As President George W. Bush deployed the first American troops to Iraq on March 20, 2003, city streets across the globe teemed with millions of citizens who said they wanted a different solution to Iraq's supposed danger.
A coalition of about 650 local and national groups throughout the United States - known as United for Peace and Justice - has not forgotten that day.
Once again, United for Peace and Justice, who helped stage the Feb. 15, 2003 "Global Day of Protest," is out to spread the message that "the World Still Says No to War" with a major demonstration scheduled to take place March 20 in New York City.
In conjunction with this event, the Western New York Peace Center has planned a protest to take place the same day at Lafayette Square in downtown Buffalo, according to the Peace Center's Executive Director Colin Eager.
"Nationally and locally, the peace movement believes that it's very important to commemorate the one year anniversary of deployment," said Eager. "We are still feeling the effects of the Iraqi invasion - anti-American sentiment around the world, unchecked federal spending and unnecessary military action."
Protestors will gather at 2 p.m., where they will participate in a brief opening rally, a march and then a closing ceremony. Eager said the event should last about two hours.
According to Eager, even though he expects the protest in New York City to get a lot of media coverage, it is necessary to have an outlet for those who want to participate on a local level.
"Both events are very important," said Eager. "Local events allow local people to plug in and get involved as well as learn more about peace and justice activism."
Colin O'Malley, member of UB Students Against Sweatshops and a sophomore undecided major, said student participation is particularly crucial.
"I'm definitely planning to attend the Buffalo event, along with as many friends as I can pick up," said O'Malley. "I think it's essential that students get involved in this. The government is spending billions of dollars on this war, and that's money that's being taken away from other departments, such as education. As students, we need to check this spending as soon as possible."
There will be a number of local organizations involved in the event, including the Buffalo chapter of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) Coalition, Buffalo State College's Buff State Students for Peace, Pax Christi of Western New York, and the local Dennis Kucinich for President campaign.
According to Eager, no UB groups will be represented officially because UB does not have an organized peace group on campus, though there are other groups such as UB Students Against Sweatshops that do a lot of work in the same vein.
"There was a peace group on campus last year, but that disappeared after the leader graduated," said O'Malley. "I assume that a lot of (UB Students Against Sweatshops) members will be at the event, though, because we have fairly close ties with the WNY Peace Center."
"As far as a peace group on campus is concerned, though, there are a large number of students who would work with a peace group. They just need somebody to start the movement," O'Malley added.
Eager urged all interested students to attend the protest on March 20. He also said that in order to gear up for the event, there will be a series of video screenings at the Access Community Infoshop on Main Street near South Campus.
There will be screenings tonight at 5 p.m., March 14 at 4 p.m., March 17 at 6 p.m., and March 19 at 6 p.m.
The March 14 film will be about Palestine, while the March 17 film will examine the experiences of Arabic and Muslim-Americans post-Sept. 11. The March 19 documentary will examine San Francisco's response to the start of the Iraqi invasion.
"The screenings are a really easy way for people to get involved if they don't know a lot about the subject," said Eager. "It's also a great way to get involved without putting in too much extra time or effort."
In addition to organizing the protest in Lafayette Square, the WNY Peace Center is organizing buses to transport participants to the demonstration in New York City. Eager said that interested students should contact him at the WNY Peace Center at 894-2013.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
