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Say no to Bush's war on Iraq
Activists take the fight home

November 8, 2002 | Page 2

HUNDREDS OF students who traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest Bush's war on Iraq are taking that fight home--to build it bigger and better.

Immediately after the 100,000-strong march, students representing 40 campus and high school antiwar groups met to form a network to coordinate actions. The meeting at George Washington University drew more than 300 participants--hungry and tired after hours of traveling and marching, but energized by the massive turnout for the protest.

At the meeting, students reported on activity on their campuses, including activists from Ithaca, N.Y., who talked about their occupation of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) office in the run-up to the vote on the congressional war resolution.

From George W. Bush's backyard, University of Texas students received huge cheers for passing an antiwar resolution through their student government. Campus antiwar groups that want to join this network can subscribe to a new listserve at campus_peace@ yahoogroups.com.

After the protest, organizing began the very next day. After bringing 150 people to the D.C. protest, the Columbia University Antiwar Coalition is planning a day of action for November 20, with a die-in and speak-out.

Last week, at the University of California-San Diego, 70 students marched against Bush's planned war on Iraq. And on November 1, the New York University Peace Coalition organized "What War Looks Like: A Day of the Dead Die-In" to mourn the more than 1 million Iraqis killed during the U.S.-led war.

Just a week after the successful mobilization in Washington, activists in New England showed once again the potential for building opposition to the war with a 15,000-strong protest on the Boston Common on November 3. The New England-wide rally drew a diverse crowd--students, workers, religious groups and veterans.

"The issue of how [Bush] is getting political acceptance reminds me of the Gulf of Tonkin," Chris Meyers, a Vietnam veteran and member of Veterans for Peace told Socialist Worker. "It took years to expose that Tonkin was based on phony intelligence."

The rally included an array of speakers, including radical historian Howard Zinn and actor Tim Robbins. Although many carried signs endorsing candidates in upcoming elections, the crowd enthusiastically agreed when Zinn said, "You can't find democracy in the White House, Congress or the Supreme Court. You can find it right here."

Balmore Alvarenga, Candice Amich, Kirstin Roberts, Matthew Boucher, Mitch Day and Laura Durkay contributed to this report.

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