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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2003
Millions over the globe oppose Bush's war on IraqNew York City More than half a million people turned out for a massive anti-war rally, Feb. 15, in New York City, joining the issues of stopping Bush's war machine and confronting the mounting threat of a U.S. police state. A permit to march past the UN was denied by the city, with the denial upheld by the federal courts as a "security hazard." Then, a permit to march at all was denied. The rally took place on First Avenue and extended uptown from a few blocks north of the UN--which the city powers assiduously separated us from. But as whole subway cars filled with demonstrators flowed out of the Lexington Avenue subway station to reach the rally site a few blocks east, they were blocked by police barricades. The enormous crowds were told by the police to walk many blocks further uptown to gain access to First Avenue. Ironically we were not given a permit to march but nevertheless were marched all over the place. Not surprisingly, a tense scene developed as the crowds swelled but were prevented from reaching the destination some had traveled long distances to reach. There were many busloads of demonstrators from New England states and upstate New York. The News and Letters Committees contingent wanted to use an empty side street to walk one block further to reach the rally. A dozen police blocked our way. When I argued that the side street was empty and did not obey instructions to immediately move uptown, a cop took me by the shoulders and forcibly turned me around. The chant, "Whose street?--our street" was raised as we stopped traffic and essentially, briefly, controlled the streets of the fancy Sutton Place section of Manhattan. The police caused a security hazard when they rode horses into the protesters who had taken over the avenues, forcing us to retreat onto the sidewalk. They then threatened to arrest us for obstructing the sidewalks, after they had forced us there. Roughly 70 feeder marches fed into the rally site. We met a small youth contingent in Union Square. Most were students at an alternative high school, School of the Future, who had come with the teacher who had urged them to join the rally. Educators for Social Responsibility and other teachers marched with signs that read, "Study war no more." Almost every demonstrator carried his or her own sign. One mocked "King George." A man identified himself as "Mister Mainstream." A teenager's sign said: "Empty warhead found in the White House." There was a strong sense of camaraderie, a sense that we were in this together. The fact that so many had written their own message represented a combination of both collective resistance and individual imagination. Marx referred to phenomena such as this as expressing "the social individual" in his 1844 ECONOMIC AND PHILOSOPHIC MANUSCRIPTS. A Marxist-Humanist contingent carried a banner which read: "No to war and terrorism! For a new human society!" There was a scattering of people of color at the demonstration but not a concentrated number, and very few Hispanics who now constitute the largest "minority" group in the U.S. The rally stretched uptown from East 49th Street to 72nd Street. Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for "Peace! Peace! Peace!" Let America listen to the rest of the world--and the rest of the world is saying, "Give the inspectors time.'" --Eli Messinger San Francisco Between 200,000 and 300,000 people demonstrated here against the war on Feb. 16. It was remarkable because this march came a day after millions demonstrated around the world. There were sizable labor contingents in this march raising Bush's attacks on workers especially in the recent use of Taft-Hartley in the west coast ILWU lockout. Representatives from many groups contrasted the drive to war with neglect at home--from nurses raising healthcare issues to teachers concerned with education. In general, people wanted to make a statement because of what the new pre-emptive war policy says about our country. Many signs like one that read "Osama bin Forgotten" questioned the rationale for Bush's fixation on Iraq just now when the inspections are going forward and most of the world opposes his adventure. Iranians carried a large banner proclaiming "Iranians against war and oppression." Given Iraq's attack on Iran a decade ago (when Hussein was doing the U.S.'s bidding), it was a great show of solidarity, recognizing perhaps the two worlds in each country: Iraq's ruler may have attacked Iran, but most Iraqis should not suffer the ravages of war. People of color were well represented throughout the
march and several Asian and Middle Eastern groups formed a block of about 700,
moving to the beat of a thunderous samba drum-line at one end and a corps of
Korean drummers at the other. A small band of Japanese Americans carried poster-sized
photos of Japanese immigrants undergoing INS re-registration circa 1940, and of
Japanese Americans being processed for detention after the Pearl Harbor attack.
The captions read, respectively, "It didn't work then, it doesn't work
now" and "Never Again." While many still believe that even huge sustained marches may not prevent the war, there is hope that the depth of opposition to this war even before it starts cannot be ignored. --Bay Area participants Detroit People from the Detroit metropolitan area joined millions more around the world on Feb. 15 in an anti-war march. Despite cold and wind (one woman’s sign read "Freezing for Peace”) peace and labor activists, high school and college students and many others concerned with justice and human rights came out to march. The line stretched almost a half mile; nearly half the participants were barred from the rally inside Cobo Convention Center once the capacity of 1,500 was reached. The march had almost no publicity in the city, and very few Black Detroiters were present. A small group of Iraqi-Americans carried signs reading “No to war; No to Saddam; Yes to the people of Iraq.” I heard some of the march organizers complaining that their signs did not say “Down with Bush”! They want to build the anti-war movement but cannot understand the concept as formulated by those most immediately affected. Marxist-Humanists, on the other hand, will seek to reach those in the largest Arab-American community in the U.S. who oppose war and the horrors Saddam Hussein has been getting away with since the first George Bush resuscitated him after the 1991 Gulf War. --Susan Van Gelder Memphis On Feb. 15, in solidarity with peace activists the world over, we held one of the biggest political actions this city has seen in years. Over 250 came to demonstrate against Bush's war plans at a rally that was often joyous and at the same time completely serious. Homemade signs spoke of people's fears, hope, and their profound mistrust of Bush and his administration. One sign said simply, "Ashcroft must go." Another expressed what so many fear: "In every war there is a Hiroshima waiting to happen." A young girl held a sign reading, "Iraqi people are our brothers and sisters." There was a sign made to look like an American flag but in place of stars they had written "Duct 'N Cover," comparing the completely ineffectual advice to duct-tape plastic sheeting over doors and windows as a way to protect against chemical and biological weapons, to how children were told to duck and cover their heads in the 1950s as a way to protect themselves from a nuclear bomb. The speakers included a war veteran, a women's liberationist, an environmental justice activist, a Muslim cleric, peace activists, and a liberation theologian. All were well received because this was a crowd looking for answers and ways to move forward. All of us there realized that one demonstration will not do it, that we're in it for the long haul. --Women's liberation and peace activist London I have never experienced anything like it in my life. A carnival feeling was present in the anti-war march, Feb. 15. The size of the march was said to be between one and two million. The age and makeup of the crowds all made it special. There was an army of speakers and I did not stay to listen to them all. When Tariq Ali said there was a need for a change of regime here in Britain, he was greeted with much enthusiasm. One of the things I noted about the march was the high representation of people of colour. Another was the energy and vocal nature of the women present. But the anti-war movement is being led by some people with questionable reasons. The march provided a table for Charles Kennedy to put out his wares of parliamentary democracy and electoralism. There was much to ponder as I nearly tripped over an elderly homeless woman begging on the underpass. Thoughts of the nature of state power and how and when might the rank and file come in on their own. One had a glimpse of this great and immense power made all the worse as a stage army. There must be a battle ahead for the ideology and the direction of the anti-war movement. --Pat Duffy |
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