On October 19 at least 20 000 people demonstrated against European Union policies outside of an informal EU summit being held in Ghent, Belgium. There were several actions during the day. Many organisations held their own actions, such as a "students strike" (2000 people), an ATTAC gathering (100), a pink and green march organised by anarchists (600) and a union demonstration (8000). Many Non-Governmental Organisations had their own smaller actions. In the evening a very large demonstration (20 000) took place, followed by a party less than 200 metres from the summit's meeting place. The left parties in Belgium government (Greens & Socialists) demonstrated in the big evening march, resulting in a "pie-fight."
The original focus of the demonstrations had shifted slightly due of the "War on Terrorism." There was still a strong reaction against the corporate-dominated econonomic policies of the European Union but the topics "peace" and "anti-war" were omnipresent. Beside the demonstrators, the streets of Ghent were nearly empty. While the mayor of Ghent had cautioned citizens and shop owners about impending violence, there was no violence so the 3500 police had little to do. Rather than focus on the content of the protests, most corporate media chose to focus there reports on why there was no violence.
For detailed multilingual, multimedia coverage of the demonstrations as well as the issues that motivated them, visit IMC-Belgium.
