WTO Protest in Geneva

Today was the long awaited protest against the seventh ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization. I was at the library trying to finish my paper when I got a call from my friends to join them at Rue de Paquis where a huge crowd had accumulated to protest in the morning. I joined them and we were carried with the crowd, the aim was to attempt to get past the police to the WTO HQ. There were thousands of protesters with placards, people who just came to watch, people who didn't know what the hell was going on but joined the screaming for the fun of it, teenagers being foolish, parents dragging their little children away from the chaos... Not long after I joined my friends, the police began to shoot rubber bullets and rain tear gas on the crowd. It became like a cat and mouse game (I lost my friends at this point). I got pushed around while trying hard to escape the tear gas and bullets. At that moment, I was thinking, "Who sent you here?"... I did not come to this country to get arrested and beaten down by the police... my parents will probably have a fit if they find out about where I spent my Saturday :)

I have to say, the police was very well prepared, there were officers dressed like robocop with huge batons and weaponry (hehehe), an armored truck was around the corner, officers on power bikes zoomed past towards the front of the crowd where the rowdiness was high, police cars lined the streets and everything in the Geneva slowed down or stopped (i.e traffic, restaurants, stores etc), some streets where blockaded. This experience reminded me of some the protests I have witnessed elsewhere, the only difference was that the soldiers shot real bullets at the protesters not rubber bullets. I always seem to find myself in protests for some reason (hehehe)... that is another topic for another day!

Anyway, it was a very interesting experience, it is always great to see the masses organize for a cause. Whether or not the protest will change anything about the reality is a fruitless discussion, I think. It is good (sometimes, on rare occassions... hehehe) to get out of the safety that we so carefully surround ourselves with and stick it to the man... or woman. I got a bit tired of running around with the crowd and the police, my throat and eyes were beginning to hurt from the tear gas. It took me a while but I was able worm my way out of the chaos and carry myself to the safety of the nearby Gare Cornavin... phew!