Indymedia York

On Saturday, over 70 people attended York Against the War's Day School at the Priory Street Centre. Meetings were held on Iraq, Palestine and Iran, on Islamaphobia, American Imperialism, on protest songs and on the Archaeology of War. Participants came from all over Yorkshire, with speakers from all over the country.

The two meetings in the first session were a promising start to the day: Prof. Haleh Afshar talking about Iran and Steve Roskams on the Archaeology of War. Haleh was part of resistance to the Islamic Regime in Iran, and is an expert on the plight of Women in that country. She had a very clear message to those who took part in marches against the war: "Thank You". She said that people in the countries affected realised that we had little to gain from giving up days to go and march.

Other meetings drew more controversy: the chair of Manchester Stop the War talked about Islamaphobia, but drew criticism on her view of the veil. Several people including Asian women spoke against the veil, but the speaker made her view clear that, as far as this country is concerned, if a woman wants to wear the veil, she must be allowed to do so; Women's Liberation is about women having the freedom to decide.

There were some key suggestions during the conference: action needs to be redirected to Hugh Bayley MP, who has failed to represent the city on many issues. Others spoke of the importance of organising "something big" at Menwith Hill, the local case of US Imperialism; a major march may be planned for sometime next year. And yes, everyone who brought a bike found a small piece of paper attached reminding them where to be on Friday...

All in all, this represented one of the most major local events staged by York Against the War. The last time a day school was run, only 11 people turned up. It proved yet again that, while planning meetings are getting smaller, York Against the War is still a crowd draw.