CONVERGENCE ON WHITE HOUSE ON THE 15TH: ANTI-WAR ACTIONS TO MULTIPLY IN MARCH
By John Catalinotto
Feb. 27, 2003--The intransigence of the Bush administration in the face of massive anti- war actions has impelled activists worldwide to continue the struggle to "stop the U.S. war on Iraq before it starts," as many organizations state on their leaflets these days.
Here in the United States local actions are already set on March 1, a moratorium is scheduled for March 5, there will be International Women's Day protests on March 8 that focus on the threatened war, and an emergency national convergence is scheduled for March 15 in Washington.
Larry Holmes of the International ANSWER coalition said that "With the Bush administration moving closer to war each day, the movement feels the urgency to counter it. But it's more than that," he added. "The mass mobilizations of Feb. 15 amount to a popular mandate to the movement to take actions that can stop the war."
Holmes pointed to the March 15 demonstration in Washington as timed for the moment when Bush and company have warned they will launch a war after trying to push a resolution through the Security Council at the United Nations. "We don't know how the UN vote will go," said Holmes, "but either way, ANSWER will mobilize against the war."
The plan for March 15 is to gather at 12 noon at the Washington Monument, just south of the White House at Constitution Ave. between 15th and 17th Streets, NW, for a rally and march. The protest, says Holmes, has the general support of the peace movement.
Buses, vans and car caravans will travel from the East Coast, Midwest and South to be at the White House on March 15. Transportation and downloadable leaflets are available on the web site listed below.
On the initiative of the Not In Our Name coalition, there will be a moratorium on March 5. On NION's web site, the group calls for the "next phase of resistance to stop the war before it starts--no school, no work, no business as usual," and suggests people call in sick, close their businesses, or, if they are students, plan a walkout at their schools.
Teresa Gutierrez discussed the call by the Women of ANSWER to make March 8, International Women's Day, a day of solidarity with Iraqi women. "It has been true that, on the home front, women bear the brunt of war. But now the home front and the war front are almost indistinguishable. Iraqi women are under attack these days as they face the missiles and bombs of the Pentagon, the loss of drinkable water, the absence of health care. Here, too, women face cuts in social services and the disruption of their families."
ANSWER chapters in New York City, Baltimore, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities have planned IWD actions.
Code Pink Alert has been holding a "rolling fast and vigil" against the war for the past few months in Washington, D.C. The group calls it a "women's preemptive strike against war." The vigils are building up to a demonstration on March 8, when people are being asked to "come to Washington to stand up for peace and justice."
For International ANSWER bus information and to download leaflets, go to www.internationalanswer.org . For NION, see www.notinourname.net / . For Code Pink Alert, see www.codepink4peace.org .
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