[Nettime-bold] Anti-war actions...continued (4)

[radtimes <resist@best.com>]

[multiple items]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Patriotism in its simplest, clearest and most indubitable meaning is 
nothing but an instrument for the attainment of the government's ambitious 
and mercenary aims, and a renunciation of human dignity, common sense, and 
conscience by the governed, and a slavish submission to those who hold 
power. That is what is really preached wherever patriotism is championed. 
Patriotism is slavery." -- Leo Tolstoy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anti-war resources:

http://www.alternet.org/issues/index.html?IssueAreaID=26
http://www.peacefuljustice.cjb.net/
http://www.warresisters.org/attack9-11-01.htm#things
http://www.legitgov.org/peaceprotests.html
http://www.igc.org/inkworks/www/downloads.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-war protests across Europe.

CNN. 30 September 2001

GENEVA -- Anti-war rallies have been held across Europe amid fears of
impending U.S. retaliatory action following the September 11 terror
attacks.

Thousands of protesters gathered for mostly peaceful gatherings held
over the weekend in Britain, Spain, Greece, The Netherlands and
Switzerland.

In Geneva, around 2,500 people protested on Sunday against potential
military reprisals.

The protesters marched peacefully from the centre of the Swiss capital
to the European headquarters of the United Nations, carrying banners
proclaiming, "No war," and "Stop global terror, fight for justice."

"We want to stop the escalation of military action and we want world
leaders to be aware of global justice for everyone," Maria Casares, one
of the protest organisers, told Reuters.

In Amsterdam, almost 5,000 demonstrators gathered on Sunday in a protest
organised by a group called "The Platform against the New War."

The group consists of about 160 religious and humanitarian organisations
including some Turkish and Arab associations, the coordinators said in a
statement.

"There is police presence but this is a legal gathering organised in
close cooperation with the authorities. The atmosphere is very relaxed
and peaceful. People have come because they are worried," Karel Koster,
a spokesman for the organisers, told Reuters.

In Britain, protesters targeted the opening of the annual Labour Party
conference in Brighton. About 1,000 demonstrators gathered to protest
against possible military strikes against Afghanistan.

The protest had expected to be an anti-globalisation rally, but most
demonstrators shouted anti-war slogans and carried signs that read:
"Peace not war."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D.C. Protesters Call for Peace

By David Ho
Associated Press Writer
Washington Post
Saturday, Sept. 29, 2001

WASHINGTON - Activists and anarchists chanted "no war" as they took to the 
streets Saturday, their anti-globalization cause transformed by the 
terrorist attacks into a call for peace.

The march began peacefully around 10 a.m., but police used pepper spray to 
control some protesters as they passed the D.C. Convention Center. A top 
police official was apparently injured in the fracas.

Two officers carried Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer behind 
barricades l! ate Saturday morning. Chief of Police Charles Ramsey said 
Gainer had been sprayed with something.
Arrests were made after the disturbance, said a police spokeswoman, but she 
could not provide further details.

The Anti-Capitalist Convergence, an anarchist group based in the capital, 
rallied hundreds Saturday morning near Capitol Hill to march to the 
International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in downtown 
Washington.

Rachel Ettling, 18, of Grand Forks, N.D., was one of several people holding 
up two giant paper skeletons labeled "Us" and "Them." A banner hanging 
between the skeletons read, "Violence does not solve violence."

"We're urging the administration caution before they go to war in our 
name," Ettling said.
Other banners read: "Arab does not equal terrorist," "Destroy imperialism, 
not Afghanistan" and "To stop terror, stop terrorizing."

While some protesters arrived in black masks, others marched with their 
kids. One prot! ester from Pennsylvania, who identified himself only as 
David, brought his 11-month-old son, Sage. "I brought him to teach him what 
freedom is like before it's gone," the father said.

While no organized counter-demonstrators met the anarchists, workers at a 
construction site cursed the marchers as they passed by.

Ken Childers, 38, a pest-control worker from Maryland, said: "This is 
ridiculous. How can they call themselves Americans? ... I can't believe 
these people don't want us to defend ourselves."

At an event held in the city to announce a scholarship fund for the 
children and spouses of victims of the Sept. 11 attack, former President 
Clinton and his onetime political rival Bob Dole were asked about the 
anti-war protest.

"This is America," Clinton said. "They are welcome to say whatever they 
want to say. ... If the future of the world in the Middle East is what Mr. 
bin Laden wants it to be, they would not be able to speak their mind."
Dole agreed, saying, "I understand there were some urging an immediate 
response ... but that was declined, fortunately. And I think now we're on a 
proper path."

The protests were originally planned to oppose policies of the World Bank 
and the IMF. The global financial organizations called off their annual 
meetings for this year after the Sept. 11 attacks, and most protesters 
canceled their events.

A few groups shifted focus to oppose what they call a rush to war by the 
United States that could kill many innocent people. The protesters also 
condemned the backlash against Arabs and Muslims and say that the Bush 
administration has used the attacks as an excuse to curtail civil liberties.

Police have blamed anarchists for much of the violence at 
anti-globalization protests during the past few years. The Convergence 
group said in a statement it was toning down its sometimes militant tactics 
for this march against U.S. foreign and military policies.
"A rally like that at this time is just inappropriate," said Jim Parmelee, 
the head of a group of Republican activists opposing the message of the 
protesters. "If I were a family member of one of the folks missing, and I 
saw this  it's just horrible."

An anti-war coalition led by the New York-based International Action Center 
had plans for a larger event Saturday that could draw more than 5,000 
people, said organizer Richard Becker. Many groups representing American 
Muslims and Arabs were expected at the rally and to participate in a march 
that was beginning several blocks from the White House.

The Washington Peace Center and other groups planned another march for Sunday.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-War Protesters March in D.C.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A44893-2001Sep29?

Saturday, September 29, 2001
By Christina Pino-Marina, washingtonpost.com Staff Writer

  Thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Washington today,
  shifting anti-globalization themes to anti-war protests in the wake of
  the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

  Many of the protesters were clad in black clothing with bandannas
  concealing parts of their faces; some were equipped with trash can tops
  and gas masks to defend against action from the police. Most carried
  anti-capitalist and anti-war signs and used bullhorns to deliver their
  call for peace.

  For the most part, the day had more festive overtones. Groups of dancers
  gathered around musicians pounding out fast rhythms on drums and bells.
  Sarah Andrew, 23, danced barefoot in front of a stone fountain near the
  Capitol as other protesters waded through the water.

  "I would like to think that this feels much more positive than it would
  have if there had been World Bank protests," she said.

  Most of the clashes between protesters and police stemmed from a morning
  march organized by the D.C.-based Anti-Capitalist Convergence group. That
  march, which began about 10 a.m., lead participants from Upper Senate
  Park near Union Station to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
  headquarters at Pennsylvania Avenue and 18th and 19th streets NW.

  D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey said in an interview that there were
  fewer than a dozen arrests of demonstrators by 3 p.m. Many of those were
  arrested for breaking police lines or parading without permits, but even
  some of the protesters who had not received permits were allowed to
  continue with their demonstrations.

  A brief standoff between anti-war demonstrators and counter-demonstrators
  occurred during the second march, which was fed partly by participants
  from the earlier demonstration. The second march began at Freedom Plaza,
  14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, shortly after 3 p.m. and ended at
  the U.S. Capitol.

  Demonstrators moving down Pennsylvania Avenue were confronted in front of
  the National Archive building, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, by a group of
  about 50 people waving American flags and signs stating among other
  things "Welcome bin Laden Fan Club," "Defending Ourselves is a Good
  Thing," " War Got Rid of Hitler" and "Traitors and Cowards Rally."

  Police were able to keep the two groups separated and keep things
  peaceful.

  Rob Chalkley, of Reston, who was among the counter-demonstrators, said,
  "I wanted them to know that theirs is not the only voice out here."

  The second march, which drew thousands of protesters, was organized by a
  coalition called International ANSWER, Act Now to Stop War and End
  Racism. The group was formed by the International Action Center, a New
  York political activist organization that originally had planned to
  surround the White House.

  D.C. police had estimated that 4,000 people would take part in anti-war
  events in the city today, and a counter-demonstration had also been
  scheduled at the Washington Monument.

  As many as 100,000 protesters had been expected to converge in Washington
  this weekend to demonstrate during the IMF and World Bank meetings. The
  meetings were canceled after terrorists leveled the World Trade Center
  towers and destroyed a section of the Pentagon, killing thousands. Some
  protests groups abandoned their plans to rally in Washington, but others
  quickly mobilized behind the growing anti-war movement.

  At the core of the anti-war sentiments, some protesters say, is the
  belief that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi fugitive targeted by the Bush
  administration as the mastermind behind the attacks, should be brought to
  justice through courts instead of military force.

  Natalie Williams, 68, of East Harlem, N.Y., who participated in the march
  to the IMF and World Bank headquarters, carried an anti-war poster
  showing with a no-bombing icon.

  "I don't categorize this speaking out against a potential war as
  anti-American," Williams said. "I'm objecting to the policies of America.
  The U.S. -- they were the ones who set up these policies, this
  exploitation of people around the world."

  Many of her fellow protesters carried black and red flags and beat drums
  and the bottoms of plastic buckets.

  At one point during that march, there was a brief skirmish between
  protesters and police on H Street, between 11th and 12th streets.
  Demonstrators surrounded a police cruiser and sat on the hood of the car.
  Officers responded by spraying pepper spray and backing the protesters
  away from the scene.

  Gabe Talton, a lawyer from the National Lawyer's Guild who was at the
  march as an observer, said he witnessed the incident.

  Protesters "surrounded the car and tried to stop it and another red SUV,"
  he said. "They sat on the cars, and then the police sprayed some pepper
  spray. I don't think anyone was hurt, but I did see a policewoman who had
  her helmet stripped off."

  One police official was hit by some pepper spray during the march.
  Executive Assistant Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer was seen near the
  World Bank splashing water on his face and in his eyes. Sgt. Joe Gentile,
  a police spokesman, said Gainer was not seriously injured, adding, "He
  just got hit in the eyes with some pepper spray."

  But even during the morning march, most protesters focused on their
  message and not aggression toward police.

  Katrina Errico, 18, who hitchhiked from San Francisco, said the terrorist
  attacks caused a significant change in the tone of today's protest.

  "It's geared a lot more towards peace, love and unity," Errico said.
  "Before it would have been a lot more radical and violent. The attacks
  kind of calmed people down a lot."

  Another protester, a 20-year-old man from Western Pennsylvania who would
  only identify himself as "Fusion," said instead of military strikes, he
  prefers for the United States to try negotiating with those responsible
  for the attacks.

  "We should try any solution except destruction. If there is no possible
  way to negotiate peace and truce, we may have to support military
  strikes," Fusion said. "We should find out what it is they hate about us.
  We should make compromises in our support of Israel, and we should end
  our absolute economic imperialism. Both the United States and the
  terrorists share responsibility in the attacks."

  After protesters reached the World Bank and IMF headquarters, police
  prevented them from leaving for about an hour. Police circled protesters
  in front of the World Bank and blocked off the entrance to the World Bank
  with metal dividers and a police line. During that time, protesters
  played soccer, held hands and chanted. There was some taunting of
  officers as well. When police officers were ready to allow the group to
  move again, they pushed the protesters, directing them back down H
  street.

  U.S. Park Police showed up in black riot gear to help bolster the police
  presence. They established lines on cross streets to help control the
  crowd movement.

  About 1 p.m., at H and 15th streets NW, another brief clash occurred
  between demonstrators and police. Streams of pepper spray dispersed the
  crowd, and Chief Ramsey, who had been leading a line of police ahead of
  the protesters, helped pin down one demonstrator, who was handcuffed and
  taken away.

  The demonstration moved down 14th Street to Freedom Plaza, where
  demonstrators joined the hundreds of other protesters for the second
  march.

  Onlookers watched from behind shop windows and along the march route.
  Darryl Williams, a tourist from Rochester, N.Y., said he was distraught
  by the activity. "Right now, I am nothing but angry when I see this; all
  they are doing is dividing the country," he said. "They don't appreciate
  what they have."

  Tomorrow, an event organized by the Washington Peace Center and the D.C.
  office of the American Friends Service Committee will take place at 11
  a.m. at Meridian Hill Park, 16th and Euclid streets NW. That march will
  take demonstrators through Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-War Protesters March in Washington

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-092901protest_wr.story

September 29 2001
By DAVID HO
Associated Press

  WASHINGTON -- Activists and anarchists chanted "no war" as they took to
  the streets today, their anti-globalization cause transformed by the
  terrorist attacks into a call for peace.

  Police used pepper spray to control some protesters as they passed the
  D.C. Convention Center.

  Two officers carried Assistant Police Chief Terrance Gainer behind
  barricades late this morning after he was sprayed by a substance. He was
  back directing police operations soon afterwards.

  Arrests were made after the disturbance, said a police spokeswoman, but
  she could not provide further details.

  The Anti-Capitalist Convergence, an anarchist group based in the capital,
  rallied hundreds this morning near Capitol Hill to march to the
  International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in downtown
  Washington.

  Rachel Ettling, 18, of Grand Forks, N.D., was one of several people
  holding up two giant paper skeletons labeled "Us" and "Them." A banner
  hanging between the skeletons read, "Violence does not solve violence."

  "We're urging the administration caution before they go to war in our
  name," Ettling said.

  Other banners read: "Arab does not equal terrorist" and "Destroy
  imperialism, not Afghanistan."

  While some protesters arrived in black masks, others marched with their
  kids. One protester from Pennsylvania, who identified himself only as
  David, brought his 11-month-old son, Sage. "I brought him to teach him
  what freedom is like before it's gone," the father said.

  While no organized counter-demonstrators met the anarchists, workers at a
  construction site cursed the marchers as they passed by.

  Ken Childers, 38, a pest-control worker from Maryland, said: "This is
  ridiculous. How can they call themselves Americans? ... I can't believe
  these people don't want us to defend ourselves."

  At an event held in the city to announce a scholarship fund for the
  children and spouses of victims of the Sept. 11 attack, former President
  Clinton and his onetime political rival Bob Dole were asked about the
  anti-war protest.

  "This is America," Clinton said. "They are welcome to say whatever they
  want to say. ... If the future of the world in the Middle East is what
  Mr. bin Laden wants it to be, they would not be able to speak their
  mind."

  The protests were originally planned to oppose policies of the World Bank
  and the IMF. The global financial organizations called off their annual
  meetings for this year after the Sept. 11 attacks, and most protesters
  canceled their events.

  A few groups shifted focus to oppose what they call a rush to war by the
  United States that could kill many innocent people. The protesters also
  condemned the backlash against Arabs and Muslims and say that the Bush
  administration has used the attacks as an excuse to curtail civil
  liberties.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D.C. Protesters Call for Peace.

AP. 29 September 2001.

WASHINGTON -- Activists and anarchists chanted "no war" as they took to
the streets Saturday, their anti-globalization cause transformed by the
terrorist attacks into a call for peace.

The march began peacefully around 10 a.m., but police used pepper spray
to control some protesters as they passed the D.C. Convention Center.

A Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman said arrests had been made,
but she could not provide further details.

The Anti-Capitalist Convergence, an anarchist group based in the
capital, rallied hundreds Saturday morning near Capitol Hill to march to
the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in downtown
Washington.

Rachel Ettling, 18, of Grand Forks, N.D., was one of several people
holding up two giant paper skeletons labeled "Us" and "Them." A banner
hanging between the skeletons read, "Violence does not solve violence."
"We're urging the administration caution before they go to war in our
name," Ettling said.

Other banners read: "Arab does not equal terrorist," "Destroy
imperialism, not Afghanistan" and "To stop terror, stop terrorizing."

While some protesters arrived in black masks, others marched with their
kids. One protester from Pennsylvania, who identified himself only as
David, brought his 11-month-old son, Sage. "I brought him to teach him
what freedom is like before it's gone," the father said.

No organized counter-demonstrators met the anarchists.

The protests were originally planned to oppose policies of the World
Bank and the IMF. The global financial organizations called off their
annual meetings for this year after the Sept. 11 attacks, and most
protesters canceled their events.

A few groups shifted focus to oppose what they call a rush to war by the
United States that could kill many innocent people. The protesters also
condemned the backlash against Arabs and Muslims and say that the Bush
administration has used the attacks as an excuse to curtail civil
liberties.

An anti-war coalition led by the New York-based International Action
Center had plans for a larger event Saturday that could draw more than
5,000 people, said organizer Richard Becker. Many groups representing
American Muslims and Arabs were expected at the rally and to participate
in a march that was beginning several blocks from the White House.

The Washington Peace Center and other groups planned another march for
Sunday.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Activists speak out against war, racism

Judy Gerber, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network

Thursday, September 27, 2001

While New Yorkers continue to mourn for all the people
lost at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, LGBT
activists and their friends have taken little time to
pause before starting their organizing efforts to oppose
racism and the U.S. government's plans for war.

New York's Queer Economic Justice Network (QEJN) has
issued a call for LGBT organizations to oppose war
and "denounce the racist and xenophobic attacks that
are taking place against Arab, Muslim, South Asian
and Central Asian communities."

So far, at least a dozen LGBT organizations in the
New York area, including Queers for Racial &
Economic Justice, Pride at Work, ACT UP/NY and
Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBTQ Muslims & Friends,
have signed on to QEJN's declaration.

Aleem Raja, the co-chairman of Trikone, an organization of Bay Area
South Asian gays and lesbians, sees gay people having a natural
inclination to understand and empathize with the vulnerability being felt by
Asians and Arabs. "White gay people have contacted us, many who
identify with on-the-street hatred suffered by being who they are," Raja
said.

The Brooklyn-based Audre Lorde Project (ALP), which focuses on
communities of color, issued a statement Sept. 19 addressing the dual
tasks of mourning and organizing against the targeting of particular
nations and people of color in the United States. ALP also called on LGBT
organizations "to reject the mantra of single-issue politics that is being
used to insulate some of us from responding to this current crisis."

"We need to understand the context"

Tinku, a Bangladeshi-born activist with Quit! (Queers for Palestine),
prefers his full name not be used for fear of reprisal in the current climate.
He called the hijackings and the destruction at the World Trade Center and
Pentagon "a momentous, terrible calamity, very tragic and horrific."

"What's significant is this happening on U.S. soil," he added. "There have
been atrocities across the world. We need to understand that context.
History is very important."

Women in Black is an international women's group started by Israeli and
Palestinian women to promote peace between their peoples. The group
has now added opposition to anti-Arab, anti-Muslim violence and racial
profiling here, and opposition to war against Afghanistan, to its
agenda.

The fact that the United States is pointing to "Muslim fundamentalists" as
responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks doesn't make Kate Raphael of
Women in Black feel any different about opposing retaliation because
she's a lesbian. She said it "will do nothing" to bring more death and
suffering down on people who've already experienced huge devastation.

COLAGE, Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere, also spoke out
because its mission is to create a world safe for all people, said executive
director Felicia Park-Rogers. The group speaks of concern about the
prospect of going to war and expresses support for Arab Americans,
Muslims, and Sikhs because "they are people who we know are often
marginalized and made to feel different, and we know what that's like."

Park-Rogers said she didn't receive one negative response or question
about why COLAGE was taking a stand when she e-mailed the statement
to over 2,000 people. "All I got," she said, "were e-mails of thanks" for
speaking out.

San Francisco Dyke March Committee members are also speaking out.
"We've been absolutely disgusted by what happened," said spokeswoman
Lisa Roth. "But it's also made me feel sick to think of what this country
may do to retaliate and what some Americans are doing already to Arab
and Asian people here. We can't just sit back and let that happen."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-war press cranks up

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/28/DD235070.DTL 


Peace News offers alternative view

James Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, September 28, 2001

A coterie of veteran underground newspaper publishers is printing what the
contributors believe is the first special-edition anti-war publication in
the country since the terrorist attacks.

"We realized we had to do something," said Allen Cohen, publisher of the
Oracle, the leading psychedelic paper of the Haight-Ashbury heyday. "We
couldn't stand by while the world hurtles over the waterfall of desperate
acts. "

Peace News is scheduled for print later today, with many of the first copies
set for distribution tomorrow at an 11 a.m. anti-war demonstration in San
Francisco's Dolores Park.

Cohen and John Bryan, who has worked at various daily newspapers and was
managing editor of the L.A. Free Press, say they bumped into each other the
day after the World Trade Center attacks at the Mission District bookstore
where Bryan works. In an instant, they both realized it was time to crank up
the old counterculture presses.

"I looked at him and he looked at me," said Bryan, "and we said, 'Holy s--,
what are we gonna do?' "

The 12-page broadsheet features contributions from a who's who of contrarian
commentators, including Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
Diane di Prima, Paul Krassner, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic and cartoonist
Spain Rodriguez.

Some of the poems and essays were written for Peace News; others, such as
Moore's moving piece about his recent return to New York, have also appeared
on the writers' Web sites. There's a piece by the late Charles Bukowski,
onetime associate of Bryan's Open City Press, titled "Peace, Baby, Is Hard
Sell."

The overall purpose, say the editors, is to express concern about further
violence and the erosion of civil liberties in America.

"We better get this out fast," Bryan said Wednesday, shuffling around the
bookstore in his stocking feet while a friend pasted up pages on a table in
back. "They're not going to let reporters cover the war. Bush is talking
about 'secret victories.' "

Bryan, an old-school newspaperman who often found himself at odds with the
hedonistic staff members of the hippie papers, couldn't help needling his
colleague, Cohen: "He believes in peace and love and all that s--," he said
with a cranky smile.

Despite their differences, he said, their alarm over potential privacy and
free-speech issues has united them.

"Is this the second Reichstag fire?" Bryan asked. "It's not that far out an
idea."

Cohen said he is beginning to sense a mobilization of anti-war voices, after
a period after the attacks in which nearly all criticism of the Bush
administration or U.S. foreign policy was suppressed.

"If you pay close attention to what's happening on the talk shows, we're
getting a second wave now. People are thinking about the dangers involved in
too violent, too destructive an act."

After an initial run of about 17,000, the editors of Peace News say they
will reprint as many copies as they can afford through grassroots fund
raising.

Future editions are doubtful, though Cohen said contributors have been eager
to participate. "We already have more than we can use."

Bryan said it's up to others to carry on with similar projects. "I think
we're the first. We won't be the last, though. That's clear."
----------
E-mail James Sullivan at jamessullivan@sfchronicle.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning Edition  - NPR
Friday, September 28, 2001

Peace protesters expected in Washington, DC, over the weekend
to protest possible military action against Afghanistan

BOB EDWARDS, Anchor
BRIAN NAYLOR, Reporter

  BOB EDWARDS, host:

  Demonstrators have scheduled a peace rally for this weekend in
  Washington. Thousands of people are expected to express their opposition
  to US military action in Afghanistan. Authorities in the nation's capital
  already were bracing for another protest against the World Bank and the
  International Monetary Fund. The World Bank and IMF canceled their
  meetings after the September 11th terrorist attacks. NPR's Brian Naylor
  reports.

  BRIAN NAYLOR reporting:

  In the days since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,
  there have been aircraft carrier deployments, call-ups of reservists and
  National Guard troops, and much speculation about where and how US
  military forces would retaliate. Parallel to the call to arms, peace
  activists have been slowly gearing up as well. On Saturday and Sunday,
  organizers expect thousands will gather in Washington for anti-war
  rallies and a march to the Capitol. The activists all say they were
  repulsed by the terrorist attacks, but say a military response by the US
  will only perpetuate a cycle of violence. Maria Ramos is coordinator of
  the Washington Peace Center.

  Ms. MARIA RAMOS (Coordinator, Washington Peace Center):

  The country, we're shocked, we're enraged, and we want to respond. We
  want to respond now. But we have to ask ourselves, 'Do we really want to
  respond to the cruelty and to the insanity of this political violence
  with more blood on our hands?'

  NAYLOR:

  Demonstration organizers say US government policy bears some
  responsibility for the September 11th attacks. They cite everything from
  US backing of the Contra Rebels in Nicaragua to support for Israel as
  reasons why someone might want to attack the US. Grayland Haggler(ph), a
  Washington minister, says it's not about blaming America first, as
  critics have charged.

  Reverend GRAYLAND HAGGLER:

  When you find yourself into the midst of some trauma, it causes you to
  reflect, first of all, and to ask yourself a question of, 'What did I do,
  or what didn't I do to end up in this situation? Who have I offended and
  what could I have done that was different?' It is not a matter of
  blaming oneself or blaming America first, but it's a matter of how do
  you get better.

  NAYLOR:

  Many of the groups involved in the weekend anti-war protests were also
  involved in the demonstrations against the IMF and World Bank. They
  say it's not a big leap from demonstrating for economic justice to
  protesting against war. Despite polls which show support for the
  president, and for US military action, hovering around 90 percent,
  activists say they represent a significant minority. Brian Becker is
  co-director of the International Action Center, which is organizing
  Saturday's march.

  Mr. BRIAN BECKER (Co-director, International Action Center):

  We don't base ourselves on polls. We base ourselves on principles. And
  so the principles of peace, the principles against war and racism, the
  need to defend civil liberties, even by your own count we represent more
  than 20 million people, and thousands of them will be there on Saturday.

  NAYLOR:

  Washington police had been expecting up to 100,000 demonstrators
  for the World Bank-IMF meetings, and planned to erect a 10-foot-tall
  chain-link fence around the White House and downtown Washington. Now
  there will be no fence, and executive assistant police Chief Terrence
  Gainer says there will probably be more cops on the streets this weekend
  than protesters. He also says there could be some counterdemonstrations.

  Chief TERRENCE GAINER:

  I hope the worst of it is is they're shouting at each other from each
  side of the street, and that they're respectful of their individual
  rights to have their particular perspective on what's going to go on and
  what has gone on.

  NAYLOR:

  The anti-war groups had hoped to have their rallies in Lafeyette
  Square across from the White House, but citing security reasons, officials
  have moved them further up Pennsylvania Avenue. Brian Naylor, NPR News,
  Washington.

  EDWARDS:

  The time is 21 minutes before the hour.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greeks Chant Anti-American Slogans

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-attacks-greek-protest0927sep27.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines 


By Associated Press

September 27, 2001, 9:25 PM EDT


ATHENS, Greece -- Thousands of demonstrators, some gathering near the U.S.
Embassy, rallied in Athens Thursday against a U.S. military response to the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

About 5,000 marchers, including anti-globalization activists and groups
backed by the Greek Communist Party, demanded that Greece refuse to
participate in any military action the U.S. might undertake against
Afghanistan.

Violence broke out when a group of youths in masks and crash helmets clashed
with riot police and other marchers as they tried to join the demonstration.
At least one person was slightly injured, though police didn't report any
arrests or serious damage.

Later, a few hundreds protesters chanting anti-American slogans rallied
outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

"We stand with the American people in their sadness ... (but) we condemn the
crimes committed by the American government," said one elderly demonstrator,
Panagiotis Valais.

The government is concerned that anti-American incidents could hurt the
country's image abroad. A small but vocal fringe here argues that the United
States provoked the terror attacks at the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon through what they see as arrogance and dictating global policies.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activists to appeal

Rallies planned in S.F., D.C.

by Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, September 28, 2001

As peace activists prepare for demonstrations tomorrow in San Francisco and 
Washington, D.C., organizers say they will hit on themes that will sound 
far different from the ones voiced in anti-war protests of years past.
"Protesting this war will take innovative strategies that have to respond 
to situations that will be very fluid," said Jerry Sanders, a University of 
California at Berkeley professor of peace and conflict.

While organizers are still groping to find those new strategies, they 
realize that stopping traffic, flag-burning, love-ins and most other 
vintage anti-war demonstrations won't register with people still mourning 
one of the deadliest days in American history.

As the Rev. Cecil Williams of San Francisco said, "None of that stuff is 
going to fly now."

Organizers say the 10,000 people expected at tomorrow's 11 a.m. rally in 
Dolores Park in San Francisco will promote their cause by emphasizing what 
all Americans share: grief for the dead and missing, and condemnation for 
their attackers; a desire to bring those responsible to justice, despite 
differences on how to do that; and a fear of ways the world is changing.

The new peace activists say America must win its war at home and not let 
the push for increased security lead to racial profiling and the 
scapegoating of Arab Americans and others of Mideast and South Asian origin.

Advocates of nonviolence believe their window of opportunity is narrow. 
Peace isn't an easy sell in ! these flag-rimmed days, with polls showing 
strong support for a military response to the attacks in New York and near 
Washington.

"As soon as American GIs start losing their lives, then it will be 10 times 
harder for the peace movement. Then, everyone will be focused on 
'supporting our boys,' and there will be a lot of pressure not to disrupt 
that," said Humboldt County activist David Meserve, who has been 
encouraging his Arcata neighbors to contact Washington leaders from a fax 
machine in the back of his truck.

Activists are encouraged by recent polls. Those taken immediately after the 
attack found near-unanimous support for a counterattack, even if innocent 
civilians were killed, but several polls taken this week showed support for 
that course of action slipping to roughly 70 percent.

"People are afraid," said Medea Benjamin, a longtime activist who will 
speak at Saturday's rally. "Afraid of biological weapons, of being blown up 
as they drive across t! he Bay Bridge. Once fear replaces that bloodlust, 
then the arguments of the peace movement gain more weight."

Organizers say they are energized by recent comments from the Bush 
administration officials cautioning Americans not to expect an instant 
counterattack. And like the administration leaders who say the war on 
terrorism will be different from others America has fought, those in the 
peace movement say their tactics will change, too.

Tomorrow's multicultural lineup of speakers spans four generations, and 
will be accompanied by musical styles ranging from hip-hop to spoken word 
to John Lennon's "Imagine." Organizers say that's another change from 
'60s-style war protesters, who warned against trusting anybody over 30 and 
often were led by white, middle-class college students.

But this weekend's solidarity may weaken should the war drag on.
Sanders said it would be increasingly difficult to protest a war that 
administration officials say will be la!gely unseen by the American public 
-- fought by covert agents, small groups of commandos and cyberspace 
jockeys. There may be no nightly TV news footage to rally protesters, as 
there was during the Vietnam War and other conflicts.

So instead of adopting yesteryear's confrontational, us-vs.-the- 
establishment tone, peace marchers will talk about common ground.

"Everyone wants to 'get' these guys," said Kevin Danaher, co-founder of 
Global Exchange, one of several co-sponsors of tomorrow's San Francisco 
event. "But what does 'get' mean? For us, it does not mean more military 
action."

Past protesters sometimes sympathized with Washington's opponents -- the 
Viet Cong, the Sandinistas or the Cuban government -- but Benjamin said, 
"There's no one who will talk about how the other side is 'good.'

"We have nothing positive to say about these terrorists."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thousands in anti-US protest in Athens.

AP. 27 September 2001.

ATHENS -- Several thousand people responded to an appeal by the Greek
communist party Thursday and took to the streets of central Athens to
condemn the US "imperialist war" following this month's suicide attacks
in the United States.

The demonstrators marched to the parliament shouting "American killers
of the peoples" and "The peoples are not terrorists."

At the head of the march was a row of women dressed in black and
carrying a banner reading "Terrorism - NATO-CIA."

Other banners in the crowd read: "No to the imperialist war" and "Bush
is a terrorist."

Organisers said more than 8,000 people took part.

Anti-riot police were deployed in the city center for the march, in
particular around the US embassy.

The protesters were to hand in to parliament a petition demanding an end
to the "preparations for war," and condemning the "threat of violation
of peoples' freedoms."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Yorkers are not out for revenge

An anti-war movement is starting to build across the United States

by Duncan Campbell
Wednesday September 26, 2001
The Guardian

 >From the top floor of 330 42nd Street in New York you
can see both the Empire State building now bathed at
its summit in a red, white and blue light and, to the
south, the cloud of smoke that still hangs over the
ruins of the World Trade Centre. The resonance of both
sights could not be missed by the hundreds of people
who poured into the penthouse conference hall made
available by a local union one night last week.

It was a snapshot of New Yorkers: young, old, black,
white, brown, Puerto Rican, Indian, Vietnamese,
Mexican, Jewish, Islamic, Catholic, scruffy, smart,
stroppy, witty, hip, self- confident, about half of
them men, half women. Depending on what happens now in
what CNN calls "America's new war", the gathering on
this humid New York night, 33 floors above the
hustlers of Times Square, could have a small part in
history.

This was the first major meeting of a growing anti-war
movement in the United States. There were young women
from Sarah Lawrence College and burly organisers from
the Service Employees International Union who had lost
colleagues in the attack - some 29 members in all.
There was the organised left and the disorganised left
and many who had lost friends or colleagues and were
disturbed by the rhetoric calling for violent
retribution.

Here, for instance is what columnist Zev Chafets had
recommended the previous day in the New York Daily
News: "The US must invade these countries [Iran, Iraq,
Syria], dismantle their unlatched governments,
disperse their armies and seize their arsenals. Think
of it as the German model. If there isn't time, if one
or more of the Axis regimes seems capable of attacking
with nukes or germs before US forces get there, these
regimes and their infrastructure, arsenals and
leadership will have to be dismantled by whatever
means necessary: the Japanese model." Or here's Lance
Morrow in Time: "Let America explore the rich
reciprocal possibilities of the fatwa."

A CBS/New York Times poll suggests that 75% of those
interviewed backed military retaliation even if it led
to the loss of innocent lives. Maps showing "Lake
America" where Afghanistan now is and T-shirts with
Bin Laden in the cross-hairs and the legend "America
says Fuck You" tell their own story. Only one out of
535 members of Congress, Barbara Lee, the Democrat
from Oakland, voted against giving President Bush
carte blanche for military retaliation.

But what perhaps is less audible in Britain is the
large number of dissenting voices who may well have
suffered terrible personal loss but do not see that as
good reason for visiting the same kind of damage on
some stranger. Professor Orlando Rodriguez of Fordham
University, for instance, lost his son Gregory, aged
31, in the attack. Like many others, Gregory
Rodriguez, the head of computer security for Cantor
Fitzgerald, had telephoned home to say he was OK just
before the second plane hit. Professor Rodriguez had
been horrified by all the calls for massive
retaliation: "Not in my son's name you don't. I don't
want my son used as a pawn to justify the killing of
others."

In Union Square, which has become the unofficial and
haphazard shrine to the dead, there are many, many
messages attached to photos of the dead which are
essentially pleas for restraint, calls for peace. The
words written outside fire stations by the weary
firefighters mourning their colleagues are not of
gung-ho revenge but reflective sadness; outside the
station on 51st Street, 10 of whose crew had died, the
words beside the photos of the dead men were "We'll
leave the light on", not a call for "bombs away".

Over the weekend, more than 150 campuses around the
country held vigils or rallies calling for peace.
Voices that urge restraint are coming from many
directions. Here is the main editorial comment in the
New Yorker from Hendrik Hertzberg: "The terrorists of
September 11 are outlaws within a global polity. Their
status and numbers are such that the task of dealing
with them should be seen as a police matter of the
must urgent kind. The goal of foreign and military
policy must be to induce recalcitrant governments to
cooperate, a goal whose attainment may or may not
entail making general war on the people such
governments rule." And those voices are increasingly
making themselves heard.

The hundreds who gathered high on 42nd Street to form
an anti-war coalition may have many different ideas
about the right response, which verge from the wholly
pacifist to the limited use of the military to bring
to justice those responsible. But they were united in
their opposition to any policy that would result in
the deaths of other people in distant countries who,
like those beneath the smoking ruins so hauntingly
visible from the 33rd floor, one day went off to work
or play and never returned.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At least 20,000 march in Naples anti-war demo

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010927/1/1iv1l.html

NAPLES, Italy, Sept 27 (AFP) - At least 20,000 anti-war demonstrators
marched peacefully through Naples Thursday to protest a military
build-up and the threat of a global conflict in the wake of anti-US
terror attacks.

   Hundreds of Italian police and paramilitary carabinieri, who put the
crowd at 20,000, kept a close watch on the march, but the gathering
bore none of the tension which preceded the rioting that marred a G8
summit in Genoa in July.

   One of the organizers, Francesco Caruso of the anti-globalization
group No Global, put the turn-out at around 40,000.

   "Everything went very peacefully," he told AFP.

   "The police were very discreet. We reached our objective of saying a
big 'No' to war, and 'No' to terrorism," he added.

   The absence of NATO leaders from Naples -- the city is home to the
alliance's Southern Command, and was originally to have hosted a NATO
meeting this week -- took much of the heat out of what had threatened
to be a tense sequel to the violence-marred Genoa summit, which
involved many of the same anti-globalisation groups at Thursday's
march.

   Neither police nor any demonstrators wore protective riot gear, in
marked contrast to the Genoa meeting.

   However some demonstrators took the precaution of wearing T-shirts
emblazoned with the phone number of a lawyer in case of arrest.

   Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested after the Genoa riots, in
which one protester was shot dead, and many were later beaten amid
widespread claims of police brutality.

   Police and carabinieri deployed in the city kept a discreet distance
from the mostly festive protesters who linked hands as the march snaked
toward the municipal building at Plebiscito square in the historic
center.

   NATO leaders were originally scheduled to meet Wednesday and
Thurdsday at the alliance's southern command headquarters outside this
Mediterranean city but moved the meeting to Brussels in the wake of the
September 11 attacks, which caused US President George W. Bush to
launch what he called a crusade against terrorism.

   In a throwback to the anti-war movement of the 1960s, the march had
headed off from the main train station led by a group carrying
hippy-style peace banners and chanting in English: "one, two, three,
four ... we don't want another war. Five, six, seven, eight ... stop
the violence, stop the hate."

   Many were from left-wing organizations and carried portraits of Karl
Marx and Che Guevara.

   One banner, referring to Bush and to fears that a military strike
could spark a retaliatory attack using biological weapons, read: "Sure,
W, we'll suck anthrax, so you can feel tough in your bunker."

   Dozens of protesters carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in
support of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising. Also prominent was a
group of activists from the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who
called for the release of their jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

   Classics student Tonia Capuano, 17, who handed out Communist party
pamphlets, claimed many demonstrators had arrived from the northern
cities of Turin and Venice, as well as Rome, and the Sicilian city of
Palermo.

   Capuano said she would demonstrate anyway against anti-globalisation,
"because that's where the war and the violence comes from".

   Another marcher, Giuliano Malet, 25, said: "I feel that war in
Afghanistan, or Pakistan, would only hit poor people."

   The United States blamed Islamic extremists based in Afghanistan as
prime suspects in the September 11 attacks on its territory.

   Other marchers were angered by comments by Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi in which he said that Christianity was superior to
Islam.

   "It is absolutely senseless. It's like Hitler in 1933," one said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talk of war leads to calls for peace

<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/17/MN69802.DTL>

Many fear unending violence

by Pamela J. Podger, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, September 17, 2001

Caught between patriotism and pacifism, many Northern California residents 
are recoiling at the official rhetoric of "ending" countries that harbor 
terrorists.
These residents say they are chilled by Washington's rapid strides toward 
armed retaliation for Tuesday's bombing of the World Trade Center and 
Pentagon.
They want peace, not war, and fear that cranking up the military war 
machine will unleash an endless era of violence.
"This is a tender time, between our grief and retaliation, where we should 
do something different than bomb Afghanistan into the Stone Age," said 
David Moss, a pastor at United Methodist Church in Auburn (Placer County).
The terrorist attacks have sparked introspection among those who cannot 
condone President Bush's talk of war. Tuesday's tragedy, they say, requires 
a response that also takes into account the decades of U.S. dominance 
abroad and its unwavering support of Israel, as well as the CIA's training 
of Osama bin Laden and simmering anti-Arab sentiments across the United 
States. Demonstrations, protests and displays of nonviolent resistance are 
likely in the days ahead.
While an array of religious leaders, including a Muslim imam, joined Bush 
at the National Cathedral on Friday, the president needs to go even further 
in that direction, some felt.
"Bush could bring about the healing by visiting a mosque,' said Palo Alto 
resident Ann Reisenauer.  "We need a statesman now who can speak in a voice 
of reason."
Grace Marvin of Chico (Butte County) fears that military action will stoke 
more terrorism and create a backlash of greater anti-American sentiment.
What is needed instead, she said, is a re-examination of U.S. support for 
oppressive regimes.
"My horror and sadness is matched only by a fear that the current 
administration will react inappropriately . . . resulting in needless 
deaths," she said.
Cindy Joyce of Cupertino recalled how she wept openly, years ago, after she 
visited Japan's Hiroshima Museum.
"I pray to God that if we are to stop terrorism in this world, we will use 
our intelligence and our economic strength to crush our enemies before we 
bomb countries and kill more innocent people," Joyce said.
The Bush administration has made it clear that it will pursue terrorists 
wherever the hunt takes them and that a full range of action is on the 
table in the war against terrorism.
"One has to say it's not just simply a matter of capturing people and 
holding them accountable," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said 
Thursday, "but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, 
ending states who sponsor terrorism."
Recent polls show that a substantial majority of Americans believe the 
United States should retaliate, even if there is a loss of innocent 
lives.  Some people said the senseless slaying of around 5,000 people in 
last week's attacks New York demands a flexing of military muscle and could 
be part of the healing process.
"You have to strike back. It is culture against culture," said Chris Hunter 
of El Cerrito. "Those people rejoiced in our suffering. If you don't do 
anything, the terrorists will do it again, continuously, because they have 
no respect for the United States."
Corey Lappier, 18, of San Francisco summed up his sentiments succinctly: 
"We can't afford to do nothing."
Vietnam War veteran Richard Fox of Alta Loma said military retaliation was 
warranted. "All these people know is violence," he said. "They are trying 
to force their beliefs on us."
But world leaders, including Pope John Paul II, former South African 
President Nelson Mandela and Cuban President Fidel Castro have urged 
restraint.
Several people invoked the names of the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and 
Martin Luther King as their heroes who faced confrontation with nonviolence.
Tai Sheridan, a yoga teacher and psychologist from Kentfield, said he was 
disturbed by the reaction by U.S. leaders.
"It bothers me that America's first response is to pull out the war 
machine, " he said. "Bush has said let's go kill the people who are 
responsible. But violence never stopped the cycle of violence."
-----------
E-mail Pamela J. Podger at ppodger@sfchronicle.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-war groups rally for restraint

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=80329

by Jim Loney

Friday, September 21, 2001 (Reuters News)

WASHINGTON - As war rhetoric rang in Congress and in the streets,
some Americans marshalled forces on Thursday to urge President George
W Bush to restrain the use of military force in response to attacks
on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

   Students held peace rallies on Thursday in Boston, Michigan,
Wisconsin and the University of California-Berkeley, a focal point of
anti-war protest during the Vietnam era.

   Even as they mourned the more than 6,500 dead or missing in New York,
Pennsylvania and Washington, a coalition of business and religious
leaders and others, including actor Martin Sheen and civil rights
legend Rosa Parks, said U.S. military action threatened to "spark a
cycle of escalating violence."

   Many Americans have expressed a desire for revenge since the attacks,
and polls have indicated some 90% favored the use of military force.

   But peace activists said there was a growing sentiment to curb war
talk against an enemy not yet clearly identified.

   The business, entertainment and religious coalition ardently opposed
a military response. "It would spark a cycle of escalating violence,
the loss of innocent lives and new acts of terrorism," the group said
in a statement.

   "The carnage of terror knows no borders. Our best chance for
preventing such devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and
cooperatively as part of a community of nations within the framework
of international law," the group said.

   Signers included singer Harry Belafonte, actor Danny Glover, Ben &
Jerry's Ice Cream founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, singer
Bonnie Raitt and environmental, university and community groups.

   "I think there will be a surprisingly large peace response to this
crisis," said Kit Bonson, a director of the Washington Peace Center,
a pacifist and human rights group planning a major event in the U.S.
capital on Sept 30. "I don't think the (Bush) administration
understands that yet."

   In Berkeley, California, students geared up for protests opposing the
U.S. build-up in the Gulf and calling for an end to racial
scapegoating following last week's attacks.

   Media magnate Ted Turner, in comments on Wednesday at the United
Nations where he delivered a $31 million check to cover part of U.S.
dues to the world body, cautioned Washington not to indiscriminately
start bombing countries.

   "I think that since we have had terrorism for over 30 years in both
Israel and Ireland just by killing people, we've got to be awfully
careful that we don't hurt innocent people," he said.

   A rally on Thursday at UC-Berkeley drew several hundred people. The
Berkeley Stop the War Coalition started a "green armband" protest in
solidarity with Arab and Muslim Americans.

   "We totally sympathise with the victims' families and their friends,
but we also knew that there was going to be a huge amount of
backlash," said Yvette Felarca, a coalition member. "We're fighting
for justice at home."

   Some 100 mostly student protesters carrying signs with slogans like
"All Violence is Wrong" held a vocal anti-war protest at the
University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

   "I think the people who are against violence might be
under-represented in the media," said Nancy Stoll, 43, a homemaker
who joined the march with her three small children and a sign that
read: "Bombing Afghan Children Won't Help."

   "You're seeing lots of American flags and lots of people that feel
the answer is to go and bomb them but I think there's a lot of people
out there who don't feel that way," she said.

   At the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus, more than 400
people, mostly students, turned out for a rally, said Molly McGrath,
who works for the Progressive media project, which is part of the
liberal Progressive magazine.

   "People are really upset about the racist backlash going on," McGrath
said, adding that the crowd chanted "1-2-3-4 we won't support your
racist war."

   The Washington Peace Center said it would meet this weekend to
discuss a response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks and
to plan its peace event on Sept 30.

   "Violence begets violence and there are alternatives to open-ended
war against an unidentified enemy," Bonson said.

   The event, expected to attract a wide-range of anti-war activists,
was scheduled on the weekend the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank had intended to hold their annual meetings in the U.S.
capital. The organizations cancelled the meetings out of security
concerns.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rallies reflect opposing opinions on attacks

<http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/10007277152447657.xml> 


09/17/01
by GORDON OLIVER

Two rallies in downtown Portland on Sunday, held just three hours and a few 
blocks apart, offered a glimpse of the diversity of opinion within the city 
as the nation braces for war.
The first rally, held at noon in the South Park Blocks, was organized by a 
new group called Portland Peaceful Response, which expects, and opposes, an 
American military reaction to last week's terrorist attacks on New York 
City and Washington, D.C.
The second was a prayer rally, starting at 3 p.m. in Pioneer Courthouse 
Square, hosted by the Christian Coalition of Oregon, Americans for a Safe 
Israel and Bridges for Peace, a Christian group. Sponsors of both events 
estimated crowds of about 2,500 people.
The two gatherings shared common themes of sorrow and compassion for the 
thousands of victims of the terrorists attacks, and participants created 
flower memorials both in the South Park Blocks and Pioneer Courthouse Square.
But the tone of the events was starkly different.
Speakers and participants at the peace rally said they recognized the 
overwhelming public support for a military response to the terrorist 
attacks, but many said they feared that such an action would be 
fruitless.  Organizers said they are preparing to hold a rally if the 
United States launches a military attack in pursuit of terrorists.
The mood at the prayer rally, on the other hand, was one of joy amid 
tragedy that the nation seemed unified behind President Bush as the 
nation's leaders consider their next moves.
The peace rally drew a crowd of mostly young and middle-aged adults who 
listened and cheered speakers who said the United States should not resort 
to a military response to the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center 
and the Pentagon. There were few American flags in the crowd.
They paraded peacefully on the streets and sidewalks to Pioneer Courthouse 
Square, circled the block, and returned to the park block behind the Arlene 
Schnitzer Concert Hall in growing numbers, spilling onto sidewalks.
Bishara Costandi, a Palestinian resident of Portland and member of a 
nonprofit group Arabs Building Community, said U.S. foreign policy creates 
victims around the world and should be changed in order to create a lasting 
peace.
"If you want peace, you have to have honor," he said. "Honor doesn't come 
unless you have justice."
Participants seemed to gain energy from their numbers, and statements grew 
more pointed and the applause more sustained after the parade to Pioneer 
Courthouse Square and back.
Catherine Thomasson, of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said that 
President Bush and the news media were working to prepare the nation for 
war and curbs on civil liberties in order to fight terrorism.
"We need to say, 'No!' " she said to loud applause. "War results in hatred, 
terror and a wish for revenge." She urged the nation to use political 
pressure and the court system to curb the flow of money and arms to 
terrorists.
At the prayer rally, speakers called on Americans to support and pray for 
the president and said the nation needs to stand together without shunning 
any group of Americans. They ranged from senior citizens to children, and 
appeared to be more racially diverse than at the peace rally.  Many waved 
flags, held hands and sang patriotic songs led by the New Beginnings Church 
choir.
Speakers focused on the acts of terrorism and the nation's response, with 
repeated prayers asking for God's assistance to the nation.
"Those who did the deed and those who assisted them in any way must be 
hunted down and destroyed," said Charlie Schiffman, executive director of 
the Jewish Federation of Portland. He said that action should be taken not 
out of vengeance but because "it is the only way we can guarantee they will 
not strike again."
The Rev. Larry Huch of New Beginnings Church said that he worries about 
news commentaries suggesting Americans should get over their anger and that 
anger is not appropriate response for Christians. Huch said the Bible does 
not condemn anger, but instead says it should not be used to commit sin.
"I want us to be angry at Satan. I want us to be angry at evil, and angry 
at people who would steal our lives, steal our nation and put us under a 
spell of fear," he said.
Some who attended the rallies said they didn't have answers to the problem 
of fighting terrorism, but had strong opinions about what the nation should 
or should not do.
At the peace gathering, social worker Keren McCord of Portland said she 
lived in fear for several hours on Tuesday that her brother, who works in 
the Pentagon, might have been a victim of the airplane crash there. She 
learned that her brother had left the building before the airplane crash, 
but said the experience makes her want to prevent other families, in other 
countries, from loss of innocent life.
"I felt that terror and that horror," she said. "Innocent people would be 
feeling the same experience I felt, and for that reason alone I can't 
support it."
Many at the prayer rally said they believed God would help Bush make the 
right decisions.
"I think God is going to take care of this for us," said Pilar Warren of 
Portland.
But she said she did not want to see more violence in reaction to the 
terrorist attacks. "I have two young children, and I'm not ready to send 
them to die," she said.
-----------
You can reach Gordon Oliver at 503-221-8171 or by e-mail at 
gordonoliver@news.oregonian.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peace protesters take to New York streets

By Anthony Browne, New York
September 16, 2001; The Observer (London)

New York showed remarkable solidarity against terrorism
in the wake of last week's atrocity, but divisions
started emerging yesterday over what action should be
taken against the perpetrators. A peace movement began
to emerge against the coming war that President George
Bush announced would be used to attack 'those who had
chosen their own destruction'.

But other Americans shouted down pleas for no revenge
to be taken, saying those behind the World Trade Centre
and Pentagon outrages should pay for their crimes with
their lives. Outside New York, as thousands of people
thronged the streets of Manhattan in a candlelit vigil
to remember the dead on Friday night, hundreds of
protesters waved placards warning against war and
racism.

While large numbers of people waved American flags,
just as many wandered around with notices strapped to
their bodies demanding 'global peace'. When some
sections of the crowd sang patriotic songs, others
retorted with the Beatles' 'Give Peace a Chance'.

Angry arguments broke out between those supporting
President Bush in his push for rapid retaliation, and
those insisting that America should not respond.
Similar arguments also took place in Central Park,
where a public debate on the war was held. One New
Yorker in favour of bombing Afghanistan angrily
scrawled the word 'Yes' over a huge poster that asked:
'Will more killing really lead to peace?'

Most of the placards at the vigil protested against the
rush to war. One said: 'Respect the dead: say no to
more killing.' Another set of pre-printed placards
read: 'An eye for an eye and the whole world is blind.'

Dozens of people placed hand-painted peace symbols on
the ground in Union Square. One peace protester said:
'All this war talk disgusts and frightens me. It will
just escalate out of control.' Another argued: 'It used
to be that offence was the best form of defence. But
that doesn't work against terrorism.'

Other placards warned against racism, in the wake of a
spate of attacks agains Muslims and mosques across the
country.

One group waved placards saying 'Arab Americans are
Fellow Americans', while another protester held a
placard saying: 'Racist Patriotism is Cowardice.'

Elsewhere, military recruiting offices reported record
numbers of young Americans applying to enlist for US
forces.

'I saw what happened on television,' said one man
enlisting in Missouri. 'The people who did that need to
pay.'

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Journalists form anti-war group

http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,557372,00.html

Jessica Hodgson
Monday September 24, 2001

A group of senior journalists and media figures who oppose military action
against Afghanistan are creating a coalition to register their disquiet and
monitor the coverage of the conflict in the media.

Co-ordinated by the writer Mike Marquese, the group, called Media Workers
Against the War, is meeting tonight to form a committee and organise further
meetings.

The campaigning, left-of-centre journalists John Pilger, Paul Foot, Hilary
Wainwright and the cricket writer, Rob Steen, are at the heart of the group.

Marquese said he had been "overwhelmed" with support from writers and
journalists across the country.

"We need to monitor the issues as they are reported in the mainstream media,
which - with some exceptions - are not giving an accurate picture of the
situation in South Asia," he said.

Pilger, a veteran war correspondent, who has been vocal in his opposition to
American military action in the Gulf, Iraq and the Balkans, added his
support to the group.

"With honourable exceptions, the coverage of this situation has been the
same old rush to war," he told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

"Whenever there's military intervention by America or Nato, regardless of
what kind of war this is, you find newspaper stories about the SAS and
reports from military chiefs in the area. There are almost no independent or
opposition views," Pilger said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, September 27, 2001

"Not in Our Names"

Relatives of Terror Attack Victims Speak Out

Some family members of the victims killed in the September 11 attacks are 
speaking out in opposition to the administration's apparent military plans. 
Judy Keane, who lost her husband Richard, said: "Bombing Afghanistan is 
just going to create more widows, more homeless, fatherless children." 
[CNN, 9/25; see 
also  http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/exile/dn20010921.html] Jill 
Gartenberg, whose husband Jim was killed, said that "we don't win by 
killing other people." [Fox, 9/24] Amber Amundson lost her husband, Craig, 
in the Pentagon. She wrote in the Chicago Tribune [9/25, 
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0925-06.htm] "If you choose to respond 
to this incomprehensible brutality by perpetuating violence against other 
innocent human beings, you may not do so in the name of justice for my 
husband." Gavin Cushny's brother Rupert Eales-White stated, "If military 
action results in the deaths of innocent Afghans then 100 more Bin Ladens 
will rise from the grave." [The Independent, 9/22, 
http://commondreams.org/headlines01/0922-01.htm] The parents of Deora 
Bodley have spoken out. Her mother Deborah Borza said: "Let this passing be 
the start of a new conversation ... that provides a future for all mankind 
to live in harmony and respect." [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/22, 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/22/MN123903.DTL]

The following family members are available for limited interviews:

PHYLLIS and ORLANDO RODRIGUEZ, skent@kentcom.com, 
http://www.corpwatch.org/bulletin/2001/0074.html, 
http://commondreams.org/views01/0919-08.htm
They said: "Our son Greg is among the many missing from the World Trade 
Center attack. We cannot pay attention to the daily flow of news about this 
disaster. But we read enough of the news to sense that our government is 
heading in the direction of violent revenge, with the prospect of sons, 
daughters, parents, friends in distant lands dying, suffering, and nursing 
further grievances against us. It is not the way to go. It will not avenge 
our son's death. Not in our son's name. Our son died a victim of an inhuman 
ideology. Our actions should not serve the same purpose. Let us grieve. Let 
us reflect and pray. Let us think about a rational response that brings 
real peace and justice to our world."

MATTHEW LASAR, matthew@lasarletter.com, http://www.lasarletter.com
In his speech at the National Cathedral memorial service, President Bush 
praised an unnamed man "who could have saved himself" but instead "stayed 
until the end and at the side of his quadriplegic friend." Lasar said 
today: "That man was my uncle, Abe Zelmanowitz. When the first airplane 
struck, Abe could not bear to abandon his wheelchair-using colleague, and 
called his family to say so. Despite their pleading, he insisted that he 
would stay. They have been missing ever since. My mother, who lives 20 
minutes from the WTC, is in a state of shock. I mourn the death of my 
uncle, and I want his murderers brought to justice. But I am not making 
this statement to demand bloody vengeance. A senator from my state, Dianne 
Feinstein, said: 'U.S. must spare no effort to uncover, ferret out and 
destroy those: who commit acts of terrorism; who provide training camps; 
who shelter; who finance; and who support terrorists. Whether that entity 
is a state or an organization, those who harbor them, arm them, train them 
and permit them must, in my view, be destroyed.' How does one destroy 
states? Through the covert subversion of their societies? Through carpet 
bombing? Afghanistan has more than a million homeless refugees. A U.S. 
military intervention could result in the starvation of tens of thousands 
of people. What I see coming are actions and policies that will cost many 
more innocent lives, and breed more terrorism, not less. I do not feel that 
my uncle's compassionate, heroic sacrifice will be honored by what the U.S. 
appears poised to do."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Campuses divided as anti-war lobby grows

<http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=95418>

Peace Campaigners

By David Usborne in New York
22 September 2001

It may be premature to call it a fully fledged anti-war movement, but 
voices are being raised across the United States, and elsewhere, urging 
George Bush and his military to show restraint in punishing those 
responsible for attacks on the World Trade Centre.
In scenes reminiscent of the peace protests during the Vietnam war, 
thousands of students rallied on more than a hundred US campuses on 
Thursday, the first of many more gatherings planned. Some of the protests 
drew counter-demonstrations demanding military retribution.
Some of the energy that has driven the anti-capitalist demonstrations at 
recent world trade and financial meetings is almost certain now to be 
redirected into the anti-war effort.
A peace protesters' gathering has been called for 30 September, in 
Washington DC. Many activists had been planning on that day to go to the 
city for a meeting of the World Bank  now cancelled.
Kit Bonson, a director of the Washington Peace Centre, which is planning 
the event, said: "I think there'll be a surprisingly large peace response 
to this crisis. I don't think the Bush administration understands that yet."
Mr Bonson, who said arrangements for the event would be finalised this 
weekend, echoed the feelings of many of the students who demonstrated on 
Thursday, when he added:
"Violence begets violence and there are alternatives to open-ended war 
against an unidentified enemy."
Meanwhile, a coalition of business, religious and entertainment leaders has 
formed to denounce any military response to the atrocities. Those who have 
signed a document urging caution include the actor Martin Sheen and the 
civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. The group says military action will "spark 
a cycle of escalating violence, the loss of innocent lives and new acts of 
terrorism".
A statement from the group, which also includes Harry Belafonte, the actor 
Danny Glover and the co-founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Ben Cohen and 
Jerry Greenfield, added:
"The carnage of terror knows no borders. Our best chance for preventing 
such devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and co-operatively as 
part of a community of nations within the framework of international law."
The forum for such co-operation would be the United Nations.  But so far 
the UN has been sidelined by the US, the group says. Ted Turner, the UN's 
most generous private benefactor, used an appearance at its headquarters on 
Wednesday to join those expressing concern. He warned Washington not to 
"indiscriminately start bombing countries". And he added: "I think that 
since we have had terrorism for more than 30 years in both Israel and 
Ireland, just by killing people, we have got to be awfully careful we don't 
hurt innocent people".
But just as recent polls have shown 90 per cent support among Americans for 
military action, there is no shortage of pro-war sentiment among the 
students, too. Some campuses in the US are showing signs of deep division. 
At Harvard, for example, the debate is being conducted through scrawled 
messages left on sheets of brown paper taped to common room walls.
"Find those responsible, their friends and accomplices, their families and 
neighbours, and destroy them," The New York Times reports one student 
writing. Next to it was the written rejoinder: "How does this make us 
better than them? You don't answer evil with evil."
By far the biggest turn-out for the anti-war contingent has been at the 
University of California at Berkeley, which was the cradle of the peace and 
free-speech movements that developed in the Sixties.
About 2,000 anti-war protesters turned out to be met by a few hundred 
counter-demonstrators chanting "USA" and waving American flags.
Groups planning to switch, for the time being, the focus of the 
anti-capitalist movement to the anti-war effort, include Britain's 
Globalise Resistance Movement, based in London.
Guy Taylor, a spokesman, said: "We will be campaigning primarily against 
the war because you can't have global justice without a globe  that is the 
way a lot of people are seeing it.  We don't see any action against 
Afghanistan remaining just that, it will very quickly generalise and become 
a much wider proposition."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peace Movement Prospects

By Michael Albert

September 11 went well beyond tragic. Worse is possible. Much better is
also possible. And to achieve better is why activists need to not only
mourn, but also to educate and organize. But many people I encounter
doubt peace movement prospects. I find this wrong for two reasons.

One, doubting prospects wastes time. Even when prospects of change are
dim, to work for better outcomes is always better then to bemoan
difficulties.

Two, contrary to despondency, current circumstances auger hope. "Are you
crazy?" some people will ask.  It is one thing to urge action, but it is
another thing to surrender reason to desire. However, it is not desire
that gives me hope, but evidence.

Last night there was a two hour marathon Hollywood extravaganza
broadcast by all major networks and watched by millions. Elites are
urging lock-step obedience. Johnny and Jill are supposed to be donning
marching boots. Yet this was no pep rally for war. There was nearly
courage of those who worked to save lives, often giving their own. The
evening's songs sought restraint and understanding and explicitly
rejected cycles of retribution and hate. Don't get me wrong. The evening
wasn't ZNet set to music. But nor did it support piling terror on top of
terror. If the right-wing were actually as ascendant as so many fear, we
would have had the Bob Hope and Charlton Heston Hour. We didn't.

More, in the last few days there have been scores of small and also some
quite large demonstrations and gatherings. Reports indicate there are
105 scheduled today, Saturday. There is no war yet. But there is
resistance, and it is growing rapidly.

Just two days ago I was asked to be on a national radio call-in show
with a listenership of roughly two million from all over the country.
The host, a Republican, thought there would be division emerging about
any war plans and he wanted to offer diverse voices (which is itself a
good sign). He told me I'd be on for fifteen minutes. The time came,
they called, I was asked how I differed from Bush. I answered, and the
discussion continued for two hours. The host eventually left hostility
behind, becoming more and more curious. Many callers were hostile, sure,
but they were also open to cogent commentary. The simple formulation
that attacking civilians is terrorism, that terrorism is horrible, and
that therefore we should not attack civilians, was irrefutable. More
interesting, no one even tried to rebut contextual argument and
evidence. They made clear they knew my claims about U.S. policies in
Iraq and elsewhere were true and they would with a few exceptions even
grudgingly assent to them, so the remaining issue was whether the U.S.
should be bound by the same morals that we hope others will be bound by,
a dispute that is easy to win with anyone but a fanatic. I won't proceed
with details. The point is, even in a right-wing forum, many people will
hear our views, understand them, and even change their minds.

U.S. elites like war. War sends the message that laws do not bind U.S.
elites, that morality does not bind U.S. elites, that nothing binds U.S.
elites but their estimates of their own interests. It trumpets that
everybody else better ratify our plans, or at least get out of the way.
Likewise, for U.S. elites, war preparedness is good economics. Military
spending primes the capitalist pump and spurs its engines, but crucially
military spending doesn't give those in the middle and at the bottom
better conditions or better housing or more education or better health
care or anything else that will make people less afraid, more
knowledgeable, more secure, and particularly more able to develop and
pursue their own agendas regarding economic distribution. War empowers
the rich and powerful, but its real virtue is that it disempowers
working people and the disenfranchised poor. War annihilates
deliberation. It elevates mainstream media to dominate communication
even more than in peacetime. War abets repression by demanding
obedience. It labels dissent treason, or in this case, incipient
terrorism. Elites like all this, not surprisingly. So while elites
gravitate toward a war on terrorism for these reasons, what, if
anything, might obstruct their plans?

When Bush says that attacking civilians for political purposes is wrong
and urges that we must find ways to eliminate such terrorism - he is
very compelling to almost everyone. But when in the very next breath
Bush urges as the method of doing so diverse military attacks on
civilians (or starving them), his hypocrisy begs critique. As a solution
to the danger of terrorism, committing more terrorism that in turn
breeds still more, will not sustain support. Likewise, to fight
fundamentalism with assertions that God is on our side, will also prove
uninspiring. Five-year-olds can and will dissent. And so will adults.

So what obstructs war? People do. It's that simple. People who first
doubt the efficacy and morality of piling terror on top of terror.
People who slowly move from quiet dissent to active opposition. People
who move from opposing the violence of war and barbarity of starvation
to challenging the basic institutions that breed war and starvation. If
elites choose war as a national program they will do so in hopes that it
can defend and even enlarge their advantages. If we act so that war
instead spurs public understanding, and opposition not only to war, but
in time even to elite rule - then elites will reconsider their agenda.
Indeed, I bet many are already having grave doubts.

So how hard is our task? What do most people think about this situation,
before activism has countered media madness? Well, it certainly isn't
definitive, but Gallup polls give us more reason for hope.

First question: "Once the identity of the terrorists known, should the
American government launch a military attack on the country or countries
where the terrorists are based or should the American government seek to
extradite the terrorists to stand trial?" In Austria 10% said we should
attack. In Denmark 20%, Finland 14%, France 29%, Germany 17%, Greece 6%,
Italy 21%, Bosnia 14%, Bulgaria 19%, Czechoslavakia 22%, Croatia 8%,
Estonia 10%, Latvia 21%, Lithuania 15% Romania 18%, Argentina 8%,
Colombia 11%, Ecuador 10%, Mexico 2%, Panama 16%, Peru 8%, Venezuela
11%, and even in the U.S. only 54% favor attacking. Gallup didn't get
numbers for China, for the mideast countries, etc.

Gallup next asks: "If the United States decides to launch an attack,
should the U.S. attack military targets only, or both military and
civilian targets?" In Austria 82% said only military targets. In Denmark
84%, Finland 76%, France 84%, Germany 84%, Greece 82%, Italy 86%, Bosnia
72%, Bulgaria 71%, Czechoslavakia 75%, Estonia 88%, Latvia 82%,
Lithuania 73% Romania 85%, Argentina 70%, Colombia 71%, Ecuador 74%,
Mexico 73%, Panama 62%, Peru 66%, Venezuela 81%, and even in the U.S.
56% favor attacking only military targets, 28% attacking both military
and civilian, and 16% gave no answer.

It seems clear that we do not inhabit a world lined up for protracted
war. We live, instead, in a world that is prepared for arguments against
war, for opposition to war, and even, in time, for addressing the basic
structural causes that produce war. Humanity does not lack scruples or
logic, but only information and knowledge. If people have information
and if they can escape media manipulation and conformity, they will draw
worthy conclusions. Our task is to provide information and help break
conformity.

Finally, regarding the issues at hand.how hard is it to understand the
obvious? The U.S. postal system is not run by exemplary humanitarians or
geniuses, much less by radicals. Yet in response to workers killing
others on the job--which is called "going postal"--the postal service
did not decide to determine where the offending parties lived and attack
those neighborhoods for harboring terrorists. They also did not say that
the stress of postal work justifies serial homicide in the workplace, of
course. They instead legally prosecuted, on the one hand, and also
realized that stress was a powerful contributing factor and so worked to
reduce stress to in turn diminish the likelihood of people going postal.
Anyone can extend this analogy. It isn't complicated.

For that matter, the U.S. government, which is certainly not a
repository of wisdom or moral leadership, doesn't generally decide about
terrorism to hold whole populations accountable. When Timothy McVeigh
bombed innocents, the Federal government called it horrific, accurately,
but did not declare war on Idaho and Montana for harboring cells of the
groups McVeigh was associated with -- much less on all people sharing
McVeigh's race or religion. The government opted to prove McVeigh's
culpability and to employ legal means to restrain him and try the case.
What makes September 11 different regarding our government's agenda is
not so much the larger scale of the horror, but instead its utility to
the government's reactionary programs. In the case of McVeigh, bombing
Montana wouldn't benefit elites. In the case of September 11, elites
think bombing diverse targets will benefit their capitalist
profit-making and geopolitical interests. That's harsh. That's about the
harshest thing one could say, I guess, in some sense, in this situation.
It is devilish opportunism. Yet, I honestly think that at some level
everyone knows it's true. It has gotten to that point in this country.
They play with our lives like we are their little toys.and we know it,
and we have to put a stop to it, a step at a time.


_______________________________________________
Nettime-bold mailing list
Nettime-bold@nettime.org
http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold