GERMANY: Half a million people marched through central Berlin on Saturday carrying placards and singing anti-war songs in Germany's largest post-war peace rally.
They came from all walks of life: students, pensioners, communists, anti-fascists, even neo-Nazis. But they marched peacefully alongside one another with one common message: no war in Iraq.
Despite icy weather, the broad avenue between the Siegessäule (Victory Column) and the Brandenburg Gate was packed by mid-afternoon. Prominent German activists and artists gave speeches and sang songs for over two hours before a cheering, good-natured crowd.
"What sort of a world do we live in where you lose face if you decide not to commit mass murder?" asked singer Konstantin Wecker, referring to anger in Washington over Berlin's anti-war stance. Cheers erupted when he called for the leaders of Britain, Spain and Italy to resign.
Another loud cheer greeted the Cannon Song by Kurt Weill, with anti-war lyrics by Bertolt Brecht: "And young men's blood goes on being shed while the army goes on recruiting."
Agile anarchists climbed lamp-posts to get a better view while those not able to see the stage stood on the icy surface of a frozen lake in the nearby park to listen. A group of pensioners drank tea from a flask proudly wearing Old Europe stickers - a dig at the remark of Mr Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary.
They told stories of the war and remembered the kindness of occupying American soldiers.
"I'm here at this demonstration because I don't want there to be another war. It's an unbearable thought for me," said 84-year-old Ms Sigrid Schonewille.
"We have a lot to thank the Americans for, the right to demonstrate peacefully for one thing," said Ms Sabine Fetscher, a 42-year-old mother of two. "But this war cannot be justified. This isn't a rally of anti-American extremists." That was apparently the fear of the State Department in Washington when it warned Americans living in Berlin to stay away from the rally. Not all heeded the warning.
One American exchange student speaking at a pre-march rally said she wanted to show Germany that "many Americans are against this war".
Another carried a banner declaring: "My President is a psychopath". A group of Berlin students marched with a paper maché Statue of Liberty carrying a barrel of oil in her arms.
"It's a huge success," shouted Mr Reiner Braun, one of the organisers of the event from the stage. "With two million protesting in Rome and one million on the march in London, we have a real chance of avoiding this war."
The most notable faces at the Berlin march were those of three Green Party government ministers who attended in defiance of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's express wishes.
Also in attendance was Mr Wolfgang Thierse, the president of the Bundestag, something opposition politicians yesterday said was "a disgrace". The march came a day after Chancellor Schröder and Mr Joschka Fischer, the Foreign Minister, gave bravado performances in the parliament. They said they believed there was a chance to disarm Iraq peacefully, a view shared by 69 per cent of Germans according to a survey in Der Spiegel magazine.
