International Answer

[Ivo Skoric]

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent:      	Sun, 27 Oct 2002 01:48:08 -0400
To:             	CERJ at igc.org
From:           	CERJ at igc.org
Subject:        	Washington Post on the Anti-War Demonstration
Copies to:      	Joseph Gerson <JGerson at afsc.org>

[100,000+ activists, three arrests -- very good, folks! -- John 
Wilmerding]

100,000 Rally, March Against War in Iraq 
By Monte Reel and Manny Fernandez
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 27, 2002; Page A01
 
Tens of thousands of people marched in peaceful protest of any 
military strike against Iraq yesterday afternoon, in an antiwar 
demonstration that organizers and police suggested was likely 
Washington's largest since the Vietnam era.

Organizers with International ANSWER, a coalition of antiwar 
groups that coordinated the demonstrat
ion, had hoped for a turnout rivaling that of its pro-Palestine rally in April that officials estim
ated at about 75,000.  Organizers said they easily eclipsed that figure yesterday, assessing 
attendance at well more than 100,000.  D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey also said he figured yes
terday's rally turnout exceeded that in April, but he didn't provide a specific number.

"We think this was just extremely, extremely successful", said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, a D.C. orga
nizer with International ANSWER, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.  "It absolutely shows that whe
n George Bush says America speaks with one voice, and it's his voice, he's wrong."

After a rally that lasted more than three hours at Constitution Gardens, near the Vietnam Veterans 
Memorial, the march began at 21st Street and Constitution Avenue.  Using 17th, H, 15th and E street
s NW, they circled the White House and returned to their starting point.  Shoulder-to-shoulder crow
ds filled the streets for several blocks.  When marchers at the front of the procession returned to
 Constitution Avenue on their way back, they had to wait to allow demonstrators at the tail of the 
march to pass.

Other demonstrations in cities including Rome, Berlin, Copenhagen, Denmark, Tokyo and Mexico City w
ere held to coincide with the Washington march, and in San Francisco at a sister march, thousands m
arched through downtown.

Protesters arrived by the busload, by car and by Metro early yesterday morning, some carrying signs
 and later joining in chants that echoed a common theme: A war against Iraq would be unjustified, t
hey said, and there is no consensus for it.

"Nebraskans for Peace" and "Hoosiers for Non-Violence" chanted alongside silver-coiffed retirees fr
om Chicago and a Muslim student association from Michigan.  Parents could be seen enjoying a sunny,
 picnic-perfect afternoon by pushing a stroller with one hand and carrying a "No War for Oil" sign 
with the other, and police on horseback monitored nearby.

The tone of the rally was far different from D.C.'s last major protest -- the September demonstrati
ons against the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.  During thos
e events, anti-globalization protesters had intended to paralyze the city with disruptive throngs, 
but their numbers were much smaller than expected, and they were dominated by a massive police pres
ence.  More than 600 people were arrested during the IMF and World Bank protests; yesterday, police
 reported three arrests.

Several groups, including the Anti-Capitalist Convergence that organized one of September's protest
s, mounted an independent march that fed into yesterday's rally and said everyone had agreed upon a
 non-confrontational goal from the outset.

"I don't think police want problems, and I don't think we want problems either", said Pat Elder, 47
, a Bethesda antiwar activist who participated in the un-permitted feeder march.

The morning began under hazy skies on the wet grass at Constitution Gardens, as thick mud sucked at
 the heels of the arriving demonstrators and the nearby Washington Monument appeared truncated by f
og.  But by noon the skies cleared and most of the lawn was shoulder-to-shoulder with people listen
ing to Jesse Jackson, actress Susan Sarandon, singer Patti Smith and former Attorney General Ramsey
 Clark, among other speakers.

Several speakers referred to Vietnam era protests, and organizers were eager to compare the current
 movement with the one that peaked with a rally of between 250,000 and 500,000 people in Washington
 in 1969.  The last large-scale peace protest in Washington was in 1991, when about 75,000 demonstr
ated during the height of the Persian Gulf War.

Unlike those protests, yesterday's rally was different in that it preceded war, and many interprete
d that as an indication of a potentially powerful movement.

"During the Vietnam War, no demonstration of comparable size took place until 1967, three years aft
er the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution [that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson congressional authority to 
expand the war in Vietnam]," said Brian Becker, co-director of the International Action Center, one
 of the groups that make up International ANSWER.

But if the passions of the Vietnam era led to protests that often trembled on the edge between cont
rol and chaos, yesterday's event suggested that this movement is burning at a lower flame.

"Here I'm not being spit on, people aren't throwing tomatoes at me and Joan Baez isn't singing", sa
id protest veteran Dot Magargal, 77, from Media, Pa.  "People just want to come out and say that no
t everyone wants to go to war.  This is a lot of people, a lot of voters, and it has to count for s
omething."

For those looking for symbols often associated with left-wing demonstrations -- Grateful Dead T-shi
rts, dreadlocks, anti-corporate slogans, Socialist newsletters --- plenty could be found.  But it w
asn't necessary to comb through the fringe to find people who didn't fit the mold.  Many said they 
were first-time protesters who had never attended a rally.  Some said they were against all war, no
 matter the circumstances, and others said they were simply against the possibility of an Iraq inva
sion.

"I've never in my life done anything like this before," said Marie Johnson, 31, of Columbia.  "What
 I wanted to do was say that even though Bush puts forth that everyone supports going to war agains
t Iraq, some of us don't.  I just thought it was important for me to do something to show how I fel
t."

Peggy McGrath, 59, said she hoped that Bush would look out of the windows of the White House to see
 that thousands disagreed with him.  She said she remained optimistic that he might change his mind
, especially if enough people voiced opposition.

"I think there's actually been a shift already in Bush's rhetoric in the last two weeks", said McGr
ath, who was on one in a caravan of eight buses from Chicago.  {I would definitely agree. -- JW]  "
The hope is that maybe he'll see this, and maybe it can be stopped before it's started."

Bush, however, wasn't at the White House.  He and first lady Laura Bush flew yesterday from their T
exas ranch to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where the president was attending the Asian-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation forum.  Among other things, Bush was seeking to rally fellow leaders behind his Iraq st
ance.

The president had some support at the rally from a group of about 100 counter-protesters who gather
ed at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue.  Along with activists from the national group Free Repub
lic, a group of Iraqi exiles chanted slogans against Saddam Hussein.  In one of the few points of t
ension during the day, police stepped into a scuffle between peace activists and counter-protesters
, and led away two of the former.

One who joined the counter-protesters, Imam Husham Al-Husainy, explained that he came to Washington
 from the Detroit area with about 40 Iraqis to present the view of people who had suffered under Hu
ssein.

"Most of these people across the street, they don't know the reality in Iraq", Al-Husainy said.

Although the main protest message was focused on opposing war in Iraq, a few other causes slipped i
nto the mix.  Many of the same people who marched for Palestinian rights in April joined yesterday'
s march, waving Palestinian flags.  But like others who had become activists for other causes, they
 said opposing the war was what brought them out yesterday.

"I don't come here to carry signs for fun", said Ribhi Ramadan, 36, who brought his family of seven
 from Paterson, N.J., to the protest.  "I support not just Palestine, but everywhere that's threate
ned by war."

Luigi Procopio, 45, a social worker from the district, wore a pink triangle with "$ FOR AIDS NOT WA
R" written on it.  He said even though he normally focuses his activism on issues in the gay commun
ity, he and at least a dozen friends came to protest the war in Iraq.

"It's time, man ... it feels imminent", he said.  "Congress has just rolled over."

Some protesters said they had been worried about attendance before they arrived at the rally.  Lari
na Brown, 22, a student from the University of Minnesota at Morris, said she had feared that she an
d the 30 friends she traveled with would be greeted by scant crowds.

"It's a relief, really", Brown said.  "I really wanted this to be a big statement, to show it's not
 just radical, anti-American people who go to these things."

Most of those who arrived in the morning on buses climbed back aboard shortly after the rally ended
.  By 5:45 p.m., the streets were almost deserted, and protesters had put down their signs and were
 sitting on park benches snacking.

Mark Zheng, 33, of Amherst, Massachusetts, stopped to take a photo of two friends in front of a fou
ntain in Lafayette Square.  Zheng, from China, had been at the Tiananmen Square protests.  He said 
he was impressed by the orderliness of the march.

"I think maybe people have different thoughts on things, but one thing is clear", he said.  "Peace"
.

Staff writers David A. Fahrenthold, Ylan Q. Mui and Mary Beth Sheridan and special correspondent Li
z Garone in San Francisco and wire services contributed to this report.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Thousands protest Iraq war in DC 
by Stefany Moore
>From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk
Published 10/26/2002 4:59 PM
Copyright © 2002 United Press International

Washington, October. 26 (UPI) -- A crowd estimated at more than 100,000 gathered in the nation's ca
pital Saturday to rally and march in protest of a potential war with Iraq.

In the shadow of the Washington Monument and steps away from the Vietnam War Memorial, the group de
manded a halt to preparations for a possible war against Iraq.

On the stage, Jesse Jackson -- his voice amplified across several acres of Constitution Gardens -- 
shouted, "If we act out of fear and not hope, we get bitter and not better."

"Sometimes wars are necessary", Jackson said.  "The Civil War to end racism was necessary.  World W
ar II to end fascism was necessary.  Even the war to get (Iraqi leader) Saddam (Hussein) out of Kuw
ait was necessary.  But now, we can do it a better way."

Similar demonstrations were scheduled Saturday in San Francisco, Chicago, London, Rome and other ci
ties all over the world, organizers said.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said one of the organizers, 21-year-old Eli Pariser, in an i
nterview.  Pariser's organization, Move On, said it raised $1.6 million in nine days via the Intern
et for congressional candidates who voted against the Iraq war resolution.

Pariser said he was shocked and surprised at the number of people that had contacted him lately who
 wanted to participate and told him, "I've never cared about anything this much before in my life."


People arrived in Washington by the thousands in buses, vans and cars packed with students, parents
, families, and senior citizens.  There were Muslim women wearing headscarfs, Catholic priests carr
ying placards, and children with peace signs on their T-shirts.  And the numbers were as large, if 
not larger, than the organizers predicted.

"They said we couldn't get 100,000 people!" shouted one of the organizers, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard,
 of Partnership for Civil Justice.  "There are people as far as I can see.  And we are growing!"

Organizers said the total surpassed 200,000, but police would not confirm any numbers.

The umbrella organization planning the protest was Act Now to Stop the War and End Racism (ANSWER).
  The demonstrators paraded along streets near White House, and participants represented a number o
f groups, including the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and the International Action Cen
ter.

In preparation for the march, a number of streets were blocked off and there was a significant poli
ce presence.  Many officers were on horses or motorcycles; some were in full riot gear.  But police
 stressed that their presence was only a precaution and that they did not expect any disruptions.

"They are a peaceful group", one officer said.

More than 30 people spoke against the war at the rally, including former U.S. Attorney General Rams
ey Clark, the Reverend Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, and Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's I
ce Cream.

Actress Susan Sarandon spoke as well.  "I am here as a mother because I am afraid for my children",
 she shouted.  "I'm afraid for our children.  I'm afraid for the Iraqi children."

The group criticized Congress for not representing the people when it authorized Bush to use force 
if Iraq refuses to allow inspections and removal of weapons of mass destruction.  They shouted in p
rotest against the Bush administration's foreign policy, which many of them said was imperialist.

A man in a black suit, smoking a pipe, passed out leaflets that read, "Are you ready for a perma-wa
r?"  A young girl with a ponytail, probably 4 years old, held a placard saying: "Blessed are the pe
acemakers".

Two shirtless women, walking arm-in-arm, pasted stickers on their chests that read, "Stop the Iraq 
war".

One Vietnam War veteran, Damon Stuhltrager, drove from Pennsylvania with his wife and two kids.  Wh
en someone walked by chanting, "Stop the war!  End racism!" his 8-year-old boy, Jesse, asked, "Dad,
 what's racism?"

Jesse's mother said she wanted to bring the young boy to the rally so he could see that his mom and
 dad were for peace and not war.

"As far as understanding that children are going to die, he doesn't", she said.  "And I don't think
 I want him to."

"The idea of war for an 8-year-old is a tough thing", she added.

[Just think how tough it is for the 8-year-old Iraqi son of a music store owner, who asked his fath
er, "Daddy, are we going to die?"  I would not want to be in that father's shoes at that moment -- 
this is why I talk with my sons that age about war and racism. -- JW]

==================================
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