Protests against the Iraq War
Thousands of small and large global protests against war on Iraq were held in 2003, voicing popular opposition to war on Iraq
On January 18, demonstrations against the expected war in Iraq took place in villages, towns, and cities around the world, including Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, London, Dublin, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Cologne, Bonn, Gothenburg, Florence, Oslo, Rotterdam, Istanbul and Cairo. NION and ANSWER held anti-war protests in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, California. In San Francisco, between 150,000 and 200,000 people attended the demonstration. The San Francisco police had originally estimated the crowd size at 55,000, but admitted later that they had badly underestimated the number and changed their estimate to 150,000.
| February 15 protest attendance | |
| Barcelona | 1,300,000 |
| Rome | 1,000,000 |
| London | ≥750,000 |
| Madrid | ≥660,000 |
| Berlin | ≥500,000 |
| Sydney | 250,000† |
| Seville | ≥200,000 |
| Damascus | 200,000 |
| Montreal | 150,000 |
| San Francisco | 150,000† |
| Melbourne | 150,000† |
| Paris | 100,000 |
| New York | ≥100,000 |
| Oviedo | 100,000 |
| Dublin | 100,000 |
| Glasgow | 80,000 |
| Oslo | 60,000 |
| Brussels | 50,000 |
| Bern | 40,000 |
| Stockholm | 35,000 |
| Copenhagen | 25,000 |
| Vancouver | 20,000 |
| Helsinki | 15,000 |
| Vienna | 15,000 |
| Toronto | 10,000 |
| Amsterdam | 10,000 |
| Tokyo | 5,000 |
| Cape Town | 5,000 |
| Johannesburg | 4,000 |
| Quebec City | 3,000 |
| Dhaka | 2,000 |
| Ottawa | 2,000 |
| Kiev | 2,000 |
| Chicoutimi | 1,500 |
| †: 14th or 16th February | |
| Source: The Globe and Mail and others | |
Much larger protests in over 600 cities on February 15 drew millions of protesters in total. In Rome one million people were on the streets in one of the Italian capital's largest ever mass demonstrations. In London, estimates of the number of marchers varied from 750,000 to over 1.5 million, the largest demonstration in the city's history. In Berlin there were half a million in the largest demonstration for some decades. There were also protest marches all over France as well as in many other European cities, drawing attendance figures in the tens of thousands per city. In Ireland, one hundred thousand turned out in Dublin, for a parade that was originally expected to draw one fifth that number. Protesters demanded that the Irish government ban the United States military from continue to use Ireland's Shannon Airport as a trans-atlantic stop-off point bringing soldiers to the Middle East.
In Spain, Barcelona city hall and the Guardia Civil cited 1.3 million protesters, marching from the Passeig de Gràcia to the Plaça de Tetuan[1], though the Delegación de Gobierno said 350,000. Government sources estimated protests at 660,000 in Madrid. The small Asturian city of Oviedo (pop. 180,000) had a turnout of 100,000. [2]
Protests were held in Australia (the previous day), South Africa, Syria, India, Russia, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and the USA, among many other countries. Hundreds of thousands turned out in New York City, near the United Nations Building. More than one hundred thousand people protested in Montreal despite wind-chill temperatures of below -30°C.
In Baghdad several thousand Iraqis - many carrying Kalashnikov rifles - also joined with the global protests.
Protests continued on February 16 in Australia, with 600,000 demonstrating in cities around the country.
See also
- U.S. plan to invade Iraq
- American popular opinion of war on Iraq
- American government position on war on Iraq
- Worldwide government positions on war on Iraq
- Popular opposition to war on Iraq
- The UN Security Council and war on Iraq