Who came to protest?
A bus ride to history
By Beth Semmer
Chicago
I was responsible for organizing the bus captains for four
of the eight buses the Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism
organized to go to the April 20 demonstration in Washington.
Four buses were leaving from a mosque in Villa Park, but my
four buses were leaving from Grant Park.
As I was trying to get ready, I had to wonder whether the
weekend ahead would be as historic as the actions that had
taken place in the very location of our departure at the time
of the Democratic Convention in 1968, when young people
opposing the Vietnam War clashed with the Chicago police in a
battle heard round the world.
Knowing that many of the participants were first timers at a
national protest, I certainly hoped the D.C. police would be a
lot more restrained than Mayor Richard Daley's police had been
in 1968.
I remembered the chant of those long-ago demonstrators: "The
whole world is watching." I knew that the groundswell of
support for Palestine in the last few weeks could set the
stage, for the first time in the over 50 years of Israel's
existence, for tens of thousands in this country to demand an
end to the occupation of Palestine and confront the U.S.
government for its funding of Israel's brutality.
I was running late. I decided to take a cab. My cab driver
was from Palestine. I told him where I was going, and that I
knew of eight buses and at least 15 vans that were going to
D.C. to support Palestine.
He told me his wife had participated in several of the
protests in Chicago at the Israeli Consulate and he had honked
his horn in support when he came upon one of the many
demonstrations or vigils that have been happening around town,
but that he didn't know about the protest at the White
House.
A sign of great things ahead
When he saw the number of people waiting for the buses in
the park he was thrilled. As we parted, I told him to watch the
ANSWER rally on CSPAN on Saturday [April 20] and he told me he
was on his way to drive by the weekly Friday afternoon
demonstration at the Israeli Consulate so he could honk his
horn. I took the whole encounter to be a sign of great things
ahead for the weekend.
The bus I was captain of was not coming back until Monday
evening [April 22]. Those on my bus were planning to go the
protest on Saturday, April 20, as well as participate in
activities in support of the mass struggle in Colombia on April
21 and 22, and the demonstration at AIPAC on the evening of
April 22.
The two main organizers of all of the buses were CCAWR
members Dorothy Pagosa, a Franciscan nun from the Eighth Day
Center for Justice, and Bill Massey, an activist with
International ANSWER.
Organizing the buses had been a roller coaster ride. In
early April, when we had to pay for the first two buses, it
meant desperately trying to come up with funds before all the
tickets had been sold. But by April 15, the number wanting
seats had Dorothy and Bill scrambling around trying to find
more buses.
Most riders had never been to a national demonstration. Most
of those were students from DePaul, Columbia College,
Northwestern and the School of the Art Institute. There were
also several middle-aged women who had never been to a national
protest.
Gay pride for Palestine
In the hold of the bus was the Chicago Anti-Bashing
Network's banner for their contingent. CABN is planning a
contingent in the Gay Pride Parade in June in solidarity with
Arabs, Muslims and South Asians as well as denouncing the U.S.
war drive.
There were several banners that Columbia students had done.
One depicted Uncle Sam holding a moneybag over an Israeli
Defense Forces soldier shooting a Palestinian. The slogan was
"Whether you bought the bullet or pulled the trigger, it's the
same."
Alex, a veteran of World War II and a member of Vets for
Peace, was the oldest on our bus, at 84. Drew, a student from
DePaul, was the youngest, at 18.
Bill and Mary Alice had attended the historic March on
Washington in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I
Have A Dream" speech. Bill had participated in the civil rights
movement, and relatives had taken Mary Alice as a child. Most
of these bus riders weren't born yet in 1963.
Reza had been an activist with the Iranian Students
Association back in the 1970s. He had two mild heart attacks
and angioplasty in January and February, but he was determined
to go to Washington in support of Palestine.
Asmaa is a DePaul student and a member of United Muslims
Moving Ahead and the newly formed Students for Justice in
Palestine. She sat across from Lupe, who was from the DePaul
Alliance for Latino Empowerment. Both Asmaa and Lupe planned to
protest the occupation of Palestine on Saturday and Monday
evening as well as Plan Colombia on Sunday and Monday
morning.
No one on our bus was arrested. Sister Dorothy and some of
the DePaul students came very close at the Colombia protests on
Monday morning. They were marching with those who did not want
to get arrested when police on horseback surrounded them.
Luckily, all got out of the situation okay.
On the way back everyone was sporting newly purchased
buttons, T-shirts and kaffiyas. All had a deep feeling that
their participation among the hundred thousand who came out for
Palestine made them a part of history.
All vowed that they would continue to protest against war
and racism.
Reprinted from the May 2, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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Email: ww@workers.org
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