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Published: September 10th 2005
I also attended a protest against a Conference of the world's top 300 CEO's, which was organized by Forbes. This was also quite disappointing. I didn't really get the feeling that the protest was a popular movement, but just a group of a few hundred students, anarchists and other disaffected groups of people.
The group of people marched to the Opera House, where the conference was being held. However the Opera House had been completely fenced off, and surrounded with hundreds of cops (who probably out numbered the protesters). Some people started swinging on the fences, and eventually broke through, at which point the police charged in en-masse, including a number of police on horses! It was about then (with the adrenaline pumping from the excitement of it all) that I decided that I didn't want to be that close to the "frontline".
I was actually impressed about how well controlled the police were on the horses, they charged in, then charged out all in very close rank, and seemed to get the protester under control.
A line of policemen remained, to make sure none of the protesters got through the gap in the fence. By that point
the protest had changed into less violent singing and dancing, as the policemen watched on, bemused.
I got the feel that more people were there for the experience, for a bit of fun, rather than because they passionately opposed the actions and power of corporations.
The media coverage didn't really take the protest seriously, and I can't really blame them. It was so small and removed from the mainstream, that it was easily dismissed.
This was sad, because what they were fighting for (workers rights, environmental protection, no war, less corporate power/greed, ending poverty) are some of the most important issues which face us today.
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