AP: Anti-war protesters rally to mark two-year anniversary of Iraq war

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/20/anti_war_protesters_rally_to_mark_two_year_anniversary_of_iraq_war/

Anti-war protesters rally to mark two-year anniversary of Iraq war
By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press Writer | March 20, 2005

BOSTON --Shalom Keller celebrated his 21st birthday in Iraq two years ago, one day before his Army unit joined the first wave of the U.S. invasion. "Instead of getting drunk, I was invading a country that had done me no wrong," Keller told a crowd of about 2,000 demonstrators who gathered on the Boston Common on Sunday to mark the two-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The rally, organized by the anti-war Boston Mobilization, follows dozens of similar anti-war protests Saturday in New York, San Francisco and other American cities. A smaller anti-war rally organized by a youth activist group drew about 75 people to the town common in Amherst, about 100 miles west of Boston.

"I feel like the war has sort of become old news to a lot of people my age and people in general," said Rosa Friedman, 17, of Amherst. She said groups such as hers need to keep reminding people to keep struggling to end the war. In Boston, students, musicians, war veterans and parents of soldiers took turns expressing their anti-war views in speeches, songs and poetry. Keller says he supported the war when he arrived in Iraq, but quickly became disenchanted as friends and fellow soldiers died in combat. Long before he was discharged, he decided to speak out once he returned home early this year. "It's a message that needs to get out," the Newton resident said after he exited the stage to cheers.

Gina Sartori, a Northeastern University student who helped organize the rally, said the anti-war movement is still regrouping after President Bush's re-election. "Unfortunately, the peace movement put a lot of energy and time into organizing for (U.S. Sen. John Kerry's presidential) campaign," she said. "The Democrats are just as much for the war as the Republicans."

Officer Neva Grice, a spokeswoman for Boston Police, said seven people were arrested. Additional details were not available. Walking past the rally with her young niece, Ginny Corkery cringed when one of the performers shouted an obscenity into the microphone. One of Corkery's sons, an Army captain, just returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq. "I understand their point of view, but I don't share it," she said of the protesters. "I don't believe we should be policing the world, but there was a major injustice being done to the people over there in Iraq. Our troops were over there for a reason -- to free people."

Wow, what a day! Great energy from the crowd I'd estimate to be somewhere between 1000-2000.

All the speakers, musicians and poets were great, but Howard Zinn rocked! Wiki Zinn - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn

There was a mix of people of all ages, but overall there were more greybeards and silverbacks than youth. We old hippies and activists need to keep organizing events and reaching out to the young. There was a large contingent from veteransforpeace.org and billionaires for bush. Other groups I saw were several town and city-based peace groups, American Friends Service Committee, socialists, communists, and animal rights/vegans.

The weather was decent for end of March, at least the snow forecast for tonight held off.

The "eye in the sky" in the photo was very loud, annoying and totally not needed. It overed overhead all afternoon. The police were out in force, but no riot gear as I saw in the Chicago photos. I'd say there were 25 in uniform. No horses.

Are recruiting offices open on Sundays? One of the speakers said one result of the rally was to shut down one in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, at the end 12 had signed up for civil disobedience to block the entrance; they marched off with the anarchist band and others in tow.

I will post future related events in the Massachusetts and Activist forums.

All in all, a great day.

p.s. Forgot to mention the media. Several "peoples" media groups signed in, including Indy and some guy named Pitt from Truthout. The AP and Boston Globe represented the MSM. Watch the wires tonight/tomorrow.

See all at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2877278

Here's just one:

illegal codeplayVideo('377733',%20'Anniversary%20of%20War%20Marked%20With%20Protests',%20'v',%20'News',%20'23100',%20'Homepage',%20'fvCatNo=&backgroundImageURL=',%20'');

If link does not work, go to http://www.boston.com/news/necn/, scroll down to "Anniversary of War Marked With Protests".

"Unfortunately, the peace movement put a lot of energy and time into organizing for (U.S. Sen. John Kerry's presidential) campaign," she said. "The Democrats are just as much for the war as the Republicans."
I'm not at all sure that's true. If people really believe that the Dems are fully for the war, then that makes them total outsiders to all political process. Ours must be a cause that reaches out and connects.

But I'm glad to hear of this many people coming out, making an effort to personally oppose the invasion of Iraq and support the cause of peace. And it was not ignored by the network media; Will Pitt's presence assures its coverage on the internet. There is great dissatisfaction with the administration's foreign policy growing throughout the country, and we need to find ways to tap into and direct it toward change.

As of this moment, it's not yet in Will's blog, but I'm betting it will appear there soon: http://forum.truthout.org/blog

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2005/03/113737.shtml

Title: "Bloodbath" at Roslindale Military Recruiting Center
Author: Boston
Date: 2005.03.20 08:07
Description: BOSTON – On the second anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a group of local activists staged a dramatic protest outside the Armed Forces Recruiting Center at 650 American Legion Highway in Roslindale. At noon, the Boston Direct Action Project dumped five gallons of fake blood and then took up positions on the doorstep. The activists portrayed a dead Iraqi woman, her grieving husband, a dead U.S. soldier and his grieving wife. The action lasted 90 minutes, and there were no arrests. The blood flowed forty feet into the parking lot, attracting scores of local residents. The community was largely supportive, and many onlookers stopped to talk to members of the Project, who handed out informational flyers with suggested alternatives to military service.

The DU Greatest page is starting to accumulate antiwar protest reports from different cities. This belongs among them.

Thanks again, Paine!

(we're making an impact on the MSM....as tired MSM reporters search around DU for Monday mornings News....KEEP kicking up the Pro-Peace stories and photos...thanks)...


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/war_anniversary_protests

Anti-War Protests Spill Into Second Day

55 minutes ago U.S. National - AP

-snips-


By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON - Crowds of anti-war demonstrators gathered in communities scattered across the nation Sunday to protest the war in Iraq (news - web sites), a day after larger protests in dozens of other cities on the second anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.


In Philadelphia, a few hundred people from about a dozen activist groups gathered at a Quaker meeting house and marched to the federal courthouse. Michael Berg's businessman son, Nicholas, was beheaded in Iraq nearly 11 months ago. "The loss that you suffer when someone you love dies is with you forever, and it's far worse than anything this war is being fought over," Berg said. The rallies on Sunday came a day after dozens of larger protests filled streets in New York, San Francisco and other American cities.


Anti-war rallies were also held Sunday in Amherst, Mass., Indianapolis, Reno, Nev., and Asheville, N.C.


In Las Vegas, at least nine anti-war protesters were arrested Saturday night on charges including disorderly conduct after they tried to hold a candlelight vigil outside the Bellagio hotel-casino, police said. Protesters claimed that 25 arrests were made.

paid attention to DU. Looks like we're starting to make an impact. Baby steps first, then look out repukes:hippie:

:kicked:

Kick

DU helps MSM reporters make their Monday morning deadlines with INTERESTING, FACTUAL and up to the minute REAL news....



here's it is on ABC....good work DUers...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=599028

March 31 National call to action.

No Draft, No Way!

SIGN UP to volunteer, be a local organizing center, endorse, list your local action on this site!

On March 31, the Selective Service System (SSS) will report to President Bush that it is ready to implement the draft within 75 days. Right now, the SSS is staffing local draft boards, training volunteer registrars to work on high school and college campuses, and streamlining its induction process. They have also gained access to the Department of Education's computer files, to ensure maximum registration.

It is clear that the Bush Administration is preparing for a draft. They are desperate for new soldiers to continue the occupation of Iraq and to prepare for new wars against Iran, Syria, and elsewhere.

At the same time that Bush is looking to youth to supply cannon fodder for his wars, he is busy cutting financial aid and slashing social programs. The same young people that Bush wants to use to fight his wars are finding it harder to pay for their education, find jobs that pay a living wage, or obtain basic necessities, like health care or affordable housing.

On March 31, the same day that the Selective Service System is reporting that the draft is ready to go, youth all over the country will report that they will refuse to go.

http://www.iacenter.org/

:kick:

as did many du-ers yesterday. Countless others must have written other media outlets too!! Good job, DU!!!

KICK!!!

I guess I'm missing something.

from all across America...

Philly, Amherst, Mass., Indianapolis, Reno, Nev., Asheville, N.C., Las Vegas....and BOSTON....


....and ALL of them can be found right here on DU tonight....AND in at least two places, he said "rallies" instead of PROTESTS, which is a slight improvement as DUers are trying to off-load the reTHUGlicans-negative-words they stuck on us....and OUR DU word "activists" in one place was used instead of PROTESTORS....



he didn't write just about Boston....he caught the BIG PICTURE off DU and our efforts to keep these stories up on top....


AND....he may well have found out about the SUNDAY Boston Pro-Peace rally, because DUers posted it here on several spots...most MSM thought that the "PROTESTS" were done and over on Saturday....DUers put the word out that the Pro-Peace events were NOT OVER and the Sunday was another BIG DAY....in fact...Pro-Peace events have been going on all across America since last WEDNESDAY, and no MSM even noticed....


Thursday March 17th, in front of the White House...AP and other MSM couldn't miss this...it was right in front of them and their DC offices AND the entire White House press corps right there...not a peep out of MSM...no coverage at all....



.

.

.


BONUS POINTS, every single 'military recruitment office' in the Metro DC area was PLASTERED...how could MSM miss this?

I can see the connection now.

I saw his signature at the media sign-in table. I don't understand the extrapolation that info came from DU?????

That's a Radical Right Wing frame. There is NOTHING mainstream about the Corporate Media's agenda of greed and manipulation!

Okay, rant over. Carry on.

NGU.

n/t

We can no longer count on Mass Media. It's up to us.

Images of the AntiWar Protest 3/19 in Hollywood, California
http://ediablo.com/LAprotest3-19-05.html

:kick:

Posted on Mon, Mar. 21, 2005



SUSAN PFANNMULLER/The Kansas City Star
Peering out from behind a banner holding hundreds of ribbons, Regina Troyer of Kansas City, Kan., participated Sunday afternoon in a protest of the U.S. war in Iraq. Each ribbon bore the name of a person killed in the invasion. The protest was held on the Country Club Plaza.





War protesters gather on Plaza

By LAURA BAUER The Kansas City Star


Frank Neff stood at the corner near J.C. Nichols Fountain at the Country Club Plaza and held his anti-war sign steady so motorists could read it.

“Not in our name!!” read Neff's sign. As motorists honked and waved support, Neff stood smiling.

“I haven't seen the finger at all this afternoon. So that's a change,” said Neff, 79, of Lenexa, who was one of several hundred people at Sunday's peace gathering to mark the second anniversary of the war in Iraq. “It's encouraging to see other people who see things the way I see them. … This is good.”

Dozens of people flashed peace signs and held posters condemning the war. Others carried American flags with peace symbols in place of stars.

Ira Harritt, program director of American Friends Service Committee, which helped sponsor the event, said the strength of the crowd was encouraging.

“Some people were silenced by the hope we could repair the damage we've done,” Harritt said. “But now there's a realization that we've gone too far.”

As horns blared and protesters yelled “thank you,” a steady stream of names was recited in the background. One by one, volunteers read the names of people who died in the war since it began in March 2003.

José Cruz, 50, of Kansas City, said when he read from the podium, interchanging names of military victims with Iraqi citizens who were killed, he pictured soldiers in their uniforms. He imagined Iraqis walking down the street.

“I try to picture their faces,” said Cruz, a veteran of the Vietnam era whose oldest son, Eric, is back from his second tour in Iraq. “I know what we have to do for our country, but it reminds me of Nixon and those guys and what happened back then.”

To reach Laura Bauer, call

(816) 234-7743 or send e-mail to lbauer@kcstar.co

Due to its significance, also posted as a stand-alone at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1675535#

If you are in the Boston area, stay connected with events by subscribing to theire listserve. Mobe has many, many events planned for the weeks and months ahead. I can share two soon to be listed:

1. April 18-19. Patriots Day events celebrating Paul Revere's row and ride.
2. In May, a rally with a very well known Professor of Humanities from MIT.

http://www.bostonmobilization.org/index.php

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 07:53:16 -0800 (PST)
Subject: YESTERDAY



Good Morning to all who came to the Boston Common and made yesterday
possible!

Hopefully this was just the beginning of a reborn movement! The spirit and the unity were inspiring!

I have already received so many emails from friend and strangers
thanking us for such a great event.

I know we made mistakes; we hurt feelings we didn’t intend to, we
wanted to include EVERYBODY, but that just is not possible in a two-hour rally – even though it was three hours. Many lessons learned, but beyond any of that….

CONGRATULATIONS AND THANKS TO ALL THE ORGANIZERS, THE SPEAKERS, THE
PERFORMERS AND EVERYONE WHO WAS THERE!

After the rally during the unpermited March, there were 5 arrests.
There were some scary moments when the violence threatened to escalate.

Thank God for Chuck Turner. He put himself between the police and the
protesters, convinced the police to back off, and spoke calming words of Solidarity to the crowd. Chuck stayed on the Common until the police had dispersed, then he went to the jail where he spoke with both police officers and bail bondsmen. He waited for over three hours to make sure all 5 people who were arrested were ok and freed on bail!

We are SO lucky to have a City Councilor and a human being like that in Boston! If anyone would like to thank him, you can call the City Council at 617.635.3040

links to photos and press below
........

Photos:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=2877278&mesg_id=2877278

.........

Everyone did a great job at the event today. Here are some photos that I took. Feel free to share them around. Gabriel

http://ben-yosef.com/pics/nowar_200503/

............

http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/34037/index.php

This site has great pictures of the rally, and the work that my
colleagues did over the winter. (Culminating this Sunday in a wonderful outpouring of support!) !!! This protest was so intense. I also urge you to check out the nytimes, boston globe etc for more stories . . . Much Love,

Johanna

................

Press:

Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/03/21/7_arrested_as_2000_protest_war/

NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-War-Anniversary-Protests.html?

Democracy Now:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/21/1455252


<snip> (for copyright rules>

--
We Are One World
Eve Lyman Director
Boston Mobilization
971 Comm. Ave, Boston 02215
617.782.2313
www.bostonmobilization.org

I am through struggling with the Globe to get decent coverage of Boston political events. Who needs Corporate Media when we have Indy?

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

http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/34037/index.php

Thousands Rally on Boston Common Against the Occupation of Iraq
by Matthew Williams

Email: plaid_baboon (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!)
20 Mar 2005

Boston City Councilor and Anarchist Youth Lead Unpermitted March--Five Unprovoked Arrests

Like many others across the world, on March 20--a global day of action--thousands of Bostonians gathered on the Boston Common to protest the continuing US occupation of Iraq in a rally organized by Boston Mobilization. The crowd size was large enough to make it difficult to estimate, with figures running between two and five thousand. Local activists, veterans of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and those with loved ones in the military spoke out powerfully against the war, mixed with a multicultural cast of musicians. The plan had been to close the rally with direct action, blockading the entrance to a near-by military recruiting station. In response, the military recruiting station simply never opened for the day. Instead, the final speaker, Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, urged everyone still at the rally (a couple hundred people--the rally ran far over time) to join an unpermitted march originally planned by a group of young anarchists. The march snaked through the streets of downtown Boston before returning to Boston Common. There, some of the police began unprovoked attacks on activists, shoving people to the ground and arresting five. A stand-off ensued, with the police eventually pulling back. Plans are underway, with the support of Turner and Boston Mobilization, to support those arrested in court. The day’s actions managed to at least temporarily unite members of Boston's progressive community across some of the racial, ideological and generational lines that often divide them.


Thousands Rally on Boston Common Against the Occupation of Iraq--Boston City Councilor and Anarchist Youth Lead Unpermitted March--Four Unprovoked Arrest Thousands Rally on Boston Common Against the Occupation of Iraq--Boston City Councilor and Anarchist Youth Lead Unpermitted March--Five Unprovoked Arrests
by Matthew Williams

Like many others across the world, on March 20--a global day of action--thousands of Bostonians gathered on the Boston Common to protest the continuing US occupation of Iraq in a rally organized by Boston Mobilization. The crowd size was large enough to make it difficult to estimate, with figures running between two and five thousand. Local activists, veterans of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and those with loved ones in the military spoke out powerfully against the war, mixed with a multicultural cast of musicians. The plan had been to close the rally with direct action, blockading the entrance to a near-by military recruiting station. In response, the military recruiting station simply never opened for the day. Instead, the final speaker, Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, urged everyone still at the rally (a couple hundred people--the rally ran far over time) to join an unpermitted march originally planned by a group of young anarchists. The march snaked through the streets of downtown Boston before returning to Boston Common. There, some of the police began unprovoked attacks on activists, shoving people to the ground and arresting five. A stand-off ensued, with the police eventually pulling back. Plans are underway, with the support of Turner and Boston Mobilization, to support those arrested in court. The day’s actions managed to at least temporarily unite members of Boston's progressive community across some of the racial, ideological and generational lines that often divide them.

I got to the Common around 12:30, a half-hour before the rally was scheduled to happen, to see what was going on with the group of young anarchists who had called for an unpermitted march at 12:30. One of them, Cameron Pond, explained, why they were not planning to go the large rally: “I would rather take to the streets. People won’t take us as seriously if we don’t take direct action. We can’t keep waiting for the right moment--nothing will happen. The right moment is now. We have to forcibly take our victory, by being out there and being loud.” He also, however, expressed a wish for greater unity among the various factions of the left: “Personally, I would rather have the rally and the march combined. The liberal and radical half of America hasn’t been able to oust Bush because we’re so divided. The conservatives have unity in their bloc, while we have disunity on the liberal side.”

much more......

Here's a video from Miami:


http://miami.indymedia.org/

Thanks for posting it. I was there!