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U. Iowa rally coincides with Prague protest
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IOWA CITY, Iowa – Members of University of Iowa Students Against Sweatshops, the Green Party and the International Socialist Organization gathered around the steps of the Old Capitol Tuesday to show solidarity for rallies taking place worldwide against two large financial organizations.
On the other side of the world, protesters in Prague threw firebombs, sticks and rocks at police in an attempt to trap delegates of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank inside the convention center in which they were meeting.
The IMF is an international organization set up to help reform the economies of countries across the world by lending them money and monitoring their economic progress. Similarly, the World Bank lends money to countries for such projects as the Three Gorges Dam in China, said Sherene Judeh, a University of Iowa junior and SAS member. As a result of this globalization, the workers of these countries often work harder and see less money because all profits go toward paying off the debt to IMF and World Bank, she said.
The 5,000 protesters in Prague — representing various groups including anarchists, communists and environmentalists — call globalization a “menace to humanity that helps the rich get richer at the expense of the poor and the environment.”
While protesters in Prague threw Molotov cocktails, torched cars and smashed out bank windows – resulting in the injury of at least 69 people and 34 arrests – activists in Iowa City did little more than chant.
The local rally, which included speakers from various groups, was a necessary step toward ending globalization, said Patrick Hughes, the president of the Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
“It has never been the people who run the businesses that fought to end slavery, stop child labor and raise wages,” he said. “It has always been the people like us in the street.”
Chad Hegwood, U. Iowa senior and economics major, said he doesn’t have a problem with the local rally but disagrees with its purpose.
“I’m in International Economics, and we learn every day that this would hurt the people in these countries more than it would help,” he said.
Talks at the local rally focused on the shape of world capitalism today, said Tom Lewis, a member of the International Socialist Organization and a U. Iowa associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese.
“Our task is to make sure that we stand tall and fight for equal rights,” he said.
Although fewer activists than expected joined in the Prague protests — 5,000 instead of 20,000 — Tuesday’s rally in Iowa City drew more people than anyone ever imagined, Judeh said. About 30 came to protest.
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Copyright c2000 The Daily Iowan via U-Wire
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