New York—The massive, coordinated outpouring of anti-war protest in more than 600 different cities across the globe on February 15 was something unprecedented in world history. Commentators reached and grasped to come up with anything to compare it with: The parties that wreathed the world during the millennium? The revolutions of 1848? It was a vast event, the largest protest… return to article
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Reader Comments (29)Page 1 of 1 pagesI took some pictures at the protest in Chicago. If you want to post them, here they are:
http://users.rcn.com/elliotn/home/2003_02_15_nowar/If you can’t get at them it’s bccause the pictures are on my home machine which I turn it off when I go to sleep.
Posted by Elliot Nathanson on Feb 18, 2003 at 9:37 PM If it wasn’t for this article, I would not know any of this-the massive turn-out of people, the levels the NYPD went to corral them, the length to which the imperialist govt. went to undermine the march; I wouldn’t have known!! Thank you for your work!
Posted by Marion Warfield on Feb 18, 2003 at 9:40 PM Thanks, David Graeber, for expressing my sentiments exactly. What an outrage that the White House would dare attempt to stiffle dissent. I go one step more: I question the Administration’s real motive behind raising the terrorism threat level to “orange” the week of the protests. Convenient excuse for denying a march permit to the key U.S. demonstration, eh? They boggle my mind! The day after the non-march in NYC, the feds announce that they based their elevation of the threat level on bogus info and would be going back to “yellow” (appropriate, I’d say!) momemtarily. Give me a break!!
Posted by Ethel Steadman on Feb 18, 2003 at 10:03 PM Great Story! My heart is so much bigger in my chest now! I have felt so alone for so long! I don’t anymore!! I will march, march, march!
Thank you everyone! JW
Posted by Juanita Wood on Feb 19, 2003 at 12:54 AM The Corporate Press here won’t report the protests but that won’t stop the truth from being told world wide thanks to the internet. Remember what Interfax did to the Soviet Union?
Posted by A. J. Travland on Feb 19, 2003 at 1:24 AM The British Government first tried to ban the march and then gave in. Next they had a security alert at Heathrow Airport and said that London was under terrorist threat. Those who wanted to march for peace ignored the threats and latest estimates say that about a million and a quarter were on London’s streets. The march was as peaceful as its aim and the police were helpful and friendly. Our democracy here is a little shakey but has not yet descended to the police state that you suffer in New York. Nice article David, how the truth hurts those in power.
Posted by Malcolm Ford on Feb 19, 2003 at 8:01 AM My husband were amongst the crowd in NYC and it was GREAT! It really helped to shake my depression over Bush’s latest act of imperialism. We weren’t alone--thousands of people surrounded us!! Unfortunately and frustratingly so the police were not out to protect us, but instead to disperse us. After asking numerous police officers where we could cross over to 1st Ave and getting 8 different answers, their mission was clear.
I thank you for your recap, commentary and opinions--NICE WORK!
Posted by Shelly Bathe Lenn on Feb 19, 2003 at 10:49 AM It does make one wonder how long people who are supposed and used to being free will remain peaceful.
After all, our ancestors did not! They did a lot of things, such as the American Revolution. Mr. Bush should be careful. You just never know when enough is enough. I would really hate to see that happen. Maybe we will have someone with the “grit” to stand up and be counted in our Government! That would certainly be the best thing of all. Give us back our country!
Posted by Sue McFadden on Feb 19, 2003 at 3:55 PM The Sydney protest was extremely involved, aware and diverse ó officially about 200,000 attended (largest ever), but it felt like a lot more. Many families with children, older people, concerned people. John Pilger spoke and there was a feeling in the background that this was a global, unified event. And our prime minister had the gall to call us ‘the Mob’, and wouldn’t sway his pro-war support of GWBush. It was a real movement of the people. A reminder of democracy in action.
Some pictures:
Posted by rino breebaart on Feb 19, 2003 at 5:09 PM You inspired us to march in SF! The scant media coverage of the outpour (including NPR) crystalized the need to examine the media, examine the misappropriation of democracy for imperialism. My duty now: to educate anyone who would listen, friends or strangers!
Posted by Karen Yan on Feb 19, 2003 at 8:10 PM I went to the anti-war protest in NYC on Saturday & am
happy to report it was successful & peaceful. Figures
range from 100,000 to 300,000 people, and I have to
admit it’s hard to say because although there were a
lot of people, the police did a good job of cutting up
the protest area, creating lots of side pockets where
people gathered, but were prevented from joining the
main protest area section on 1st Ave. The police blocked many side streets to prevent people
from accessing 1st Ave. It seemed to me that the
authorities were purposefully doing this to reduce the
protester count - since aerial pictures of the main
area on 1st Ave would show a sparser crowd. There was
a huge police presence - vans lined up ready to take
protesters away, riot police in full regalia waiting
for something to happen to justify their presence,
mounted police pushing people out of the streets and
onto the sidewalks… Where I was in the mid-50s &
1st Ave, everything was calm, but I heard that it
wasn’t the case on 2nd and 3rd Aves, where police were
blocking the access and arresting people.
I saw people of all ages and races marching with signs
that read “Empty warheads found in Washington” with
pictures of Bush, Cheney & Rumsfeld, or “Regime change
begins at home” or “No blood for oil"… It was
really encouraging to see so many people of all
backgrounds standing together against the war on Iraq,
especially since everything had been done to
discourage people from protesting. All because of the supposed “heightened terror alert.”
Of course it turned out that the govt
informant had lied & all of it was a false alarm,
which makes me wonder about the timing of the alarm &
whether or not it was a coincidence that it was
sounded a week before worlwide protests against the
war on Iraq were about to take place… But with all of the administration’s fear mongering,
people still rallied against the war, and best of all
the mainstream media actually covered it, and pretty
extensively at that. Now to see if this makes any
difference to our unelected president…
Don’t forget, as Bob Marley said:
Get up stand up, stand up for your rights!
Get up stand up, don’t give up the fight!
Posted by V. Hradsky on Feb 20, 2003 at 10:24 AM thank you! I’ve been searching for domestic coverage and the numbers from the new york protest.
Posted by annie on Feb 20, 2003 at 10:29 AM I am truly exhilirated by this wonderful outpouring of people for justice. I am with several progressive advocacy groups here. Yes there really are progressive people of all colors in Mississippi. I write newspaper columns opposing war and injustice. Let us continue this worldwide alliance and take control of our history.
Posted by Jeremy Tobin on Feb 20, 2003 at 4:50 PM Thank you for your article. I was most relieved to hear on radio WBAI (NY), this morning, that people are now saying there were possibly ONE MILLION people at the NYC rally!! I stood on Third Avenue/60th Street at 2:30 PM, for one hour, and watched massive crowds, as far as the eye could see, moving north trying to turn east towards First Avenue and the rally site. With the thousands and thousands of people on Third and Lexington Avenues, alone, I just KNOW there were 800,000+++ people on the streets on that momentous day!!!! Everyone needs to know-all over the world- that it is going to take many of these huge events to shut down the war mongers!!!! Keep your marching boots on!!!!
Posted by PChoy on Feb 20, 2003 at 6:14 PM Great write-up! I was in NY at 53rd and 3rd and we couldn’t (read: weren’t allowed) to get any closer, but they couldn’t kill the spirit that was overflowing through the crowd and into the streets! Mayor Bloomberg, Comm. Kelly and, of course, Bush, should all be ashamed and condemned for their continuation of the tearing down of democracy in this country. We will not be silenced, we will not be stopped, the people will rise up and reclaim the inherited rights that this great country truly stands for! Thanks to all my brothers and sisters all around the world. I felt connected to intelligent, peace-loving, unified people, something that can easily get lost during the day to day contact with the corporate-controlled-media-fed masses. Thank you world, I love you. Peace forever.
Posted by Karen Johnstone on Feb 20, 2003 at 7:54 PM Just curious. Why is this Bush’s War when the fact is that Saddam Hussein has not disarmed as called for the UN Resolution? There would not be a war if he would cooperate and disarm or, better yet, resign. If Bush were carrying out a murderous ethnic cleansing campaign against, say, the red states or murdering his detractors, I am sure there would be a couple of people in the international community of peace loving people calling for his resignation to preserve peace. The so-called mobs for peace are only walking on one side of the street. In doing so, they can legitimately be called anti-American and not pro-peace/anti-war activists. Don’t you agree?
Posted by Dennis Slater on Feb 21, 2003 at 1:52 AM I cannot fathom how a government which is supposed to be for the people and of the people, would totally disregard thr desires of its populace not to go to war. Democracy has been conveniently thrown out the door and in its wake imperialist and dictatorial rule reign supreme. Constitutional rights have been stamped on and has somehow been justified. It is wrong and this article clearly show the extent to which and oppressed and ignored populace would go to maintain their stance on an issue
Posted by Tammie on Feb 21, 2003 at 12:37 PM I enjoyed your illustrative sentiments about the days events, but toward the end I felt like it was being used to shape an argument in favor of world “global” government. The last thing we need is a global police force telling everyone what to do. I’m glad that you share with people from many other parts in the world, as do I, but we need decentralization of power, but from your sentiments I sense a surge of glorification of what if might be like to have more globalized agreements, which would end up really widening the gap between the have’s and have nots, between the decision makers at the top and the nations who would be subject to their ploys.
We do not need oligarchys, monarchys, etc. We need individualized nations which are sovereign forever.
Posted by John Middlebrook on Feb 21, 2003 at 5:28 PM I cannot understand how someone can say “Democracy has been conveniently thrown out the door and in its wake imperialist and dictatorial rule reign supreme. “ We voted for a President. We voted for Representatives and Senators. These people represent us and make decisions for us. They are not dictators. We can vote them out of office or if they commit crimes remove them from office. Democracy is alive and well in America. Mob rule isn’t. And it seems to me that is what you may be advocating. Should our leaders make decisions based on public opinion polls or on how many people show up in the park for a rally to protest an issue? If FDR followed public opinion in the early 40’s we would have never entered on the side of the Allies in WWII. The public was totally against participating in the wars against Germany and Japan until Pearl Harbor. The same was true in WWI.
Posted by Dennis Slater on Feb 21, 2003 at 9:46 PM To see how silly protesters appear to some of people please visit: http://brain-terminal.com/articles/video/peace-protest.html?
Posted by Dennis Slater on Feb 21, 2003 at 9:49 PM No, Mr. Slater, I do not agree. I am a Navy veteran marched against
the Vietnam War and Bush 41’s invasion of Iraq. Informed dissent is what makes a democracy function and is as American as apple pie. Today’s illegitimate Administration is using the same tactics to control the population that Hitler and Stalin used: Fear of an external “enemy” abroad and political repression at home to set up and maintain a dictatorship here in the U. S. They are using Iraq as a distraction to hide their policy failues at home just as Hitler did.
Posted by A. J. Travland on Feb 23, 2003 at 11:13 PM I attended the protest march in NYC. I left late and arrived in Ny at about 12:30pm to find that thousands upon thousands of protestors were not allowed to get to the official rally site. I went to the protest alone and made friends with the very hospitable crowd, where the among the “no war” chants , i heard people saying “excuse me” and “oh… I am sorry” as the people were corraled into pens. The police kept pushing us north and telling us that there was an entrance into the rally site on 57th st. When the crowd moved north to 57th st. the police had the street barricaded to our surprise. They lied to us and as we politely told all of the NYPD “shame on you!” We urged them to let the barricade fall and let us pass through. Some of the protestors got angry and pushed and shoved and got tactfull in their pursuit to get to 1st ave. one teenage boy jumped the barrier and made a dive over the police’s head. As the startled cops jumped for him, the rest of the protestors picked up the barricade and tossed it to the side. As i was in the front of the crowd I saw police whip out their nightsticks and began hitting anyone who passed over the imaginary line the police had made. I witnessed a little girl weighing no more thatn 100 lbs. get hit hit smack dab in the shoulder and fall to the pavement. The cop started screaming at her to get up and get back behind the line. I ran up to the cop pushed him away from her and said “ what are you doing?” i picked up the girl without losing eye contact of the cop and handed her to her friends who were now charging behind me as the barricade had been lifted and the cops had given us the “OK” to move on to second ave. The police were confused most of us in the crowd were cinfused , at some points in time we all gathered together in a single chant “ One world, one race” I would have cried if it were not as cold as it was. I eventually made it to the stage on first ave. yet most people i was with gave up hope and went home or remained marching in the police controlled pens. It was one day i will never forget and hope to feel the same hope again as i return to NYC this saturday for the march 1 rally. we are all human, we all have something in common. Hope for humanty.
Posted by Ray Korski on Feb 23, 2003 at 11:41 PM “however ironic it may seem that a majority of Americans must now depend on Jacques Chirac to promote their opinions on the world stage, it also marks the beginning of a new stage of history.”
Well, it’s not so very ironic - France has been the main force standing up against US domination of the postwar world since De Gaulle. It’s not ‘ironic’ that Americans are waking up at last to the tremendous cost of the US’s infamous foreign policies - just wise.
Posted by James Paterson on Feb 24, 2003 at 12:13 AM I was in NY and saw the protest first hand. Unfortunately I disagree with the number count and I feel the numbers may reflect more than the protesters. I was in NY with a group and we moved through the streets along with those carring the signs. I feel we may have been counted as part of the protester group, along with other visitors to the city, when all we really were doing is enjoying the day (large group) who came for a Broadway play and other NY sights.
I saw first hand how professional the NY police are and the photo shows a croud huddled in mass of an area of a central sectioned off area of protesting people crowded together- I saw first hand where this photo was taken because I watched from a nearby restuarant the crowd.
Those of you who search for the truth… be mindful of the press, looks and newswritting opinions can be deceiving- or so it seems to me having read this article and seeing the different slant I would have given the story, having been in the crowd that day.
Posted by PLCrawford on Feb 24, 2003 at 5:45 AM Mr Travland mentions ‘informed dissent’ then proceeds to produce the tired old liberal canards about an illegitimate administration and tenuous comparsions to Hitler and Stalin. This is not ‘informed dissent’ Mr Travland, but ignorant dissent concerning a possible war in Iraq.
I have no problem with informed dissent. If people want to attend what they call an anti-war rally, that is their right in America. I just want these people to know that when they do attend a rally where there are only anti-American signs and chants and there are only anti-Bush signs, they could be labeled as anti-Americans and not anti-war protesters. I hope you can reasonably see my point. Where were the anti-Iraq and anti-Saddam signs? If Iraq and its leader disarm and comply with the UN resolutions will we have a war? If not, then the protesters, if they are simply are against war, should be urging Iraq to disarm/comply as well. I haven’t seen that. People have a right to be anti-American. If they are, then they should not complain when someone labels them as such. I haven’t heard of any one being locked up for being anti-American have you?
My point about the on-line video is that the video maker showed a lot of silly people that had no idea what the issues were concerning disarming Iraq. These were people who were not participating in “informed” dissent but going to a street party to be part of the gang. It is more like they were attending a party half stoned.
Posted by Dennis Slater on Feb 24, 2003 at 10:15 AM Another point: I have seen a lot of posts about police in NYC during the rally. I understand there were a lot of people there and this fact alone is a nightmare for police. It is pretty easy for peaceful marches to turn into mobs. The threat of that plus the threat of some type of harm coming to those people in the way of a bomb going off etc. must have been driving them nuts. The city of NY has laws concerning marches and protests that protect the city’s citizens, its property and the the marchers from harm and was doing its best to carry out these laws. The marchers must inform themselves about these laws and not have unreasonable expectations about what they can do or where they can go during a march. The protesters have to understand the logic and the parameters of the protest boundries as defined by the law which is designed to protect their rights and the rights of others not involved in the protest event. The protester’s rights do not trump the rights of other people in the area. People have to realize that policeman are people too and not a bunch of thugs sent out to deny them their rights. The actions of an individual policeman in one isolated should not negatively reflect on the attitude and performance of all of them.
Posted by Dennis Slater on Feb 24, 2003 at 10:32 AM David, thanks for the article. It is a herald to the politically downtroddened to hear the momentous grace of those advocating for what is right and in this case, not just right but what is the simply the denied truth of the American media. What is the media’s agenda for not promoting the exact facts of the rally. If the certain and adamant war cries of the posted adhere to democracy in America, that it exists and war is justified. Explain, why the Media cannot present the truth. Why they are kept unwillingly or in my certainty willingly kept from presenting just the simple facts. Some here talk about democracy and elections. If the individual simply forgot, do you not recall that the president stole the elections through the graceless blundering of family members keeping a tight and discriminating reign on the ballots. And do you, sir, not know that the rights of the American people have been undermined. And though some may justify that this is okay especially in a perceived state of alertness in wake of 9/11, but how conveniently does it fit the administration’s agenda to snuff out all dissent and critque. Know full well that without such minority opinions, there is no democracy. This is not a tear on the individual rather often times, whence the publication of the mainstream media is readily available, it is the individual’s personal duty to themselves to delve deeper into the underlying facts and see for themselves exactly what they are being closed from. I for one did not understand the cry of the various peoples all over the country and around the world, till I took some time to understand the facts. And, sir, the facts remain startling and very disturbing. And to close, it is the exultation of the people all around the world, who will not choose to lament for the lost hope of peace. And the unswerving termination of those who choose war that agonizes now in this great hour of the assertive outpour of committed hope whose consciousness has surpassed their bodies themselves to engage in a forum of people’s greater than country, geography, and boundaries. It is uncontained and their voices will be heard. And great shame on those who repress it.
Posted by chung on Feb 24, 2003 at 2:32 PM ATTN: Dennis Slater, I notice you have plenty to say but don’t have the guts to post your e-mail address. Why is this? Because people like you always have plenty to say but never the courage to go one on one with anyone, not that I want to!
Posted by Karen Johnstone on Feb 26, 2003 at 5:11 PM Ms Johnstone: what does my email address have to do with anything I have posted. If you have something to say to me, you can say it here. BTW: most posters on this site do not give their email addresses. In fact, you did not give yours so what is the big deal?
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