On Saturday, December 21st, almost 300 people from Ithaca and the surrounding area participated in a silent peace walk through the Ithaca Pyramid Mall to show their opposition to George W. Bush's proposed war on Iraq. After walking through the mall for about an hour, fourteen of the group proceeded to the nearby Army Recruitment Center where they poured red paint on themselves and staged a symbolic die-in to portray the death and destruction that will result from a war. The State police later arrested thirteen of the protesters; they were processed and released Saturday afternoon.
The silent walk coincided with similar peace walks through malls in over 30 cities across the country. The Ithaca march drew experienced activists and people who had never participated in a protest before, all united by their belief that the Bush administration's bellicose war-mongering is a dangerous mistake for the country and the world. Wearing signs that read "Stop War on Iraq," "Peace on Earth" and "Not in my name" among others, the walkers braved the frigid weather by standing along Triphammer Road after leaving the Mall. Many people driving by honked their horns and gave thumbs up signals.
Those who later died-in at the Recruitment Center chose banners in order to represent those who will die in the Bush adminstration's planned war: Iraqi child, five years old, US soldier, 19, Iraqi mother of two. After temporarily transforming the Center by hanging photos of Iraqi children maimed by bombs and sickened with cancer caused by radioactive weapons used by the US, the protesters read Dr. Martin Luther King's Christmas Sermon of 1967 while their supporters sang outside. They also read a statment regarding Gulf War Syndrome: over 400,000 US soldiers were exposed to radioactive depleted uranium without any precautions; they and their children have been suffering from illnesses since the Gulf War.
January 9th has been set as the court date for the 13 arrested.
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