The growing antiwar movement is building on the considerable momentum of the historic February 15 protests with a series of marches, petition drives, lobbying efforts and teach-ins planned for the weeks ahead.
The next major day of coordinated national actions is March 5 when a day of student strikes is planned by the National Youth and Student coalition; on International Women’s Day, March 8 , thousands of people will converge on Washington, DC for a women-led rally and march to encircle the White House; on March 15 , a number of groups, led by International Answer, are organizing an emergency convergence at the White House, and the Win Without War coalitionis sponsoring innovative cyber-activism and creative antiwar advertising. Information on upcoming US events can be best be found at United for Peace and Justice and paxprotest.net. The best place to find out about European protests, in English, is the Stop the War coalition’s website.
Join the Cities for Peace campaign, which has already persuaded one hundred and twenty-one cities and counties nationwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Des Moines to issue antiwar resolutions. Local resolutions have no role, of course, in shaping federal policy, but they underscore the widespread opposition to US military action against Iraq and highlight the impact that war will have on city and state budgets. Click here for a full list of the citieswhich have passed resolutions to date and here for the Resolution Tool Kit.
Sign an online call or petition opposing US empire-building in the Middle East: MoveOn.org calls for letting the inspections work, the Campaign for Peace and Democracy asks for a sane foreign policy that opposes both Saddam Hussein and an invasion of Iraq, the Pledge of Resistance vows to conduct militant civil disobedience in the face of an unprovoked US attack and Code Pink asks the world to finally “Listen to the Women.”
Looking for speakers? A project of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, the Iraq Speakers Bureau provides access to policy experts, diplomats, NGO officials, human rights activists and public health researchers for events or classes.
The antiwar movement is also proving clever and creative on the cultural front. Dissident artwork, literature, street theatre, poetry, painting, music and postering are all flourishing coast to coast. Check out Poets Against the War , the No War sign project , Peace-Not-War.org and FucktheWar.com , which offers free in-your-face email addressess.
