SAN FRANCISCO ““ In what was billed as “the weekend
that stopped the war,” tens of thousands of protesters massed
in the heart of Hollywood on Saturday and in downtown San Francisco
on Sunday, marking two day’s worth of demonstrations in over
600 cities in 60 countries around the globe ““ the
largest-ever coordinated worldwide anti-war event.
Carrying an endless variety of signs and banners, traveling on
bikes, stilts, skateboards, even an errant cable car, and garbed in
all sorts of colorful costumes, demonstrators from around
California lashed out against the Bush administration’s
stance on Iraq and voiced their support for the international peace
movement.
In Los Angeles, protesters carrying signs ranging from the
retro, “Drop Acid, Not Bombs,” to the cynical,
“Don’t Blame Me, I Voted With the Majority,” to
the more mainstream, “Healthcare Not Warfare,” marched
down Hollywood Boulevard and rallied in front of the armed forces
recruiting station at Sunset and La Brea.
The demonstrators, estimated at 100,000 by the organizers of the
event but 30,000 by police, were led in chants of “No blood
for oil,” and “Jobs not War,” by volunteers
speaking over PA systems throughout the march.
Allen Stone, a Los Angeles resident and Vietnam veteran, carried
a sign that read, “CIA says no to war,” expressing his
belief that the war does not have widespread support even within
the government.
Despite his past allegiance to U.S. foreign policy, Stone said
the current situation in Iraq does not warrant war.
“We didn’t help Vietnam and we’re not going to
help this region by dropping bombs,” he said.
The Los Angeles rally featured political leaders, union
representatives, and celebrity speakers who addressed various
aspects of the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq,
including human rights issues, the inconclusiveness of inspections,
and the necessity for increased healthcare, not increased defense
spending.
Celebrity voices included Rob Reiner and Martin Sheen, among
others. In his segment of the rally, Reiner called the current
administration’s push for war
“unconscionable.”
A sign declaring “Saddam = Pancakes” was among the
more enigmatic in the protest. Displayed by members of the Bruin
Republicans, the sign was designed to “expose the absurdity
of the anti- war movement,” said president and former Daily
Bruin Viewpoint columnist Andrew Jones.
Jones said the ridiculous sign was his organization’s way
of mocking the event.
“These people are saying President Bush is more dangerous
than Saddam Hussein; this sign makes about as much sense as that
statement does,” he said.
Kristin Norton, a representative of the Coalition for World
Peace, contrasted the Hollywood demonstration with rallies
nationwide that she has been involved with.
“Here, you see a lot of diversity, in ethnicity and in
beliefs. It’s great to see so many groups united in this
cause,” she said.
Though the vast majority of anti-war demonstrations occurred on
Saturday, the San Francisco protest was postponed a day because of
the annual Chinese New Year parade.
Police estimated the crowd to be about 150,000 people but
organizers put the number at 250,000.
The protesters rallied under the shadow of the Embarcadero Ferry
Terminal and then marched down Market St. to the San Francisco
Civic Center, where they rallied again virtually at the back door
of City Hall. Speakers included actor Danny Glover, Congresswoman
Barbara Lee, and dissenters and activists from all walks of
life.
“The important thing is we feel this weekend is a
tremendous outpouring of resistance around the world,” said
Bert Korr, a protest organizer with the Not in Our Name peace
group.
The very mention of the name “Bush” was enough to
raise the hackles of many protesters, who loudly called for his
impeachment and compared the administration to everything from the
Third Reich to the Three Stooges.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oak), a hugely popular figure in
the Bay Area who is now spearheading a resolution to repeal his
authority to use force in Iraq, mounted the podium to thunderous
applause and calls of “Barbara Lee for president!”
Other speakers addressed growing dissent between the U.S.
government and the United Nations.
“This is a policy that spreads terror; it does not fight
it. If any other nation behaved towards us as we behave towards the
rest of the world, we would be scared of them too,” said
David Harris, who spent 20 months in prison for draft dodging
during the Vietnam War.
However, despite the enthusiastic outpouring of defiance, it
seemed many of the protesters were actually pessimistic about their
chances of realistically stopping the war.
“It’s easy to be optimistic around here with all
these people, but it is one of the most liberal climates in the
United States, if not the world,” said Peter Osbrink, a
first-year environmental studies student at Berkeley who said Bush
would probably go to war despite the protests.