The report below was published by the ANSWER Coalition. The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a member of ANSWER.
On March 19, thousands of people took
to the streets to demand an end to U.S. war and military intervention abroad
and funding for people’s needs at home. Mass demonstrations took place in
Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and many other cities
across the United States and the world. Below are some initial reports.
Los Angeles
 Los Angeles Photo: Travis Wilkerson |
Thousands of people hit the streets in
Los Angeles in a spirited, youthful demonstration to stop the wars. Led by Iraq
and Afghanistan war veterans, including active-duty soldiers and marines, the
march of well over 4,000 people chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for
wars and occupation!”
A huge student contingent from high
schools and community colleges in Long Beach, Orange County and L.A.
participated, along with large numbers from the Muslim community. Speakers
included Vietnam Veteran Ron Kovic, students, teachers, union leaders and
anti-war activists. Chris Shiflet, the lead guitarist for the Foo Fighters,
spoke and played a song.
The ANSWER Coalition initiated the March
19 protest in Los Angeles. Over 100 additional community and progressive
organizations endorsed the action.
San Francisco
Despite cold, steady rain, 1,800 people
marched and hundreds more rallied in San Francisco demanding an end to the wars
and occupations around the world and the war on working people here. Speakers
at the opening rally condemned the launching of a new war against Libya, which
had begun just hours before.
A strong contingent from UNITE HERE
Local 2, the SF hotel workers union, helped lead the march, which ended with a
massive picket line in front of the boycotted Westin St. Francis hotel at Union
Square. The demonstration was organized by the March 19 Coalition, which was
initiated by the ANSWER Coalition.
Washington, D.C.
 Members of March Forward! and Veterans for Peace are arrested in front of the White House Photo: Bill Hughes |
Over 1,500
people participated in a veterans-led civil resistance action initiated
by Veterans for Peace that led to the arrest of 113 people at the White
House. The ANSWER Coalition, March Forward! and many other organizations
supported the event.
At the rally in Lafayette Park, Brian
Becker, the national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, said: “The U.S.
government never tells the people that ‘we’ are going to invade or bomb another
country in order to control and exploit its natural resources—especially oil
and natural gas—or the labor of the occupied people. That is, of course, the
truth. But no mother or father would allow their child to go to war for the
crass function of exploitation. The U.S. government always states that each
Pentagon invasion or bombing attack is for humanitarian rather than imperial
objectives.
“Today, on the eight anniversary of the
criminal invasion of Iraq, the United States, Britain and France are poised to
begin a massive bombing of Libya–again, they say, for noble, humanitarian
reasons. That is a lie that we must expose. Libya is the largest producer of
oil on the African continent and the imperialists want to re-conquer the
country and its resources. We, in the ANSWER Coalition, stand against any
military action against Libya. The Libyan people, and they alone, must be the
masters of their own destiny.”
 Ryan Endicott from March Forward! speaks in Washington, D.C. Photo: Roger Scott |
Caneisha Mills, an organizer with the
ANSWER Coalition, also addressed Libya in her talk, saying: “The U.S. government
claims it will bring democracy and freedom to Libya; these are the same terms
used to invade Iraq! After the massive and ongoing slaughter in Iraq and
Afghanistan we know that is not true!”
Ryan Endicott, a member of March
Forward! and an Iraq war veteran who served in Ramadi, told the crowd: “We know
firsthand that our enemy is not the people of Iraq, who for eight years have
been struggling to survive a brutal occupation. It is not the people of
Afghanistan who for over a decade have been struggling to survive a brutal
occupation. The biggest threat to the people of the United States is not
thousands of miles away, but hundreds of yards away, right here in the White
House, in the Pentagon, on Wall Street. It’s the bankers that take our homes,
the CEOs that lay off from our jobs only to take million dollar bonuses.”
Chicago
On March 19 in Chicago, 1,000 people
marched on Michigan Ave. to demand an immediate end to the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Protesters carried signs that read “No War on Libya!”
and “Stand Against War and Racism: Money for Jobs and Education, Not
War!” A very popular chant was “End, End the War! Tax, Tax the
Rich!”
The many contingents in the march
included Palestine solidarity groups, free Bradley Manning activists, youth and
student contingents, many neighborhood peace groups and the ANSWER Chicago
contingent, which carried Egyptian and Wisconsin flags, and a banner that read:
“From Egypt to Wisconsin to Chicago … : Time to Fight Back!”
Protests
also took place around the country,
including in Phoenix, Arizona; Fort
Bragg, Fresno, Laguna Hills, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, California;
Evergreen, Colorado; New Haven, Connecticut; Daytona Beach, North Miami and
Orlando, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Dubuque and Iowa City,
Iowa; Boston, Massachusetts; St. Paul, Minnesota; Biloxi, Mississippi; Kansas
City, Missouri; Keene, New Hampshire; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Highland Park,
New Jersey; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Eugene and
Portland, Oregon; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Hilton Head Island, South
Carolina; Austin, Dallas and Houston, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle,
Washington; Racine, Wisconsin.
