16 Aug 2000--A militant rally was held outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 15 demanding an end to the war and sanctions against Iraq. The Associated Press, CNN, the Los Angeles Times and other media reported that 1,000 people participated in the protest. The rally was co- chaired by Preston Wood, Los Angeles Coordinator, International Action Center, and Michel Shehadeh, Western Regional Director-American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Shehadeh and Wood are the Co-Chairs of Save the Iraqi Children Coalition, which sponsored the rally.

Among the other speakers were:

Casey Kasem, Radio & TV personality
Richard Becker, Western Region Coordinator-International Action Center
Meghan Flynn Perrault, Lafayette, CA high school student who traveled to Iraq in February
Rev. James Lawson, Pastor Emeritus, Holman United Methodist Church
Jasser Hathout, Islamic Center of Southern California
Sonia Tuma, American Friends Service Committee
Blase Bonpane, Co-Director-Office of the Americas
Alicia Jrapko, U.S.-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan
James Lafferty, Executive Director-National Lawyers Guild
Linda Tubach & Bob McCloskey, Save the Iraqi Children Coalition & Fellowship of Reconciliation
Barbara Lubin, Executive Director, Middle East Children's Alliance
Ghaith Mahmoud, Muslim Student Association West, UCLA
Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party Candidate for President of the U.S.
Magda Miller, Iraq Sanctions Challenge who introduced young people who have defied sanctions by
taking medicine to Iraq - Nancy Mitchell, Forrest Schmidt, Sarah Sloan
Don White, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

During a moment of silence in the rally, participants held up 250 small coffins, each with the picture and name of an Iraqi child on it. The coffins dramatically symbolized the number of Iraqi children who die each day as a result of the sanctions blockade. As the rally ended at sundown, hundreds of demonstrators carrying coffins and signs lined the 12-foot high fence directly across the street from the Staples Convention Center, chanting anti-sanctions slogans at the delegates. Later, protestors lined a narrow sidewalk through which the thousands of delegates had to pass to return to their hotels. The demonstrators lining this gauntlet chanted slogans denouncing Gore and Bush for being guilty of genocide in Iraq and racist executions in the U.S.

The demonstration has received very wide national and international media coverage.

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