From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> AP. 29 September 2001. D.C. Protesters Call for Peace. WASHINGTON -- Activists and anarchists chanted "no war" as they took to the streets Saturday, their anti-globalization cause transformed by the terrorist attacks into a call for peace. The march began peacefully around 10 a.m., but police used pepper spray to control some protesters as they passed the D.C. Convention Center. A Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman said arrests had been made, but she could not provide further details. The Anti-Capitalist Convergence, an anarchist group based in the capital, rallied hundreds Saturday morning near Capitol Hill to march to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in downtown Washington. Rachel Ettling, 18, of Grand Forks, N.D., was one of several people holding up two giant paper skeletons labeled "Us" and "Them." A banner hanging between the skeletons read, "Violence does not solve violence." "We're urging the administration caution before they go to war in our name," Ettling said. Other banners read: "Arab does not equal terrorist," "Destroy imperialism, not Afghanistan" and "To stop terror, stop terrorizing." While some protesters arrived in black masks, others marched with their kids. One protester from Pennsylvania, who identified himself only as David, brought his 11-month-old son, Sage. "I brought him to teach him what freedom is like before it's gone," the father said. No organized counter-demonstrators met the anarchists. The protests were originally planned to oppose policies of the World Bank and the IMF. The global financial organizations called off their annual meetings for this year after the Sept. 11 attacks, and most protesters canceled their events. A few groups shifted focus to oppose what they call a rush to war by the United States that could kill many innocent people. The protesters also condemned the backlash against Arabs and Muslims and say that the Bush administration has used the attacks as an excuse to curtail civil liberties. An anti-war coalition led by the New York-based International Action Center had plans for a larger event Saturday that could draw more than 5,000 people, said organizer Richard Becker. Many groups representing American Muslims and Arabs were expected at the rally and to participate in a march that was beginning several blocks from the White House. The Washington Peace Center and other groups planned another march for Sunday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
