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The World STILL Says NO To War - March 20, 2004 | ||||||
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Help us get the real story out about this historic event, as well as documenting it for the future. Submit your personal accounts, analyses, photos, video. Simply click on the publish button in the upper right hand corner and fill out the form. Make sure to fill out all required fields. We will be including posts about March 20th in the next issue of the Free Press. Photos are important, but even a few words is an important contribution! Local Activist Organizations Announce Formation of the March 20 Coalition: More than thirty area activist organizations have come together in a spirit of cooperation for the specific purpose of staging a large anti-war demonstration in San Diego on Saturday, March 20, 2004, the one-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The ongoing US war and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and US funding for Israel's occupation of Palestine form the backdrop of the theme of the demonstration: "STOP the WAR: End the Occupation of Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan".
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SAN DIEGANS TO JOIN WORLDWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST WAR AND OCCUPATION ON MARCH 20TH, 2004The San Diego event is part of an internationally coordinated day of protest. Large U.S. protests will take place in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco. The combined event will be the largest and most organized anti-war action since February 15, 2003, when 11 million took to the streets worldwide. "What we are hoping for is momentum," said Larry Christian of the March 20 Coalition. "We had big turnouts last year when emotions were running high, and some of that is now re-awakening in light of a grinding occupation, neglect here at home, and now these official disclosures about how we were led to war under false pretenses." Most recently, former United States weapons inspector David Kay acknowledged previous allegations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction were "wrong," and Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet has stated that the CIA never suggested that Iraq posed an "imminent threat." The March 20 Coalition expects that "widespread anger over the Bush administration's dishonesty, which has had disastrous consequences for human life and economic well-being at home and abroad, will inspire enormous participation in the upcoming event," Christian added. "We will also be coming out in numbers to protest the Bush administration's continued financial and military support for the occupation of Palestine and the dispossession and oppression of its people" said Zahi Damuni, of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition. The San Diego event will take place at 2:00 p.m. in Balboa Park, at the large field on the southwest corner of Park Avenue and Presidents Way. The rally will step off with ancillary marches starting at the Federal Building, North Park Community Park, San Diego City College, the War Memorial Building in Balboa Park, and City Heights Community Park. This arrangement was chosen to promote the two related goals of mobilizing diverse communities and raising a unified voice to end occupation and foster peace and social justice. *****The Five Starting Points: 1. FEDERAL BUILDING, Front St. and Broadway, 12 pm If you're up for a highly visible and spirited march, then gather here! As this is a traditional gathering point for the largest anti-war marches in San Diego, most media attention will probably be focused here. 2. SAN DIEGO CITY COLLEGE, 12th and B St, 12 pm An assembly of community activists here are expected to attract marchers who identify with neighborhood and working-class interests. Issues of education, addressing cut-backs aimed at oppressed communities, are likely to be addressed at the pre-march rally. 3. CITY HEIGHTS COMMUNITY PARK, 44th and Wightman, 11:30 am Meet here and BOARD THE BUS, to be part of the 'City Heights Anti-War Mass Transit Brigade'. A rally here might be incidental to the idea of numerous, spirited activists boarding a bus and making their way, noisily, to the balboa park fountain where they will link up with other marchers on their way to the rally site. 4. NORTH PARK COMMUNITY PARK, Oregon St and Howard Ave, 12 pm Activists on bicycles, riding under the broad environmental banner of 'Critical Mass', will gather here. A strong statement of 'taking the streets' and promoting radical change, will be initiated here both through the act of riding and by presenting pre-ride speakers who include animal rights groups, anti-war organizers, social justice activist, LGBT Community, and environmentalist. 5. BALBOA PARK FOUNTAIN, El Prado at Park Blvd, 12:30-1 pm Gather here for a relatively short march through Balboa Park, preceded by a pre-march rally that is radically political.
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