Thousands protest the G8

The hypocrisy of this scenario was not lost on the 300,000 demonstrators who traveled to Edinburgh for the Make Poverty History demonstration last Monday.

Jill Hubbard, who helped to organize the demonstration in Gleneagles, summed up the sentiment of many demonstrators: "How dare they lecture Africa about good governance after taking their countries to war on a lie?"

Many of the demonstrators in Edinburgh were on the streets against war when the bombs dropped in Iraq, and the same motivations brought them to protest the G8 — they believe in peace and justice.

Liz Campbell, a nurse, and Graeme Smith are from the Scottish Trade Union Congress, and attended the Make Poverty History rally. "I don’t think people in developing countries want charity," said Graeme. "They want to be treated fairly just like people in developing countries." Liz and Graeme protested against the war on Iraq, and said it was impossible to separate the issues of poverty and war.

Taking up this spirit, the Stop the War Coalition in the UK donned t-shirts stating "Fight Poverty, not War" and chanted "You say drop the bombs, we say drop the debt." At a rally after the Make Poverty History march the coalition drew the issues of war and poverty together.

Matead Al Gaud, who travelled to Edinburgh from Iraq, spoke from the stage, telling the crowd of thousands that the war has destroyed Iraq directly by killing over 100,000 Iraqis, and continues the destruction indirectly, by privatizing the water system making clean water inaccessible, by polluting the air with weaponry, by destroying hospitals and public services. This is the result of the policies of G8 leaders George Bush and Tony Blair.

"They don’t make poverty history, they just make poverty worse," said Jeremy Dear, from the National Union of Journalists.

Not everyone agreed that the war could be linked to issues around debt and poverty. In fact, the organizers of the Make Poverty History demonstration went to great lengths to ignore the war. They stopped anti-war groups from affiliating with the organizing coalition, they attempted to stop the anti-war rally, and they told speakers not to mention the war.

Chris Nineham, from the Stop the War Coalition, said that groups like OXFAM and Christian Aid, who work closely with the government, argued that the Make Poverty History efforts were not opposed to the G8, and therefore did not want the war on Iraq to enter into any of their activities. Regardless, Nineham pointed out that the people who were mobilized by Make Poverty History were making the connections on their own. "For them it’s quite natural to link war and poverty," he said.

Walden Bello, director of Focus on the Global South, was invited to speak on the Make Poverty History stage, but he was asked to not mention Iraq. "Maybe this is a case of the people being ahead of the organizers," he said to the anti-war rally.

The Stop the War Coalition organized events throughout the week in order to speak to the sentiment of the thousands of people who want to end poverty by ending wars. This included a naming ceremony, where 2,500 people wound their way silently through the streets of Edinburgh to the National Monument on Calton Hill, where various activists read the names of the people who have died in Iraq.

Eventually, the movement was united as it became clear that there was a radical sentiment in the crowds. "Faced with the pressure of the anti-war movement, they weren’t capable of carving us out" said Nineham.

After facing many troubling barriers put up by police, 15,000 strong demonstrated in Gleneagles for a better world.

• Now turn to pages 3, 6 & 7