-Caveat Lector- from - http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=117181
(also on the indymedia site at - http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=126422&group=webcast ) Go on, punks, make our day... New York awaits anti-globalisers By David Usborne in New York 30 January 2002 The message from New York to anyone who wants to disrupt the World Economic Forum that opens here tomorrow, perhaps by smashing a few windows at Starbucks in the name of social justice, is emphatic: just try it. This is a city with a history of social and political tolerance. But it is also a city that wants a break from violence. Just what will happen when about 2,000 delegates arrive in town - they include about 30 heads of government, business chieftains, and prominent cultural and religious figures - no one can quite say. That is because those who would spit on them, the anarchists and political agitators who make up what is loosely-termed the anti-globalisation movement, are in a fearful quandary: to raise Hell or not to raise Hell. The hard core of violent protesters who so dramatically derailed the World Trade Organisation summit in Seattle in 1999, and provoked not dissimilar scenes of street disobedience at ministerial gatherings last year in Genoa, Italy, and Gothenberg, Sweden, desperately needs fresh adrenalin. The events of 11 September drew world attention away from their agenda. And in the months after the attacks, its association with violence left a bad taste. This week should provide it with the perfect opportunity. No target is more sweet for its many adherents than the WEF, which once boasted that its participants represented no less than three-quarters of the world's wealth. And this year it has chosen New York City as its venue and, more specifically, the swanky Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue. The world's broadcasters are here too. What better moment could there be for a street ruckus? But it is much more complicated than that, of course. If trouble does erupt over the next few days in New York, any public sympathy for the movement might be lost. New York is a city still in mourning; let anyone dare trample on that. And it was one thing to battle the police in Seattle and in Genoa and portray them as the enemy of social justice. But since 11 September, every policeman and policewoman in this city is a hero. But they cannot just hide. Brooke Lehman, a member of Another World Is Possible, the umbrella group for the numerous factions who are fighting against global integration, said: "If we back down now, we'll send the message that the globalisation movement has been scared quiet. I think it's more important to come together and put our message out, knowing full well the media may spin it in such a way that's unfavourable, but that's a chance I think we have to take." The WEF has been running its annual gatherings - essentially as giant cocktail parties for the powerful to hob-nob - since 1971. Until now, it has always taken place under the snowy slopes of Davos in Switzerland. The organisers decided to abandon the ski resort out of solidarity with New York after the attacks of September. The theme this year will in part be resolving conflict and searching for better understanding of religious differences worldwide. They also skipped Davos in part because of the ever worsening nightmare of providing security. The Swiss authorities were tiring of the responsibility and of the cost. Ironically, it was far easier to stop anarchists reaching Davos up the single rail line that links it to the outside world than it will be to keep troublemakers away from Park Avenue in New York City. Just in case blood does run hot, the New York Police has served notice that it will practice zero tolerance of civic disobedience. Four thousand officers, in uniforms and plain clothes, will surround the hotel. Post boxes have been removed and manholes welded shut. And in case mass arrests are necessary, a warehouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yards has been prepared to hold up to a thousand protesters. That is not to say that demonstrations will not take place. Four permits for marches have been issued by the city so far. Moreover, special pens on pavements close to the hotel have been erected for protesters to gather. If they shout loud enough, delegates at the Waldorf's main entrance might just be able to hear them. But the police will not sit back if more radical tactics are adopted, such as sit- downs to block the streets and violence. To signal how serious they are, the police have warned they will enforce an 1845 law that forbids people to wear masks in the street. "That is a law that is on the books," said Joseph Esposito of the NYPD. "If three or more people are marching with masks on, they are violating the law and that will not be tolerated." "If people want to come to New York to protest in a peaceful manner, we welcome and respect their right to do so," said Michael O'Looney, the department's spokesman. "But keep in mind that the citizens of this city have been through a lot in the last five months. We will not tolerate anyone breaking the law." Some people among the anti-globalisation ranks predict the attitude of the NYPD guarantees there will be mass arrests. Others think that most in the movement will opt for non-violent forms of protest. Street theatre is likely to feature large, with many protesters taking to the streets with giant puppets mocking the WEF and its guests. "It's a brilliant PR move, to essentially dare the anti-globalisation movement to do anything in confrontation with the NYPD," says Mike Dolan, the deputy director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. "The minute a provocateur puts a brick through a window in Manhattan, the media will grab onto it and that'll be the story. In the post- September 11 climate, this is a trap." If it is a trap, some may feel inclined to fall into it anyway. David Graeber of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence, a coalition of anarchist groups, said: "We feel like we're under some obligation to do something, and to show that if you can do it now, in New York, you can do it anywhere. It's scary, they're going to kick our asses, but we've got to do it anyway." US security flashpoints: Winter Olympics A further 50 federal agents were yesterday dispatched to help boost security at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City amid concerns that terrorists could strike at areas away from the main sporting arenas. The games, to be held from 8 to 24 February, are expected to attract up to 70,000 visitors a day. The organisers say visitors will encounter security arrangements they have probably never had to deal with before. The security budget of $310m (�194m) is paying for 10,000 personnel, who will outnumber the athletes by four to one. 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