September 23-26 actions report back Published on: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 An overview, report back, and analysis of all DAWN endorsed events September 23-26, 2005 In this report, I am going to give my impressions of all the events DC Anti-War Network (DAWN) endorsed this past weekend for what were very successful anti-war, anti-torture, and global justice events this weekend. Where there are holes (since I couldn’t be everywhere), I hope that people will fill them in. DAWN also didn’t quite endorse everything, including several things that DAWN participants took part in, and so we hope that people will fill in the blanks. These reports will go on the DAWN website at . I also may have left out something; DAWN endorsed numerous events, and so something could conceivably be missing from the list. Anti-War Events: Overview: DAWN endorsed UFPJ’s call to action, ANSWER’s call to action, as well as several other anti-war events. Here they are in chronological order with report backs. Codepink Vigil, Walter Reed Medical Center, 7-9 PM, Friday: Codepink always holds vigil at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital at Georgia Ave. and Elder St. in order to draw attention to the war in Iraq as it affects wounded troops and veterans of this and other conflicts. The seriously injured all go through Walter Reed Hospital (until it closes – Walter Reed is one of the many slated base closings). Codepink vigils there are usually fairly small and generate a counter-protest by supporters of Free Republic (rightwing reactionary grassroots group). I was not able to attend this vigil (since the Critical Mass bike ride never made it there) and hope others will fill in the details. According to reports on DC Indymedia, which were not altogether flattering to either Codepink or Free Republic, the usual more somber tone of the Codepink vigils turned into a shrill shouting match between both sides. I have no reports of numbers or what happened. Please fill in these details. Folktivism: DAWN did not explicitly endorse the Folktivism concerts, though there was an implicit endorsement since DAWN agreed to the donation of tables by Yikes McGee and Folktivism for the United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) peace and justice festival, as well as a table for the large anti-war rally at the Ellipse sponsored by UFPJ and International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism – hereafter, simply ANSWER). On Friday, at Café Mawonaj, Midge, Yikes and others performed a folk concert. According to Yikes, 30 people attended, and a little less than $200 was generated for Katrina relief efforts. There was a Folktivism brunch on Sunday. I do not as of yet have a report from that. Palestinian Feeder March: DAWN endorsed and provided sound for the Palestinian feeder march, organized by groups allied with UFPJ. I left the march early. At the time of leaving, only about 25-30 people were attending the rally in Farragut Square. I’m not sure how the rally or the march turned out. Hopefully, some of the DAWN participants who were there, principally David Kirshbaum – who did a lot to organize the event – can help fill in the details. UFPJ and ANSWER joint rally and march: This was the largest event of the weekend, drawing approximately 300,000 people. My own personal estimate was closer to 200,000, but too many have overruled my estimate to quarrel with them. Consensus is settling around 300,000. Either way, it was the largest anti-war march in DC for ages, even topping the 150-200,000 of January 2003 before the current war in Iraq began. The rally featured a joint stage of UFPJ and ANSWER, with speakers from both sides taking turn at the podium. The vast majority of protesters were from outside of DC. In my conversations, I seemed to meet a lot from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and the Pittsburgh area (which reportedly brought 15 buses and had to leave people behind in Pittsburgh). When Cindy Sheehan spoke, a huge mass of humanity began to crowd and rush toward the stage and speakers. The march itself had an interesting vibe. It was hard to characterize. It wasn’t angry; it wasn’t exactly festive. Although there wasn’t a ton of chanting, it wasn’t subdued, either. There was a serious yet pleasant tone in the march itself, which stretched the entire march route. Many marchers never made it past the White House, where many decided to stay on the streets of Pennsylvania Avenue and the march route itself taking pictures, resting, or banging drums in front of the White House. It is the first significant march in recent memory that had a route on Pennsylvania Avenue, so close to the White House. Only a small series of bike barricades and Secret Service served as any buffer between the White House lawns and the marchers. One downside of the rally was that the global justice message (World Bank and IMF protests were going on simultaneously) had no place on the stage, as Basav Sen, from MGJ, who had been invited by UFPJ to speak, was bumped off due to time considerations. I didn’t listen to the speeches, so I can’t really comment on them. However, there was a lot to be said about the hundreds of conversations that I had (more on that in the listserve project below all the events). The march never seemed to end but was over by about 5 PM, two hours after the Operation Ceasefire project began. DAWN listserve project/tabling (apologies for inordinate talking about this, but this is something I participated in heavily, so that’s why…it also adds more to the report about the march/rally): DAWN had an ambitious project to work the crowd adding people to two kinds of listserves, one national and one local depending on locale. Unfortunately, there was a serious shortage of volunteers, and so the results were underwhelming. I consider this to be the greatest failure of the weekend, and it’s too bad because people we talked to supported the idea behind this listserve by an approximate majority of 2 to 1. Genevieve and I worked the crowd at the Ellipse and gathered over 60 names after about 90 to 100 conversations before wearying from the task. Besides the tables, which were not ideal places for this project, Malachy had limited time to help out and gathered 18 names. The vast majority of these people were from outside of DC. We had no trouble finding people interested, though many who didn’t sign claimed that they got all the information about actions since they were on moveon.org’s list (by and large, it was impossible to convince these people that that was far from the truth). In the older skewing crowd at the march, it was the younger people who were most receptive to the idea of decentralized movement building behind the approach. The conversations were interesting. We met a man from India who was 82 who had marched with Gandhi. We met a disabled man from NYC who was reporting for Free Speech Radio. We were struck by how many people came from Ohio and Michigan. The crowd at the march was usually very unaware that this was also World Bank/IMF protest weekend, including several who claimed that they would rather have been at those protests. Genevieve, for your information, was dressed in a zombie outfit representing the “Death of War.” I was dressed in a renaissance outfit representing the “Rebirth of Peace.” The outfits definitely made us approachable (since our outfits didn’t seem to work together on the face of it, it reallyd the door for conversation), and made it somewhat easier for us to approach others. Often, it was interesting to run into young kids dressed in black who were surprised how much we knew about the World Bank/IMF protests that were ongoing and what the latest info was. That kind of breaking down of stereotypes was the most refreshing part of the experience. As for tabling, DAWN had a table on the Ellipse that seemed hard to find. Katie and John worked the table, and I hope they will add to the report. Later, I found Yikes and Midge at the DAWN table at the UFPJ Peace and Justice Festival. It was so far out of the way and difficult to get to that it didn’t seem like it was being visited at all. I’m not sure the tabling was effective, and my personal opinion is we could have used a lot more people in the crowds talking with people. DAWN also had a depleted uranium table. I hope that Steve Lane will let us know about that. Operation Ceasefire: Adam Eidinger, with the help of the band Thievery Corporation, initiated the concept of a large anti-war concert. It was originally supposed to be over Labor Day weekend, but it moved to this weekend when it became apparent that this was where the energy was. A large number of quality bands signed up, and the concert by all reports was an incredible success. Adam’s pipe dream of 100,000 people at the concert came true, and it’s not clear if the number wasn’t actually higher since the crowd changed as the night went on and the bands changed. I was only able to catch about a half hour of the concert early on when Joan Baez was playing. She was unbelievable. I can honestly say I’ve never heard a more magical voice live. The concert was large and featured a video screen so that everyone could see what was going on. A DVD of the event is being produced by Thievery Corporation with proceeds mostly going to UFPJ. DAWN is a co-sponsor, but we still do not know what percentage, if any, of the proceeds DAWN will receive. According to Pete Petropoulos, DAWN was thanked at the end of the concert. Many DAWN participants were thanked throughout the course of the evening for their work. George Galloway event: DAWN endorsed a teach-in event featuring George Galloway that filled up its location. Galloway is a British Member of Parliament who broke from the Labour Party on the war in Iraq and formed the Respect Party, winning a seat from Labour in a heavily Labour district. Galloway has been on a tour that has featured debates with Christopher Hitchens. I was not at the event and cannot give a full report (though I saw a report on dc.indymedia.org). I hope that some of the attendees will fill in reports here. Depleted Uranium teach-in: DAWN also endorsed a teach-in about depleted uranium on Saturday evening sponsored by the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Committee. I was not at the event and have not heard a report. I hope that someone will write it. UFPJ Peace and Justice Festival: As mentioned in the listserve/tabling report, DAWN had a table at the Peace and Justice Festival and supported a depleted uranium information table. The festival was very large stretching over what felt like an endless number of tents. Many themes were covered. I did not spend a lot of time there, so hopefully someone else can add to this report. By Sunday evening, I noticed that only a couple tents were in use. There had been nonviolence trainings that day, and an interfaith service was ongoing as I looked on. The interfaith service filled up one tent. (I should also mention Camp Casey: DAWN endorsed a Camp Casey in DC, though had very little to do with helping the form that Camp Casey took in DC. On Thursday, Camp Casey set up at 15th and Constitution. Crosses marking all the dead Americans lay in a field on the Mall by that intersection. I ran into a press conference on Friday featuring Cindy Sheehan. Many veterans and military families hung out there, though apparently they all left on Thursday night, leaving 4 volunteers (none of whom were otherwise connected with the vigil) to hold guard. Talking with two of them, I discovered that they felt somewhat abandoned and were unhappy with the experience. In spite of missteps like that, the Camp Caey vigil was very spirited, and there was a general warmth and enthusiasm that gave life to DC. Friends staying with me from Cleveland remarked how DC felt like this great community of activism going on everywhere, and while to some extent that’s true, it was more true because of the presence of groups like Camp Casey). Pentagon nonviolent direct action: On Monday morning, the War Resisters’ League (WRL) of NYC held a civil resistance action, blocking two entrances of the Pentagon. I have written about this on dc.indymedia.org, and there’s also a small report from WRL member Frida Berrigan. The action briefly shut down two entrances, and later for a short time the entire Pentagon metro station. Ultimately, 41 were arrested. The action ended when Pentagon police began insisting on bag searches. For more on this action, please read http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/130425/index.php . UFPJ nonviolent direct action: On Monday afternoon, UFPJ, mostly coordinated through the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (principally, that’s Iraq Pledge of Resistance) and Clergy And Laity Concerned about war (CALC) organized a symbolic direct action at the White House. Well over 300 people were arrested for occupying a small “postcard” space in front of the White House. Current DAWN participants Pete Perry, Malachy, Dave B., Midge, and Catarina were arrested. Several other people who have participated with DAWN throughout the years were also arrested. Other notables arrested included Cindy Sheehan and Cornel West. The action was extremely spirited with probably 3 times as many other people (at peak) rallying as those arrested. Drums beat loudly, especially a contingent of Buddhist drummers. Press swarmed the action. Before the procession arrived, Dave, Malachy, Genevieve, and Midge were photoed thousands and thousands of times by press looking for something to cover. They were dressed in Guantanamo Bay torture gear. It took about 4 hours for the Park Service to arrest everyone, and it wasn’t until after 3 in the morning that some of whom I was responsible for (I was helping do legal and some jail support for the group) got out of jail. That was in spite of a pre-arranged arrest with the police. One man jumped the fence at the White House and was quickly arrested, dragged across the White House lawn. Signs of the dead and other anti-war signs were pasted and taped illegally to the grated fence of the White House. Finally, the last arrests and the remnants of Hurricane Rita ended the rally. AIPAC protest: I hope Carol Moore will us in on this Monday event aimed at the powerful pro-Israeli lobby and in support of Palestinian rights. Anti-Torture Events: DAWN endorsed the Call to Justice Weekend put out by the Universalist Unitarian church and supported with solidarity actions by such groups as SOA Watch. I did not attend or hear much of anything about these events. Please report what you have. (Also, there was a Green Festival ongoing that DAWN never took up for endorsement; reports from that would also be welcome to fill out the weekend). Global Justice Events: DAWN endorsed a slate of global justice events endorsed as a result of the call to action put out by Mobilization for Global Justice (MGJ) relating to protests of the World Bank/IMF meetings going on that weekend. The call included actions from Sept. 23 – 25. While there were other actions MGJ endorsed, and by extension, DAWN endorsed, the focus of these reports are the actions from September 23-25. This is probably not a full slate, so hopefully you check MGJ’s reports for more details. (Critical Mass bike ride: MGJ, and therefore DAWN, did not officially endorse the Critical Mass bike ride; however, it should be mentioned. Over 200 bikers, one of the largest critical mass bike rides on record in DC, held a spirited bike ride through the streets of DC. The ride went by several of the ongoing protest sites, including the Camp Casey vigil – which greeted the bike riders with a hearty welcome. The ride had an anti-World Bank/IMF tone and rode by the building more than once, though many riders from out of town often didn’t seem to realize where they were.) Global Justice feeder march (and rally): According to reports, more than 2,500 people showed up at Dupont Circle for a rally and feeder march aimed at the World Bank/IMF. The rally aimed to show the connections between militarism and the policies of the World Bank and IMF. The rally was about 3 times larger than a similar rally in April. I was not at the rally and cannot report more than that. Many DAWN participants; however, were there in a show of support. The march did not go exactly as planned because a black bloc took over the march and splintered it in several directions, undermining the scenario that had been worked out in many long, hard meetings by consensus. At one point, the march went by the World Bank without even acknowledging it. When it was suggested that the march turn around to more adequately protest the Bank, the newly self-appointed leaders of the march chose not to do so. Even so, organizers were quite happy with the rally and turnout. Adopt an Intersection: MGJ endorsed this as its direct action component of the weekend. Very early on Sunday morning, about 70 activists, half of whom considered themselves arrestable, occupied and blocked 4 intersections surrounding the Mayflower Hotel (on Connecticut at Desales – between L and M). They held this intersection for about 4 hours, nonviolently blocking delegates from entering vehicles intended to take them to their meetings. Several DAWN participants formed an affinity group called the Monkeypants Collective and blocked the very important intersection of Connecticut and Desales. They did so in the guise of clowns, presenting what they called “NeoClowns for War and Impoverishment” performing “The Capitalist Parasite.” The Capitalist Parasite was nothing more than a bunch of bedsheets tied together with the face of a one-eyed monster spray painted at one end. The Monkeypants Collective joined a group from Providence who also dressed in clown regalia and used creative tactics to maintain the intersection. The police, except at the very beginning (where police brutality occurred against one protester blocking an intersection, who was subsequently arrested), allowed this action to take place and did nothing to stop the action blocking delegates or the verbal harassment they took. Reasons for this are unclear, although it might have been seen by police as an excuse to set up a perimeter around the hotel (why? to stop terrorists, perhaps). So, everyone got what they wanted, perhaps (except the delegates at the Mayflower). Eventually, the action dispersed when police decided they wanted the street re-d. Protesters decided their job was done, since the delegates had stopped coming out – having trickled out in very small groups. So, at that point, people saw no reason to risk arrest or to continue blocking the intersection. Numbers had also dissipated at that point, probably due to exhaustion from the previous day’s activities (which included a nearly intolerable spokescouncil the night before). In my case, I had less than 10 minutes sleep. What happened to Wolfowitz action: MGJ had originally intended for an action targeting Paul Wolfowitz (engineer of Iraq war and President of World Bank). That eventually morphed into a wedding action earlier in the week, with Wolfowitz presiding, a marriage between military and economic imperialism. What Else? Housing: DAWN helped with housing for the mobilization. While most of the hard housing work was done by other activists, Katie and I helped with what we could on housing, and I worked on the septemberaction.org stuff, including the housing board. After a severe housing crisis, we know of no one turned away for housing at St. Stephens or any place else. What we don’t know is how many people were unable to come because they were afraid there would be no housing. Where there were 300,000 in the streets, maybe it might have been double had we more housing in advance. This is impossible to say, though what’s more likely is that the housing crisis affected numbers (which were still quite good) on Sunday and Monday. Ultimately, who knows? It worked out in the end, and the St. Stephens convergence space ended up being more than adequate for spokescouncil meetings, art, and housing. There was also a fair amount of food, mostly a mountain of bread, for people to eat. That’s all I have for now. Please add to this report. Thanks, Jim SEPTEMBER 26: RESISTANCE TO THE WAR MACHINE by Malachy Kilbride (originally posted on the DAWN listserve on 9/27/05) Yesterday I had the honor to witness a great expression of dissent and resistance to war-making by the Bush Administration and the cowardly-complicit bipartisan United States Congress. Early on Monday morning between 60 and 70 activists protested at The Pentagon. Over 40 of them were arrested at different locations attempting to shut down access to the offices where state-sponsored terrorism, torture, and military occupation are purportrated by "respectable" people wearing suits and freshly pressed uniforms. Many of the arrested were members of affinity groups with people affiliated with the Socialist Party USA, War Resisters League, Catholic Workers, and others. Their intent was to try and reach out to workers of The Pentagon appealing to their consciences by getting them to consider their working for war. I witnessed several Pentagon workers take flyers willingly and without any hositility. Even if one person is convinced that planning for war and war-making is wrong that will be in and of itself a victory. Look what one Daniel Elsberg did or what one Sibel Edmonds has done. I firmly believe that some of the Pentagon workers who suffered the loss of their coworkers and witnessed the injuries sustained by others at The Pentagon on September 11, 2001 can be convinced that what is happening in that building is wrong and not life-giving and productive for our world. Another thing these activists want is summed up in their statement describing their action: "Organizers say they hope their action will encourage other peace activists to focus their attention on the Pentagon as a source of terrorism and violence rather than as a guarantor of security. They also hope to reach out to victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks who have found their grief exploited by the Bush administration's drive to war." We in DAWN should take note that. The Pentagon is a great location for an action. The Dorothy Day Catholic Workers have had a weekly vigil at The Pentagon for over 18 years. Later that morning I went down to The White House where activity was going on for yet another witness for peace and opposition to the war-occupation of Iraq. I participated in this action with a special focus on the use of torture by the Bush Administration and the cowardly-complicit bipartisan US Congress. Genevieve, David B., Midge, Pete, and I all wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods evoking the awful images of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay where thousands of suspects have been held without any legal representation and charges made against them. We know that many have been tortured, even killed, at the hands of their captors the US military and the for-profit corporate torture companies. Within an hour after my arrival Lafayette Park and the sidewalk in front of The White House was full of activists against the war-occupation. The procession of anti-war activists eventually arrived. There was a short rally with speakers from various groups. Veterans for Peace, Code Pink, War Resisters League were just some of the groups there. After a while the immediate area in front of The White House was closed off. People were told by the police that they would have to leave or risk arrest. Hundreds refused to leave. Midge, Pete, David, and I continued with our demonstration within this area. People chanted things like "Arrest George Bush!""Stop the War! Stop the > killing"." I started chanting "Stop the torture! Stop the war" which was well received and the crowd joined in. Hours went by and it seemed as if the handcuffing and removing of people was going very slowly. The US Park Police obtained several, I think maybe 5, Metro buses and used police wagons to transport the arrested. Pete, David, Midge, and I decided to be the last removed by the police. With other remaining activists we all decided that we would not go willingly. We would go limp. We four locked arms still wearing our orange jumpsuits and black hoods. The police asked us if we were going willingly and we each replied in the negative. David was first to be dragged away after his hood was removed. My hood was violently ripped from my head and thrown away. I was carried by arms and legs to the awaiting Metro bus. I tried to move and struggle as I was carried and yelled out "Starve the war! Feed the poor! Stop the torture! Stop the war" Midge and Pete were dragged and carried behind me. This happened around 4:30pm as best as I could figure out. When our bus was full we then left after a while. We were taken through rush hour traffic down 14th Street onto the 395 East, to 295 South and then into the US Park Police facility. We arrived around 5pm. We remained on the bus handcuffed until I think after midnight. We were allowed at least one bathroom break and some food was distributed. Sometime after midnight after those before us were processed our busload was taken into a loading dock. Women were on one side of a metal fence the men on the other. There were only 4 chairs to sit on for our entire busload of activists. By this time many were tired. So people sat, slept, and reclined on the dirty oily floor. It took several more hours for all of us to be processed. We four didn't get out of the Park Police facility until after 3:30am. Volunteer support people were waiting for us to help us get home. I was very happy to be a part of the 371 people arrested yesterday. And yes, if I had to do it over again I would. I, like my fellow activists will continue to resist and dissent against war, the planning for war, to speak out against torture because it is always wrong, and continue to work for equality and justice. I am so thankful to be inspired by all who participated in yesterday's protest and all those who supported us. I would especially like to thank Jim, Genevieve, and Annie for being there for us. In solidarity, Malachy For more info, click here