Iraq war demonstration at Gioia del Colle, Italy, 5 April 2003

by Stephen Hewitt | Published 8 April 2003

On 5 April 2003 a demonstration against the military attack on Iraq took place at Gioia del Colle. Starting around 17:30 in Piazza Plebiscito, demonstrators marched twice around the town and then to the nearby military airport.

There was a brief sit-down in an Esso petrol station that was already closed. The marchers used a road along the perimeter of the base to reach the entrance. The police closed this road to other traffic.

Represented on the march, with their standards, were the following local authorities:

• Comune di Gioia di Colle (population 26,000)
• Comune di Santeramo in Colle (population 24,000)
• Comune di Alberobello (population 11,000)
• Provincia di Bari (Province of Bari, with population over 1.5 million)
• Comune di Gravina (population 40,000)
• Comune di Sammichele di Bari (population 7,000)