Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2002, pages 16-17

Special Report

 

Anti-War Protesters ANSWER the Call

 

By Sara Powell

Hundreds of thousands of people from all 50 states and several foreign countries converged on Washington, DC Oct. 26. Assembling at the Vietnam War Memorial, they had come to make the point that Americans do not want another war on Iraq--or another war memorial. The march--organized by ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), an anti-war coalition that was formed just after 9/11 to forestall acts of war and racism against Arabs and Muslims--was the biggest Washington had seen since the 1960s.

Many protesters reminisced about anti-Vietnam war protests, ruing the fact that they felt the need to don their marching shoes again. Others were not even born the last time Americans united in such numbers to tell their government that enough people had died. Some had not even been born the last time the U.S. went to war against Iraq! But men and women of all ages, races, religions, ethnicities, nationalities and political persuasions raised their collective voice to demand a stop to the war before it starts.

That was the message of the speakers, as well. Among those who lent their support were actress Susan Sarandon, singer Patti Smith, ice cream entrepreneur Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA). Sarandon spoke as a mother who was loathe to see more children die and more parents grieve in a war that, due to sanctions, already has claimed too many lives.

Accompanied by her guitarist, Oliver Ray, Patti Smith sang "People Have the Power"--a sentiment demonstrated during the march when police tried to divert the lead banner away from the White House. Taking power into their own hands, the marchers chanted, "Who do the streets belong to? The streets belong to us!" Their determination and sheer numbers forced the police to give way, and protesters continued on their march, ultimately arriving at the White House. Packing the streets, over two miles of marchers encircled the president's residence before curling around and meeting the tail of the march, which still had not got out of the rally grounds.

In his remarks at the rally, Ben Cohen delivered a disturbing message about the government leading Americans toward war. As a businessman, he said, he wanted to talk about business--spending, to be precise. Several people onstage then held up a large banner with a bar chart of spending categories. Thick black lines representing the billions spent on education, health care and other services for American citizens stretched across the several feet of banner. When Cohen revealed the thick black line that represented defense spending, Cohen brought down the house. That bar extended across the entire banner. Then, however, a helper began unrolling it--and unrolling it--continuing beyond the stage and out into the crowd. Dozens of hands stretched up to hold the still-unfurling and seemingly endless line depicting U.S. defense spending. Finally, it stopped. Representing almost $400 billion, the bar was 50 feet long. From another perspective, if the demonstration crowd was 200,000 as several news agencies estimated, each protester would have to give $2 million to arrive at $400 billion.

While his was probably the most graphic speech, others drew in the crowd emotionally. Veterans from every war in recent history advised against launching yet another war when the government cannot care for existing veterans. Representatives from various Latin American advocacy groups, labor activists, native Americans, African Americans, Muslims and Jews--all spoke of the injustice that government can perpetrate during times of stress. Damu Smith of Black Voices for Peace, Mahdi Bray of the Muslim American Society, Kadouri al Kaysi of the Committee in Support of the Iraqi People, Elias Rashmawi of the Free Palestine Alliance, Michel Shehadeh, one of the L.A. 8, Dr. Sami al-Arian, placed on administrative leave by the University of South Florida, and Josh Ruebner of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel all urged conscientious U.S. citizens to stand up for their beliefs and work against the war.

Nor was it only in Washington, DC that people gathered to denounce war. Demonstrations were held in conjunction with the DC protest all across the country--and, indeed, all around the world. For those in America's heartland who could not commit the time and money to make the trip to Washington, many cities held their own demonstrations, while, on the West Coast, a rally in San Francisco drew 80,000 to 100,000. In Germany, solidarity demonstrations were held in Berlin, Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and at several U.S. bases. Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville,and other Spanish cities and villages brought out thousands, and actions were held in Belgium, the Philippines, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Japan, Turkey, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Italy.

As the Washington rally drew to a close, organizers asked the demonstrators to keep up the pressure not to go to war, and announced an effort to collect 10 million "people's" votes against the war to counter Congress' votes for war. If the crowd was as representative of U.S. society as it looked, there should be no difficulty in reaching that goal of 10 million votes. To add your vote, go to the ANSWER Web site at .

Sara Powell is the public relations director of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

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