Trick or Treat? - Day of Direct Action Against War, 31 October 2002

This is the text of a leaflet from late 2002 where the WOMBLES were working with the London anti-war 'Disobedience' collective.

Thursday 31 October 2002, 6pm Houses of Parliament - Trick or Treat?

We are all ghosts, phantoms of the periphery, the discarded, the dead of all wars. We are those who are invisible and voiceless, those who are ignored by the charade of "democracy" which beats the drums of war that lead us without consent towards untold destruction and global chaos.

But on Halloween, long known as mischief night , a time of change and transformation, the ghosts will take to the streets and become visible again. On that night, everyone is invited to dress in white, disguised as ghosts and converge on Parliament, which we will occupy in order to participate in a mass popular assembly. Through this act we will desert their "democracy" and take back our voices, reclaiming direct control of our lives. We will show that politics is not made by the few but by the many and we will declare our disobedience publicly.

On Halloween the ghosts will become the "disobedients", and we will pledge to do everything in our power to stop the war by taking direct action and sabotaging the war effort, until the threat of war recedes. The public assembly will discuss the next stage of action.

Hundreds of thousands of us marched against the war, but traditional demonstrations alone will not stop the warmongers. In Britain we are in the unique position of being able to stop this war, the government is the major international backer of the US administration, if it pulls out, the US will be completely isolated in their desire for war.

Through the ages people have stopped wars, ousted unpopular governments, toppled dictatorial regimes. So few people want this war, through mass disobedience we can force the British Government to withdraw its support, we can stop the seemingly out of control juggernaut of history dead in its tracks and silence the deafening drums of war.

"Disobedience, on an individual level, is the only act of rebellion we have in society, the act of rebellion we all participate in. The rebellion against control. On a collective level, it becomes a tool of liberation we can use to shape the future we want to live in."

The 31st of October [action] has been called by the Stop the War coalition as a day of direct action against the war; other actions will be taking place across the country and the world. This action will be planned in an open directly democratic way, the first assemblies will take place on Sunday 20th October 2002, at 3pm Conway Hall, Red Lion Sq, WC1.

The disobedients is a newly formed open network made up of diverse groups and individuals, including: Reclaim the Streets, WOMBLES, Anarchist Youth Network

We invite all groups and individuals to join in taking action to stop this war & start the peace.

"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem."

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