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Maintaining a Vigil at 'Camp Peace'
Berlin Protesters Make a Statement Against 'Senseless War'
April 22, 2003 -- In central Berlin, not far from the U.S. Embassy, antiwar protesters maintained a vigil during the war in Iraq. Now most of the protesters are gone. In a dispatch for npr.org, NPR's Emily Harris reports from "Camp Peace," and adds an epilogue.
Since the day the war began, a mix of students, jobless wanderers, political and peace activists have held a steady, though sometimes quite small, protest half a block from the U.S. Embassy. Some people have built shrines to civilians killed in Iraq. Hand-painted antiwar banners hang from the trees or are draped on nearby benches. Greenpeace brought a giant church bell -- members ring it every half hour, around the clock. And the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) -- the further-left party in Berlin's coalition government -- staffs a booth around the clock.
There is a piano at Camp Peace, protected by a tarp from the spring rain and snow. The PDS schlepped in a giant television to keep up with the news. It's not on too often, though, since there's no electrical plug, just a generator. There's a temporary kitchen and, nearby, a fire roaring.
Thirty-year-old Maik Strotenke has slept here for 18 days. He came from the other side of Germany as soon as he saw the peace camp on TV.
"We are here for a sit-in," he says, "a memorial camp and peace camp. We are here to show to the people that there is more than just war. We want to teach the children that the war is completely senseless and not relevant at all."
Over the past three weeks, there have been candlelight vigils and poster-painting sessions. Most of the big peace marches go by here. Other days there are small rallies in the evenings.
Police stand across the street, behind the metal barricades that cordon off the U.S. Embassy from the rest of Berlin. Sometimes just a couple of officers are there. Sometimes dozens. A water cannon truck is on call.
Everyone who stays the night here or who comes by for a shift is against the war. But there are distinctions. Greenpeace avoids association with specific political parties so it distances itself from the PDS across the street. Neither organization asks members to sleep over. They are perhaps more focused against specific U.S. policies than some people who are camped out here, who talk about living here as an example of a peaceful community.
Does this vigil make a difference? Maybe not to the U.S. administration. But retiree Sigfried Wittig, a PDS party member, believes history will prove the demonstrators right. Besides, he likes the chance to talk with passers-by.
"It gives me some satisfaction to be here," he says. "If you can listen to people or answer their questions and get their opinions it's better for me than sitting in front of the TV and looking at all this terrible war on TV all the time."
Others among the tens of thousands in Germany who've regularly turned out for antiwar marches say if nothing else, publicly demonstrating their opinion makes them feel less helpless in the face of a war they hate. Camp Peace is in a way a microcosm of the groups that have organized the large rallies, although one element is missing: a pan-Arab focus. At recent marches Lebanese, Palestinian and other Arab immigrants have shouted for peace in Palestine and called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as well as President George W. Bush, a murderer.
At Camp Peace on Day 20 it is cold. And people are beginning to wonder how much longer they'll be here. Not because they can't outwait the war. But because they haven't quite decided whether a U.S. declaration of victory will end the need to protest. One handwritten sign captures a mighty worry in Germany: "Today Iraq, tomorrow the whole world." Even if Camp Peace closes down this week, it could be back.
An Epilogue
One month after the war in Iraq began, Camp Peace has finally folded. The Party of Democratic Socialism hauled away its information table last week. On Good Friday, at noon, Greenpeace held a short rally to thank Berliners for their support and say goodbye. Over the weekend, the last of the people who had lived at Camp Peace drifted away.
Greenpeace says since the massive bombing is over, the group decided to figure out how they can help best help Iraq now. They’re considering actions such as documenting the environmental damage of the war -- and they hope to present a very long banner with thousands of signatures against the war to U.S. Ambassador Dan Coats and the American Embassy.
But a tiny angry and disgusted presence remains. There are a half a dozen signs by the barricades near the embassy -- and a few protestors. 30-year-old Daniel Nikodena, a police officer, says he comes for an hour or two every day - and will "until the Americans leave Iraq." Rudi Pecher, 47, holds up a printout saying "Give Peace a Chance" toward a car police are waving through to the embassy.
"Iraqs problems were Iraq's problems," Pecher says, "and the U.S. had no right to come from across the ocean and re-make things as they like." He also says that America should send in the builders -- but the soldiers must go.
Camp Peace did not stop the war -- nor have any impact on U.S. policy. Vigil participants are pleased that they gave people an outlet to express their concerns.
In Depth
 Feb. 16, 2003: Peace protesters crowd European capitals
NPR reports by Emily Harris
March 12, 2003: NPR's Tom Gjelten recalls German protests against the 1991 Persian Gulf War
NPR News Coverage of Antiwar Efforts
NPR News Coverage of the War in Iraq
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