Kissinger's visit - another eyewitness report

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday March 01, 2002 18:37 by Mombassa

Report on Kissingers visit to Cork through the eyes of one protester

I was there for two protests, Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning up until he arrived at UCC (about 11am). The Tuesday protest was looking very flat at 7pm when it was supposed to kick off, with about 30 to 40 people hanging around aimlessly and passing flyers to those attending the meal at which Kissinger and Harney were to speak. By the time Kissinger arrived at about 7.30, there were about 70 people and a decent drummer with a djembe drum which lifted everyone's morale. Kissinger was spirited in the back and he had arrived so quickly that there was no time for those at the front to get around. Fortunately there were two brave people at the back who accused him of war crimes and told him that he was not welcome.
The protest moved around to the side of the "Quad" where we could see people having pre-dinner cocktails. This is when things got going really well. A crowd of 70ish with the excellent drummer were chanting Kisinger Murderer! and Nobel Prize for Genocide! This must have been very audible to all the attendees inside. This continued in waves of chanting and cheering in the freezing cold (even some snow)for about an hour until it petered out from 8.30 on. I certainly felt that this was a success because all the attendees had to have their pre-dinner cocktails with the musicians spoiled (perhaps I'm being generous) or at least tempered by the noise outside and they must have reflected on why we were all there shouting, regardless of the conclusion they might have come to.
Wednesday morning started at 7.45am for me with a good few people there already. The excellent djembe drummer was missing but there were assorted tin drums, little bongos, tambourines and a djembe which people took turns at whacking. There were about 70+ people there continuously with numbers swelling with the curious at 9, 10 and 11am (ie between lectures). Again people arriving for the conference were leafleted and had to pass all the noise and chanting.
This time people were ready for Kissinger when he arrived and his point of entry to the Boole made it more difficult for a sneaky entrance. Most of the protest saw him coming and mobbed him when he came out of his car. Again he was accused of being a war criminal and a murderer and told that he was not welcome. He was protected rather crudely by the Gardai amidst an amount of jostling. It would have been easy for anyone who so wished to clock the man. Personally I am glad that no-one did because that would have been stooping to his level. Apparently he was also harassed while inside the Boole on his way to the conference by students who used their right of access to get in.
Unfortunately I don't know what went on for the rest of the afternoon because I had to go to work (late!) and I haven't spoken to anyone who was there since. The student presence was disappointing as was the fact that the students union obviously decided not to call a strike during Kissingers presence on the grounds which they supposedly considered on Monday evening. This is not surprising considering that many people use the students union as a stepping stone to mainstream politics - don't rock the boat etc. This should not detract from the huge effort put in by those students that did attend. There was good mutual respect between all the protesters.
All in all a successful adventure in my book.
Regards,
Mombassa
PS Regarding his Garda protection, it is absurd that the people in charge of "law and order" in this country are used to protect a known
criminal for his commercial gain (£100,000 figure has been bandied about - can't verify). At least we were spared any protesters being arrested (at least until the time I left) - "Sorry, judge, but I was arrested by the Gardai for pushing them whilst they were protecting a mass murderer", etc. How much did this protection cost us as
taxpayers? Do the people have any control over how their "leaders/masters" spend their hard earned money?