------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
ANTIWAR PROTESTS SWEEP COUNTRY--NEXT STEP IS OCT. 26! By Leslie Feinberg Sloughing off the weight of media and government assurances that the population of the United States is solidly behind Bush and his generals in their war frenzy to invade Iraq, people resisting the Pentagon plans are rising up, tall and strong. And if bus tickets, email and word of mouth are any indication, the national march against the war slated for Washington, D.C., on Oct. 26, along with the West Coast regional march in San Francisco, will be a high-water mark in the movement to put an end to Bush's self-declared endless war. A successful call for National Days of Resistance to War and Repression brought out tens of thousands across the country Oct. 6-7, "to pledge their resistance to endless war, detentions and roundups of Arab, Muslim and South Asian immigrant, attacks on civil liberties and war on Iraq," reports the Not In Our Name coalition Web site. Over 25,000 came out in New York City; 12,000 in San Francisco; 10,000 in Los Angeles; 10,000 in Seattle; and thousands in Chicago. Demonstrations were also held over that two-day period in Denver; Houston; Minneapolis; Salt Lake City; Anchor age, Alaska; Fresno, Calif.; New Haven, Conn.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Yellow Springs, Ohio; Corvallis, Eugene and Portland, Ore.; Westerly, R.I.; Nash ville, Tenn.; Charlottesville, Va.; Bellingham, Wash.; Kickapoo and LaCrosse, Wis.; and other cities. In Italy on Oct. 5, an estimated 1.5 million people in 120 cities demonstrated against the growing threat of a U.S. invasion of Iraq. In some cities there were two demonstrations, one in the morning and one in the evening. The largest were a morning demonstration in the northern industrial and financial center, Milan, and an evening march of 200,000 in Rome. NOT IN OUR NAME EVENTS The Oct. 6 gathering in New York's Central Park was the largest antiwar demonstration held in the U.S. so far. New Yorkers were joined by people from all over the Northeast, including many students, who came from as far away as Ohio. Speakers included Masuda Sultan, who lost 19 family members to the U.S. bombing of Afghan istan, and people who lost family members at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Celebrities Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Martin Sheen and David Byrne spoke. Feeder marches from many Bay Area communities swelled the San Francisco demonstration that packed Union Square. A group from Marin marched all the way across the Golden Gate Bridge. Speakers included musician Bonnie Raitt, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee San Francisco Chapter President Osama Qasem and Richard Becker of the International ANSWER coalition. Youths in Los Angeles kept marchers' spirits high with powerful chants as they passed the U.S. Army Training Center, led by members of the Filipino organization Bayan. Seattle's 10,000-strong march was believed to be the largest there since the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization. Almost a thousand people gathered in front of the Horton Plaza shopping complex in downtown San Diego with antiwar signs and banners. There was almost constant beeping of car horns as many motorists, bus and truck drivers, sounded their agreement with the antiwar, anti-Bush protestors. After a rally, protestors marched to the harbor where the local military establishment was holding Fleet Week activities. Even as local activists geared up for the Oct. 6-7 events, other picket lines, rallies, marches and vigils against the war are taking place--largely without coverage in the monopoly media--in towns and on campuses across the country. 'FREE PALESTINE, NO WAR ON IRAQ!' Atlanta is humming with antiwar activity. Some 400 people packed the sidewalk and spilled into the street in front of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee national summit meeting in one of the city's largest shopping areas Oct. 6. The diverse crowd included many youths, members of the Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities, African Americans and faith-based antiwar activists. Whole families of Palestinians chanted together and held protest signs demanding "Free Palestine, no war on Iraq" and "Stop U.S. funding for Israeli occupation!" The protest, organized by Atlanta Palestine Solidarity, International Action Center, Al-Awda and Students Organizing for Justice, was endorsed by many groups. Shortly afterward, more than 100 people took part in a colorful and spirited rally at a nearby park as part of the Not In Our Name regional protests. Many women of all ages-- the majority young--took part. The crowd cheered as passing cars "honked for peace." On Oct. 5, Atlanta activists protested at the governor's mansion where Gov. Roy Barnes hosted a dinner for AIPAC. The demonstration was called by Concerned Black Clergy to address the role of this ruling-class-dominated group in the defeat of progressive political candidates Cynthia McKinney and Earl Hilliard in recent primary elections. Union workers swelled the ranks of protest against Vice President Dick Cheney's Oct. 4 appearance at a breakfast fundraiser for Republican candidates at the Galleria Mall in Cobb County, Ga. The main demand focused on corporate crime and the loss of workers' retirement funds. Later that day, when Cheney traveled to Augusta, activists gathered outside a downtown hotel to demand no military aggression against Iraq. Weekly protests in front of Sen. Zell Miller's office are growing and the street response is overwhelmingly supportive. Atlanta antiwar activists are organizing to confront Bush during his planned visit to the city on Oct. 17. 'WE WON'T DIE FOR BIG OIL!' Hundreds gathered near the downtown Hyatt Hotel in Baltimore on Oct. 2 to protest President George W. Bush's visit for a fundraising dinner for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Erlich. Activists held signs aloft and chanted "We won't die for Big Oil" and "Stop the war against Iraq!" The protest, initiated by the All Peoples Congress, continued until Bush's motorcade had pulled away from the hotel. Fourteen antiwar protesters were arrested during a vigil at Sen. Hillary Rodham-Clinton's office in New York on Oct. 7. More than 40 people demonstrated in Utica, N.Y., on Oct. 8. Activists in Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Cananda igua, Kingston and other cities around the state are already planning buses to take people to the Oct. 26 march and rally. More than 350 people--from elders to infants, professors to elementary students, anti-racist activists to lesbian/gay/bi/trans activists--came out to a demonstration in Brattleboro, Vt., on Oct. 5, to demand "No war on Iraq!" The Brattleboro Area Peace and Justice Group, made up of individuals in southeastern Vermont and southwestern New Hampshire, sponsored the protest. They marched from Living Memorial Park through downtown, chanting "War is not the answer." They hoisted placards such as "Got milk? With sanctions Iraqi children don't" and "It's about oil." GRANDMOTHERS CALL TO END WAR An Iowa newspaper--the Des Moines Register--noted in its Sept. 30 edition that several hundred grandmothers had traveled to the State Capitol to register their demand for no war with Iraq. Carmen Zeitler is not a grandmother. But she was drawn to the event called by Grandmothers Call to End War. She told the media, "War is not the answer. Those who have called us here are powerful witnesses to that truth. Their fathers went to World War I, the first war to end all wars; their husbands went to World War II, the second war to end all wars; their brothers, their friends went to Korea; their sons to Vietnam. It is absurd to do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results." [Includes reports from Sharon Ceci, Bev Hiestand, Marge Maloney, Dianne Mathiowetz, Bob McCubbin, Bryan G. Pfeiffer and Minnie Bruce Pratt.] - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. 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