Yankee go in Mona! Demonstration no Del Molin, Vicenza

On Saturday, Feb 17, Vicenza was the site for a massive demonstration against the proposed expansion of Dal Molin, a US military base in the city.

ANSA article on the demonstration, in which I was interviewed, here.

My pictures of the day here.

About 150,000 people were present, a massive and heterogeneous crowd of families, senior citizens, church groups, various political parties, unions and the blue and white collar workers they represent. There were many motivations to protest the base (for example, environmental sustainability and excessive traffic overwhelming the city’s infrastructure), but the mood was mostly against US militarization in general.

The days leading up to the protest were full of hand wringing in the media, expressing fears of disorder, violence &c. This kind of manipulation we have seen many times in the United States, which functions to marginalize and criminalize a priori anyone who would participate in a political demonstration. The Italian press was all a-flutter, recollecting the pandemonium of G8. “We fear another Genova,” was the mantra repeated by hordes of politicians, pundits, and journalists.

To add to the panic mongering, the police busted a Red Brigade hideout a few days ago before the protest, to widespread media fanfare. It seems a timely coincidence that this terrorist cell was discovered just before the big demonstration. Furthermore, the media played a game of chronological juxtaposition, consistently reporting on the Red Brigades issue immediately before or after their reports expressing fear over possible incidents in Vicenza the coming weekend. Concatenation of similar but unrelated events is a method frequently exploited by media to construct a dialogue between reports and to force a perception that there are connections when none actually exist. (While in the USA, we are victims of more explicit mendacity –most egregious of these the 911/Saddam connection – we should still be on guard against the subtler manipulation detailed above. As our major media are now by and large –and tragically – no longer independent news sources, it behooves us all to approach every report with utmost critical discernment if not outright diffidence.)

Fears over eventual violence were uncalled for, as the demonstration against Dal Molin was organized by major political parties and unions and had a massive popular base that was hardly the sort to barricade streets. Furthermore, there was not a single shred of evidence that anybody was preparing any kind of aggressive protest modalities, such as black blocking. No one had even organized more pacific acts of civil disobedience like sit-ins. Certainly there were more radical elements in the crowd, but they were only a few lone figures in this massive sea of people from all walks of life…and even these apparently left their slingshots at home.

In sum, it seems that the Prodi government, who before the election had argued a policy of non-cooperation with the American push for global military hegemony, needed acts of violence in the demonstration to draw attention away from their own duplicity. Had there been windows smashed or dumpsters set afire it would have been much easier for the administration to marginalize the left – Prodi’s voting base, and thus a rather pesky thorn in his side – , which continues to vociferously assert that he keep his word and oppose any increase of the American military industrial complex on Italian soil. Unfortunately for Prodi’s aministration there was no violence, no distraction from the issue at hand, and thus no way for them to prosecute their own agenda without further losing the affection of the people they claim to represent. (Whether Prodi’s government will founder because of this event is now seriously open to question, and widely discussed in the news.)

Any fear about black blocs and Red Brigades was dissolved in this massive and peaceful popular manifestation of resistance to the militarization of the world. While the media build up was unhappily too familiar to this American, the actual protest was quite different from anything I would ever expect, or could ever hope for, in the United States. The people were left free to voice their opinions in the piazza without any aggressive meddling by police. In America (New York City for me), we are accustomed to cohorts of riot police decked out in body armor, anticipating mass arrests, as evidenced by the dozens of zip ties hanging from their utility belts. We are accustomed to being herded in marches, surrounded by fences, isolated from the rest of the city in Dag Hammarskjöld plaza (where free speech goes to die). We are accustomed to heavy surveillance and the crushing feeling of state control. We are accustomed to frequent police violence the moment a demonstrator steps “out of line.” But here in Italy the feeling was magnificent and light, of unfettered political expression. Even major streets were closed to vehicular traffic and people were allowed to freely organize a rally in the park, steps the NYPD would never consider, even for demonstrations three times the size of Vicenza. (That we Americans do not protest police intransigency by massive acts of civil disobedience is a testament to our increasing tolerance to, and perhaps taste for, fascism.) While there were certainly many police present at Vicenza, their tactic was to stay out of the way and to not meddle with demonstrators, thereby avoiding unnecessary escalation of tension and eventual problems. In fact, it seemed that their method was to be as invisible as possible. Every once in a while one could look down a side street and see a half dozen cops at the end of the block But this is generally about as close as they would get. I do not intend to give the impression that Italy is wholesale a haven for personal liberty, but at least in this one demonstration I witnessed an intelligent policy of keeping police out of the way of free expression. And I think that the prudent restraint I witnessed was the best way that these peacekeepers could (and did) actually keep the peace.

Another surprising aspect of the demonstration at Vicenza was the impressive amount of communists and anarchists represented. It is heartening to know that such dialogue is still very much alive and well in Italy. Perhaps some of us find communism and anarchism too idealistic or outdated vis à vis the hard reality of actual world events today. However, regardless of whether one agrees with these political perspectives, it is in my opinion important to maintain an open dialogue with them. If, in the construction of our political reality, we must choose between striving after ideals –of liberty and equality for all – on the one hand, and the cynical and hopeless preservation of power politics on the other, I will happily side with the Marxists and Bakunians every time. We may never achieve a perfect world, but we can at least get closer by aiming high.