“But NATO!”: Left-wing splinter groups blame war for western rear-end collision on St Gallen town road that left one injured

Several hundred people gathered at Helvetiaplatz in Zurich on Saturday afternoon for a demonstration by the “No War” alliance. The meeting was organized by several small groups of the extreme left, such as the Labor Party (PdA) or the Swiss Marxist-Leninist Group (MLGS) and left-wing diaspora organizations.

Slogans and banners called for an end to arms deliveries, for Switzerland to withdraw from the NATO cooperation program “Partnership for Peace” and for sanctions against Russia to be lifted. In the demo’s organizers’ appeal, these were described as part of the “transatlantic warfare”. “The strengthening of fascist forces” in Ukraine and “the repression of the Russian-speaking minority” were also criticized.

All speeches condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine. However, those words seemed more like a mandatory exercise. Criticism of Western arms supplies and the “imperialist war alliance NATO” took up much more space. It must withdraw from Eastern Europe, including from countries that have voluntarily joined NATO.

Against the “demonization of Putin”

A participant in the demo had arrived with a candid statement accusing the US and NATO of driving Europe into World War III. When asked, the man denied that Russia was complicit in the war. It was the arms shipments from the West that caused the war.

The demand for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations also took up a lot of space. The speakers did not say a word about Russian President Putin’s lack of willingness to negotiate or the fate of the Ukrainian civilian population in the Russian-occupied territories after a possible ceasefire.

On the other hand, a speaker accused the “dominant Western media” of subtly spreading “Russophobia” since the 2014 Maidan uprising – in his view a “fascist coup controlled by the US”. Another condemned the “demonization of Putin”.

Some of the speeches dealt with less sympathy for Russia and bumbling media bashing and were based on fundamental criticism of the system. One speaker quoted the great French socialist Jean Jaurès as saying, “Capitalism carries war in it as clouds carry rain.”

Police wanted to talk to ‘freedom cheaters’

The stage of the opponents of the Covid measures was also called in advance to participate in the rally. But already at the beginning of the demonstration, Tarek Idri from the organizational alliance made it clear through the loudspeaker that organizations such as the “Freiheitstrychler” or “Mass-Voll” were not welcome. About two dozen Antifa activists also attended the rally. Your concern seemed to be to prevent a march of opponents of Covid measures.

The “freedom trychlers” drove a mobile home with a trailer on the edge of Helvetiaplatz. Benjamin Bloch, spokesman for the Zurich city police, said the permit holder had made it publicly clear that the “freedom trychlers” and similar groups did not want to be at the meeting: “For security reasons, we tried with the ‘freedom trychlers’. They would voluntarily refrained from mixing with the other rally participants No directions were given.

After a parade through the center of Zurich, the demonstration ended shortly before 5 p.m. on the Rathausbrücke. According to city police, there was no property damage or incident. (aargauerzeitung.ch)