[Peace-discussion] Ending the War Now: A Look at Recent Peace Protests

[Drew Johnson]

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1175/1/
Ending the War Now: A Look at Recent Anti-War Protests
Written by Jeff Nall
Wednesday, 21 November 2007

If you were to rely on the mainstream media, including so-called liberal
news programs such as NPR, you probably wouldn’t know that there’s a real
anti-war revolution taking place in the United States. This year, five
poignant and increasingly radicalized national protests have taken place,
dating back to January 27, 2007 when nearly half a million people took
over Washington DC.

Despite the increasing number of protestors willing to be arrested or risk
arrest, not to mention the diverse composition of the anti-war movement,
including students, workers, many from the liberal elite, and soldiers,
the mainstream media continues to nourish apathy and pessimism about the
democratic process and the strength of the anti-war movement. While it
acknowledges lack of support for the war, it constantly dismisses
collective actions with little to no coverage, let alone in-depth
coverage, preferring to focus on every negative angle it can conjure up.
The vitality of the anti-war movement and the increasing daringness and
dedication of its members, however, has never been greater, as exhibited
by the last three national protests which took place between September and
October, particularly ANSWER’s September 15 march.

OCTOBER 27

Most recently, on October 27, 2007, about 100,000 or more people took to
the streets in more than a dozen cities including Boston, New Orleans, Los
Angeles, Salt Lake City, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago, New York City,
Seattle, San Francisco, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Jonesborough and
Chattanooga (Tennessee), Salt Lake City, Denver, Rochester and elsewhere.

As part of the October 27 event 2,000 to 3,000 peace activists from
Florida and nearby southern states including Georgia rallied at Lake Eola
Park in Orlando. Activists browsed dozens of progressive tablers and
listened to speakers including activist and Z Magazine founder, Michael
Albert, Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Mike Gravel, and Florida
CodePink organizer, Lydia Vickers, among others. After listening to the
barrage of inspiring speakers, the antsy group, comprised of students,
middle aged and elderly adults took to the streets of downtown Orlando
armed with signs such as "give me back my constitution," "rich man’s war,
poor man’s blood," and "torture is war crime." Minutes into the march a
torrential downpour soaked protestors. While mainstream media reports
almost always hone in on the indolence and indifference of the American
public, nearly all protestors showed their resolve and stridently anti-war
sentiments, slogging through the deluge chanting: "Show me what democracy
looks like/ this is what democracy looks like" and "peace now!"

In a blog written after the march, organizer maTT De Vlieger wrote: "Well,
we didn't quite end the war on OCT27 but we certainly strengthened our
movement in the region and proved that the Southeast has what it takes to
put on a massive revolutionary one that was extremely peaceful and
empowering." Interestingly, the event coincided with the Florida
Democratic Convention, also being held in Orlando. According to the
Associated Press, the convention was attended by 3,000 people. In a show
of solidarity, several convention-goers played hooky from the event to
participate in the demonstration. Some, like Palm Bay, Florida resident
Michele Paccione, took their uncompromising anti-war agenda back to the
convention, urging fellow democrats to become more involved in the
anti-war movement. In his blog, Vlieger went on to point out the
significance of an anti-war march drawing as many people out as a
well-funded political organization such as the Florida Democratic party.
"Does that tell you something?," he asked.

SEPTEMBER 29

On September 29, 2007 thousands of anti-war protestors participated in the
Troops Out Now Coalition’s anti-war march on Washington. The protest took
specific aim at Congress, demanding that it cut off funding to the war and
bring it to an end. The march was the culmination of a week long
encampment in front of Congress, where protestors set up booths, erected a
large billboard demanding that Congress to stop funding the war, listened
to progressive musicians and speakers, and attended vigils and workshops.

Most remarkably, during the march a segment of activists broke from the
main group and proceeded to audaciously take over a street around the
corner from the Capital. Partaking in peaceful civil disobedience,
hundreds of mostly student activists blocked an intersection around the
corner from the Capital. Proof of the war’s unpopularity, a handful of
inconvenienced travelers cheered on protestors as they turned around. In
an attempt to ignore the disobedience, DC police blocked off area streets,
simply making the action appear to be part of the larger march, which by
then had long site. What followed was a chest match between the police and
activists.

Upon realizing the police had cut off the traffic to the street they were
blocking, half of the protestors were instructed to stand and cut-off an
intersecting street on the same block. After sitting idle for several
minutes, a frustrated semi truck driver was forced to back-up and leave
the same way he came. Shortly thereafter the police stopped the flow of
traffic to this street, too. Protestors responded by moving to take over a
nearby six or more lane roadway. Silencing the recalcitrant activism,
police merely blocked off the street pretending, once again, that it was
just part of the permitted protest. Other than a couple of local TV
reporters, no known national media outlets covered the event, despite
repeated calls by activists to inform the Associated Press, Fox News, and
other agencies.

One of the only national stories on the event came by way of the
Washington Post’s story. Instead of a headline that might have conveyed
the willful revolt against the war such as "Protestors Take Over DC
Streets," the Post’s headline read, "War Protest Draws Small Crowd:
Participants Cite Public Apathy in Low Turnout for Rally at the Capitol."
The paper reported that "hundreds" turned out for the event, a gross
underestimation (Washington Post, September 30, 2007; A17). The focus of
the piece was on the inability of the anti-war movement to generate
support. The Post reported: "Several rally goers acknowledged that the
size of the rally illustrated how difficult it is to get people in the
United States to become activists, even though a majority of the public
opposes the war, according to polls." In characteristic a-historical
reporting, the Post made no mention that as many as 100,000 people had
marched in a historically disobedient march in Washington just two weeks
earlier.

SEPTEMBER 15

On September 15, 2007 between 50,000 and 100,000 people participated in an
anti-war march sponsored by the ANSWER coalition, from the White House to
the Capital. The second largest protest of the year, a large turnout by
veterans and veteran families as well as mass civil disobedience on the
part of activists signaled a turning point for the anti-war movement.

Early in the afternoon participants came streaming into Lafayette Park to
find a festive atmosphere abounding with music and positive and peaceful
attitudes. Before the march began thousands gathered in front of the White
House and the ANSWER Coalition stage, set up in the park. Ken Hudson from
Miami, Florida was among those gathered at the park to hear the slate of
speakers. Hudson, his son Jeffrey and fiancée Christina all wore t-shirts
mourning the loss of Iraq war veteran Christopher Hudson. "We’re here to
protest the war," said Hudson. "My little brother got killed over it three
years ago. We just think it’s senseless."

Hudson said his brother was a gunner and died after running over an IED
(improvised explosive device) in front of Abu Ghraib prison. Proof that
the war is mobilizing otherwise apolitical citizens, Hudson said he hadn’t
been political involved until his brother was killed. "I was never
political, ever. And then this happened to Chris. We actually campaigned
for Kerry. We let Moveon.org take over our house on Election Day. We got
really involved. And then he lost."

Among the speakers who most successfully stirred the passion of those at
the rally was Rev. Lennox Yearwood. Yearwood told the crowd that war and
racism are obsolete and said, "the revolution may not be televised, but it
will be uploaded." Yearwood also referred to an unprovoked arrest by
capital police that sent him to the hospital just days earlier.

On September 10, Yearwood, CEO and President, Hip Hop Caucus, was pulled
to the ground and piled onto by capital police outside of the General
Patreaus hearings. Video of the incident shows Yearwood being removed from
the line without explanation. When he objected and attempted to keep his
place in line, multiple officers pulled Yearwood to the ground. In his
speech at the protest Yearwood, a former Officer in the U.S. Air Force
Reserve, said that it was ironic that he was lying in the halls of
congress while another officer was lying to congress.

 "I went to the hospital on Monday (September 10) after I was beaten in
the halls of Congress," said Yearwood in an interview after his speech.
"I then went to the hospital, DW hospital, and then from there I was
taken to jail; and then I was arraigned the next day. It was an amazing
experience."

Yearwood said he sustained torn ligaments and a sprained ankle from the
forceful arrest. "I was headed head-first into the concrete and my head
didn’t hit, I actually hit my knee first. I hit so hard, it left a brush
burn in my pants leg."

Video shows the police demanding am immobile Yearwood, held down under the
weight of several officers, to stop resisting arrest. "[The officers were]
outright lying," said Yearwood. "I’m just so glad that somehow, when I
heard them say ‘stop resisting,’ I said, ‘I’m not resisting.’ Here I am
with a bottle just laying there and they’re like, ‘stop resisting,’ I’m
like, ‘I’m not resisting, what are you talking about?’ It was amazing
because of the force of how they came down. They came and I’m like, ‘what
am I arrested for? I’m just in line to go to the hearings. This is what I
do all the time.’ So when somebody grabbed my shoulder I could actually
feel like being surrounded. Then I could feel somebody kind of like pull
me, I kind of like jerked to see if somebody pulled me and I turned around
and I was down on the ground."

Renowned activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey Sheehan died in Iraq on
April 4, 2004, also spoke at the September 15th event. In an interview
after her speech, Sheehan said that the protest signified the American
people’s refusal to buy pro-war government propaganda. "I think it’s so
important and I think it shows there are so many people, here in this
country, who aren’t buying the lies anymore, if they ever did buy the
lies."

Sheehan also noted that many of those at the protest recognized that the
Iraq war a symptom of a greater problem facing the United States. "We need
to end this war, we need to end the Bush regime," said Sheehan. "But I
think there are people here who are sophisticated that they understand
that that won’t solve the problem. That’ll just be an immediate band-aid."

Sheehan said she plans to look at the bigger picture when she runs for
election against Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi, California, 8th District, in
the next election cycle. "I think the unfettered crony Capitalism we have
is a major part of the problem, if not the problem. So that’s what my
candidacy is going to challenge. It’s really good because the people of
San Francisco understand about capitalistic imperialism. And I think it’s
a way to talk about these issues."

Rev. Graylan Hagler, President, Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic
Justice echoed Sheehan’s concern for United States policy beyond the
current Iraq war. "It’s up to us to turnout to want to bring an end to
this war," he said, "to bring an end to the kind of adventurism that
continues this war; to bring an end to the kind of colonialism and the
neocolonialism that is really the foundation of adventures like this; and
to really begin to try to rebalance the country in an equation of
justice."

Other speakers included Ralph Nader, Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney
general, Adam Kokesh, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Medea Benjamin, Code
Pink, and Gloria La Riva, National Committee To Free the Cuban Five.

Before the last speech had ended people began pouring onto Pennsylvania
avenue where the demonstration snaked for numerous blocks. Numerous
choruses of voices erupted throughout, chanting: "this is what democracy
looks like," "impeach Bush," "support the troops, bring them home," "1, 2,
3, 4, we don’t want your fucking war." Whereas the stereotype of the
Vietnam War is that people spent much of their time passing joints, here
people were passing bullhorns, amplifying one another’s cries against
injustice. Above all, the protest echoes with a defiant air.

Civil Disobedience

But the single most definitive portion of the protest did not take place
until the march had ended. During a die-in before the Capital steps,
protesters showed a new level of dedication to their cause by
participating in mass civil disobedience that resulted in nearly 200
arrests.

At the end of the permitted march route several thousand protestors
overtook the grounds surrounding the Capital building. In a scene
reminiscent of a military siege, activists of all ages climbed over the
cement and iron fencing that usually funnels traffic down the Capital’s
cement sidewalk. At least 5,000 people swarmed both the cement walkway and
the grassy surrounding area to participate in a Die-In purposed to
represent the lives lost in Iraq.

Upon realizing where the stream of people had led, many protestors were
clearly uncertain about participating in the die-in. While some left, many
remained despite uncertainty about whether police would or would not
descend onto the crowd and begin making arrests. Protestor Brendan
O’Connor said he hadn’t planned on participating in the die-in. "It just
sort of happened. We just kind of fell in with it. We’re here to show a
presence, to add more people," he said.

Adorning a camouflage jacket and sun glasses, New Yorker Zach Hasychak lay
reclined on his elbows, facing the Capital. "Something needs to be done
and nobody else is doing it," he said when asked why he had come to the
march. "I’m definitely willing to get arrested." Protestors frequently
chanted: "Our house, our house, our house, our house."

In one of the more iconic examples of civil disobedience, an otherwise
ordinary man stepped up onto a waist-height barricade baring him and the
many thousands behind him from the Capital. In a non-threatening but
nevertheless determined voice he shouted out, "what do we want?" to which
those behind him replied, "peace." Thrusting a sign that read, "Support
the troops, bring them home," he called out: "When do we want it?" "Now,"
they shouted.

Wearing a pink crown and looking something like a 21st century Christ, the
man jumped down into a pit of swarming officers. It took four to wrestle
his non-resistant but formidable body to the ground. And still he held his
sign and called out, "what do we want?" Even when they ripped the sign
from his grip and put a knee in his back, his voice persisted: "when do we
want it?" His nose stood just an inch from the pavement and still his
voice carried, as if through some megaphone of conscience. "Peace…now,"
replied his fellow protestors.

Meanwhile a subset of marchers scolded the police chanting: "the whole
world is watching, the whole world is watching." Two-minutes later, his
hands were adequately tied together with plastic cuffs and the police
carried him up the steps of the Capital, his shoes dragging along the
ground. He was just one of as many as 190 nonviolent anti-war activists
who were arrested after committing civil disobedience to express their
outrage over the war in Iraq.

Despite its failure to properly express the immensity of the march, the
New York Times nevertheless was resigned to write that the demonstration
"evoked the angry spirit of the Vietnam era protests of more than three
decades ago" ("Antiwar Protest Ends with Dozens of Arrests," September 16,
2007). The AP noted that the number of people offering themselves up for
arrest far outweighed previous Iraq war marches. In March, five people
were arrested during ANSWER’s protest outside of the Pentagon, and none
were arrested at the United for Peace and Justice’s January protest,
reported the AP.

While many gage the success of Washington demonstrations by their size,
Youth and Student Organizer with the ANSWER Coalition, Chris Banks said he
looks at it differently. "I think the size of demonstrations is one way to
measure its impact, but it’s not the only way and it’s not even the most
accurate way. This demonstration, like the demonstration on March 17 at
the Pentagon, was a very important step in the anti-war movement because
these two demonstrations had enormous participation from veterans, from
veteran families, from active-duty soldiers, from Iraq war vets. In March
17 they were about a third of the entire demonstration and in this
demonstration they led the march the whole day. It speaks to a growing
resistance, within the military itself. The military resistors are one of
the most important anti-war forces."

Throughout the die-in Banks manned a bullhorn urging protestors to
participate in the die-in. Others on bullhorns led chants such as: "Show
them your courage, lie down" and "they can’t arrest us all, they can’t
arrest us all."

Banks felt that the arrest of Iraq war veterans and the treatment of
citizens at the protest are telling of the way in which the administration
views soldiers and democracy. "For everybody here who had the experience
of seeing how the troops - who are treated as cannon fodder in Iraq – are
speaking out as veterans and soldiers are then arrested and treated like
criminals… it’s a good experience here for everybody to see that."

Banks also complained that police used excessive force in dealing with
protestors. "I think that the police used pepper spray when they didn’t
need to use pepper spray," said Banks. "I think they use excessive force
when they don’t need to use excessive force. And the cops are used to
arresting hundreds of demonstrators and organizers who are here trying to
deliver a political message and they barricade the doors of Congress,
which is supposed to be the people’s house."

Mainstream media coverage

Two days before tens of thousands of activists, somewhere between 50,000
and 100,000, took over the streets of Washington DC, NPR’s "Talk of the
Nation" did a segment titled, "War Opposition Fails to Gel for Antiwar
Movement." The story questioned the effectiveness of the movement to end
the war, and the dedication of the American citizenry. Ironically, NPR
failed to broadcast live or in-depth coverage of the September 15 march.
The only coverage it offered was in a separate story which, in a 30 second
introduction, featured just two short quotes from activists, and demeaned
the size and magnitude of the event by reporting just "several thousand"
demonstrators had participated.

While the mainstream media took every opportunity to inundate its audience
with the pro-war voice of General David Petraeus during the much
anticipated hearings on Capital Hill, when it came to a mass anti-war
march on the Capital it was business as usual. Predictably, most media
outlets downplayed attendance. USA Today, for instance, went so far as to
run an Associated Press story that reported "several thousand" were in
attendance, but decided to omit a line later in the piece that relayed
"tens of thousands of people" appeared to be in attendance ("Scores
arrested at Iraq war protest," September 16, 2007).

The Washington Times downplayed the significant turn out reporting that
"thousands" participated. The one bright spot was the paper
acknowledgement that the group included "a large group of military
veterans" among them. ("Protestors slam war," September 16, 2007). Like
most media outlets, The New York Times reported that the protest was made
of "several thousand" rather than the tens of thousands that clearly
participated. The Times followed the Washington Post’s lead in giving as
much space in its reporting on the march to counter-protestors who
numbered an absolute maximum of 1,000. No mention was made, however, of
counter-protestors frequent and well documented belligerent and even
violent behavior ("Antiwar Protest Ends With Dozens of Arrests," September
16, 2007). The Chicago Tribune’s only mention of the number of protestors
was found in its title: "Thousands hit streets of D.C. to protest war"
(September 16, 2007).

Coverage of the recent upheaval in Myanmar/Burma gave a stark contrast
proving how mainstream media suppresses local democratic dissent, but
happily broadcasts a barrage of reports on foreign upheaval. Whereas media
outlets make every effort from giving more specific crowd estimates at
anti-war protests, a survey of recent articles in the New York Times
("Police Clash With Monks in Myanmar," September 26, 2007) and Associated
Press articles that have run in USA Today ("Burma issues warning to
100,000 protesting monks," September 25, 2007), shows the tendency is not
the same when covering foreign protests. Indeed coverage of the September
15 mass anti-war protest pails in comparison to recent coverage of the
Myanmar protests.

Despite the mainstream media’s lackadaisical if not purposefully lack of
coverage of the event, activists have utilized U-Tube, photo sharing
sites, myspace and more to widely publicize the event. It seems the more
convicted, energized and aggressively opposed to the war the anti-war
movement is, the more traditional channels of power wish to convince us
that it is all but dead.

Protestors have realized that national marches are not vacations, but acts
of defiant revolt. No longer is the anti-war movement asking for peace, it
is demanding an end to war. As protestors chanted on September 29, "If
they won’t give us peace, we’ll take it…." Armed with bullhorns or ready
throats, Americans are giving up polite chants for abrasive demands. End
the war now!