali, representing Overseas Students; Obi B. Egbuna, of the Universal Coloured Peoples Association, the most well-known "black power” organization in Britain.
Alain Krivine of the National Vietnam Committee in France received a warm reception as did Christian Semler, a lead-~ er of the German SDS [Socialist Student Federation of Germany],who substituted for Rudi Dutschke, who was unable to attend as scheduled.
International representation in the rally was high. Over 100 German students from the SDS participated. Many stu-~
dents had come from Italy, France and
Sweden.
Pat Jordan, editor of The Week,
the closing speaker in the rally, ex-
pressed the sentiments of many when he
pointed out the success of "this united
front which we have built." It was only
possible, he said, because we took a
principled line. He received loud ap-
plause when he stated that "some people
don't like this united front, this line
of solidarity They say it narrows the
movement, but look around."
"Our aim," he said, "is an even
bigger united front, that will include
all the elements of the left. I think we
can achieve this if all of you work for
it. We need a mass campaign that will be-
come bigger and bigger until this govern-
ment is intimidated."
He announced that the next major
project of the VSC would be the organiz-
ing of student actions to take place
simultaneously with the mass student
mobilizations in the United States,
April 26-27.
Despite police attempts to prevent
it, the demonstration ended with a mass
mobilization in Grosvenor Square directly
in front of the American embassy.
There were numerous, and often
violent, clashes with the police as pro-
testers sought to reach the huge American
edifice that dominates the square. They
occupied the large park in front of the
embassy for almost two hours.
Several thousand police were mobil-
ized to hold off the demonstrators from
the main embassy building. They linked
arms to form a human wall to protect it.
Pitched battles raged when police,
mounted and on foot, furiously assaulted
the crowds with truncheons in an attempt
to regain control of the square.
Loud roars of laughter erupted
when police helmets soared through the
air and were used as missiles against
their owners. As on October 22, windows
went crashing.
After repeated cavalry charges by
the police and the rallying of police re-
inforcements, the demonstrators retreated.
Attempts to organize sit-downs failed
when other demonstrators went around coun-
seling against this tactic.
According to official police fig-
ures -- like the casualty figures in Viet-
nam, no doubt, grossly distorted -- over 117 police were injured. The police say forty-five demonstrators were detained in hospital. This does not take into account the many hundreds of people who returned home without having their wounds treated. Almost 300 people were arrested.
The two slogans around which the demonstration was organized were: "Solidarity with the Vietnamese People Against American Aggression" and "End British Complicity in the Vietnam War."
The Vietnam Ad Hoc Committee is a loose alliance of left-wing organizations headed up by the Vietnam Solidarity Cam-— paign. The Stop-It Committee, an organization of Americans in Britain opposed to the Vietnam war, plays an active part in the VSC.
The demonstration was preceded by a build-up of activity and publicity lasting several months. Over 250,000 pieces of literature had been distributed, taking the mobilization to a level comparable to the early campaigns of the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament in its heyday.
The upsurge of militancy, especially among students, in opposition to U.S. aggression in Vietnam has left many of the traditional antiwar organizations in Britain in a crisis. Peace News in particular has been hostile.
Busloads of students came from all
over Britain -- students were the biggest
Single force in the demonstration. Ban-
ners of universities and colleges where
there has been considerable student un-
rest in recent weeks were there from Exe-
ter, Sussex and Leicester, Birmingham and
Manchester. There were banners from as
far away as Durham, from Liverpool, and
from Oxford, Cambridge and Nottinghan.
Labour party Young Socialists were
well represented, as was the Young Comnu-
nist League. There was a fair sprinkling
of Communist party members. Several Labour
party banners were on the march as were
trade-union banners -- most noticeable
being the AEU and SOGAT [Society of Graph-
ical and Allied Trades]. There were ban-
ners from the Young Liberals, from church
groups, and even from the Young Conserva-
tives.
The Socialist Labour League lived
up to its reputation for doing nothing on
Vietnam by boycotting the demonstration.
It called a counter rally instead for the
following weekend.
The successful March 17 action
takes the Vietnam protest movement in
Britain to a new height. The problem for
the organizers of the action is to learn
how to build an even bigger campaign, as
Pat Jordan stated, which will encompass
segments of the mass working-class move-
ment, especially the trade unions. When
30,000 people turn out on the streets,
that day is not far off.
VIETNAM SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN