WASHINGTON – The protest forecast for today in the nation's capital calls for a convergence of causes – the activist equivalent of "The Perfect Storm."
Groups will demonstrate for and against America's war on terrorism. Pro-Palestinians will march. So will anti-globalists. President Bush will be vilified and praised. U.S. policies from the Mideast to Latin America will be condemned.
But, in a city abloom with dogwoods, tulips and azaleas and packed with tourists in shorts and T-shirts, the protesters have promised there will be noise – but no violence – as thousands voice their assorted grievances.
"We expect the protests to be very peaceful," said Brant Olson, a spokesman for Mobilization for Global Justice, an umbrella organization for several causes.
Despite the assurances, District of Columbia police will barricade some streets, deploy special units trained in controlling civil disturbances and be reinforced by officers from nearby jurisdictions. City workers cleared sidewalks of anything that could be thrown.
Law enforcement agents were unsure how many protesters will turn out.
"We heard anywhere from 10, 20, 30,000," said Sgt. Joe Gentile, a district police spokesman. "It's hard to know until we are there."
The day before the weekend's largest events, the downtown area around the World Bank and International Monetary Fund buildings – the sister global financial institutions holding spring meetings – was quiet.
National Park Service workers were busy trimming hedges in a park across the street. Police officers – in several knots, casually talking – were stationed outside the massive glass-and-chrome World Bank headquarters.
Just about everything that wasn't nailed down had been temporarily cleared, including cafe tables, newspaper vending machines, trash cans, mailboxes and benches.
The week began with a passionate pro-Israel rally on Capitol Hill on Monday and will end with today's demonstrations for myriad other intense interests.
In what organizers predict will be the nation's largest pro-Palestinian rally ever, a coalition of Arab advocates and peace demonstrators will gather outside the White House to protest against American support for Israel and the war on terrorism.
"Our goal is to educate the United States about the Palestinians' struggle for freedom, because if the American people knew the full story they would force their leaders to change this country's policies," said Elias Rashmawi, a spokesman for the Free Palestine Alliance, a New York-based group that helped organize the protest.
Rashmawi said about 200 busloads of protesters from across the country were expected to join demonstrators from the Washington area.
A loosely knit band of environmentalists, anarchists and anti-globalists will take to the streets to demonstrate against policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund during the weekend meetings of those organizations.
The activist group "School of the Americas Watch" is planning "civil disobedience actions" to call attention to the School of the Americas, a military training school for Latin American soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga. The protesters charge that graduates of the school have been involved in torture and killings throughout Latin America.
"United We March," an ad-hoc organization of leftist groups, will demonstrate against President Bush's "policy of endless war at home and abroad."
And from the other side, a group called "Patriots Rally for America" will protest against the anti-war protesters and in support of U.S. troops and anti-terrorist policies.
With the exception of the "Patriots Rally," the protest groups are generally in support of leftist causes and against U.S. foreign policy.
"We are all united to promote human rights, economic equality and social justice and to oppose oppression in all its forms," explained Adam Hurter of the "National Youth and Student Peace Coalition," part of the overall "United We March" mobilization.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the anti-war, anti-globalist movement appears to have lost momentum as public support solidified behind the Bush administration's war on terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere and against those who protest U.S. foreign policy. But organizers are predicting tens of thousands will show up for today's demonstrations.
Leaders of the protest groups are also upset that district police denied some of their applications for permits to demonstrate near the international trade meetings.
"Mobilization members have a constitutional right to call attention to destructive corporate policies and to peacefully protest at these offices. This has been totally and completely denied us," said Adam Eidinger, an activist with Mobilization for Global Justice.
The pro-Palestinian activists will gather about 11 a.m. on the Ellipse, a grassy oval behind the White House. Afterward, the anti-globalist groups will join the anti-war groups to march up Pennsylvania Avenue for a combined afternoon rally near the U.S. Capitol.
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