The Wild Strawberries Movement at Liberty Square held a meeting with representatives from all over Taiwan in preparation for the “Going ‘Wild’ on December 7th” rally. Wild Strawberries across the country will once again meet at Liberty Square for its strongest showing yet to counter the government’s arrogance and apathy thus far.
“Going ‘Wild’ on December 7th” is the theme of this rally. The month-long Wild Strawberries Movement would like to demonstrate its “wildness” to its supporters and the arrogant Administration; the Wild Strawberries have not given up and the movement has continued to grow. Since its inception, the Wild Strawberries have upheld the same pleas and ideals - “Apology [for rights violations], Resignation [of responsible officials], and Amendment [of Parade & Assembly Law]”. This rally will serve as an opportunity for Taiwanese citizens to experience the Wild Strawberries’ explosive strength and for the government to hear the consolidated angry voices of the Wild Strawberries. More importantly, the Wild Strawberries maintains its appeal that the government directly responds to the public and the Wild Strawberries, and stop state sanctioned power abuse.
The Wild Strawberries will only “voluntarily report” plans to hold the December 7th rally to law enforcement authorities instead of waiting for the ineffective Legislative Yuan to amend the Parade and Assembly Law’s approval requirement. The rally route will be provided to the Zhongzheng First District of the Taipei City Police Department in order for the police to direct traffic accordingly. We sincerely hope that law enforcement authorities will safeguard rather than trample on our freedom to assemble with violent tactics. The Wild Strawberries will also send out a team of individuals to maintain order.
The December 7th rally participants will consist of students for the most part, but also cordially invite all private citizens who support our endeavors. In addition to the students, academics and NGOs have signed up for the rally, with over a thousand expected rally participants. Students from the Wild Strawberries Movement will be responsible for maintaining order of the movement. We will hold a pre-rally press conference to explain the itinerary and to promote the principle of non-violent civil disobedience; our goal is to hold the rally under the principles of peace, rationality, and non-violence.
The route for the December 7th rally will begin with Liberty Square, and continue on to the National Police Agency, the Executive Yuan, the Legislative Yuan, and the Presidential Office. The Wild Strawberries will have different activities at each location. The “Country without Violence, Wild Strawberries March Forward” march will commence at 1 p.m. from Liberty Square and we look forward to your participation.
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I am all in favor of your vigil at freedom square and will support you in whatever way I can. I do however have some concerns....
1) vigil vs. parade
I support the students camping out at freedom square... That is a vigil in the tradition of Gandhi.
But I have REAL RESERVATIONS of a parade anywhere....
You are currently having peaceful vigil, which is hard to corrupt...
The moment you begin to move, you ask for trouble.....
All around the world states, and corporate interests have destroyed parade protests by inserting only a few violent individuals to discredit the rest...
Here are a few examples from Canada and the U.S
Police accused of using provocateurs at summit
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/248608
SPP Agent Provocateur Cops Caught Red Handed Attempting To Incite Violence
http://www.infowars.net/articles/august2007/220807Provocateurs_SPP.htm
Why not stay in freedom square and watch the movement grow around you??
2) Your three points: Only the 3rd is important. Politicians regularly apologize without meaning it and also resign from high appointments, only to move on to another high appointment. By including these in your demands, you divide potential supporters, and loose focus on the real important 3rd option. Would you make concessions on the third option in order to achieve all three??? They are not equal in their importance... Several friends of mine have made this observation (both foreigner and Taiwanese), and i think you'd do better to clarify it, lest people dismiss you as a political entity with funding from interests inside and outside the country wishing to promote division....
That being said I wish you guys well and hope you get a chance to watch and help translate some new documentaries about global control at
www.commonsents.org
Peace
Christian
i think the current Administration has sneered at the movement and questioned the students' resolve since its inception. the media bias (or rather complete lack of coverage from the "mainstream" media) as well as intimidation tactics by the police (students distributing flyers or trying to stage a protest) have disabled the students from spreading this good cause to more citizens. not to mention that this movement challenges the constitutionality of Parade and Assembly Law (and urges its amendment), so a parade seems fitting.
i do not doubt that the movement's credibility is at stake and while i cannot speak for the students, i do believe that the students have the best intentions in mind. as a proud taiwanese citizen, i sincerely hope that this movement, regardless of its outcome, will raise the awareness amongst citizens that our country has recently regressed to a martial law state and that basic rights must be defended.
To Christian, author of the first comment,
A parade is also in line with Gandhian principles. It nonviolently challenges an unjust law.
There may be a risk of agent provocateurs interfering, but that should not be a reason to stop going ahead with the parade. I think it is good for the movement to take its protest beyond Freedom Square. More people can see their action and it forces the government to pay attention. It also further highlights the problems of the Parade and Assembly Law.
A noble American pacifist tipped me off to a good rule of thumb for pacifists on parade.
Prior to your walk, if you tell everyone that "If they see violence, the should; Slow down, stop, sit and point" (Well spread organizers to blow the stop signal ensures this is done smoothly)
You can :
1) Give everyone a chance to see who is perpetrating the violence.
2) Ensure the action hungry media get the perpetrators on tape, while leaving them little room to spin.
3) Allow police to act accordingly.
4) Show participants and observers, just how few are willing to resort to violence.
Thanks for the input stefwho and Dave
P.S Nice site Dave
http://blog.taiwan-guide.org/
You tipped me off to the Taichung post..
Am I to understand the Strawberry vigil at C.K.S is coming to a close??
Or is it just the Taichung crew returning to mobilize?
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