Posted on 29-10-2002
Huge
Rally Protests Across
by Wyatt Buchanan, Christopher Heredia and Suzanne Herel, San
Francisco
Chronicle, Sunday, 27 October, 2002
In Auckland 1 to 2000 people protested the involvement of New
Zealand with
the US plans to invade Iraq and also the presence of NZ troops
in
Afghanistan. The US Government plans are seen as the use of
arms for US
commercial gain. (Ed.)
Tens of thousands of demonstrators march through downtown San
Francisco on
Saturday to protest a potential war against Iraq. Demonstrators
filled
about a mile-long stretch of city blocks as they marched from
the Financial
District to the plaza in front of City Hall holding signs that
said, "Money
for jobs, not for war" and "No blood for oil." Police estimated
the throng
at 42,000, while protesters said more than 80,000 people joined
the 11 a.m.
march, which began at Justin Herman Plaza and ended with a rally
at the
Civic Center.
The event drew marchers from as far away as Arizona and Washington
state.
They carried signs with such slogans as, "Drop Bush, not bombs,"
"You can
bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace,"
and "Grannies
against dead children." The marchers were protesting Bush's
threat to wage
war with Iraq if its government refuses U.N. arms inspectors
unconditional
access to potential weapons facilities.
Elsewhere, tens of thousands of like-minded protesters surrounded
the White
House, and rallies were staged in Rome, London, Mexico City,
Tokyo and
elsewhere. San Francisco police reported no arrests in the march,
which was
initiated by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.
A number of Saturday's marchers also bore placards in memory
of Minnesota
Sen. Paul Wellstone, the liberal Democrat who died Friday in
a plane crash
in Minnesota. Wellstone had voted against allowing the Bush
administration
to use military force in Iraq. Two people traveling to the protest
in a
modified school bus were critically injured Saturday morning
when they
poked their heads out of the bus' roof as the vehicle passed
through the
Broadway Tunnel.
The crowd, which included a smattering of dogs and at least
one parrot,
poured into Civic Center Plaza for more than an hour to the
beating of
drums and angry war denouncements shouted from the stage erected
in front
of City Hall. Speakers included U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland;
folk
singer Utah Phillips; actor Amy Brenneman and Green Party gubernatorial
candidate Peter Camejo.
OUTRAGE AND WHIMSY
The plaza swarmed with people perusing booths purveying food
and political
pamphlets, and the mood among protesters ran the gamut from
outraged to
whimsical. Some carried signs declaring Bush a terrorist, while
others
urged America to play baseball, not war. Vendors along Market
Street hawked
"Axis of Evil World Tour" T-shirts featuring Bush, Cheney and
Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, guaranteeing passers-by that the $15
memento would
become a collector's item. Chela Fiorini wore a Lady Liberty
costume with a
crown made of corporate logos and waved to the passing masses
on Market
Street. Her husband, Dave Coennen, dressed as Bush, perched
on a fake
rocket behind a puppet representing Vice President Dick Cheney.
The couple
had driven from Los Angeles for the event. "At this point, you
have to
laugh your way through it or you're going to have a complete
meltdown,"
Fiorini said.
There was no noticeable heckling at the march, and only a couple
of pro-war
signs. "Finish the war in Iraq -- kill Saddam," said one. The
other said:
"Saddam kills mothers and children." Robin Benatti of Oakland
marched into
Civic Center Plaza carrying a yellow bumper sticker reading,
"No war in
Iraq." Benatti said she didn't consider herself a political
activist. "But
I feel very strongly against this," she said. "I figured if
I didn't come
out here, who would?" She needn't have feared. Police in riot
gear lined
the front of the barricaded state building, one of three buildings
fenced
off along the route, the others being the U.S. Federal Reserve
building and
the Gap.
Many marchers posed for pictures in front of the police line,
flashing
peace signs or flexing their biceps. Several hundred members
of a group
called Direct Action surprised police by breaking off from the
crowd and
heading down the Embarcadero toward the Bay Bridge. They didn't
want to be
hemmed in by the organized rally, members said. Meanwhile, a
contingent of
employees from the Cheeseboard Collective Bakery in Berkeley
walked around
with baguettes in the shape of peace symbols mounted on wooden
poles.
A PET FOR PEACE
Josh Kealoha, 14, had no baguette, but he did have a parrot,
Tolpec,
sitting on a stick. His pet was a parrot for peace, Kealoha
said. "I don't
think it's right for our government to kill people," he said.
Tolpec wasn't
the only pet in attendance. A variety of dogs padded down Market
Street,
one dressed in a T-shirt reading "Puppies for Peace." Another
wore a sign
around his neck saying, "Humans have feelings, too." Rob Fracisco
of
Oakland had his dog, Slomo, by his side. "It's his first march
-- he's
doing pretty good," said Fracisco, adding that he himself is
not a regular
protester. "My politics are not as radical as a lot of people's,"
he said.
"I want to show that people without extreme radical viewpoints
are against
the war."
Liev Aleo of Santa Barbara, sporting oversize green sunglasses,
said she
has pledged to travel to Iraq and form a human shield against
U.S. bombing.
Sam Shirley of Oakland, while not planning to go that far, said
people need
to do more than vote. "It's really necessary to let politicians
and leaders
know that a lot of Americans don't support the war," said Shirley,
who had
his two young daughters with him. "I think it's important for
them to
understand how to have a voice in American politics. Voting
for politicians
doesn't work anymore -- look at who's in charge."
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