Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __________ Anti-war groups rally for restraint Jim Loney Friday, September 21, 2001 at 18:00 JST WASHINGTON - As war rhetoric rang in Congress and in the streets, some Americans marshalled forces on Thursday to urge President George W Bush to restrain the use of military force in response to attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Students held peace rallies on Thursday in Boston, Michigan, Wisconsin and the University of California-Berkeley, a focal point of anti-war protest during the Vietnam era. Even as they mourned the more than 6,500 dead or missing in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, a coalition of business and religious leaders and others, including actor Martin Sheen and civil rights legend Rosa Parks, said U.S. military action threatened to "spark a cycle of escalating violence." Many Americans have expressed a desire for revenge since the attacks, and polls have indicated some 90% favored the use of military force. But peace activists said there was a growing sentiment to curb war talk against an enemy not yet clearly identified. The business, entertainment and religious coalition ardently opposed a military response. "It would spark a cycle of escalating violence, the loss of innocent lives and new acts of terrorism," the group said in a statement. "The carnage of terror knows no borders. Our best chance for preventing such devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and cooperatively as part of a community of nations within the framework of international law," the group said. Signers included singer Harry Belafonte, actor Danny Glover, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, singer Bonnie Raitt and environmental, university and community groups. "I think there will be a surprisingly large peace response to this crisis," said Kit Bonson, a director of the Washington Peace Center, a pacifist and human rights group planning a major event in the U.S. capital on Sept 30. "I don't think the (Bush) administration understands that yet." In Berkeley, California, students geared up for protests opposing the U.S. build-up in the Gulf and calling for an end to racial scapegoating following last week's attacks. Media magnate Ted Turner, in comments on Wednesday at the United Nations where he delivered a $31 million check to cover part of U.S. dues to the world body, cautioned Washington not to indiscriminately start bombing countries. "I think that since we have had terrorism for over 30 years in both Israel and Ireland just by killing people, we've got to be awfully careful that we don't hurt innocent people," he said. A rally on Thursday at UC-Berkeley drew several hundred people. The Berkeley Stop the War Coalition started a "green armband" protest in solidarity with Arab and Muslim Americans. "We totally sympathise with the victims' families and their friends, but we also knew that there was going to be a huge amount of backlash," said Yvette Felarca, a coalition member. "We're fighting for justice at home." Some 100 mostly student protesters carrying signs with slogans like "All Violence is Wrong" held a vocal anti-war protest at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. "I think the people who are against violence might be under-represented in the media," said Nancy Stoll, 43, a homemaker who joined the march with her three small children and a sign that read: "Bombing Afghan Children Won't Help." "You're seeing lots of American flags and lots of people that feel the answer is to go and bomb them but I think there's a lot of people out there who don't feel that way," she said. At the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus, more than 400 people, mostly students, turned out for a rally, said Molly McGrath, who works for the Progressive media project, which is part of the liberal Progressive magazine. "People are really upset about the racist backlash going on," McGrath said, adding that the crowd chanted "1-2-3-4 we won't support your racist war." The Washington Peace Center said it would meet this weekend to discuss a response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks and to plan its peace event on Sept 30. "Violence begets violence and there are alternatives to open-ended war against an unidentified enemy," Bonson said. The event, expected to attract a wide-range of anti-war activists, was scheduled on the weekend the International Monetary Fund and World Bank had intended to hold their annual meetings in the U.S. capital. The organizations cancelled the meetings out of security concerns. 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