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NEWS & LETTERS, November 2002
Nationwide opposition to war
SAN FRANCISCO Upwards of 100,000 anti-war activists, environmentalists,
and people in other movements came out on Oct. 26 to protest impending war on
Iraq. WASHINGTON, D.C. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people came to Washington, D.C.
on Oct. 26 to protest Bush's plan for a war against Iraq. People came from all
over, including Arizona, North Carolina, Maine and Vermont. The streets and mall
were so packed that I couldn't even get close to the rally. The demonstrators were predominately students saying
"Hell no, we won't go!" The themes were that this is not our war, that we have
other priorities in this country. Many speakers said the U.S. was unjust and
mindless to go into another war. A big theme was that we need a regime change in
Washington. Soon-to-be-ex-Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was a strong
speaker. I was also glad to hear Medea Benjamin, the Green Party senatorial
candidate from California. She was arrested on the floor of Congress a few weeks
ago when demonstrators challenged Rumsfeld's speech on the need to invade Iraq. The U.S. is the real danger because it is the only country
with weapons of mass destruction that has used them. --Brooklyn Green anti-war demonstrator MEMPHIS, TENN. People here came together to re-energize the anti-war
movement and constitute ourselves as an active chapter of Peace Action. We began
by holding three peace vigils on the median strip of a busy parkway to catch the
morning and evening rush hour traffic. Over 50 people from the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center,
News and Letters Committees, and Pax Christi joined individuals from churches,
Rhodes College, Christian Brothers University, and the University of Memphis to
make our voices heard. Signs read: "No War for Oil," "Iraqi
people are our brothers and sisters," "No to war! No to terrorism! YES
to the new human society!" "Peace is patriotic," and "Peace
takes courage." What made the vigils so exciting was the response from
those driving by. We were stunned by the support. One driver seemed to speak for
many when he repeated over and over: "About time! About time!" And
from the reaction of others it was, indeed, as if people had been hungering to
see some sign of opposition to the incessant drumbeat for war coming from the
White House. --Feminist anti-war activist DETROIT Close to 1,000 people marched downtown Oct. 6 past the
Federal Building, where 14 people risked arrest by lying down on the sidewalk.
On Oct. 14 with very little publicity, 500 people--half of them college students
and including a delegation from the National Student Conference on the
Palestinian Solidarity Movement--gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel to protest
President Bush's appearance at a $1,000-a-plate Republican fund-raiser. Many demonstrators were disturbed, and some were confused,
by a couple of hundred Arab-Americans in traditional garments who came to
support war. They carried signs and shouted "Down with Saddam; yes to the
Iraqi people." A couple of people who went to their side by mistake were
almost beaten up. --Participant LOS ANGELES Thousands of people assembled at the West Los Angeles
federal building on Oct. 6 to protest the Bush administration’s drive for war
on the Iraqi people. The demonstration was sponsored by the coalition Not in Our
Name and featured signs and banners with anti-war and anti-Bush slogans. The
signs were visible to the thousands of drivers along Wilshire Boulevard. Ron Kovic, a Vietnam War veteran paralyzed from the waist
down, spoke. “We must change the course of history,” he said. “The
President is moving the country in a destructive and dark direction that has to
be altered and changed. The only way it will be changed is by the people.” Though the marchers were mostly white and middle class,
there were noticeable numbers of Black, Brown and Asian protesters. There were
progressives and left radicals present, but many attending were first time
protesters. --Participant NEW YORK Some 30,000 protestors from the city and surrounding areas held the “Not in Our Name” rally in Central Park’s East Meadow on Oct. 6. Unaffiliated protestors as well as large contingents from churches and other liberal organizations participated. The atmosphere was serious, people talked to each other, listened to the speeches and visited the literature tables. There were creative homemade signs and costumes interspersed among the crowd. David Brenner sarcastically joked about the Bush Administration “why not just go to war against the entire world.” It was encouraging for us to see so many people willing to come out in a time of general fear of both terrorists and the repressive Bush Administration. But large numbers of people won’t succeed if there isn’t a development of ideas beyond the ineffective past anti-war movements. The ideas of speakers were mostly pacifist and the organizing ideas were mostly vanguardist and with some anarchists present. --Participants |
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