They came from the boardwalks of Coney Island and suburbs of Connecticut. There were bold, opinionated high school students; brave, outspoken grandmothers; and dozens of protesting parents who pushed baby strollers and shouted "No War." There were business people, labor leaders, religious groups, and just regular New Yorkers who all came offering their own passionate reasons for peace. Yesterday, a new diverse, anti-war movement was born on the streets of New York. Here is what some of them had to say:
Anthony Fantano, 17, of Wolcott, Conn., high school student
"I really believe that protests like this will sway [President George W. Bush]. Bush has been stalling because of the protests that have been happening. We're here to keep up that pressure and to make sure that no more people die for oil.
"I think that one of the worst things we can do to Saddam is to leave him alone because his people feel that we're a threat. And, they feel that if he leaves, we'll come and attack them. They need to realize that we're not a threat and that they can overthrow him.
"If the Gulf War didn't happen, that might have already happened. We've just got to let the people in the Middle East sort themselves out and establish their own government like we did when we fought against Britain, you know, for our independence."
Molly Klopot, 84, of Coney Island, chair of the New York metropolitan branch of "The Raging Grannies," which is part of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
"Our group started in 1915 in World War I, when women from all the countries that were fighting each other got together and said, ‘We've got to put an end to war.' And it's been going strong. It's a shame that after all that time, we're still fighting to say that war is not an answer.
"We have our grannies here and our daughters, because some younger women wanted to join, and they weren't grannies yet.
"I've been a member of the Raging Grannies since my husband died in 1997. I was in Europe right after World War I. I was in Berlin, and I helped after the war, with the houses that had been knocked down. They were gathering the bricks, passing them down, so they could be used to build other houses. So, I've seen war and I've seen fascism. And that's what gets me. I've been around a long time. In order to have a war against the world, you have to have an attack on civil liberties, which our government is doing. You have the deportations, you have the attacks on South Asians and immigrants. All of this forms the racism we've had in our country all this time.
"And I'm worried because I see a police state right here now. And, no! The majority of people, we're not for this war. "If there is a war, there is a chance that this world may be destroyed because our government was the one that used the atom bomb in Hiroshima. They're saying that they're considering using atomic weapons now. If we start that, we're not safe here. If we kill the people of the world, we're killing ourselves."
Edith Butler, 50, of Henniker, N.H., graduate student in English literature at the University of New Hampshire and mother of two daughters
"I came down with a group of people from New Hampshire. We had five buses, some from Concord, some from Portsmouth. I came on the bus from Concord.
"I think the war is dividing Europe, I think it's threatening an already volatile situation in the Middle East. And, I think it's dividing this country, once again.
"It's leading to a sort of distorted reality, because the truths that we're getting are being refuted by everybody else, not only in the world, but in this country.
"I feel that's the most serious threat of all, having our reality distorted. As Americans, if we swallow this and believe it's OK to make a pre-emptive strike on anyone, for any reason, that's bad. But to do it for reasons that to me are bogus, is terrible."
Mark Kline, 45, who grew up in Great Neck, now lives on the Upper West Side; designs travel programs for European corporations that visit the United States
"I'm completely against the war for many reasons. It's going to spawn hatred, which will increase terrorism here. I think that's certainly very possible. I think the inspections should be given more of a chance because they can certainly do a better job than they're doing. The idea of bombing and killing all the Iraqi civilians because they're being held hostage by Saddam is not a very good idea. And I could go on and on and on with 10 more reasons.
"In honesty, it's hard to say whether a war will lead to more terrorism here in the U.S. But I just saw a sign that said: ‘War Orphans Make Great Terrorists.' There's got to be a lot of truth to that. A war would certainly be something that would promote terrorism.
"A lot of the Palestinians that are doing the suicide bombings are people who were in the refugee camps and lost their families. It's two different issues, but the truth is the psychology may be very similar.
"On a personal level, a war would mean the end of my business. Europeans are already uncomfortable with the idea of coming here right now. And these corporate groups that I handle, if there's war, they would be even less comfortable. So, I would have no business."
Gordon Savage, 40, of New Paltz, N.Y.; wore a mask of President George W. Bush and carried a toy fighter plane in one hand and a small sign that read: "War 4 Ever"
"The president is trying to put one over on us. This is not a war for oil, it's a war for control. He's an unelected president and he's trying to consolidate control over a country that didn't want him as a leader.
"He's simplistic and childish, and that's what I'm trying to show."
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