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Analysis: Americans Gather To Protest A Possible War In Iraq
Weekend Edition Sunday: February 16, 2003
Anti-War Activists Rally for Peace
LINDA WERTHEIMER, host:
From NPR News, it's WEEKEND EDITION. I'm Linda Wertheimer.
SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST
Unidentified Man #1 and Group of People: (Chanting in unison) We don't want to bomb Iraq. Bring all the troops back. We don't want to bomb Iraq...
WERTHEIMER: As diplomatic and military preparations continued toward a possible war with Iraq, anti-war protests stretched around the globe yesterday And although the demonstrations in the United States paled in comparison to those in Rome, Berlin and London, marches and rallies took place in more than 150 American cities. Altogether, they involved more than a million people. NPR's Margot Adler reports from New York.
MARGOT ADLER reporting:
There were thousands of protesters on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. In Chicago, anti-war activists had a permit for 3,000 together, but police said there were more. Several thousand assembled in Detroit; several hundred in Madison, Wisconsin; thousands marched to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. There were at least 20 rallies in the state of Florida, including ones in Sarasota, Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville. In New York, a huge demonstration and many arrests. In small cities, there were gatherings with a small-town feel.
In Sandpoint, Idaho, 150 people stood in front of the "Tolerance" sculpture by the Bonner County Courthouse to hear ministers from local churches. Torrie Hicks(ph) is a Methodist minister.
Reverend TORRIE HICKS: I am here as a Christian because I believe what Christ told us, which is that Christ came to bring us peace. Not as the world does; not by building walls, but by tearing them down. And so I ask you: `Are we here to tear down walls, walls that allow us to see the other person as a stereotype, as an enemy, as a terrorist, as somebody less than who I am?'
ADLER: In front of the Student Union at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska, the ground was covered with five inches of new-fallen snow. A penny whistle welcomed the crowd of more than 200 people, a mix of first-timers and veteran protesters.
SOUNDBITE OF PENNY WHISTLE
ADLER: Patty Oliver, the penny whistle player, said she came to make sure she was heard.
Ms. PATTY OLIVER: Because I am hoping that our nation can have a unifying voice against pre-emptive war and a little bit of sanity.
ADLER: Inside the Student Union, Australian anti-war activist Dr. Helen Caldicott talked about the finality of war in a nuclear age.
Dr. HELEN CALDICOTT (Anti-War Activist): I think the people of the world are waking up at last for the first time in 55 years to realize we can no longer fight, because any war in the world now can induce the death of the creation and the end of life in the universe.
ADLER: And Mussa al-Hindi(ph), a Palestinian from Omaha, told the crowd that both Iraqi children and American soldiers would suffer needlessly from a war.
Mr. MUSSA AL-HINDI: We need to bring out troops back home to their families and friends and communities.
SOUNDBITE OF CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
Mr. AL-HINDI: I would rather see my GI neighbor playing Frisbee with his daughter instead of going to Iraq to kill somebody's daughter. I'd rather have my co-worker attend her son's high school graduation than come back in a body bag so that someone can afford to drive an SUV.
ADLER: Perhaps the largest US demonstration was in New York City, which had gone to court to prohibit a march to the United Nations. Only a rally was allowed. Police said more than 100,000 came to protest the war while organizers claimed 370,000. Whatever the true numbers, the event was much bigger than the police expected. They hastily threw up more barricades to contain crowds that streamed onto First Avenue, a mile north of the rally stage. Many thousands never got to the rally. They marched up Second and Third Avenue stopping traffic. Eight women from Rochester, New York, in fanciful hats and calling themselves the Raging Grannies stood in the crowd at the rally holding songbooks.
SOUNDBITE OF THE RAGING GRANNIES SINGING
RAGING GRANNIES: (Singing) Georgie Porgy(ph), you're all wrong. Bombs are not the answer. You can take your stupid war and stick in your pants, sir.
ADLER: Several blocks away, frustrated demonstrators who couldn't get to the rally came into confrontation with police. More than 50 were arrested altogether and some demonstrators complained about being pushed by mounted police. According to one report, a mounted policeman was also injured. Madeline Happs(ph) was one of the people arrested.
Ms. MADELINE HAPPS (Demonstrator): Well, I was holding up this big sign together with other people, a painting of "Guernica," after the "Guernica" by Picasso, the one that was covered up at the United Nations when Colin Powell came there to give his speech. We got up on top of the bus shelter and held the sign up. The police came and they asked us to come down and as I came down, put me in a police car and gave me a summons.
ADLER: New York was not the only city where things got out of hand. Police in Colorado Springs fired tear gas at protesters. At least two went to a hospital after demonstrators blocked a major street near an Air Force base. More than 25,000 people attended a rally at the Seattle Center. Here are some voices from that crowd.
SOUNDBITE OF DEMONSTRATION
Unidentified Man #2: Thank goodness there's some other countries in the world that their leaders are listening to their people. You know, I think in England, in Germany and France, even this country, most people are opposed to the war. But some leaders are listening to their people in true democracy.
Unidentified Woman: I'm here to support peace; peace in the nation, peace in the world. I'm trying to do this in a positive way so as not to offend anyone because I think we need to work together for this.
Unidentified Man #3: You know, we don't have a king where he dictates. We have free speech for our country--a semi-elected president who ought to listen to us.
ADLER: Voices from Seattle.
There were also a few small rallies in support of a war against Saddam Hussein, including an estimated 1,000 people in New York City and over 200 in Wausau, Wisconsin. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.
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