UK Solidarity : Argentina Indymedia (( i ))

A small demonstration took place today on the NE side of Oxford Circus outside Top Shop. It took the form of a free shop and free food giveaway, scrutinised intently by Special Branch, the Forward Intelligence Team and dozens of cops.

Demonstrators had set up trestle tables and a clothes rail, to give away free stuff on Oxford Street's busiest shopping day before Christmas. They had a large "Free Shop" banner above the railings behind them, and another banner had been hung on scaffolding in the adjacent side street.

There were at most probably seventy to eighty protestors involved, handing out leaflets, free doughnuts and other goodies, and talking to passers-by about the reasons for the demonstration, which included solidarity with the Argentine protests these last couple of days as well as providing a much needed antidote to the consumerism and capitalism of Xmas.

Another small group of anti-war protestors passed by and continued down Oxford Street with a few placards, but the police seemed most intent on observing, photographing and surrounding the free shop activists. A Section 14 order was notified whereby apparently it would be an arrestable offence to try and move the demonstration elsewhere. This gave police an excuse to target and arrest any individuals leaving the demo - I heard that had happened to one activist. The SO3 photographer was getting through reels of film making sure he had nice shots of everyone involved. Police FIT officers sat on the stairs in the Top Shop offices above telephoning the photographer with instructions as to who to target. Special Branch officers stood around looking for all the world like football hooligans. The many other cops were lined up infront of one of the Top Shop entrances and on the pavement at each end of the shop adding hugely to the overall impact of the demonstration on passers-by. Many thanks for that!

Once again what we clearly see is the State reacting in force to the slightest threat of any alternative message, and the police are symbolically and visibly there to protect commerce. This overbearing presence will not be lost on many passers-by, and the small demo must be considered an absolute success on that basis.

Having said that, it was a shame that there were not more people involved - a Mayday style protest would have been great. There was also no samba band or tango lessons, although I did hear that the band were involved in other direct action elsewhere, so I hope that went well for them.

People were starting to drift away and numbers dwindling as it got darker and I left at around 4, so I hope there were no problems later.

I was at the Oxford Street free shop action today,
which was participated in by hundreds of shoppers
and passersby. I've been to many demos and
actions over the last few years, and in terms of
engaging with people and getting a message across
in a fun, creative and original way, that had
relevance to people's lives, this was the best action
I've been to.

Police presence was heavy from the start, but their
warning regarding section 14 of the public order act
and the fact that we were apparently 'disrupting the
shopping life of the area' (exactly what we set out to
do!) was overpowered by the shouts of 'free donuts'
and the ensuing rush to the stall. Most passersby
and participants largely ignored the police, with one
elderly lady who had crossed the road to attend the
free shop, going so far as to label their behavior
pathetic.

We were initially met with disbelief that everything
was free, but people quickly understood that this
was no charitable act, and got into the spirit of
things in a big way, trying on clothes, rummaging
through boxes of books. During the 4 hour
disruption of the busiest street in London on the
busiest day of the year, continuous streams of
people donated books, toys & clothes, drank
chocolate-flavoured coffee, ate onion bhajis &
cakes, listened to music and browsed for free
presents. One man found a book he'd been
searching for for ages, and offered a donation. He
was refused, with the afternoon's oft-repeated
phrase - "everything's free". A hilarious mock
auction was held - "I'm taking bids of nothing!", "The
stereo goes to the man who's offered nothing!"

The 'Free Palestine' march that passed by - and
stopped for a coffee - was met with cheers from the
free shop kids, and confusion from the cops (was
this another protest, or the same one in a different
guise?).

Many of those we spoke to were surprisingly already
aware of the situation in Argentina (considering the
lack of coverage in the UK press), and understood
the relevance of the action to our/their own situation
regarding christmas consumption and ever-spiralling
consumer debt which is now at an unprecedented
£810 billion pounds in the UK.

One Womble was arrested on a spurious charge
(section 14 of the public order act) for apparently
protesting in the wrong area by himself (he
went for a walk). It's as if the human rights act
never existed. He will appear in court on Monday.

As the reports of the dozens of solidarity actions
which have happened on the first ever Global Day
of Social Disobedience are posted and reposted in
several langauges, the spirit of the Global
movement has again shown that it is neither gone
away or dying. Lets look forward to next year
because the ingenuity and creative of human beings
in struggle can never be defeated!

Love + Rage

Freeshopping WOMBLES