On the Streets of New York: Compassion

Celeste Zappala marched alone holding the photo of her son, killed this April in Iraq. He was the first combat death in the Pennsylvania National Guard since 1945. Near tears, she said, “I have to be here, I won’t be quiet.” Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son died in Iraq, blames the Bush administration for lying to the country and pursuing an unjustified war.

At Union Square, the American Friends Service Committee lined up nearly 1000 pairs of boots and shoes to commemorate Iraq’s military and civilian dead.

Tarek Abdel-Muhti also lost a loved one: his father Faruk was a long-time Palestinian activist jailed under the Patriot Act. Tarek charges that authorities hastened his father’s death, by repeatedly “losing his high blooded pressure meds” and subjecting him to the terrible stresses of unlimited confinement, including 250 days in solitary, Shortly after his release, Faruk died of a heart attack. Tarek spoke out against profiling and abuses of the Bush administration against immigrants.

On the Streets of New York: patriotism | compassion | courage | security | opportunity