Anti-war activists gather to protest against Bush's European tour, Samia Nkrumah reports from Rome As the Italian government prepared to welcome United States President George W Bush on 4 June, anti-war protests were planned all over the country. Scheduled to take place on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Italy by American and British troops, the visit should, on the surface have neutralised popular opposition to the US invasion of Iraq. Indeed, a small gathering of US supporters was slated to take place in a central square in Rome on what they referred to as "Freedom Day". It brought together several veteran right-wing politicians and pro-government groups on the day Bush arrived in Italy. But their meeting was dwarfed by the march of thousands of anti-Bush demonstrators in the capital. In contrast to the veterans, they were mostly young people concerned with the present situation in the Middle East and its impact on Italy. According to organisers, on Friday afternoon alone around 200,000 anti-war protesters took to the streets of Rome. Earlier in the day militant and anarchist groups held a separate protest march in the Italian capital. It was feared that there would be violent clashes with the police, but apart from a few isolated and incidents, the march proceeded peacefully. In the afternoon, the protest was bigger and more organised. Many opposition parties -- particularly the Communists and the Greens -- took part, as did the pacifists and anti-capitalist globalisation groups. Non-governmental organisations, including Emergency and the biggest trade union, COBAS, also participated. International groups, including the Women in Black and Not in Our Name, were also present. Banners reading "No Bush, No War", "Bush Go Home" and "Get Out of Iraq" were widespread among rainbow-coloured peace flags and banners. Similar protests were held throughout the country. Giulietto Chiesa, a veteran journalist, government critic and candidate in the upcoming European parliamentary elections, took part in demonstrations in the northern city of Genoa. "If you consider all the demonstrations across the country, then we're talking about two million protesters," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. Chiesa is of the opinion that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi invited Bush to strengthen his standing prior to the European parliamentary elections this weekend. "It was a political error," Chiesa said, adding that the visit will not serve Berlusconi's intentions because he was not invited to the Normandy celebrations of the anniversary of D-Day. In Normandy, the US president met with the British and German leaders as well as the host, President Jacques Chirac. On the contrary, he argued that the Italian leader's isolation in Europe appears more pronounced after Bush's visit. Chiesa also predicts that the centre-right governing coalition will lose points in the European elections. As things stand, the government is already going on the defensive: Berlusconi recently commented that even if the government does not perform well at the European elections, there will be no serious political repercussions. "From Berlusconi's point of view, showing that he has the blessing of Bush is a great success. Whether being associated with Washington is an electoral plus or a minus is another question," commented Lucio Caracciolo, editor-in- chief of LIMES, a political bi-monthly journal. Caracciolo agrees that the general opinion is that the centre-right is heading for a loss in the European elections. However, it is uncertain whether the loss will be limited or considerable. Iraq is undoubtedly a big issue for European voters, but domestic, and especially, economic concerns weigh on voters' minds. Bush's European meeting with the three most powerful European leaders in Normandy comes at an important period. American-European relations have been strained due to differences over Iraq, notably with France and Germany. With this visit Bush hopes to signal that the traditional transatlantic alliance can still continue," added Caracciolo. France, with the backing of Germany and China, has recently proposed that the Iraqi interim government have a veto over the operations of US troops in Iraq. It is believed that a few other amendments are required before Washington would be able to push through its latest resolution on Iraq ahead of the 30 June deadline of transfer of power. Certainly courting European powers, especially if a new UN resolution materialises, will bolsters Bush's electoral campaign ahead of the November elections The Iraq war has never been popular in Italy and of late there have been growing calls to withdraw the 3,000 Italian soldiers stationed in Iraq. Just a few days before Bush's visit, Al-Jazeera TV aired a video of the three Italian hostages held by the "Green Brigades" in Iraq. The hostages appeared in good health and one was heard urging the Italian people to protest Bush's visit. Two things stood out in the protests over Bush's visit last week. One was the widely reported, unprecedented 10,000- strong police presence. One middle-aged demonstrator commented that in 30 years of demonstrating he had never seen so many police. Many parts of the capital were completely cordoned off and many streets were literally empty, with cars hauled away. The capital seemed deserted, like a city besieged. The way government-controlled TV stations minimised the size and scope of the demonstrations was another interesting feature. Coverage was limited to a few minutes and elicited scant comment by news anchors. The only images shown were those of gaps in the long procession of demonstrations, giving the impression that very few people participated, contradicting eyewitness accounts. Berlusconi even commented that the demonstration was a failure since only a few thousand turned out. The fact that TV felt obliged to effectively censor reports on the protests is significant. Only a couple of months ago, Lucia Annunziata chairwoman of RAI -- Italy's state-run channel -- resigned, bringing once again to the fore the dispute over Berlusconi's influence on the national media. "RAI is packed with political appointees," she said in a press conference announcing her resignation, adding that the government wants to exercise full control over public television. Annunziata was the only figure from the centre- left on the RAI board. Soon afterwards, Lilli Gruber, a news reporter who worked with RAI for 20 years, also resigned. "In RAI, the idea of imposing a single mainstream thought aligned to the government and its majority has never been as strong as it is now," she wrote in her letter of resignation. Gruber had been covering the war in Iraq, and wrote a diary of her stay there. She is now standing for the upcoming European parliamentary elections with the centre-left main opposition coalition, the Olive Tree, headed by European Commission President Romano Prodi. Late last year, the Italian Senate passed the Gaspari media bill, which effectively allows unlimited ownership of TV networks by a single company. It also means that a single owner can control both TV and newspapers. While the government argued that it would encourage the emergence of other TV networks, opposition figures protested that the new law benefits only Berlusconi, who already owns three TV channels and, by virtue of heading the government, has uncontested influence over RAI. Opponents have also cited the press freedom index published by the NGO Reporters Without Borders over a year ago, in which Italy ranks below smaller and poorer countries like Benin and Ghana. The index was drawn up by asking journalists, researchers and legal experts to answer approximately 50 questions on the subject of press freedom. On another note, an important aspect of Bush's visit was his meeting with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican. The Holy See's opposition to the Iraq war is well known. Analysts said that Bush's gesture was an attempt to bridge the political differences between Washington and the Vatican. The Pope's address specifically touched on the two divisive issues urging the speedy restoration of Iraq's full sovereignty and the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
