Our grief is not a cry for war -
Thousands of New Yorkers Oppose War

On October 7, thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched in New York City in a protest made more timely and urgent by the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.

The demonstration, which began barely two hours after the first bombs were dropped, was organized by a broad coalition of peace, labour, religious, political and social justice organizations that came together just days after the attack on the World Trade Centre to discuss responses to the impending threats of war, racist backlash against Arab Americans and the erosion of civil liberties.
The demonstrators assembled at Union Square Park in lower Manhattan, barely two miles from the site of the World Trade Centre, for a march to Times Square. Within a couple of days of the September 11 attack, Union Square had become transformed into a memorial shrine to the Trade Centre victims, and its south plaza grew into an altar where people left candles, flowers, photographs of missing friends or family members, and signs and posters expressing their feelings about what had happened. Since that time, the park has become the focal point for many of New York's ongoing peace activities.

While the focus of the demonstration was on peace generally, one of the slogans of the day was "Our grief is not a cry for war." Many of the people who turned out blamed United States foreign policy for the crisis. "The American people have not been silenced," said Imam Abdul-Baqi of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York. "They are saying clearly to the president, 'We're against your policies. Stop the arrogance and respect people and their rights.' ... Today it is Muslims who are victimized," he continued, "tomorrow it will be communists, and after that it will be everyone else."

The need to find solutions through international law, where bodies such as the United Nations or the International Court of Justice would play a prominent role, was a concern to many of the people on the march. Numerous banners demanded "Peace through social justice" or proclaimed that "War is not the answer." Person after person expressed the fear that unilateral military actions by the United States would only increase the threat of terrorism, and cause the death and suffering of many innocent people in the U.S. and Afghanistan. "The Bush administration has made a horrendous mistake," said Charlene Mitchell, co-chair of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. "This action gives us a false sense of security. Think of the eventual death toll. This will only heighten terrorism. We have to negotiate. We have to use international law."

Local peace and social justice groups saw the demonstration as the beginning of a new movement for change. While many people expressed anger at both the attack on the World Trade Centre and the response of U.S. policy makers, and some expressed fear about what might happen in the future, others were confident that such a movement could affect lasting change. (NY Transfer News Service)