Antiwar protesters rally to cause
By By Burhan Wazir for The Observer.

If half a million people pour on to the streets of
London next week to protest about the prospect
of war in Iraq, as many are now predicting, John
Rees will have reason to be pleased with himself.
He is among a tiny handful of people behind one
of the most rapidly growing and widely based protest
movements to emerge in Britain since the war…
Over the past 18 months, the coalition, chaired
by Andrew Murray, a former journalist and trade
union official, has established itself at the forefront
of the anti-war movement in the UK. Each week the
organisation gathers people at small town hall
meetings, churches and mosques throughout Britain.
People have, for the most part, then organised
themselves. A snowball effect has resulted. Nearly
200 coaches have been booked to ferry supporters
into the capital.
As well as emails, organisers have used text
messaging, professionally designed adverts and
computer banking techniques to raise cash. ‘The
volume of emails – 1,000 a day – is particularly
difficult to keep up with,’ said Rees.
So too is the lack of experience of many of the
would-be marchers. ‘Many people have never
attended a march before. They have no idea of
what to do. So they organise themselves slowly.
Whereas before five people were turning
up at these small meetings, these days it’s closer
to 100.’

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Observer February 9, 2003
Antiwar protesters rally to cause
By Burhan Wazir
If half a million people pour on to the streets of London next week to
protest about the prospect of war in Iraq, as many are now predicting, John
Rees will have reason to be pleased with himself. He is among a tiny handful
of people behind one of the most rapidly growing and widely based protest
movements to emerge in Britain since the war.
Rees is a key organiser behind the Stop The War Coalition. As he sits and
mass-emails the coalition’s daily information updates at the organisation’s
Brick Lane headquarters, he explains its workings. Email addresses are
passed on to like-minded groups and activists who have donated around