The Anti-War Movement: New Alliances, Old Challenges?

Abstract

The movement began in opposition to the war on US–UK led war in Afghanistan. Members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), trade unions, the Labour left, and other left groups founded the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) on 21 September 2001 in Central London, at a meeting of around two thousand activists convened to follow the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers. The demonstrations against the Iraq War marked an important turning point for Muslim political activism. In marked contrast to the Rushdie Affair (Asad, 1990), Muslims opposing the war had the majority of public opinion behind them (Birt, 2005). Even a leading national tabloid supported the demonstration of 15 February 2003. Muslims in mobilizing against the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and even for justice in Palestine were not alone in their cause; the British left and large sections of the liberal press supported them. The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) began working closely with the StWC and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in organizing protests against the US–UK Iraq War. While the movement grew rapidly in the run up to the Iraq War, it was the issue of Palestine that initially sparked an alliance between Muslim and leftist groups.