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There have been considerable protests against the Iraq War in the build up to and following the 2003 Invasion Of Iraq . Between 2002 and 2005 , protests were held in many cities worldwide, often coordinated to occur simultaneously around the world. After the biggest Series Of Demonstrations, On February 15, 2003 , New York Times writer Patrick Tyler claimed that they showed that there were Two Superpowers on the planet, the United States and worldwide Public Opinion . These demonstrations against the war were mainly organized by Anti-war Organisations , many of whom had been formed in opposition to the Invasion Of Afghanistan . In some Arab countries demonstrations were organized by the State . Europe saw the biggest mobilization of protesters, including a rally of 3 million people in Rome , Italy which is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. {Link without Title} According to the French academic Dominique Reynié between the 3rd of January and 12th of April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. {Link without Title} PRIOR TO THE INVASION OF IRAQ These protests are said to be the biggest global peace protests before a war actually started; the Peace Movement is compared with the movement caused by the Vietnam War . January 16 , 2002 Protests were held worldwide in opposition to a war with Iraq, including in Turkey , Egypt , Pakistan , Japan , Belgium , The Netherlands , Argentina , and the United States , where Americans attended a rally in Washington, DC . The U.S. Park Police , which oversees activities on The Mall , stopped providing estimates of crowd size after being threatened with lawsuits by the organizers of the Million Man March , but said that protest organizers only had a permit for 30,000 demonstrators. According to rally organizers, more than 200,000 Americans were in attendance. October 26 , 2002 Protests took place in various cities across the world. Over 100,000 people took part in a protest in Washington . 50,000 people took part in a demonstration in San Francisco . {Link without Title} October 31 , 2002 See Also: Halloween 2002 anti-war protest Around 150 protests took place in the UK across the country, including Critical Mass bike rides, occupations, and mass demonstrations in Brighton , Manchester , Glasgow and London . Protests also took place in the US. {Link without Title} November 9 , 2002 Demonstrations against the war at the end of the first European Social Forum in Florence , Italy . According to the organizers, 1,000,000 people were in attendance. Local authorities put attendance at 500,000. January 18 , 2003 peace protest in Washington, D.C.]] Anti-war demonstrations, focusing particularly but not exclusively on the expected war with Iraq, took place in villages, towns, and cities around the world, including Tokyo , Moscow , Paris , London , Dublin , Montréal , Ottawa , Toronto , Cologne , Bonn , Gothenburg , Florence , Oslo , Rotterdam , Istanbul and Cairo , NION and ANSWER jointly organized protests in Washington D.C. and San Francisco, California . In San Francisco, between 150,000 and 200,000 people attended the demonstration. The San Francisco police had originally estimated the crowd size at 55,000, but admitted later that they had badly underestimated the number and changed their estimate to 150,000. The day started with a waterfront rally at 11 am, followed by a march down Market Street to the Civic Center . In Washington, thousands of people ( CNN estimate) demonstrated through the city, ending with a rally at The Mall. Among the speakers was Rev. Jesse Jackson who told the crowd that ''"We are here because we choose coexistence over coannihilation."'' {Link without Title} The protests were planned to coincide with the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. {Link without Title} February 15 , 2003 See Also: February 15, 2003 anti-war protest Millions of people protested, in approximately 800 cities around the world. Listed by the 2004 '' Guinness Book Of Records '' as the largest protest in human history, protests occurred among others in the United Kingdom , Italy , Spain , Germany , Switzerland , Ireland , the United States , Canada , Australia , South Africa , Syria , India , Russia , South Korea , Japan , and even McMurdo Station in Antarctica . The largest demonstration this day occurred in London, where 2,000,000 protesters gathered in Hyde Park; speakers included the Reverend Jesse Jackson , London mayor Ken Livingstone , and Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy . March 8 , 2003 Three separate marches converged on Manchester Town Hall , UK . Official estimates put the number of participants at 10,000 (although this was disputed by organisers), making it the biggest political demonstration in the city since the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 {Link without Title} . March 15 , 2003 ]] Spanish and Italian cities showed some of the largest turnouts against their governments' pro-war stance, with more than 400,000 protesters in , Seoul , Hong Kong, Amman , Calcutta , Melbourne , Christchurch , Dunedin , Paris, London, Portsmouth , Leeds , York , Exeter , Newcastle Upon Tyne , Frankfurt , Nuremberg , Zurich , Copenhagen , Stockholm , Nicosia , Monaco, Santiago de Chile, Havana, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta , Vancouver, Halifax , Ottawa, and Toronto, as well as cities in Yemen , Turkey , Israel , and the Palestinian Territories . [http://es.news.yahoo.com/030315/44/2lwzu.html (Some articles include: Worldwide figures (''La Presse'' (Quebec), in French) , Worldwide figures(''New York Times'' - requires free registration) , CBC News (Canada) - report on Australian marches .) March 16 , 2003 More than 6,000 candlelight vigils for peace were held in more than a hundred countries {Link without Title} . March 19 , 2003 Across the United Kingdom tens of thousands of school students staged walkouts. In Birmingham 4,000 (BBC estimate) striking school students held a demonstration which ended at Victoria Square . Though there were some reports of some students throwing coins, West Midlands police said that the protests were "buoyant rather than boisterous" and no arrests were made. The demonstration later moved on to Cannon Hill Park. The son of Lord Hunt a junior health Minister who quit his job over the march was amongst the students in attendance {Link without Title} . In West Yorkshire around 500 students (BBC estimate) walked out of Ilkley Grammar School, reportedly one-third of the student body. In Bradford up to 200 students (BBC estimate) gathered in Centenary Square. Demonstrations also took place in the city centre in Leeds and Horsforth. {Link without Title} . A large protest took place at Westminster where London school students gathered. INVASION TO THE FALL OF BAGHDAD March 20 , 2003 See Also: March 20, 2003 anti-war protest The day after the invasion of Iraq had begun, protests were held in cities around the world. In some U.S. cities, protesters attempted to shut their respective cities down. In Germany, students staged a massive walkout. In London, a massive demonstration was held in front of the Houses Of Parliament . March 21 , 2003 Demonstrations were organized for a second day in a row in various US cities including Seattle , Portland , Atlanta , San Francisco , and Los Angeles . In the last two cities, demonstrators closed parts of the city to traffic. Following the demonstrations, San Francisco police claimed to have discovered a cache of Molotov Cocktail s which they claimed were going to be used by demonstrators. March 22 , 2003 and March 23 , 2003 in a demonstration on March 23. The poster says "PEACE" in Spanish.]] Media report about 150,000 protesters in for the second day. On the live broadcast of the 2003 Academy Awards , several presenters and recipients made various comments against the war ranging from Susan Sarandon giving a simple Peace Sign to Michael Moore publicly denouncing George W. Bush upon receiving his award. Critics accused the media of downplaying the demonstrations, e.g. when the Washington Post wrote about protests in Berlin: "Demonstrators also gathered in a half-dozen other German cities" , where half-dozen included Leipzig, Halle, Dresden, Jena, Rostock, Hamburg, Munich, Köln, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, Karslruhe, Heidelberg, Würzburg, Bielefeld, Hannover, Dortmund, Essen, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Wattenscheid, Oberhausen, Duisburg, Mülheim, Herne, Hattingen, Velbert, Hilden, Datteln, Münster, Osnabrück, Bonn, Aachen, Saarbrücken, Kassel, Bremen, Oldenburg, Kiel, Heide, and other cities. March 24 , 2003 Media reports state at least 20,000 school pupils protesting in Hamburg , Germany . After the protest march, conflicts between police and protesters broke out in front of a US building in Hamburg. Protesters who were pushed back by the police began to throw stones, who in turn reacted with Water Cannon s. There have since been serious discussions about police abuses in Hamburg, and political ramifications may follow. In the afternoon, 50,000 people protested peacefully in Leipzig following traditional prayers for peace in the city's Nikolai Church. Prayers for peace and subsequent large demonstrations at that church every Monday ('Montagsdemos') helped bring down the GDR government in East Germany in 1989 . The weekly demonstrations, supported by churches, trade unions and other civic organizations, began again in January 2003 in protest to the impending invasion of Iraq. Protest marches in the afternoon were also reported in the German cities of Berlin and Freiburg . In Rome , Milan , Turin and other Italian cities, thousands of pupils and schoolteachers stayed away from school to protest against the Iraq war. The teachers union reported that 60 percent of all schools were closed. The strike had been planned weeks ago as a signal against a school reform bill, but was converted to an anti-war protest. 400 anti-war protesters tried to enter the Australia n parliament in Canberra to speak to the prime minister, but were stopped by police. In the India n state of Andhra Pradesh , Maoist protesters attacked shops selling Coca-Cola and US soft drinks. Protests in front of US buildings and in fast food shops were also held in Indonesia . In Egypt , 12,000 students of two universities in Cairo protested as well as 3,000 people in the Thai capital Bangkok . In Rio De Janeiro , Brazil , 150 people threw stones at the United States consulate. The stones were supposed to break the windows, but consulate windows are bullet-proof. The protesters attacked a McDonald's and threw stones and fired upon a Brazilian bank agency controlled by the Brazilian government and stoned a Spanish bank. Five were arrested. March 25 , 2003 Some 100,000 people demonstrated in Syria against the USA , United Kingdom and Israel . This protest was endorsed by the Syrian government. In the Islamic country of Bangladesh , 60,000 people demonstrated. Media also reports protests in front of the South Korea n parliament building, linked to plans to bring South Korean forces into the war. In reaction to the protests, these plans were halted. March 27 , 2003 Hundreds of protesters participated in a civil disobedience in New York , USA . In a "die-in" organized by the M27 Coalition (an ad-hoc group comprised of various anti-war organizations and individuals), 215 people were arrested after blocking traffic on 5th Avenue near Rockefeller Center, protesting the cooperation between U.S. media and the government. Protesters also blocked traffic at various sites around the city in a coordinated protest with the theme of "No Business As Usual." Protests also took place across the U.K. About 250 students (Police estimate) marched on the US embassy in central London. 200 people (South Wales Police estimate) brought Cardiff city centre traffic to a standstill leading to at least six arrests. There was a lunchtime anti-war demonstration on the Humber bridge in Hull which involved some friction between motorists and protesters. In Londonderry , up to a dozen anti-war protesters stormed the Raytheon defense technologies company building staging a sit-in until removed by police. Thousands joined a protest in Manchester. {Link without Title} March 28 , 2003 Global protests did not stop in the second week of war. Some 10,000 protested in , Egypt after the Friday prayers. In Bogotá , Colombia there were violent conflicts in front of the US consulate. Protest marches and demonstrations happened also in Algiers , Algeria and in Bahrain , the Palestinian Territories , South Korea , Indonesia and Pakistan . In Australia the police prevented protest marches. In Germany , protests by schoolchildren continued. In New Delhi and elsewhere in India, over 20,000 protested against the war. The largest demonstration comprised mainly Muslims, there was also a separate demonstration mainly made up of communists. {Link without Title} March 29 , 2003 In (Police estimated 5,000, Organizers estimated more than 10,000). Edinburgh protesters marched along Princes Street to a mass rally in the city's Meadows area. {Link without Title} March 30 , 2003 100,000 people marched through the Indonesian capital, Jakarta . According to the BBC's Jonathan Head this was the biggest anti-war demonstration to take place so far in the world's most populous Muslim nation. The first officially sanctioned demonstration took place in China . 200 foreigners were allowed to chant anti-war slogans as they marched past the US embassy in Beijing but around 100 Chinese students had their banners confiscated and were blocked from entering a park where locals had gained permission to demonstrate. In Latin America there were rallies in Santiago, Mexico City, Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Caracas. In Germany at least 40,000 people formed a human chain between the northern cities of Munster and Osnabrueck 35 miles apart. Also about 23,000 took part in marches in Berlin, ending in a rally in Tiergarten park, protests took place in Stuttgart and Frankfurt, where 25 people were arrested as they tried to block the entrance to a US air base. Marches were also held in Paris, Moscow, Budapest, Warsaw and Dublin. {Link without Title} April 7 , 2003 In Oakland , California , police fired Rubber Bullet s and Beanbags at protesters and dockworkers outside the port, injuring at least a dozen demonstrators and six longshoremen standing nearby. Most of the 500 demonstrators were dispersed peacefully, but a crowd of demonstrators was blocking traffic on private property near the port and fail to disperse after police warnings. Oakland Police Chief said demonstrators also threw objects and bolts at them, and said the use of weapons was necessary to disperse the crowd. He indicated that the rubber bullets were used to respond to direct illegal action and the he longshoremen were caught in the crossfire. A dockworker spokesman reported that police gave two minutes to disperse, then opened fire rather than making arrests. Demonstrators also claim that the police took direct aim at them, rather than firing in the air or at the ground. Thirty-one people were arrested. Demonstrators regrouped and marched to the Oakland Federal Building. In New York , USA , protesters targeted the Carlyle Group , an investment firm with deep connections to the war. About 20 protesters were arrested in a planned civil disobedience, but police then also surrounded and arrested close to 100 people who were simply watching the protest from across the street. AFTER THE FALL OF BAGHDAD April 12 , 2003 Protests sponsored by , and Los Angeles to demonstrate against the Iraq War three days after the fall of Baghdad. In Washington, the march route took the group of 30,000 past offices of several Mass Media organizations, and companies such as Bechtel and Halliburton . {Link without Title} October 25 , 2003 Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Washington, D.C. , San Francisco, California , Reno, Nevada and other cities around the world, in opposition to the Occupation Of Iraq . Protesters also advocated for the return of American troops to the United States, and for the protection of civil liberties. The Washington DC rally attracted 20,000 (BBC estimate) protesters. The protest ended with a rally at the Washington Monument , within sight of the White House . As well as opposing the invasion of Iraq protesters also called for the repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act . The Washington and San Francisco protests were jointly organized by ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and United For Peace And Justice . A pro-war demonstration in Washington organized by Free Republic attracted only dozens (BBC estimate) of people. {Link without Title} June 4 , 2004 More than 100,000 people demonstrated in Rome and other Italian cities during Bush's visit to Pope John Paul II , who had expressed his opposition to the war in numerous occasions. Ten thousand police patrolled the conference site. The right-wing Italian government under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had supported the war; Italy's largest electric company, Enel , which is 60 percent owned by the government, forced Radio Città Aperta and Radio Onda Rossa off the air as they were preparing to broadcast extensive coverage of street protests against Bush's visit. June 5 , 2004 More than 12,000 people, many U.S. citizens, demonstrated against Bush and the Iraq war during his visit to Paris , France . In addition, ANSWER Coalition sponsored a smaller demonstration in Washington, D.C. , marching from the White House through working-class neighborhoods to the house of Donald Rumsfeld on Kalorama Road NW near Embassy Row . {Link without Title} June 27 , 2004 About 40,000 demonstrated against the visit of George W. Bush to the NATO summit in Istanbul , about 6,000 in Ankara , Turkey . October 2 , 2004 A large group of people assembled at the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery for the National Memorial Procession, described as "A Trail of Mourning and Truth from Iraq to the White House". The theme of the event was "Mourn the dead. Heal the wounded. End the war." Participants were encouraged to dress in black to symbolize mourning. Cindy Sheehan was among the participants at this demonstration. Speeches were made by veterans, members of military families, family members of fallen soldiers, and others. Following the speeches, participants marched from Arlington National Cemetery to the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. , carrying cardboard coffins to symbolize the war dead. Following the march, another rally was held, where the coffins carried on the march were placed with more coffins placed at the Ellipse earlier. Following the second rally, 28 people, including Michael Berg (father of the American civilian contractor Nicholas Berg who was killed by insurgents in Iraq), were arrested while attempting to deliver the names of fallen heroes to the White House. [http://www.schuminweb.com/schumin-web/photography/2004/activism.asp [http://www.angelfire.com/sk3/spkhntrca/mfsodc.html] October 17 , 2004 See Also: Million Worker March Approximately 10,000 people attending the Million Worker March in Washington, D.C. conducted a large pro-labor demonstration, with a very heavy additional focus against the war in Iraq as well. November 30 , 2004 Two protests were held in Ottawa against George W. Bush's first official visit to Canada. A rally and march in the early afternoon was upwards of fifteen thousand (or 5,000 according to police). An evening rally on Parliament Hill drew another 15,000 and featured a speech by Brandon Hughey, an American soldier seeking refuge in Canada after refusing to fight in Iraq. Bush's stop on 1 December in Halifax, Nova Scotia drew between 4,000 and 5,000 protesters. Ottawa organizers of the protest were only given two weeks notice of Bush's visit; Halifax organizers were given under a week's notice. January 20 , 2005 See Also: January 20, 2005 counter-inaugural protest Thousands of people attended multiple protest rallies and marches held throughout Washington, D.C. on the day of George W. Bush's second inaugural to protest the war in Iraq and other policies of the Bush Administration. March 19 , 2005 , where organizers claim over 150,000 marched]]Protests to mark the second anniversary of start of the an annual conference of the alternative globalization movement which took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil on 26 January –31, and were supported by coalitions from all over the world {Link without Title} . June 21 , 2005 An officer of the German army, Major Florian Pfaff , was exonorated by the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (German administrative court) after refusing to take part in the development of software likely to be used in the Iraq War. {Link without Title} August 6 , 2005 to August 31 , 2005 Cindy Sheehan , mother of slain U.S. soldier Casey Sheehan, sets up a protest camp outside the ranch of vacationing president George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas . Sheehan, who previously met with Bush in a short encounter before the media that she described as dismissive and disrespectful, demanded that Bush meet with her and stop using the deaths of soldiers including her son as a justification for remaining in Iraq. Other relatives of soldiers, living and dead, and hundreds of supporters joined her throughout the month. September 24 , 2005 See Also: September 24, 2005 anti-war protest Protests were held in the USA and Europe. Police estimated that about 150,000 people took part in . Additionally, in London, organizers claim 100,000 attended similar protests, but police place the figure at 10,000. {Link without Title} November 2005 See Also: Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas Massive popular demonstrations against the U.S.-led war in Iraq, in addition to U.S.-backed economic policies in Latin America, were held in Argentina surrounding the November 4-5 Fourth Summit of the Americas. March 18 - March 20 , 2006 on March 18, 2005]] Coordinated protests were held to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Major protests are occurred in events was damaged by splits between organizing groups such as UFJP and ANSWER . {Link without Title} April 1 , 2006 Thousands from around the south marched in , Rev. Tim McDonald , and Damu Smith . April 29 , 2006 A coalition of United States-based groups, initiated by United For Peace And Justice , Rainbow/PUSH Coalition , National Organization For Women , Friends Of The Earth , U.S. Labor Against The War , Climate Crisis Coalition, People's Hurricane Relief Fund, National Youth And Student Peace Coalition , and Veterans For Peace is planning a national mobilization against the war in New York City on April 29. The same day, ANSWER Coalition is organizing a mass march in Washington, DC . {Link without Title} SEE ALSO
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