<nettime> Seattle Nov. 30

["cisler" <cisler@pobox.com>]

Seattle, Washington, November 30, 1999

Just a quick message after my first day in Seattle, where thousands of
World Trade Organization delegates from 135 member countries, many more
from countries with observer status, carried on their first meetings as
thousands of people assembled and marched, a few looked for something more
(direct, violent, media-worthy), and hundreds of police and members of the
press played the parts we have all come to expect in these kinds of
events.

I was staying with a friend from community networking activities.  He and
his children were taking part in the labor march, which began a few miles
from his house at a large stadium in downtown Seattle. His young daughter
carried her sign "Kids say NO to WTO."  His son had his camcorder, a lot
of tape, and batteries with a very long life. We took a public bus and
went to a park on Denny when hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners were
silently standing, holding large banners, and soliciting support for their
struggle with the PRC government in Beijing. A small environmental rally
next to the park was not waking up the few hundred who came early to
listen and then march to join the larger labor march. 

Many other groups are using this event to publicize their own agenda, many
of which do not have much to do with trade. A Khmer minority in Vietnam
held up banners protesting treatment by the Hanoi government, and Lao
students were parading for democracy.

The labor rally drew thousands of union members and others in the morning.
The stands were not totally full, but they were thousands of exuberant
machinists, longshoremen, ferry boat workers, and people from the building
trades, the teamsters, and even airline pilots who came to listen to
dozens of labor leaders exhort the crowd to opposing the WTO and doing a
bit of education about environmental issues, child labor conditions, and
labor organizing trends in other countries.  Besides strong speakers from
the steelworkers, there were organizers from Mexico, Malaysia, El
Salvador, Canada, and South Africa who had a few minutes before the mike. 
Unfortunately, this went on for hours. The weather was decent as the
morning grew shorter, and people began to move out on their own to begin
the march. 

This proceeded slowly downtown. Volunteer marshals lined the roads to
direct marchers down the right streets. A few people lined the sidewalks
near the businesses that were closed for the event.  Everything seemed
benign and low key, in spite of the podium-thumping speeches back at the
stadium.  Once downtown, another group diverted some of the labor marchers
in an attempt to move them in closer proximity to the police.  By word of
mouth we learned that early morning participants of an "illegal march" had
skirmished with the police after some members began breaking store windows
with hammers and crowbars. They had come prepared for a much different
kind of event than the labor march. 

There was no traffic downtown except for some law enforcement vehicles.
Most businesses were closed. A Mexican/Italian restaurant was very busy,
and a few convenience stores were open.  Others had owners or workers
outside to protect the sites from vandalism.  By early afternoon the march
ended, but thousands were milling around, singing, sitting in front of the
rows of police in riot gear, and media people with cameras looked
desperate for compelling footage.  Some parade organizers were trying to
keep things calm ("Peace and love, brothers!") while others also chose
language and phrases from the 60's and yelled at the "pigs."

Tear gas was used in some cases, usually to get groups to move, but all
the movements by the crowd and the police were slow and deliberate. What
struck me was the awareness by all parties that their actions could be on
television by that evening. For some that was the goal. For the cops, it
was to stay off television. In late afternoon there were more
confrontations, and it has nothing directly to do with the WTO or the
issues that attracted thousands to town. I came to the intersection of
Third and Pine. A film of gas obscured the advancing police, and a young
man stood as blood ran down his head. He said he felt fine, but head
wounds bleed profusely. A friend called, not for medical aid, but "Get a
newspaper cameraman over here!"  The concern was with media documenting
the casualty, not (just yet) the treatment of the wound. 

Rumors flew around, and people would look for newspaper stands, a radio,
or a television in a restaurant to find out what they were experiencing in
the streets.  It reminded me of people who first turn on the weather
channel rather than look outside to see what the weather is.  People, even
those in the thick of the events, depend on mediated experiences to make
them feel grounded. 

I also felt that various factions came to convince, not to learn or be
swayed. Politicians might see street demonstrations and be swayed to
change a stance, but the core activists present in Seattle (and probably
the trade delegates too) probably are having very different reactions to
the day's events.  I saw delegates who mingled in the streets, and others
who seemed fearful of the chaotic conditions. Delegates have an ID pin to
display to guards and police at checkpoints, hotel entrances, and the
conference halls. 

The International Forum on Globalization, a San Francisco non-profit
headed by Jerry Mander, had conducted a two day teach-in over the weekend,
and on the evening of November 30 had scheduled a debate on economic
globalization and the WTO. Tickets were sold out, but I figured that many
would not show up because of the mess downtown.  By dark, it was rumored
that a curfew had been imposed and that the National Guard were coming in.
A lot of people were staying in hotels in the area, and this presented a
real challenge.  A light rain fell, and all the taxis and bus service had
ceased. Few restaurants or bars were open. In the midst of this, hundreds
gathered outside of Town Hall, waiting to be admitted, hoping to pick up a
ticket, or a few that wanted to sell theirs. I was lucky to get one.

The hall held a few hundred people willing to pay $10 to $20 to listen for
a few hours. It was a good experience that I wished all the marchers had
been exposed to.  The crowd was definitely anti-WTO (as are Mander and his
NGO) but for the most part they let the speakers proceed with only a few
outbursts from the audience that were quickly shushed by the rest of us.
In favor were David Aaron, Dept. of Commerce; Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia
University; and R. Scott Miller, Proctor & Gamble. Opposed were John
Cavanagh, Institute for Policy Studies; Ralph Nader, Public Citizen; and
Vandana Shiva, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. 

On the way home, we heard stories of police forcefully pepper spraying
demonstrators, and how the television stations played this clip over and
over and over. As usual, the video coverage was not nuanced.  One
longshoreman, a long time activist, said he was most impressed with the
solidarity between very diverse groups of young radicals, older labor
members, and conservationists.  He watched as a CBS newswoman interviewed
a steelworker, and asked him how they felt about these kids who were
dressed funny and had piercings. The steelworker replied that his nephew
had an earring.  What difference did that make? The young were there
supporting the same things as he was.  CBSwoman looked crestfallen, unable
to provoke the man into agreeing with her superficial assessment. 

On Wednesday, Clinton will arrive. Castro says he is not coming, and Jose
Bove seems to attracting most of the attention, although Michael Moore,
director-general of the WTO, is getting pretty good press. At 7 a.m. there
is a volunteer cleanup of the downtown, and dozens of other events are
taking place outside the official meetings. I'll try to post in 24 hours. 

Steve Cisler

cisler@pobox.com

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