The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
In my opinion the daubing of paint on a government building will have a negative effect on the campaign against sanctions. As a publicity stunt it will attract attention from the media , but it will be short-lived and will only damage our cause .Many ordinary people are prepared to campaign within the limits of the law and will even break the law in certain ways but will not support the use of vandalism . Some people ( and I would suggest quite large numbers ) will drift away from the campaign rather than be associated with it , and it is numbers that really matter here , it will mean fewer people at rallies , fewer letters written to politicians and fewer votes threatened to be lost . If there are enough people at rallies then the media and the politicians will have to take notice . MPs want to keep their jobs and when they feel threatened they will be prepared to act . Many people will not want to be associated with any form of illegal activity and yet are 100% sincere in their desire to see sanctions lifted . Take a look at the media coverage of any protest , despite the several hundred law-abiding protesters the pictures are of the few who cause trouble . Can one then expect the ordinary Joe Public to attend a rally or listen to a talk ? I can understand the frustration involved when so often there is little or no media coverage given to an event but this type of publicity will not swell public support , in my view it will have the opposite effect . We need public support and not to alienate them by us being seen as vandals and criminals. Sincerely Grayham Chayney -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To be removed/added, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk, NOT the whole list. Archived at http://linux.clare.cam.ac.uk/~saw27/casi/discuss.html