------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the April 3, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
PROTESTERS STORM SAN FRANCISCO STREETS
By Brenda Sandburg San Francisco
As the Bush administration launched its murderous war on Iraq, tens of thousands of protesters took over the streets of San Francisco, shutting down much of the city on March 20. Activists had first learned about the onset of bombing the night before, during a march of 10,000 in the rain.
On the morning of March 20, thousands of students and workers called in sick or walked out of their schools and jobs. The call for "no business as usual" the day the war started in order to show mass opposition had been issued in prior weeks by anti-war coalitions, including Inter national ANSWER--the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism coalition.
At 7 a.m. on March 20, dozens of simultaneous direct actions began, organized by Direct Action to Stop the War. Demon strators blocked intersections and key buildings in the financial district. The large number of actions kept police jumping from one location to another and allowed protesters to hold areas for long periods of time.
About 2,400 protesters were arrested over a three-day period beginning March 20.
An ANSWER affinity group joined the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition and S.F. Presente to shut down Bechtel Corp.--the military contractor that won a multi-million-dollar contract to rebuild Iraq after the United States destroys it. The ANSWER contingent marched in a column to the entrance of Bechtel and locked arms.
Lisa Roellig, an ANSWER activist and member of Marin Peace and Justice, said she and other members of her group were arrested while reading the names of the Iraqi men, women and children killed in 1991 in the Al Ameriyah shelter by a Pentagon bomb during the first Gulf War.
'WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS!'
Roellig and her 18-year-old daughter, Alexandra Phillips, were among a group of people arrested March 20 who refused to give their names to police as an additional form of protest.
While other activists were processed in about eight hours, Roellig said those who withheld their names were held for 24 hours and treated harshly. "My daughter, who is almost totally blind, had bruises all over her arms," Roellig said. "They twisted our wrists and arms behind us; the pain was so shocking."
In addition to direct actions March 20, ANSWER held a mass rally and march through the city that drew about 15,000 people. Students from many high schools took part.
"If 10- and 11-year-olds can figure out that this war is wrong, adults and the government should be able to, too," a 12-year-old student from James Lick Middle School said at the rally.
High school students led the march as it surged onto Market Street, its ranks swelled by people coming from the direct actions in the financial and commercial districts.
The cops tried twice to block the protest from proceeding down Market Street. Riot police and California Highway Patrol officers lined up in front of the march, carrying shields and pointing teargas guns.
But both times the cops were forced to back down because of the militancy and determination of the protesters who loudly chanted, demanding their right to the streets.
The confrontation energized the crowd, which then marched six miles-- down Mar ket Street to Van Ness and up Calif ornia Street, one of the steepest streets in the city.
Drivers honked their car horns and cable-car operators on California Street rang their bells in support.
Protests continued into the night. People could not bear to be quiet while Iraqis were being killed.
SAN FRANCISCO: SYMBOL OF U.S. RESISTANCE
A demonstration of 75,000 was held March 22, initiated by ANSWER and Vanguard Public Foundation.
It was the third major action organized by ANSWER in four days. The first was on March 19 at 5 p.m.--the deadline the Bush administration had set for the start of war. About 90 minutes into the action, the United States started bombing Iraq.
ANSWER also participated in a civil disobedience action March 24, blocking the entrance to the Transamerica Pyra mid, where the Carlyle Group has offices. The Carlyle Group, one of the nation's biggest military contractors, has strong ties to the Bush administration. George Bush Sr. is one of its top advisors.
Protesters have been in the streets of this city almost every day since the U.S. attacks began. People call the ANSWER office continuously to find out when the next action will be.
"San Francisco has become a symbol of resistance, an inspiration to our brothers and sisters around the world," said ANSWER organizer Tahnee Nye. n
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