Two years since the war was officially declared over, there is mass unemployment and large areas of Iraq are still without electricity or clean water. The war and subsequent occupation has claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 Iraqi civilians and over 1,000 US soldiers. The death toll will only continue to rise while the occupation continues as was shown in the the bloody assault on Fallujah at the end of 2004.

Ordinary Iraqis and “coalition” soldiers are dying in an occupation designed only to increase the power, and the oil supply, of US imperialism – to achieve their aims they are prepared to go to these terrible lengths. Without an end to the occupation, Iraqi masses will never achieve genuine democracy. Here we must continue to build the anti-war movement and call for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

The Stop the War has called a demonstration on 19^th March, which is the second anniversary of the day the war started. This will be an important demonstration to take part in to show that people in Britain are still angry about the war and occupation of Iraq and are determined to continue to demonstrate and campaign on this.

Help build the 19^th March demonstration:

• Book the date in your diary and start to think about how you will get to the demonstration (you can contact ISR and Socialist Students to help find out if there is transport from your area).

• You could leaflet your school or college and/or organise a lunchtime meeting or protest to let people know about the demonstration.

• If you are in University or FE College, ask your Student Union to book coaches to ensure people who want to can get to the demonstration.

• If your Student Union are not at first wanting to book a coach, get a petition sent round classes to get students and lecturers to sign to demand one is booked.

• If you would like any help in organising this please don’t hesitate in contacting ISR or Socialist Students.

Defend the right to organise and protest

If you are at school or college and being told you are not allowed to leaflet and help organise for the demonstration – don’t let this put you off. Contact ISR or Socialist Students for campaigning advice.

Local ISR and Socialist Student groups will be organising meetings in the run up to the demonstration and after to discus what is happening in Iraq. Such as ‘IS Iraq heading for a civil war?’, ‘Can there ever be peace in the Middle East?’, ‘Can US imperialism be stopped?’ and ‘What is the socialist solution?’.

Most school and college strikes against the war on Iraq in 2003, took place very successfully without students facing disciplinary action from their schools or intimidation from the police. Unfortunately however, in some areas, school students were suspended or given detention and in a very few cases expelled for striking. There were also been cases where police used intimidation and violence. We condemn these actions and believe young people should have the right to take part in strikes and protests.

School students were accused of being too young to strike and protest. Yet school students can work for peanuts for limited hours from the age of 13. You can join the army with parental consent at the age of 15 and 9 months. You can get a full time job and leave school from the age of 16. At the same time we are told we can’t strike, protest and fight for a future. This is hypocrisy at its worst.

We are campaigning for the right to strike, for any disciplinary action to be dropped and for no future intimidation against any student, parent or teacher for taking part in or supporting future action.

We also think school students should set up school student unions where school students can get organised, have a voice on important issues like the war as well as campaign for rights within school.  

The school strikes against the war on Iraq in March 2003 showed the huge amount of anger against the war and the fact that young people in school were prepared to organise themselves and strike against the war. Hundreds of thousands of students took strike action in the run up to the start of the war in the beginning of March, on Day X (the first day of war) and after.

International Socialist Resistance (ISR) initiated the idea of student strikes against the war and organised many across England and Wales and internationally. The majority of the strikes were extremely successful, with teachers and parents supporting the students stand against the war, and many people in local communities, when seeing the students demonstrating, were inspired by their seriousness and confidence.

School students should have the right to be organised in a school students’ union to fight against war or any other issue that affect them.

Visit the international ISR site :
www.resistance.eu.com