Video and Report Back: October 9, 2010 Rally, March and Teach-In
Video and report back from the Portland Rally, March and Teach on October 9, 2010, commemorating the 9th year of the war and occupation in Afghanistan.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTuuDDD9cA8 |
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| Report Back by Peace and Justice Works- Thanks to all the hearty individuals who braved the rain and rallied in the South Park Blocks on Saturday, marching over an hour to our teach-in at PSU! I counted about 100 people in the park and between 100-150 marching down the park blocks, toward the waterfront, and back up Broadway. It was a spirited crowd who didn't let a little "Oregon sunshine" get in the way of getting out the message "Money for Jobs and Education, Not War and Occupation!" The rally featured music by Morris McClellan; guest speaker Nate from the Veterans for Peace national board talking about Afghanistan and Iraq; local JL Dunn of Iraq Veterans Against the War and VFP Chapter 72; Meredith Reese of the International Socialist Organization (ISO) on the economic disaster that is the USA; Will Seaman of Jewish Voice for Peace about the continued failure of US policy in Israel/Palestine; Megan Hise, coordinator for the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee and Ismerelda Gonzalez, a PCC student about US policy in Latin America and the recent raids on activists; and Ali Al Hihi, of Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER), explaining how the Qu'ran is not a template for hatred, and asking why, then, all the Islamophobia? Host Rebecca Nay, interim evening news director at KBOO 90.7 FM, hosted the rally and kept the energy going, braving mud and rain to make sure the show would go on. The march went by a surprising number of pedestrians given the inclement weather. The No War Drum Corps kept a steady and upbeat pace as the "End Wars" banner made the 30-plus-block trek, stopping at the World Trade Center to denounce Wall Street's war on workers and the Oregonian building to call for "no more lies!" At PSU, the teach-in began with a 7-member panel, hosted by Nicole Bowmer of the ISO. There was a crowd of between 70-100 people there, many of whom were not on the march--you could tell because their clothes and hair were dry. Presenting were: Zaher Wahab, an Afghan-American Education Professor at Lewis & Clark College, who has spent about four months a year in Afghanistan since 2002; Zaher called for a withdrawal of US troops; Israa Hasani, an Iraqi-American community activist, gave the historical picture of US policy in Iraq which led to the rise of the Baath Party (and Saddam Hussein), the deadly sanctions and war of 1990/1991-2003, and the invasion and occupation which are still ongoing; Tasha Triplett, a Senior at Portland State University and a member of SUPER, gave a scathing report card on the US supporting the apartheid regime in Israel--that is, while Palestinians are treated as second class citizens, there is no true pathway to peace; Robin Hahnel, a visiting professor in the department of economics at PSU, made the connection between the failing US economy and what he called the "imperialist wars" overseas; Goudarz Eghtedari, director of the American Iranian Friendship Council and an Iranian-American, described the efforts inside the Obama administration to push for war on Iran, warning that an attack by the US was more likely than one by Israel. Alexis Ball, former field director for Witness for Peace in Mexico, broadly outlined US involvement in Latin America and focused deeply on the carnage caused by the so called "war on drugs" fueled both by US demand for drugs and arms supplied by our government to theirs; Kate Chester, community relations manager at Portland Community College's Sylvania Campus, described her work with the Institute for Christian-Muslim Understanding and the Arab American Cultural Center of Oregon in trying to combat anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiments through dialogue and respect. At about 2:30, the remaining crowd broke into three "workshops": One focusing on Iran and scapegoating which included Kate and Goudarz; one about the economy which included Professor Hahnel, Tim Koch of the ISO and Pam Allee from the Oregon Community for War Tax Resistance/War Resisters League; and the third combining Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel/Palestine and featuring Prof. Wahab, Israa, JL Dunn, Kelly Campbell of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Wael Elasady of SUPER and MaryAlecia Briggs of Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights. In the Smith Ballroom, during the teach-in, about 10 organizations had literature tables to inform the crowd further. Comments from attendees leads me to believe that the event was well-received, particular compliments went to the panelists. I don't know if there was any mainstream media coverage beyond a great interview with Tasha on KOIN-6 at 6 PM on Saturday. I saw a few recognizable local videographers and photographers at each part of the event. We did, much to my surprise, get some pre-event coverage at the Willamette Week blog ( http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2010/10/08/anti-war-rally-this-saturday) and at KGW ( http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/weekend/Weekend-Guide-Oct--104178174.html). It was a good thing so many of the cosponsors had created web pages about the event, as our website went down for several hours on both Friday and Saturday mornings!!! So, from the folks who came early to set up, to the ones who slogged equipment through the mud and the others who emptied the ballroom when it was all over, to the many cosponsors and endorsers (especially the PSU student groups ISO and SUPER, the First Unitarian Church, PPRC and KBOO!!!) a warm thanks from us here at Peace and Justice Works. Let's hope that the cumulative effect of these educational events will be to bring all the troops home, and get money directed to human needs, not war!!! |
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