Protest against military occupation of Iraq in Palma

THE BALEARIC Committee for Democracy and Social Globalisation has organised a demonstration to be held tomorrow in Palma's Paseo del Born. The slogan spearheading the gathering will be “Stop the Military Occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Western Sahara”. This peace protest has international support in other cities in Spain and Europe, where it is expected that similar demonstrations will be held simultaneously. A Union leader and Committee spokesman, Pep Juárez, yesterday demanded the immediate withdrawal of Spanish troops destined for Iraq and expressed outrage that another country was suffering military occupation, in part paid for by taxes paid in Spain. He defended the right of the Iraqi people to decide the future of their own land and how their economic resources should be used.
Juárez stressed that the public protest planned for tomorrow is not simply against the mililary occupation in Iraq, but “a demonstration to support human rights, which includes the right of any people to determine their own government, such as the Palestinians or Saharans”. The protest organisers stress that there will be a festive nature to the gathering, commenting on the fact there will be some informal theatre troupes, musical activities and various workshops showing solidarity with the concept of peace. At the end of the gathering, it is hoped that the journalist Marisa Goñi will read a declaration in favour of democratic rights and social justice.
The Balearic Committee for Democracy and Social Globalisation brings under one umbrella some thirty popular movements from all over the Islands.
Amongst the most well known are political parties such as the United Left, The Green Party and the Majorcan Socialists, Unions such as CCOO and STEI and ecological watchdogs such as GOB, and Friends of the Earth. The group's members plan to meet again in the near future to address other issues that they consider worrying, such as highway proposals for Majorca and the plan by the central government representative, Miquel Ramis, to convert Palma's old gaol into an internment centre for immigrants awaiting expulsion from Spain. Juárez suggested that “no one is illegal because they have tried to escape from poverty” and confirmed that, according to information from immigrants' associations, there are some 20'000 people on Majorca living outside officialdom, “working in black market economies in agriculture, construction or domestic service”.