Peace marchers of the Pacific Northwest took to the streets of Portland, Oregon, in historic numbers on Saturday, January 18, to say "No War on Iraq!". Crowd estimates by the Associated Press put the numbers at over 20,000 marchers, and other estimates ranged between 25,000 and 30,000. Many present at the rally and march said that they had never seen a turn-out on this scale.

In the weeks leading up to the January 18th peace march, organizers added dozens of new organizations to the list of co-sponsors and endorsers supporting the mobilization against the war on Iraq. "We're well past doubling the number of community organizations that joined us back in November for our last rally and march to stop this war," said Chris Roehm, a volunteer working on the January 18th peace march. "And the groups joining this effort represent very significant communities here in Oregon."

Among the organizations that have added their voice to the call for peace are the Portland chapter of the NAACP, PCUN (Northwest Tree Planters and Farm Workers Union), and the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. "I think it is clear from the tremendous expansion of support that the January 18th peace march has been a resounding message of opposition to the Bush Administration's war plans," said Roehm. Similar peace marches which took place on October 5th and November 17th drew crowds estimated at between eight and twelve thousand.

The latest large-scale Portland-area mobilization against war took place on the weekend celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, Saturday, January 18th, at 1:00 p.m., at the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland. People began to gather as early as 11:00 a.m., music began at 12:30 pm and the rally started up at 1:00 pm, with tens of thousands impatiently waiting and eager to march.

The theme for the rally and march was "Take Action for Peace and Justice - Stop the War at Home and Abroad."
"We asked folks to come early so they could get to know the many organizations working for peace here in Oregon and Southwest Washington,"said Roehm. "We hoped that the peacemakers of the Pacific Northwest would come out for the rally and march, and join us in supporting the groups that are actively opposing the war on Iraq." The turnout seems to have surprised even some of the more optimistic volunteers.

"We ran out of flyers, and we ran out of the postcards we were asking folks to send to our City Council in support of an anti-war resolution," said Will Seaman, a volunteer with the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition. "But even when we ran out of postcards, people were writing notes on scrap paper so we could deliver their message of peace to Portland's Mayor Vera Katz." Over five thousand postcards supporting the "No preemptive war on Iraq" City Council resolution were collected at the peace march. They're scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday, January 21, during a press conference at City Hall.

As with the last two peace marches of October 5th and November 17th, each of the more than 140 organizations involved brought a unique perspective and focus for the issues highlighted at the event. The loose alliance of organizations planning the January 18th rally and march identified four specific themes:

No War on Iraq!
Defend Civil Liberties, Stop Racial Profiling.
Fund Education, Not War.
A Just Resolution to the Israel/Palestine Conflict.

During planning for the event, organizers were inspired by the speeches and letters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the citizens of this great nation into the streets, that we might join him to voice the conviction that "an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," explained Frank Fromherz, one of the key organizers for the peace march. "King believed in a vision of The Beloved Community, where all sisters and brothers, together with all creatures, share one common planet in a spirit of mutual respect." Fromherz explained the significance of the upcoming peace march, saying "A great way to honor King's vision of the beloved community will be to gather with one another as people from the Pacific Northwest, gather for justice, gather for peace, come rain or shine, to be the beloved community on January 18, to feel the spirit of thousands coming together to say we do not accept war as the solution."

Sponsors for the January 18th mobilization against war on Iraq now include Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility (503-274-2720), Portland Peaceful Response Coalition (503-471-1535), Peace & Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group (503-236-3065), American Friends Service Committee (503-230-9427), Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (503-221-1054), Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (503-224-5190), Families for Peace (503-227-0748), Portland Metro Chapter of the Pacific Green Party (971-244-0127), Oregon PeaceWorks (503-585-2767), Catholic Archdiocese of Portland's Office of Justice & Peace (503-233-8361), Metanoia Peace Community (503-281-3697), Jews for Global Justice (503-299-4772), Women in Black (503-288-8958), East Timor Action Network/Portland (503-235-4986), War Resisters League-Portland (503-238-0605), Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Multnomah Meeting of Friends (Quakers) (www.multnomahfriends.org), Pride at Work (503 516-2498 ), Unitarian Universalists Economic Justice Action Group, Student Activism Alliance(Portland Public Schools) (503-236-4387), Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (503-287-1885), Palestine Action Group (PalestineAction@msn.com), Christ the Healer - United Church of Christ (503-650-4447), Magical Activism Cluster (www.portlandreclaiming.org), Living Earth (503-788-7311), Alliance for Democracy-Portland Chapter, Portland Alliance, Reedwood Friends Church (503-234-5017), Peace and Social Justice Center of Southwest Washington (360-260-8937), PSU Progressive Student Union (503-725-7798), East Side Democratic Club, Bridgeport United Church of Christ, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Jesuit Spirituality Center, St. Clare Catholic Church, Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon, Sisters of Charity-BVM, Franciscan Friars, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, Franciscan Spiritual Center-West, St. Andrews Catholic Church, Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel, Trappist Monks of Guadalupe (Lafayette), Servite Friars, St. Mary's Catholic Church (Corvallis), CAUSA (Oregon Immigrant Rights Coalition), PCUN (Northwest Tree Planters and Farm Workers Union), Alternatives to War (Corvallis), Peace and Justice Commission of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, Mission of the Atonement Social Concerns Committee, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, Society of Jesus-Oregon Province (Jesuits), Survivors Advocating for an Effective System (503-274-2139), St. Clare Fraternity-Secular Franciscans, St. Pius X Catholic Church, NAACP, Friends of Voices in the Wilderness/Portland, National Lawyers Guild - Portland, Portland National Organization for Women (NOW), Oregon Peace Institute, Bridge City Preparative Meeting (Quakers), and the North Coast Peace Coalition (503-717-1387).

Endorsers now include Portland Jobs with Justice, Ainsworth United Church of Christ, Sisters in Action for Power, Northwest Veterans for Peace (503-324-1804), SisterSpirit, Rainbow Coalition of Portland, Oregon (503-281-3951), Palestine Arab-American Association, Labor Coalition for Peace, Freedom Socialist Party (503-240-4462), Radical Women (503-240-4462), School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch), St. Andrews Catholic Church, St. Philip the Deacon Episcopal Church, Muslim Community Center, street roots, Friends of Sabeel - North America, Friends of Peace and Justice in the Holy Land, Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre (503-228-0116), Clark County Greens, Campaign for Peace with Cuba, Peace & Justice Team of Social Action Committee of Michael Servetus Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vancouver, Washington, Eugene PeaceWorks, Eugene Justice Not War, Central Coast Patriots for Peace, Yamhill Valley PeaceMakers, Military Tax Resistance of Lane County, Central Oregon Not in Our Name, Marion Polk Green Party, Dignity Village, Southern Oregon Economic Development Coalition, Adelante Mujeres, University of Portland Peacemakers (503-289-6058), Farmworker Housing Development Corporation, Community Alliance of Tenants, Neighborhood Pride Team, First Congregational Church, Progressive Responses, a program of CALC of Lane County., Columbia River Fellowship for Peace, Che-Leila Youth Brigades USA Chapter, Tikkun Olam (Social Action) Committee of Congregation P'nai Or, Silverton People for Peace, In Other Words - Womens Books and Resources, Wy' East Unitarian Universalists For Peace, WAND of Lane County, Red and Black Café, Socialist Party of Oregon, Laughing Horse Books, Reed Student Peace Action Network, Oregon Wildlife Federation (503-288-3986), Northeast Youth Peace Club (503-288-3986), No Endrun Committee (503-288-3986), Portland Central America Solidarity Committee, Cross Border Labor Organizing Coalition, Ashland Peace House, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, Oregon Action, Citizen Democracy Watch of Florence, Flowers on the Streets (503-289-6058), Flying Focus Video Collective (Media endorser), Shelter Development Committee (Medford), Sisters of the Road Café, Love Makes a Family, ILWU Local 5 Executive Board, Islamic Center of Southwest Washington, Changeworks Press, Black Monday Committee, and the ASPSU Student Senate.

To arrange for interviews with representatives from any of the sponsoring or endorsing organizations, please call (503) 888-7455 or (503) 236-3065.