Talk:Anti-WEF protests in Switzerland, January 2003

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it should maybe be noted that "holy cow" is a current metaphor in switzerland, refering to anything considered above criticism, without evoking Judaism. The Swiss Army, for example, was frequently called, and portrayed as, a "holy cow". dab (ᛏ) 12:19, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

In English, too; c.f. Holy cow, or better yet, Sacred cow. Lupo 14:57, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Dieter, I didn't have much time to research, and I won't have much time over the weekend either. What follows is all by memory, will need to be backed by research (a trip to the library will be necessary, as the on-line archives of both the Tages-Anzeiger and the Berner Zeitung are pay-per-view, and most of the available on-line info is from anti-WEF groups). In general, I think this needs more background, and the discussion on the picture takes up half of the article, which is too much. The latter point I'd try to address by expanding the rest of the article, not by cutting down on the image discussion. Here are some assorted ideas; will have to be put into context.

  • The lock-down over the Prättigau and Davos needs to be explaind more. This also needs some context: Swiss authorities overplayed it (or just followed a hard line, depending on the POV; in any case they were very nervous) also because of the riots at previous similar meetings (see e.g. Genoa Group of Eight Summit protest (2001) and WTO Meeting of 1999 (1999)). Besides protecting the participants of the WEF, they also wanted to avoid such "all-out" riots. In Genoa, one protester was even killed. Bad publicity.
  • The lock-down was highly controversial even before, and remained so after. The use of the army to supplement the police forces in implementing it ("Armeeeinsatz gegen Innen"), which due to the nature of the Swiss Army ("Milizarmee") is always critical because it isn't just a "Professional soldiers doing their job" but more a "Citizen vs. citizen" situation. The local population in the Prättigau also didn't like the lock-down at all, because it impeded their free travelling.
  • IIRC, the train that should have brought many protesters back to Zurich (and then home) from Landquart was re-routed without stop first to Olten (?) and then to Berne because of militant groups in the train. Only in Berne they could leave the train. In Berne, the frustration of the thus detained protesters then exploded, leading to the riots of Berne. I think (but would have to check) that part of the reason for not letting them disembark at Zurich was that much of the police of Zurich was in the Grisons at the time.
  • Numbers are missing: about 2000 protesters made it to Davos nevertheless. Lots more were detained for the day in the lower Prättigau and never even came close to Davos.
  • How was that U.S. flag modified?
  • What were the consequences of all that? Politically? IIRC, the "Einsatzdispositiv" (strategy) was changed for the 2004 WEF, Wasserfallen (Berne's director of the police) had to switch to another department against his will after that "terrorism" comment (and some (unrelated? or was there a relation?)) conflict between him and the commander of the Bernese police forces. What lessons—if any—were learned? How were the protests in Geneva and Lausanne against the G8 meeting in Évian-les-Bains handled? (Again, the army was used, Ouchy (the lakeside of Lausanne) was closed off.) What were the consequences for the WEF itself? Note that some of these questions may already be answered in related articles; I didn't check. In that case, pointers would be needed.

Lupo 07:28, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

P.S.: And the sacred cow interpretation has to go in. I believe the symbolism of that cow is a mix between "golden calf" and "sacred cow". AFAIK, calves do not have horns, yet. :-) Lupo 07:35, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Of course! The discussion of the image is completely out of proportion. The reason for this is that I created the article to have a place to discuss the image, because it was shown around as evidence of anti-semitism. A lot of work would go into a good representation of the events, and I see you have already invested a good deal. I do not have the intention to raise this to FA level at all, I would never have even created this article had it not been for the image. But since it's here now, of course I would like to see it expanded into a comprehensive report. I think all you say above is entirely correct. The US flag issue is a really minor point, imho. Keep in mind that all this took place at a time immediately before the USA invaded Iraq, and I was a bit concerned that criticism of US policy may be overshadowing criticism of globalisation, which was what the whole thing was really about. But Iraq was on everybody's mind , so it really turned out a protest against US Iraq policy as much as anything else. The symbolism used may well be interpreted as Anti-American, but it was really directed against the Bush administration, not against the US in general, as is generally the case with recent European "Anti-Americanism". Anyway, the US flag was modified so that the white stripes were the exhaust streams of cruise misslies, and I think the stars were replaced with nuclear signs.

re "holy cow", yes, the symbolism of "holy cow" (as in Hinduism) and "golden calf" (as in Exodus) (which are, of course, genetically related via Bronze Age Bull worship) was conflated, not only on this occasion, but as a metaphor going back at least to the "Swiss Army holy cow" meme of the late 1980s, that's what I was trying to say above. dab (ᛏ) 08:04, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Actual progress[edit]

Now It would be time to create a 2004 and 2005 page. And a actual page for the current protests (2006) that happen just right now. helohe (talk) 15:00, 30 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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