The Anti-War Coalition is most widely known for its role in the protests that spanned from 20 to 24 of September, 2006.[citation needed] These protests took place in two parts at the Air Force Base in Ysterplaat, Cape Town. This was to oppose the International Weapons Fair.[citation needed]
Key messages
Slogans such as Stop the War, War is no Solution, and Stop United States Imperialism have been used at rallies.[citation needed]
Internal conflicts, ANC and WIVL criticism
An attempt to bring together AWC and ANC at a meeting in February 2003 failed. ANC policy director Michael Sachs told the meeting that the ANC leaders were uncomfortable with the more vigorously anti-imperialist language of the AWC. The rift grew bigger when Sachs falsely claimed that the Stop the War Campaign, rather than the AWC, had organized the February 15th protests. Because of this, the AWC refused to have ANC speakers on the stage of its Johannesburg anti-war rally.[1]
The AWC has also been criticised for being too closely allied to the Workers International Vanguard League WIVL at the expense of broader issues that affect international peace and justice. In effect, AWC is WIVL, and the organisation continues to operate without consulting of its membership or affiliates.[citation needed]
Allied groups
War is a Drag and Laugh not War
Two small, independent anti-militarist outfits that participated in the February 15th campaign and loosely associated with the AWC. Their aim was to introduce a more pacifist style to the revolutionary rhetoric of the AWC and power-mongering of the supposed Stop the War Campaign.[citation needed]
