A long-expected protest against the World Trade Organization broke out in unexpected violence last week, capturing headlines and dominating airwaves across the nation. The images of Seattle were everywhere: clouds of tear gas, broken window panes, demolished coffee shops. And several members of the University community were there on the front lines.
Now the smoke has cleared, and the WTO talks have ended in failure. As debate about the protest rages on in the court of public opinion, participants are taking stock, attempting to separate the violence and sensationalism from the more pressing question of "What did we accomplish?"
The question is complicated by the fact that the protest included activists of all varieties. Some protesters wanted to force the WTO to open its proceedings to public scrutiny, while others demanded human rights standards, international environmental regulation, the protection of American jobs or an end to free trade altogether.
In retrospect, Trinity sophomore and protest participant Snehal Patel said he is convinced the demonstrators were successful, both because they managed to cancel the convention's opening ceremonies and because the average American is now more aware of the WTO.
"People who never heard of the WTO, and who would never have heard of the WTO, they now know what it does and that many people are opposed to it," he said, adding that activists now have the responsibility of continuing to educate the newly politicized public.
The WTO and the global trading system it administers and protects have drawn staunch opposition from labor and environmental activists worldwide. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Seattle to protest a round of talks between trade ministers from the WTO's 135 member nations. And protests make strange bedfellows, as members of traditionally hostile movements marched hand in hand around the Seattle convention center.
"There were 300-pound burly steelworkers marching peacefully next to old ladies who were dressed like sea turtles," said Tico Almeida, Trinity '99, who helped coordinate student involvement in one of the week's largest rallies. "This represents a fledgling alliance between workers and environmentalists who hope to create a more just international trading system."
For outsiders, though, the peace between activist groups seemed much less meaningful than the war between certain demonstrators and local storeowners.
Downtown merchants suffered substantially from vandalism and many more were forced to close during the busy holiday shopping season. In addition to the estimated $1.5 million in damages, some merchants' associations have estimated that downtown stores lost around $10 million in sales.
Although the protest received an unprecedented blitz of media coverage, most stories focused on the protesters who chose to make their statements with smashed windows and defaced storefronts.
"Television is based on visual images, and I guess police shooting rubber bullets at protesters and protesters breaking windows was much more visual than a mere 50,000 people downtown who decide to do a peaceful sit-down," said Trinity sophomore Jonathan Harris, who also attended the protests.
The smattering of vandalism also illustrated a rift in the young activist community-a divide between those who feel that destruction of private property is not violence, and those who think it has no place in a nonviolent movement.
A group of anarchists-known as the N30 Black Bloc-has claimed responsibility for much of the destruction, arguing that it was targeted against specific corporations or businesses that have a particular stake in the global economy, like Fidelity Investments, McDonald's, Starbucks, Nike and Gap.
"We contend that property destruction is not a violent activity unless it destroys or causes pain in the process," reads a communique from one collective within the overall group. "By this definition, private property-especially corporate private property-is itself infinitely more violent than any action taken against it."
Although he disagreed with destruction of property, Harris would not exclude that small group of protesters from the overall movement. "It's not anyone's place to claim this protest as their own...," he said.
Patel added that the vandalism helped focus national attention on Seattle. "It was because of that small group of people that the media started covering [us]...," he said. "I think it really suggests that the media needs to start focusing on the issues, not just the petty profit they're going to get from selling their stories."
Seattle police have said that the shockingly violent clashes between police and protesters erupted when officers attempted to reign in the vandals.
But the students who attended the rally reported that the first tear gas canisters were fired at a group of protesters who were peacefully sitting in at a downtown intersection Nov. 30.
At an corner just a few blocks from the Seattle convention center, a row of police officers stood before the protesters, many of whom were "locked down" in the intersection to block traffic and prevent trade ministers from reaching the convention. Patel and Harris, who were about a block further down the street, said one of the officers then began prodding one of the protesters with his nightstick.
"[The protester] was just taking the blows. Everybody started standing up around him and yelling 'non-violence...,'" Patel said. "That's when police started tear-gassing."
For the next two days, police and protesters continued clashing. The heart of downtown was placed under a 24-hour curfew. On Wednesday alone, police arrested more than 400 protesters.
"I believe that the police were underprepared, lost control and definitely used excessive force, which contributed to the portrayal of the protesters on the part of the media as violent people," said Trinity sophomore Kelly Armstrong, who attended the protest and spoke at one of the rallies on behalf of United Students Against Sweatshops.
Since the protest, residents of Seattle have come out strongly against the protesters, but they have also criticized the police tactics that forced protesters from downtown and into the residential sections of the city. This criticism grew so strong that the police chief announced his resignation yesterday. Residents have also attacked the mayor, who many claim did not adequately prepare for the convention or inevitable protests.
The WTO talks ended in failure Saturday, when it became clear that diverse a few deal-breakers made it impossible for the member nations to launch a new round of negotiations on opening international markets. Talks may resume early next year, but only if states show a willingness to give on the critical issues.
The talks may have been an international failure, but for the Duke protesters, the demise of the talks and the solidarity demonstrated by the various activist groups represents an undeniable victory. "There were different opinions on different tactics..., but in general, it was really inspirational to be in the presence of so many people," Harris said, "people who think that we need to take responsibility now for the future."
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