European Social Forum - First ESF

First ESF

The first forum was held in Florence in November 2002. The slogan was "Against war, racism and neo-liberalism," with specific reference to George W. Bush's plan for regime change in Iraq.

Before its opening the ESF created a large political debate between different Tuscan local personages. The President of the Region, Claudio Martini, although criticised on some points by no-global activists, had been a supporter of the movement since the time of the Genoa Group of Eight Summit protest) on one side and the right-wing Italian government on the other. People feared that the ESF could provoke riots and accidents such as those of the Genoa Group of Eight Summit protest, from July 18 to July 22, 2001. Florentine individuals, such as the controversial journalist Oriana Fallaci, intervened in the debate. Fallaci invited the people of Florence to shut up every shop and stay in their houses. She also compared the ESF to the nazi occupation of Florence. Other opponents of the ESF included the political scientist Giovanni Sartori, a liberal critic of Silvio Berlusconi's government but an admirer of the United States, and the film-maker Franco Zeffirelli, whose right-wing political views were already well-known. Another group of intellectuals from various political strands defended the ESF and signed an appeal favourable to the meeting. Among these were the journalist Tiziano Terzani and the organizers of the "professors' movement" (a group of university professors that had organized both a demonstration and discussion groups against Berlusconi's policies).

In fact, the European Social Forum, which occupied the historical Fortezza da Basso and other conference buildings with its 60.000 delegates, did not provoke any incidents. It ended with a huge demonstration against the war, which the organizers claimed included the participation of 1,000,000 people. The debate on peace and pacifism considered the most important debate ion the session, although the program of the Forum included a large spectrum of issues: (immigration, European Union's constitution, the Tobin Tax]] and many others). Gino Strada, president of Emergency, the Italian association that helps civil victims of armed conflicts, and a leader of the pacifist movement, was one of the most popular orators. Some large NGOs such as Amnesty International joined the ESF, together with more radical groups such as ATTAC and the left-wing parliamentarians. At the end of the meeting, even pro-globalists such as the then president of the European Commission Romano Prodi showed sympathy for the moderation of the movement and for its pacifist stance.

In the final assembly the call was launched for a Europe-wide day of action on what would become the February 15 Global day of action against the war. (Stop the War:The story of Britain's biggest mass movement, Andrew Murray and Lindsey German, ISBN 1-905192-00-2, p. 107)

A network of volunteer translators, Babels, was set up to interpret the event into the various languages of the people attending.