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Volume 40, Issue 10.
February 25, 2003
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March for peace
Thousands gather in Phoenix to protest Iraq
war
By Dan Smith
Mesa Legend
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PHOTO
BY DAN SMITH/MESA LEGEND
Some protesters participate in an
act of peaceful civil disobedience blocking the road in an action
they called “ taking the street.” This technique led to
arrest for some protesters.
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People adorned in gas masks, women covered in black clothes and veils,
concerned citizens, a dog displaying a “puppy for peace,” sign,
young children, senior citizens, as well as people from many other walks
of life united at Patriot’s Square in Phoenix on Feb. 15 in a protest
responding to Bush’s call for war in Iraq. In accordance with millions
of other protesters worldwide, the Valley’s protest/march involved
an estimated 2,000–3,000 participants.
Signs with slogans like “drop Bush not bombs,” “no blood
for oil,” “Bush is a Nazi,” and “an eye for an eye
and the world goes blind,” waved and jittered above the crowd and
were often backed by emotionally charged chants and displays of distaste
with the Bush administration’s push to use force in Iraq.
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Diversity in the crowd was reflected through the protesting techniques
and the opinions backing them. Some local political groups displayed a
form of peaceful civil disobedience in front team of police in riot gear.
While some were involved in the police standoff, others danced to the
live music playing on the park’s stage. Some protesters, who did
not heed the police’s call to get off the street, were arrested.
Others chanted and sang throughout the march. One group, the Women in
Black, adorned in black clothing silently carried makeshift “bodies”
through the street in a symbolic gesture of mourning for “all victims
of war, the destruction of nature and the fabric of life,” according
to an informational paper they passed out as they walked.
Cheers exploded from the crowd as cars driving by honked their support
and flashed the peace sign to the crowd. A back and forth of words occurred
at a small area claimed by supporters of war on Iraq who were also at
the demonstration.
Various viewpoints motivated the protesters. Retiree Gerald Roseberry
said the war would be a great recruitment for al-Qaida, which would lead
to more terrorist attacks on the United States.
War veteran Jeffrey Bolieau, beleaguered by war himself, stated his fear
for the active troops saying “some of them come back really messed
up and others just come back in body bags.”
“Tell the truth,” read a sign above East Valley resident Pete
Slover who believes that Saddam is not a threat and that President Bush
is a liar.
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