Guardian
May 31, 2003
In the "intergalactic village" compost heaps are growing, groups of activists brush their teeth around communal sinks, debates rage in crowded marquees while a couple roll in each other's arms in the middle of the main entrance.
French farmer Jose Bove, center, takes part in a meeting of anti- globalization activists in Annemasse, near Evian, eastern France, Friday May 30, 2003. Opponents of the Group of Eight summit of world leaders readied for the mass protests expected to accompany the June 1-3 meeting. Neat rows of state-of-the-art tents have mushroomed in the fields outside the small French town of Annemasse, as buses and trains full of anti-globalization protesters have made their way here to make their views known about the G8 summit, 10 miles down the road in Evian.
"There are only eight of them and billions of us," read banners planted all over the "chill out" quarter of one carefully organized "alternative" campsite in the town where organizers hope 100,000 people from across Europe and further afield will gather over the next few days. In the "G-spot" women-only campsite and next door at the anti- capitalism anarchists' base, protesters prepare demonstrations and debate "what's right and what's wrong with the world", while practicing an alternative style of living based on "no rules, just principles, no exploiters and no exploited".
Outside the sprawling working-class French town, a couple of miles over the border from Geneva, there is a ring of security forces. They are there to keep protesters at a safe distance from the summit. Authorities have warned that as many as 250,000 protesters could descend on the area. Local traders have boarded up their shops, fearing a rerun of the Genoa protests in 2001 when one demonstrator was killed in running street battles with police. "It feels as though this place is under siege," said Estelle, a 52-year-old geography teacher. "I've got nothing against these people. I just wish they'd do their thing somewhere else." The town's police station is already surrounded by barbed wire and ranks of riot police. Annemasse police refuse to give details of their security reinforcements but confirm they have set up a makeshift overflow detention center in a sports center to cope with mass arrests.In the campsites, activist lawyers are running advice centers to tell demonstrators how to cope with police violen websitece or arrest.
Also See: "Summit for Another World" website "Who knows what could happen? A terrorist attack. Smashed windows. Police raids on our camps. The only thing to do is improvise," said lawyer Romain Sabon.
"They've mounted a special propaganda campaign to make people think we are all casseurs [vandals]," said Cheryl, a 30-year-old member of the French activist group Liberal Alternative. "We want to show people there's nothing wrong with us. We just believe there is another way." As crowds with tents and rainbow peace flags continue to flock into the town, activists paint banners and practice drumbeats in the sun while others hold meetings to organize protest marches, the biggest of which will converge on the Swiss-French border as the summit starts on Sunday.
Small groups of protesters are planning to block roads between Geneva and Evian, to disrupt dignitaries' journeys to the meeting. One group has even plotted to sneak into Evian by rafting across Lake Geneva, to plant a pirate flag on the convention center. In a warm-up protest on Thursday night, an estimated 5,000 protesters, many wrapped in peace flags, marched through the Swiss town of Lausanne, scuffling with police outside the hotel where many dignitaries will stay.
Veteran protesters argued that the Iraq war has served as a catalyst, with spontaneous anti-war demonstrations producing a natural bridge between the mainstream public and the anti- globalization movement. "People feel fragile in their daily lives these days and international institutions have lost their credibility," said Jose Bove, a veteran French campaigner who has achieved celebrity status in France and is being prosecuted for vandalizing a McDonald's car park. "The G8 is just not legitimate. We are here to show that," said Mr Bove, wearing an anti-lorry T-shirt after attending a protest at the Mont Blanc tunnel. "Each time we gather like this, the pressure grows. We are forcing the G8 leaders to answer our questions. Dracula cannot stand daylight. If you put him in the light, he will shrivel and die."
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