Easter demos
April 5, 2010
The Easter peace marches in Germany this year focused on the conflict in Afghanistan, shortly after three more German soldiers were killed, and as Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle described the military situation there as a "war."
"Troop withdrawal [from Afghanistan] must begin immediately," the protest organizers wrote in a statement, saying this was the only way to secure peaceful reconstruction in the country. Germany's engagement in the Afghan mission is very unpopular with the public.
Over the weekend, tens of thousands of demonstrators in cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich also protested against atomic weapons, military spending, and war in general. The demonstrations are part of a 50-year tradition of pacifist marches during the Christian holiday weekend of Easter.
"I like peace - Krieg ist mies"
As usual, protestors around the country paraded with various banners calling for an end to war, with the roughly 1,200 in Munich preferring the motto "I like peace - Krieg ist mies", a message which roughly translates as "war sucks."
The leader of the Network of the German Peace Movement, Manfred Stenner, described the marches as a "living tradition, and a necessary correction to the failures of the German government in governing to promote peace."
"The new developments over Easter have reminded us of the oft-repressed and brutal reality of the war in Afghanistan, and of its hopelessness," Stenner said, referring to an attack on Bundeswehr soldiers which killed three and wounded eight on Friday, and to a friendly fire incident in which six Afghan soldiers died.
Stenner said members of the peace movement mourn the death of the German soldiers, and of all the "needless victims" of the war. The German government recently agreed to send a further 850 soldiers to Afghanistan, and over Easter Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle stated that Bundeswehr soldiers will stay until their work is done.
Organizers of the Easter marches estimate that up to 40,000 people took to the streets over the course of the weekend at around 70 marches around the country.
The German peace marches began in 1960, following the lead of similar events in Britain, and became a central feature of the civilian movement against nuclear weapons, especially during the 1980s.
msh/dpa/AFP
Editor: Rob Turner