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CounterPunch
February
17, 2003
Mayor Bully
Bloomberg's
March Restrictions Spark Outrage
by WILLIAM HUGHES
NEW YORK CITY. On Saturday, February 15, 2003, at noon, a huge
throng of Anti-War protesters descended, on Midtown Manhattan,
near the United Nations headquarters. Forbidden to parade by
administrators for a "terror-spooked" Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, the crowd, estimated at over 200,000, was packed in,
beginning at First Ave. and 49th St., only a stone's throw away
from the East River. The activists then expanded northward for
20 or more blocks, and spilled over to Second and Third Avenues.
There was an extremely heavy police presence
and barricades at or on every street and intersection in the
area. "I'm not really happy about being penned in like this,"
said Eric Barson from Johnson, VT, as he stood at the intersection
of First Ave. and 54th St. "But, the energy from the crowd
is really positive."
Despite bitter cold weather, it was a
veritable sea of people venting their outrage at the War Party's
planned assault on Iraq. Many were deeply offended by the Constitution-shredding
Federal Court rulings, that upheld the denial of a permit to
march. The prime sponsor for the rally was the "United for
Peace and Justice" organization (UPJ).
Parade permits are routinely granted
for large events. Mayor Bloomberg's bureaucrats had earlier granted
marching permits for Dominican, Puerto Rican, and St. Patrick's
Day. The Bloombergites, however, used dubious security concerns
as an excuse to curtail the First Amendment rights of the Anti-War
activists. This restrictive type of action forced the demonstration
into a stationary position on First Ave., rather than allowing
it to use the time-honored parade format. If the dogs of war
are unleashed by the Bush-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz Junta, more restrictions
of our Civil Liberties, like this one, can be expected.
"They are not interested in the
safety of the people penned in here like cattle. They have cattle
shoots in here to herd us around," said Roy Volpe, from
Putnam Co., NY, while standing on First Ave. "The city even
dumped a load of sand and salt down on Third Ave., near 53rd
St., and stirred it all up to discourage people from gathering
there." Maureen Lowry, a nurse, from Red Hook, NY, said,
"Iraqi women and children are going to die. Peace--that's
what we want and that's why I'm here today."
Noon Garfen from Brooklyn said, "It's
too confining--too controlled. It's not a good feeling to be
penned up like this." She was standing near 57 St., on First
Ave. "There was a lady in a wheel chair," she added,
"and the police wouldn't let her take a short cut out on
one of the side streets. I also think it was deliberate that
the city didn't give us a parade permit."
The bias tone towards this particular
Anti-War Rally was revealed on Feb. 6, 2003, in a vindictive
editorial by the New York Sun, an Ariel Sharon-friendly tabloid.
It encouraged the city officials to obstruct the protesters'
"plans for Feb. 15." It accused the activists, who
intended to parade, of giving aid and "comfort to Saddam
Hussein," whom they characterized as an "enemy of America."
It urged, too, that the NYC police send "two witnesses along
for each participant with an eye toward preserving at least the
possibility of an eventual treason prosecution...The smaller
the crowd," it predicted, "the more likely that President
Bush will proceed with his plans to liberate Iraq."
Nevertheless, this weekend was the date
set for Anti-War rallies in 603 locations around the globe. By
press time, nearly 90 cities and county governments, in this
country, had passed, "No War with Iraq Resolutions."
Also, a federal lawsuit to stop Bush's rush to war, without a
specific congressional declaration, as required by the U.S. Constitution,
Art. 1, Sec. 8 (11), was filed in Boston on Thursday. The severe
diplomatic rift, too, between Bush's War Party and France and
German has deepened.
John McDonagh, of Queens, NY, producer
of WBAI's popular "Radio Free Eireann's" program, on
99.5 FM, in NYC, said, "I see the hand of Bush in all of
this. He wants to limit the rights of the people. With a parade
permit, the crowd would have been much, much greater. Some folks
actually thought there wasn't going to be a rally today, because
a parade permit had been denied. Despite the city's barriers,
we've got as many people here today, or more, as Bush has sent
soldiers to Iraq."
The protesters also got to hear from
notable speakers, like South Africa's renowned Archbishop Desmond
Tutu; Screen Actor Guild members Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover;
popular pundit Phyllis Bennis; and, political activists Angela
Davis, Kim Gandy and Dennis Rivera; and the feisty politico,
the Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).
Ellen Hill, of Jeffersonville, VT, summed
up the feelings of many activists, when she said, "There
is something that is taken away, when you can't walk from point
'A' to point 'B.' There is something very symbolic about a movement
of people from one point to another. I marched with hundreds
of thousands of protesters, in Washington, DC, on Jan. 18th.
It is very powerful. And, today, they took that away from us!"
(C) William Hughes 2003
William Hughes
is the author of "Baltimore Iconoclast" (Writer's Showcase),
which is available online. He can be reached at liamhughes@mindspring.com.
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February 15
/ 16, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
Colin
Powell and the Great "Intelligence Fraud"
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich
The Whole World is Watching
Edward Said
A Monumental Hypocrisy
Wouter Hijink
Report from Amsterdam
"War: Do Not Feed!"
Linda Heard
At Last! Proud to be British
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Taking a Stand on Iraq
Robert Fisk
The Case Against War
Lev Grinberg
Lessons from Israel
A War Without Legitimacy
Chris Floyd
Cold Fronts:
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Ahmad Faruqui
Stepping Back from the Brink of War
Norman Madarasz
French Kisses from the Citizens of France
Adam Lebowitz
Scott Ritter in Tokyo
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Bring Us the Head of Osama bin Laden
Forrest Hylton
The Revolt in Bolivia
Col. Dan Smith
Irrelevance and Credibility:
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The Lies of Tom Lantos
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The Invisible Modernities of the Islamic World
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Who's Safe Now?
An American in Cairo
Rich Procter
Anybody Remember the Powell Doctrine?
Poets Basement:
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Website of the Weekend
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