Massive anti-war turnout in San Francisco
By Brenda Sandburg
San Francisco
Between 80,000 and 100,000 people of all ages and
nationalities flooded the streets of San Francisco Oct. 26 to
stop the Bush administration from launching a new war against
Iraq. It was the largest progressive demonstration in San
Francisco in more than 10 years.
The protest was organized by the International ANSWER
coalition--Act Now to Stop War & End Racism.
Students, labor activists, parents with their children,
religious groups and community organizations traveled from all
over California and the West Coast to attend the biggest
anti-war protest since the start of the 1991 Gulf War.
At least 63 buses came to San Francisco, including 19 from
Los Angeles, four from Santa Cruz, five from Sonoma County, and
others from as far away as Seattle, Tucson and Salem, Ore.
The air was filled with excitement as people marched along
the route, chanting, "Pentagon's war, we're shuttin' it down"
and "The road to peace is U.S. out of the Middle East."
The demonstration was so large that when protesters arrived
at the end of the march at Civic Center, tens of thousands more
were just beginning the 1.7-mile march from Justin Herman
Plaza. It took three hours for the entire crowd to complete the
march, most of which was on Market Street, which is five lanes
wide.
From the stage, a sea of people filled Civic Center and the
adjacent streets, extending to the end of United Nations Plaza
two-and-a-half blocks away.
So many protesters inundated the city that the Bay Area
Rapid Transit (BART) subway system could not handle the number
of people on the platform and was forced to open the gates to
allow people to pass through without paying.
Reflecting the support of so many people in this city, one
BART driver got on her train's public address system and
thanked everyone for going to the demonstration.
Richard Becker of the International Action Center and a
member of the ANSWER steering committee said of the recent war
vote in Congress: "It showed that it didn't matter if the calls
from the public to their representatives were 1,000 to one--or
even 100,000 to one--as long as that one was Exxon or Chevron
or Boeing."
Becker stressed, "Even most of those in Congress who voted
against the war resolution made a point of expressing their
support for the objectives of the Bush administration--which is
to re-colonize Iraq and conquer its tremendous oil resources.
We cannot rely on Congress-only the people can stop the
war."
As a result, Becker announced, ANSWER was launching two
initiatives: a people's anti-war referendum to collect millions
of signatures against the war and a Grassroots People's Peace
Congress to convene in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 18--the Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend--and hold a mass
demonstration.
Voices of a broad, united front
An opening and closing rally gave voice to the political
breadth of this emerging new anti-war movement.
Veterans of past U.S. wars had a significant presence at
this anti-war demonstration. Charlie Liteky, who had received
the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism in the Vietnam War
and is a member of Veterans for Peace, presented a moving
introduction. He brought to the podium Ron Kovic, author of
"Born on the Fourth of July" who was paralyzed in the Vietnam
War, as well as veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the
Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War.
Kovic said those in power in the United States were
responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11. "It is their violence
that brought the violence to our nation and it is their
violence that we must stop, and stop forever."
Young speakers addressed the rally, explaining how children
would be affected by a U.S. war against Iraq.
Samora Pinderhughes, 11 years old, emphasized: "There's no
discussion of the millions of people, millions of women and
children who will be killed in a war." Pinderhughes added, "The
life of a child in Iraq or Palestine is just as important as a
life of a child in the United States."
Mara Kubrin, 13 years old, said that "innocent citizens and
draftees shouldn't die for the decisions of our leaders."
Speaking to the large contingent of students who came from
campuses throughout the state, Leilani Dowell--an ANSWER
student organizer and a member of the Committee for a New
Colombia--pointed out that "youth of color are being trained in
ROTC programs to fight for a government that never did anything
for them." She added that U.S. Marines are scheduled to go to
Colombia in February.
Several unions joined in the march, which was endorsed by
the San Francisco Labor Council, the International Longshore
and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and other labor unions.
Rally speakers included Walter Johnson, secretary-treasurer
of the San Francisco Labor Council, and Richard Mead, president
of ILWU Local 10.
Trent Willis, a business agent of the same union, told rally
goers, "Bush is not only trying to attack Iraq but labor unions
as well."
'Terror: Made in the USA!'
John Parker, of Workers World Party, spoke about the
economic system behind the U.S. war drive. Just as it required
terrorism and war to preserve slavery, he said, capitalism
requires terrorism and war. "The motivation for waging war
against Iraq is to preserve the system that takes wealth
created by the majority and put it in the hands of a small
minority," Parker explained. "The war drive is about preserving
capitalism and imperialism."
Several speakers linked the U.S. government's attack against
Iraq with its support of Israel's war against the Palestinian
people.
"Israel cannot continue its occupation and create war on the
Palestinians without the bullets and bombs supplied to them by
the United States, and the U.S. cannot wage war against the
Iraqi people without first silencing the Intifada," said Ramiz
Rafeedie of the Free Palestine Alliance.
Hatem Bazian of Al Qalam Institute explained, "Today there
is another America that is saying no to war for oil in the
Persian Gulf, no war for the multinational corporations, no war
for Bush and his family who are owners of many multinational
corporations. We need the America of the slaves, of the women's
movement, of the labor movement, of Malcolm X, of Martin Luther
King, the America that went out into the streets to end the
Vietnam War."
Actor and Death Penalty Focus president Mike Farrell called
Bush "an arrogant pretender to power, a self-appointed cowboy
who is a toady to big oil, a friend to big business, and a
henchman to those who would declare the American empire."
Weapons of mass destruction? Yong-Bin Yook, Korean-American
activist and Los Angeles ANSWER steering committee member,
pointed out, "The truth is that America is the greatest
producer of weapons of mass destruction. In fact, America is
the only nation in history to use nuclear weapons and has now
announced to the world that it's willing to use nuclear weapons
in a first strike attack against other nations."
The Oct. 26 protest was held on the anniversary of the
signing of the U.S. Patriot Act, which stripped away many
constitutional rights. Riva Enteen of the National Lawyers
Guild--which is part of the ANSWER coalition--described the
impact of the law.
"We face security arrests, indefinite detentions, secret
courts, secret evidence, military tribunals, no attorney-client
privilege, expanded political spying and electronic
surveillance and torture," Enteen said. She reported that the
National Lawyers Guild has called for a national campaign to
repeal the Patriot Act.
Rep. Barbara Lee, the only representative in Congress to
vote against President Bush's phony "war on terrorism" a year
ago, said to those gathered at the closing rally: "Keep the
heat on, my brothers and sisters, keep it on. Your voices are
being heard."
At the closing rally, emcee Alicia Jrapko, a member of
ANSWER, asked the sea of people, "Are we going to stop the
war?"
"Yes," they cheered.
Rally co-chairs also included Eyad Kashawi of the Free
Palestine Alliance, KPFA hosts Miguel Molina and Davey D, and
Gloria Verdieu of ANSWER and the San Diego Coalition to Save
Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Other speakers included Sen. John Burton, president of the
California State Senate; San Francisco supervisors Tom Ammiano
and Mark Leno; Dolores Huerta, founding member of the United
Farm Workers of America; Barbara Lubin, Middle East Children's
Alliance and ANSWER steering committee member; Maudelle Shirek
of the Berkeley City Council; Daniel Ellsberg, famous for
releasing the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War; Dr. Helen
Caldicott, founder of the Nuclear Policy Institute; Rula
Khalawafi, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; Zulma
Olivares of Comite '98; Howard Wallace, Hospital Workers Union
Local 250; Ana Duarte, National Committee to Free the Cuban
Five; Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Harvey Milk Club; Mario Santos,
Bayan and a member of the ANSWER steering committee; and Nobuto
Hosaka, a member of the Japanese Parliament.
Singer Michael Franti of Spearhead, legendary folk singer
Utah Phillips, and spoken-word artists Edgar and Marcello Peres
performed. The mayor of Hiroshima also sent a letter in
solidarity with the march. Political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
sent a taped message from Pennsylvania death row.
Reprinted from the Nov. 7, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe to WW by Email: wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Donate to
support pro-labor, anti-war news.
Email
this article
Printable
page