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PEACE
MARCH & RALLY IN SAN JOSÉ
On
the Second Anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq
Sunday, March 20
Event
Organized by the Peninsula / South Bay Peace Council
This
march and rally was organized by the Peninsula/South
Bay Peace Coordinating Council,
a collaboration of over 35 peace organizations
based in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
SBM
Special Report - 3/21/2005
Sunday,
March 20th, more than 2,500 in San Jose California,
joined the Peninsula/South Bay Peace Council (a coalition
of 44 peace and justice groups) to march and rally under
the banners:
"Bring
the Troops Home Now!"
"Money for Human Needs Not War".
They joined
over 800 communities and cities across the nation, and
more than a thousand around the world, this weekend
to protest this illegal, immoral war and demand peace
and an immediate end to the war on Iraq.
It was under
the pouring rain in downtown San Jose that everyone
shouted, "It can rain, it can pour, but we want
an end to this bloody war."
Dennis Kyne,
a veteran of Gulf War I, started off the event by singing
anti-war songs at the San Jose Diridon Train Station.
The march began after over 1,000 people from all over
the bay area arrived via the Peace Train at the train
station. As they arrived, over a large contingent of
young people, organized by Bayan, shouted energetic
chants to get everyone fired up.
When we arrived
at the War Memorial, more than 2,500 people listened
to keynote speaker Nadia McCaffrey, who lost her son
in the war in June 2003 (her only child). She said,
"I am on a mission and I will not stop until we
end this war."
At Cesar
Chavez Plaza, Richard Becker from ANSWER, Hatem Bazian
from Univ. of California, Larry Siegle from Mountain
View Voices for Peace, Samina Faheem from American Muslim
Voice, Troy from Silicon Valley Debug, Roshan Pour Abdullah
from Iranians for Human Rights, and many others gave
powerful speeches.
And we thank
Paul George from Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
and Amie from San Jose State Univ Greens who both did
a fantastic job as MCs throughout the rally.
Thank you
all for being there in spite of the weather. Thanks
to all for making peace shine through in downtown San
Jose on Sunday, March 20th.
Please send
your pictures to us so we can put them on the March
20th web site.
Also the
event received coverage on at least two local TV stations
and newspaper coverage on the front page of the "local"
section in the San Jose Mercury News on Monday March
21.
See you all
this Thursday, March 24th at 5pm in front of the Fairmont
Hotel at CC plaza in downtown San Jose to protest Schwarzenegger's
plan for California and let him know that California
is not for sale!
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See Also:
3/21/05,
"BANNERS DECRY MORE THAN IRAQ INVASION, BLAST STANCE
OF BUSH WHITE HOUSE", By Aaron C.
Davis, San Jose Mercury News
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