Human Rights Day to Feature Anti-War Protests

Dozens of human rights, church, and peace groups across the United States will spend International Human Rights Day Tuesday taking part in protests against alleged plans by the administration of President George W. Bush to go to war against Iraq, according to organizers of a new coalition that aims to help coordinate the burgeoning U.S. anti-war movement.

In a statement issued Monday, the new United for Peace network listed rallies, marches, teach-ins and demonstrations in cities and towns in at least 15 states, from Alaska to North Carolina, that organizers hope will bring out tens of thousands of people. More than 70 groups, including Greenpeace, Global Exchange, the National Organization for Women, and the National Council of Churches are sponsoring the protests.

"The formation of United for Peace will mark a breakthrough for the peace movement — the diversity and breadth of groups involved is astounding," said Bill Fletcher, Jr., president of the TransAfrica Forum, one of the new coalition's charter members. "We are building a new, unconventional network to oppose a U.S. attack against Iraq," he said.

Tuesday will also mark the launch of a campaign of nationally-coordinated civil disobedience called the Iraq Pledge of Resistance. More than 5,000 people across the country have already pledged to carry out non-violent actions to prevent U.S. military action in Iraq.

"We are following the finest examples of non-violent activism in America's history, from women's suffrage to the civil rights movement, to demonstrate our solidarity with the people of Iraq and our unwillingness to support this war," said Gordon Clark, national coordinator of the Pledge. "We intend to draw a line for the Bush administration with our bodies, to oppose this illegal and immoral war."

Among the Pledge's sponsors are the American Friends Service committee, the War Resisters League, and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, all of which played key roles in the anti-Vietnam War movement a generation ago.

Tuesday's protests follow major peace marches in which as many as 200,000 people participated in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco October 26. While those demonstrations fell significantly short of the numbers involved in the major protests of the Vietnam era, activists say the mobilization so far has been unprecedented against a war that has not yet begun.

Recent public-opinion polls show persistent skepticism about the wisdom of going to war. According to a poll released last week by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), some 55 percent said Washington should "only invade Iraq with UN [United Nations] approval and the support of its allies," while only 28 percent favored invading "even if we have to go it alone."

More startling, the poll, which was taken in late November, found that only 47 percent of the public would at this point favor a UN-backed invasion even if Iraq blocked the UN inspection effort.

"The public is not in spring-action mode," said Steven Skull, PIPA's director. "While Americans are largely committed to solving the problem of Iraq, many want to look at all their options before leaping into an invasion."

Tuesday's protests, many of which will take place in small towns, are designed to demonstrate that anti-war sentiment is as broad as it is intense.

Protestors will distribute leaflets on Main Street in Hastings, Nebraska, while a candlelight vigil is scheduled to take place at the state Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. In Holland, Michigan, anti-war constituents will rally outside the local office of Congressman Peter Hoekstra, while marches will be held in Spokane, Washington; Youngstown, Ohio, and Mahwah, New Jersey, among other towns.

At least three demonstrations are scheduled at various locations in Washington, D.C., including the city's main military recruitment center, at Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, and at the offices of the new Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a recently formed group of prominent U.S. leaders with close ties to administration hawks such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney .

"Religious leaders, business leaders, students, and peace and justice activists are organizing creative actions to educate their community, build their local anti-war base, and to demand that their elected officials stand for peace," said Leslie Cagan, co-chair of United for Peace, which is also preparing another round of protests during the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend in mid-January.