The anti-war movement is growing, increasing in tempo both in the US and around the world in the last several months. By the first week of December, 24 cities had passed resolutions against War in Iraq, ranging from Carrboro, North Carolina to Detroit to Oakland. On December 2, Ann Arbor became the twenty-third city in the United States to approve a resolution opposing war on Iraq. The City Council meeting was well attended by members of the Ann Arbor community, including activists, students, and residents. On December 9, Baltimore passed an anti-war resolution to become the twenty-fourth.
December 9 also marked the funeral of Philip Berrigan [ recent interview ], an awe-inspiring member of the country's resistance movement, who led draft card burnings in resistance to the Vietnam War, and participated in the anti-nuclear Plowshares actions. The service was held at St. Peter Claver parish in Baltimore that was attended by more than 500 people.
Anti-war actions are taking place on a daily basis somewhere in the United States. On Sunday, December 8, more than 1600 people gathered [ 1 ] at the Centenary United Methodist Church in St. Louis. People of all ages, representing many different groups, came together to express their opposition to Bush's War and their support for a just, responsible world in which government meets the needs of the people instead of manufacturing their consent for its policies.
In Washington state, over 1,300 people gathered at Seattle's Garfield High School on December 8 to participate in "A Day of Commitment to Stop the War," sponsored by the SNOW Coalition (Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War). Musical performances in the first half of the day were punctuated by speakers addressing the local effects of war on immigrant, low-income, spiritual, and minority communities. The same day, over 300 people marched for peace in Tacoma.
On Saturday, December 7, North Park in San Diego was host to a holiday parade and an annual Peace on Earth Holiday Bazaar. A group of peace activists marched in the parade, while the bazaar was the site of a host of socially responsible goods. The same day, approximately one hundred Bangor, Maine area residents gathered and marched to remember Pearl Harbor Day and speak out against a possible new war against Iraq. In Boise, Idaho, some 100 persons attended the December 7th Idaho Peace Fair, and enjoyed displays by fourteen community organizations as weekly peace protests continue in the city's downtown.
Also on Saturday, the Michigan Anti-War Organizers Conference was held at Wayne State University in Detroit. The conference was sponsored by the Student Movement for Justice (SMJ) at Wayne State and the Emergency Committee Against the War in Iraq. Over 125 people attended from all over the state. People from Flint, Traverse, Lansing and East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids as well as Detroit and Wayne State reported on lots of anti-war activities since October 26.
On Friday, December 6, nine activists disrupted the speech of Deputy Secretary of Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz during a lunchtime fundraiser he spoke at in San Francisco. The activists were protesting the looming new US war on Iraq. Wolfowitz is one of the main advocates and central planners of another war against Iraq. He is co-author of the "National Security Strategy of the USA," the Administration's doctrine of global domination.
Two activists, Saul Kanowitz and Anne Sadler, organizers with the International ANSWER Coalition unfurled a banner reading, "Stop the War on Iraq." They chanted, "Stop the war against Iraq, No Blood for Oil." Seven other people stood in silence, protesting Wolfowitz, wearing T-shirts with anti-war slogans. All nine were arrested and forced out of the auditorium. One hundred people protested [ 1 | 2 | video ] outside the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco where Wolfowitz spoke. All nine protesters were released without charges several hours later.
In Portland, Oregon, a noted science fiction author joined the weekly Friday night anti-war rally, and led a march to the offices of Representative Wu to deliver the Writers and Artists petition against the War on Iraq.
In Atlanta, Georgia Senator Zell Miller was
revisited [ video ] by the Atlanta Five, a group of concerned citizens [ video ] who were recently arrested for staging a sit-in at his office in an effort to get a meeting with their senator and ask some unanswered questions about war plans against Iraq.
Thursday also saw the U.S. Treasury Department levy a $20,000 fine against Voices in the Wilderness for providing humanitarian supplies to Iraqis [ video ]. VITW held press conferences in Chicago and Washington DC confirming their humanitarian support of Iraqi civilians, and announced their continued plans to send relief to Iraq in violation of sanctions. A VITW activist from Portland, Oregon was fined $10,000 on the same day. Organizing against the sanctions has been prominent in Philadelphia, as well.
On Wednesday, December 4, an anti-war resolution was introduced into the Chicago City Council. It has garnered 24 co-sponsors, and will be the topic of public hearings in early January. Through the entire weekend of December 6-8, community, religious and anti-war groups held over 50 anti-war events and protests, throughout Chicago and its suburbs, including Evanston. On Dec. 1, Chicago's top Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders issued a are joint letter to President Bush urging him to avoid war.
These various actions for peace have been conducted largely in the last week, accelerating the pace of the anti-war movement nationwide.
[ Voices in the Wilderness | Iraq Peace Team | United for Peace ]
