World Frackdown TTIP & Kobane: On Saturday October eleventh 2014 I photographed a protest towards HSBC supporting fracking within the UK, towards the key TTIP US/EU commerce deal and at last a rally in assist of the Kurdish combat towards ISIS in Kobane and towards Turkish assist for the ISIS militants.
World Frackdown at HSBC
As part of a ‘World Frackdown’ by communities all over the world towards this environmentally damaging business which leaves a legacy of water contamination, air air pollution and well being issues, activists took a mock ‘fracking rig’ to 2 branches of HSBC in central London. UK anti-fracking campaigners had been joined by some from Algeria and Romania.
The HSBC financial institution supplies banking providers for Cuadrilla the oil and gasoline exploration and manufacturing firm growing fracking within the UK and in addition funds fracking all over the world. In Algeria, they’re serving to to convey this water intensive course of to the Sahara and within the US, they underwrite the BG Group answerable for fracking in giant components of the nation.
In addition to the actual issues brought on by fracking produces a grimy fossil gasoline whose use deepens the local weather disaster. However it was largely the earthquakes brought on by Cuadrilla’s exploratory drilling that led to a moratorium on it in 2019 in England & Wales. The ban was briefly lifted by Liz Truss in her brief however disastrous time as prime minister, however reinstated by Rishi Sunak.
I met with the campaigners in Golden Sq. in Soho, the place they had been being intently watched and possibly outnumbered by clearly nervous police who tried with no success to seek out out what they deliberate to do. After some time a gaggle wearing orange ‘Frack Off London’ hi-viz fits picked up some lengthy black poles that they had introduced with them and marched in direction of Regent Avenue, with others carrying a banner and becoming a member of the procession.
They marched alongside Regent Avenue forming a fairly spectacular small crowd and stepped to erect the poles into their mock fracking rig in entrance of the HSBC department, the place they held a rally. Supporting the protest had been Local weather Revolution and Romanian anti-fracking activists who had introduced their very own drilling rig for some road theatre.
After some speeches the campaigners set off marching once more, down Regent Avenue and previous Piccadilly Circus on their technique to the Strand department of HSBC the place they erected their rig once more.
Right here there have been extra speeches and a few from the Romanian group placed on a brief piece of road theatre, luckily in English, involving a grasping banker, corrupt politicians and other people protesting.
The the protest marched off and down Whitehall to Parliament Sq. for a remaining brief rally and a few pictures.
Extra at World Frackdown at HSBC.
No TTIP Rally & Banner Drop – Westminster
Protesters towards the TTIP, a EU-US Commerce Deal being negotiated at extremely secretive talks would let firms sue governments, lock in privatisation of our faculties and NHS, undermine safety for privateness, employees and the surroundings and permit fracking and different dangerous actions.
Though the talks had been secret, some particulars had emerged and so they had been extraordinarily worrying. The Transatlantic Commerce and Funding Partnership would get the EU to take away the obstacles which stopped US agricultural merchandise produced below much less hygienic situations with decrease animal welfare requirements reminiscent of chlorine-washed chickens and beef pumped with excessive ranges of development hormones in addition to GM crops being imported.
EU governments which took actions on environmental grounds may discover themselves in industrial kangaroo courts which may impose enormous fines if their legal guidelines prompted US and different corporations to lose potential earnings from exporting their polluting items.
The protesters had introduced with them a really lengthy two half banner studying ‘HANDS OFF DEMOCRACY’ which was actually too lengthy for Parliament Sq. – and definitely too lengthy for many photographers. A 3rd a part of it learn ‘#no TTIP’, and I may solely simply match thatin as nicely utilizing a fisheye lens.
After the rally within the sq., the protesters marched on to Westminster Bridge and carried out a ‘Banner Drop’ holding all three components of the message. I’d run down the busy embankment to the place it was attainable to get a good image of the entire thing, however simply as I started taking photos it was moved, in all probability on the phoned request of the moderately lazier official photographer for the group who was a lot nearer to the bridge. And shortly after I’d began taking photos on the second place it was on the transfer once more.
Extra photos at:
#NoTTIP – Arms off our democracy
#NoTTIP – Banner Drop
Assist the Defenders of Kobane – Parliament Sq.
In Parliament Sq. I additionally photographed a rally with 1000’s, primarily of Kurdish or Turkish origin who had stopped for a rally on a march round London supporting the Kurdish combat towards ISIS in Kobane, calling for assist for the Kurdish fighters and condemning Turkish assist for ISIS.
Kobane is a metropolis in Syria and was surrounded by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in September 2014, forcing most of its inhabitants to flee to Turkey. Bloody battles by Kurdish forces with some assist from US air strikes recaptured town and the encircling space, and so they rapidly drove again a later assault by ISIL in June 2015.
Kobane was on the time a part of the de facto autonomous area of Syria, Rojava, a outstanding Kurdish democracy with a structure giving equality to males, ladies and all ethnic and spiritual teams. However in October 2019 town was threatened by an invasion by Turkey and accepted the entry of the Syrian authorities forces and Russian Army Police into town, though it nonetheless then apparently remained below the de facto management of Rojava.
Turkey has supported the Islamic state militants, hoping that they may defeat the Kurds, lots of whom dwell in Turkey and have been struggling for a few years for larger autonomy. Turkey have offered routes for smuggling oil to offer finance for ISIS, and have for some years been preventing with Islamic militants towards Kurdish forces in Syria.
Many audio system on the rally in Parliament Sq. referred to as for the lifting by the UK of the ban on the PKK, the Kurdish Staff Social gathering, whose chief Abdullah Öcalan has been held in jail in Turkey since 1999. Lately Öcalan has been making an attempt to barter a peaceable finish to the battle, declaring a ceasefire on the Kurdish New 12 months in March 2013. There have been many audio system from the mainstream UK neighborhood, together with quite a few commerce unionists, London Inexperienced MEP Jean Lambert, and human rights lawyer Margaret Owen.
Because the protesters marched away from Parliament Sq. there was a confrontation with police after that they had tried to go looking a few of the protesters and make an arrest. There was lots of pushing and shoving and the marchers who had already left the sq. sat down on the road in Whitehall. They had been nonetheless sitting there half an hour later, with negotiations between the police and protesters apparently persevering with. Later one of many three males arrested was launched and the protest got here to and finish.
Assist the Defenders of Kobane
Tags: #noTTIP, chlorinated chickens, Local weather Revolution, Cuadrilla, de facto autonomous area, earthquakes, surroundings, Frack Off London, fracking, fracking ban, fracking rig, World Frackdown. Algeria, GM meals, development hormones, palms off democracy, HSBC, ISIL, ISIS, Kabane, Kobani, Kurdish fighters, Kurds, London, march, NHS, No TTIP, Ocalan, peter Marshall, police, privateness, privatisation, protest, Regent St, Rojava, Romania, Sahara, faculties, Strand, Syria, commerce deal, Turks, US-EU commerce deal
You possibly can go away a response, or trackback from your individual website.
