US Week of Withdrawal From Iraq Protests Begin
 Sue Anne Pressley Montes - Washington Post
| | Spotlights send beams skyward along three miles of coastline in Santa Cruz, California, on International Peace Day yesterday. A week of activities across the nation will include civil disobedience actions at the US Capitol, as participants try to persuade members of Congress to sign the Declaration of Peace, a document demanding that the Bush administration "establish a concrete and rapid plan to end the US occupation of Iraq." (Shmuel Thaler/Santa Cruz Sentinel) |
A group of ministers, veterans and peace activists attempted to deliver a "declaration of peace" to the White House today, kicking off a week of vigils and other activities in 350 communities across the country calling for the prompt withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Thirty-six people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after they demanded to speak with President Bush, then refused to leave the west gate of the White House. As part of an initiative of more than 400 groups, many of them religiously affiliated, they said they had to "bear moral witness" against the US military role in Iraq.
"We are in a time of peril and people of morals have got to stand up," said the Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., a minister who founded the D.C.-based Hip-Hop Caucus to involve youth in political and social action and helped lead today's protest. "If we don't stand now in the 21st century, there will not be a 22nd century. We will destroy ourselves - we will either solve this together or die as fools together."
The day's activities also featured vigils for peace in dozens of cities and towns, including Little Rock, Ark.; Tucson, Ariz.; Pasadena, Ca.; Miami, Fla.; Decatur, Ga.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Austin, Tex. In San Diego Friday, there will be a Dance Action for Peace; on Saturday in Cincinnati, a Peace Tent City will be erected. San Francisco is hosting a mass bicycle ride to protest the conflict, and Madison, Wisc., is holding community forums on the issue.
The week of activity also will include civil disobedience actions at the US Capitol, organizers said, as participants try to persuade members of Congress to sign the declaration of peace, a document demanding that the Bush administration "establish a concrete and rapid plan to end the US occupation of Iraq."
The declaration of peace was created after a group of religious leaders and secular peace groups, including the Methodist Federation for Social Action, the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness ministries, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, and Iraq Veterans for Peace, began discussions together in January. Since then, the document has received more than 12,000 signatures of support online, and thousands more have signed through person-to-person campaigns, organizers said.
At today's event outside the White House, about 75 people listened as Yearwood and others explained their purpose. Some held small red stop-signs, to show their support for ending the war, and chanted, "No to war, we declare peace."
"Today, here in front of the White House, we kick off a week of intensive antiwar action throughout the nation," said Leslie Cagan, national coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, which she described as the country's largest antiwar coalition, representing 1,400 groups. "It is time to end the war in Iraq. It is time to bring all of the troops home." |
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News from Around the Americas | September 2006 
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