February 16th, 2003
Dallas Adds Its Protest Cries: With Signs and Speeches, Area Residents Rally Against Iraq War

By Roy Appleton, The Dallas Morning News

The signs didn't beat around the bush: D = Dubya, Dictator, Destructive. Don't Trade Blood for Oil. Warmongers are Evildoers. Girls Say Yes to Boys Who Say No to Bombs.

Such words, along with speeches, songs and satire, sent a message to the White House on Saturday from downtown Dallas: Don't attack Iraq, or at least give weapons inspectors a chance.

Complementing a weekend of protests around the world, hundreds of Dallas-area residents of far-ranging ages and ethnicities took their disgust to the streets in a mostly peaceful demonstration against war.

The Dallas Coalition Against War in Iraq, sponsors of the event, said about 3,500 people joined in the hourlong march from the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center to the Kennedy Memorial plaza. Dallas police put the turnout at 1,100.


Erich Schlegel, Dallas Morning News

Dallas was not the only Texas city in which anti-war rallies took place Saturday. In Austin, Shawn Rice and about 10,000 protesters turned out to show their feelings about war on Iraq.

Whatever the number, organizers said they were elated by a showing that, while hardly matching an Austin crowd estimated at 10,000, recalled Vietnam War-era rallies.

1-2-3-4 – We don't want your stinking war. 5-6-7-8 – Stop the killing, stop the hate.

Hadi Jawad yelled those words into a microphone, and the marchers yelled back as they stepped away from the symphony center. Drummers and a replica of the Statue of Liberty joined Mr. Jawad on a pickup-drawn trailer at the procession's fore. 1-2-3-4 – We don't want your daddy's war. 5-6-7-8 – Stop the killing, stop the hate.

U.S. flags, homemade Iraqi flags, peace signs rose above the line as it moved down Ross Avenue, through the West End and on to the Kennedy Memorial. Police and protesters on bicycles roamed the sides, as did many a video chronicler.

Paige Christensen, 6, led the way for a spell on her pink Barbie Jazzy Jeep Wrangler, complete with peace sign license plates. "This is her third protest," said Kevin Christensen who walked beside his daughter. "I want her to know there's more to citizenship than voting and that she can make a difference."

No, no, we won't go. We won't fight for Texaco.

Others came, hoping to at least make a statement. Arie Raysor: "We are exacerbating the problem of terrorism."

Isabella Russell-Ides: "There's nothing more scary to me than a war with no protests."

Ann Ross: "I didn't march during Vietnam. I was conflicted and confused."

"I'm not conflicted or confused at all," said her friend Carol Riddle, who described herself as "another middle-aged housewife against war." "This country is not about first strikes."

Harold Jones, a senior citizen against war, came armed with a sign: Brains Not Bombs. "I think Bush is being too impatient. It's a cowboy mentality," said Mr. Jones, an 81-year-old World War II veteran. "But I'm afraid it's going to happen whatever we do."

Saturday's protest was a first for Pamela Rivera, who accompanied her son. "I came because he inspired me," she said. And because of all the words of war: "It's disgusting. It's unbelievable that it's happening."

Eben Lee Hall rode a bicycle with his face painted white to resemble a skull and his dreadlock-style headdress to symbolize peace.

Mr. Hall said he served five years in the Air Force, never seeing combat. "I want people to understand that war is death."

Hunter Hall "wanted to articulate my argument. I wanted to see people of like minds come together," said the Hillcrest High School student who hopes to enlarge an anti-war effort on campus. And if called to military duty, "If I have to go, I will go."

The people united will never be defeated. The people united will never be defeated.

Support for Bush:

All weren't united along the parade route. Mariah Holt learned of the protest Friday night and put together a sign: Fight Terrorism Stop Iraq.

"They haven't given up and they have weapons of mass destruction over there," said Mr. Holt, 26, who stood alone as the marcher's assembled.

At the end of the route stood Jack Hall (USA Love It or Leave It) and his wife Jane (Veterans for Kicking Ass Now). They and other war supporters, such as Chuck Herman (Pacifist Marxists Suck), did not go unnoticed.

Kathryn Square threw a handful of military enlistment papers at the group, telling them, "Why don't you enlist."

Amanda Clarke tried to reason with a dismissive, increasingly agitated Mrs. Hall.

"It is not worth it to bomb innocent people. I'm asking you to let the peace process work."

"It's not working," said Mrs. Hall.

"This has been going on for 12 years. Why do you think it will work now?"

A rally near the Kennedy Memorial included speeches, chanting, rock and folk music, and a "mockumentary" of the President. MacBush, written by longtime community organizer John Fullinwider, has President Bush visited on the day of his State of the Union address by three witches – former Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, masks and all.

"This is far more than we expected," said Mr. Jawad, who helped organize the event.

"What is significant is the crowd. It crosses all boundaries, all economics, all religions and ethnicities. This is a great mix."







------ End of Forwarded Message







From: "Ken Freeland" <kenfree@ev1.net>
Reply-To: houstonpeaceroundtable@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 12:06:39 -0600
To: <kenfree@ev1.net>
Subject: [houstonpeaceroundtable] full Chronicle report of Houston demo


Greetings,
I guess the full Houston Chronicle report about our big event yesterday did not get on my last transmission, so I am resending. Note also that there is a poll the Chronicle is conducting about the protest, and it is currently running in our favor. I encourage everyone to help the odds here. The URL is http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1781161 -- your computer must accept cookies to participate.
Peace,
Ken

Feb. 16, 2003, 11:33AM
Diverse groups of Houstonians join in war protest
About 3,000 gather locally to call for diplomatic resolution in Iraq
By ROBERT CROWE
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
The mood was festive and crowd eclectic at Eleanor Tinsley Park Saturday afternoon. It could have been the annual reggae festival or a summer rock concert.

RESOURCES
• Photo gallery: Protests around the world
But the tone was serious as an estimated 3,000 people gathered at the park to denounce a possible war with Iraq and call for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to issues the U.S. government has with Saddam Hussein.

Diane Bulanowski, an event organizer with the Houston Coalition for Justice Not War who certified crowd estimates, said Saturday's rally was the largest in Houston since activists began opposing a war with Iraq.

Bulanowski urged war protesters to mobilize friends, family and neighbors who oppose war with Iraq but did not attend the peace rally.

Antiwar rallies were also planned in about 150 U.S. cities, from Washington state to Florida. Organizers of the Austin rally estimated 10,000 people attended.

The Houston rally began near the Federal Building at 515 Rusk at about 1:30 p.m. Protesters then marched to Eleanor Tinsley Park and gathered on the muddy field near Buffalo Bayou to hear speeches from local activists.


NEWS POLL
What do you think of the new anti-war movement?

More power to them:
41%
Protesters have a right to speak out:
20%
It's misguided:
26%
It's unpatriotic:
13%

Total Votes: 967

Not a scientific survey; for informational purposes only.Everyone from environmentalists and socialists to Muslim activists and suburban soccer moms with kids gathered to denounce war and criticize President Bush for not providing adequate evidence or cause to start a war with Iraq.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, said that Jackson Lee has investigated all evidence suggesting Saddam Hussein and any weapons of mass destruction he might possess could be a threat to the United States. However, she does not believe there is cause for war against Iraq.

"I have thought long and hard about what is the right thing to do for my country ... and the only thing I am convinced of is war is not the answer," Jackson Lee was quoted as saying in a statement.

Many people just marched in solidarity and applaused enthusiastically when speakers offered quips, such as suggesting there is hypocrisy for the U.S. government to possess nuclear weapons but wage war against countries it feels would threaten America for possessing the same weapons.

Minister Robert Muhammad of the Nation of Islam warned a war could have drastic long-term effects. He said the United States is at a crossroads now where it can pursue peace or wage war and alienate itself from the rest of the world.

"America is not in any danger from Iraq," Muhammad said. "What you are about to do is light a fuse for World War III."

Other protesters made statements with T-shirts showing pictures of Bush with phrases like "Not My President."

Robert Bart, 39, a Houston artist, donned a huge papier-mache effigy of Bush's head wearing a pink hand puppet outfit to suggest the president is the puppet of oil companies and special interests.

Others banged on tribal drums while they shouted "Drop Bush not Bombs." Many held signs with anti-war slogans such as "Say No to the War Pigs" and "Dissent Is an Inviolable Birth Right."

Many signs incorporated a theme suggesting a war with Iraq would be motivated by imperialistic and economic interests, specifically controlling Iraq's vast oil reserves.

"Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Oil," read one sign in the shape of what could have been a tablet for the Ten Commandments.

While many people had their own personal ideologies -- Copwatch volunteers were passing out literature, and one lady was selling socialist-leaning newspapers for a mandatory $1 donation -- most protesters seemed to agree that war should not be a solution and the government has not given adequate evidence to support war with Iraq.

Less than a dozen counter-protesters demonstrated near the park and said the peace rally attendees were unpatriotic and misguided for not believing Hussein is a major threat to the United States and other countries in the Middle East.

Organizers played a previously taped recording of American Indian activist Standing Deer, also known as Robert Hugh Wilson, who was killed recently. The recording drew loud applause when Standing Deer said people should not be considered unpatriotic for questioning the motives for the U.S. government to pursue war with Iraq.

"The thing that really tears me up is the big lies little Bush has been telling and how so many people believe it," he said. "Some folks think the president would never lie ... and they're insulted if you don't believe the president's lies ... but you know it's easy for us native people to know the government lies to its people."