Press Action ::: War protest rocks D.C. establishment

Sunday, January 19, 2003

War protest rocks D.C. establishment

The Jan. 18 antiwar rally and march in Washington represented another amazing success in the peace movement’s preemptive attempts to let war party members in the White House and Congress know that a sizeable portion of the U.S. population thinks they’re nuts for spending billions to prepare an unprovoked attack on a sick little nation-state.

Bush a Drunk Frat Boy I’ve attended dozens of rallies and marches in D.C. since the mid-1980s and Saturday’s certainly ranks as one of the largest. As Washington, D.C. police chief Charles “Hogtie” Ramsey told reporters on Saturday, this latest antiwar march was even bigger than the one on Oct. 28, which also was organized by the ANSWER coalition. I would estimate Saturday’s crowd at between 200,000 and 300,000.

Despite temperatures in the low-20s, the mood was excellent in the crowd and the message was loud and clear: don’t even think about attacking Iraq, Mr. Bush.

Alexander Cockburn asks in the Jan. 18-21 weekend edition of CounterPunch if the recent protests against the insanity coming out of Washington are making a difference. “Of course they are,” Cockburn answers, “just like the demonstrations in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and elsewhere. U.S. ambassadors and CIA heads of station may deprecate and downplay the world protests in their reports, but they cannot dismiss them, any more than can the White House. How can you ignore a turnout of 500,000 in Florence?”

Jewish Lesbian Mom

Here are some other observations of the Jan. 18 antiwar gatherings in D.C. and around the world, plus some of my photos of the more interesting messages displayed during the D.C. rally and march:

“But the vast numbers of protestors can have a more immediate effect on their shameful members of Congress, who, save for Representative John Conyers and former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, failed to show up at the protest in the very shadow of the Capitol dome. Even the progressive caucus was absent. The protestors, who drove in their cars, busses, and vans from Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, should remember that their members of Congress were AWOL on January 18. It is obvious that the limousine liberals preferred sitting by their warm and cozy fireplaces as their constituents stood and marched in 25-degree weather.” — Wayne Madsen, CounterPunch

F- Bush

“Unlike protests in DC and New York, police presence was minimal – limited to two cops outside The Gap, a few outside a closed Starbucks, and a smattering of badly disguised undercovers mixed in with the crowd. A few signs warned that, if this peaceful march didn’t work, people were going to “get rowdy,” but for Saturday, at least, more than 100,000 people seemed committed to giving peaceful protest another chance to make change.” - Rachel Neumann, Alternet

Bush on Crack

“Bush had hightailed it off to Camp David for the weekend. But the president and his aides could not have been unaware of the rising level of anti-war activism, of which Saturday’s protests were merely the latest manifestation. On Thursday, the Chicago City Council voted 46-1 for a resolution expressing opposition to a pre-emptive attack against Iraq, making it the largest of more than 40 cities across the country to embrace an anti-war stance. Several days earlier, 110 officers from unions across the country had gathered in Chicago to organize U.S. Labor Against the War with a declaration that ‘Bush’s drive for war serves as a cover and distraction for the sinking economy, corporate corruption and layoffs.’” - John Nichols, The Nation

Bush a Terrorist

“Some 10,000 Lebanese from various leftist groups marched to Beirut’s downtown area and gathered in front of the United Nations House shouting against a war on Iraq. This was the largest such protest in Lebanon in support of Iraq in many years. The protesters were joined by various political leaders, including Druze chief Walid Jumblat, and visiting British Labor Party parliamentarian George Gallowy. Gallowy, who earlier met with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, said he expects some one million people to participate in a demonstration in Britain in February to denounce an Iraq war. Gallowy warned of the grave consequences of any such war, and of attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to launch an even fiercer attack on Palestinians in case Washington goes ahead with its war plans against Baghdad. - David Saoud, UPI

Israeli Regime

“Ronald R. Tweel, a part-time district court judge since 1979, resigned as a substitute judge Monday in order to publicly express his opposition to an American invasion of Iraq. Tweel, 56, said he sent a copy of his letter of resignation to his congressman and U.S. senators to tell them that he believes an invasion of Iraq would be ‘one of the biggest foreign policy mistakes of my lifetime.’ By resigning as a part-time judge in the juvenile and domestic relations and general district courts, he can speak out on political matters he could not address as a jurist, said Tweel, a 1971 University of Virginia law school graduate and partner in the Charlottesville firm of Michie Hamlett Lowry Rasmussen & Tweel. ‘I plan on becoming more active’ in opposition to an invasion of Iraq and to what he called American policy favoring the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon and allowing his government ‘to be completely oppressive,’ Tweel said. ‘The position that I favor is the position of the Labor Party in Israel’ to pursue peace in the Middle East, not Sharon’s policies, said Tweel, whose four grandparents all grew up in the same village in Lebanon.” - Bob Gibson, Charlottesville Daily Progress

Rogue State

“The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed concern that antiwar protest rallies scheduled to take place this weekend in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco may employ inflammatory anti-Israel and anti-Jewish statements and rhetoric. Organizers of the January 18 ‘National March in Washington to Demand: No War Against Iraq,’ the San Francisco rally, and other events scheduled for this weekend have previously embraced statements supporting Palestinian terrorism, equating Zionism with Nazism, and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. ‘Given the rhetoric at past rallies organized by this group, we are extremely concerned that the message of this weekend’s antiwar protests will be tainted with hateful calls for Israel’s destruction and comparisons of Israeli actions to the Nazi extermination of Jews during the Holocaust,’ said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. ‘While we have always said that there is a time and place for criticism of Israel, we remain very much concerned and alert to those pro-Palestinian forces in this country who resort to anti-Semitism, and who may use the war in Iraq as a pretext for attacking Israel and Jews.’” - Anti-Defamation League

Israeli Apartheid

“State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, in his customarily salty language, contrasted Bush’s actions toward Iraq and North Korea. ‘We can’t find the weapons we are looking for’ in Iraq, but Bush threatens to attack, Burton said. ‘North Korea tells us they have the weapons ... and we’re going to buy them out! The only difference I can tell is oil.’ - Herbert A. Sample, Sacramento Bee

“Progressives who worried about sectarian sponsors of the rally and wondered whether attendance was advisable were proven wrong: The vast majority of the protesters were there not as followers of a dubious sect but simply as citizens who oppose war. This was not a protest of, or for, the International Action Center; it was a protest of the people-and for peace. By showing in great numbers and with passion and intensity, the protesters in San Francisco--as well as those in Washington, D.C., and in other cities and towns around the country--issued a clear warning to George Bush: Watch out! The people are not with you! - Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive

Media Deception

“Most of the speeches sucked, both for style and content. ANSWER honcho Brian Becker is not much of a speaker. If I was trying to introduce someone to the left, to impress them by showing them some leaders, I heard little that would provide me with such an opportunity. (Fletcher was an exception, though he’s not much of an orator.) By contrast, people like Cornel West, Michael Moore, and Phil Donahue gave great speeches at a Nader rally I went to during the presidential election campaign. They were not on the schedule. ... If 90 percent of life is showing up, 98 percent of protesting is making it to the rally. The march is secondary. Especially if you’re marching towards a deserted part of town on a day when nobody is on the street. That’s my story anyway. The length of the program reduced the size of the march, since you could see lots of people leaving after the rally dragged on for a while.” - Max, Stand Down

Energy Policy

“It would not be accurate to say that nobody gives a shit what the speakers have to say. In truth, a small minority of attendees groove on it - they pack the area in front of the stage, they chant when asked, they applaud and wave their signs and generally act engaged. But most marchers could care less. It seemed to me that the crowd on the mall behind the stage was vastly larger than the crowd in front of it. While the speakers are saying whatever it is they’re saying (usually involving racism and babies, or racist babies, I don’t know), most people are wandering around taking in the sights, trying to hook up with friends or talking to the friends they’ve already hooked up with. (We found Leonard of Unruled, who left for lunch with his brother before the march started, and a Libertarian Party contingent.)” - Jim Henley, Unqualified Offerings

-- Photos by Mark Hand

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