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News :: Protest Activity |
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A Week of Protests at the Republican National Convention in NYC |
Current rating: 6 |
by Scott Mylxine
Email: mylxine (nospam) hotmail.com |
28 Aug 2004
Modified: 02 Sep 2004 |
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Many Pensacola residents were in New York City right now for the protests against the Bush agenda and the Republican Party. These are the notes from those protests. |
 Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |  Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |  Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |
Most of this piece was written as events were breaking. This article will be edited as a wrap up of the convention week when we return to Pensacola. Until then, forgive me for any typos or grammatical errors. Also, please visit the New York Indy Media site for more in-depth stories by independent journalists committed to getting this story out. http://nyc.indymedia.org
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August 28th "The Day Before the Big Day"
I'm sorry but I don't have time for a complete update on what's going on. But briefly, there was a critical mass last night with over 2000 bike riders which took over the streets of Manhatten. It started from Union Square and went in all different directions and went on for at least 2 and half hours. People on the side of the road were cheering and clapping, while cars were honking. On our way back to Union Square, we saw dozens of police cars zoom by and helicoptors overhead with searchlights for a long time after the ride was supposed to have ended. By the time we got to where the helicopters were circling above, we witnessed a mass arrest last night on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 9th Street near St Marks Church. There are verying accounts of how many people were arrested.(the charge was disorderly conduct). Today's New York Times says it was 100 bicyclists. The New York Daily News says 250. The previous night there were 21 arrests,including activists from Act-Up who stripped naked to protest the lack of action against AIDS and a few people who hung a banner that that said Bush goes one way the Truth goes the other. No word yet on if any of the arrested bicyclists were released yet, but they were supposed to be arraigned today.
The feel on the streets out here is that hardly anyone is excited about the Republicans coming. I've only seen one person proudly wearing anything Republican and one more christian protester telling everyone that he believes that Jesus should let Bush have another four years. That sign was juxtapozed with a woman who held a sign near him saying "Bush Can Kiss My Black Ass (and Cheney, too!)"
One man in African clothing even stopped me on the street next to Grand Central to ask if we were going to "tear Bush up." We talked for a little while. He was abhorred at all the military running around with M-16's. "Look at these wackos! This is crazy. Tomorrow's going to be a big one!", referring to the United for Peace and Justice protest on August 29th. I asked if he was going to be out there, too. "Hell yeah I am!" We shook hands and I went to the next event on the check list. It's busy here. A lot going on.
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7:30pm-Just came back from "Ground Zero" where a large peace protest was taking place. Thousands of people were ringing bells for two hours as a demonstration against violence all over the world. There was a heave police presence, but the event was largely peaceful.
(A report is coming about the Pro-Choice women's march across the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday 8/28 is posted on the NWFIMC at http://www.nwfimc.org/feature/display/467/index.php)
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August 29th, 2004 "Half a Million in the Streets"
The United for Peace and Justice protest (http://www.unitedforpeace.org) was one of the most amazing events I have seen in my life.
So many people from such diverse backrounds and politics had united under two banner, "Stop the war now" and "George Bush has got to go".
The rally began to amass around 10 am, but didn't take off until close to noon. We marched with the Palestine solidarity contingent, but were close with the Vets for Peace and the many, many other groups that braved the hot New York sun to march against Bush and the war.
But besides being "against" Bush, there was such a wide range of views that the people participating were "for." Everything from universal health care, workers rights, women's rights, LGBT rights, and many more. Several people were opposing the occupations of Haiti, Afghanistan, Palestine, and, of course,Iraq.
What was most amazing to see was the amount of support we got from the streets. I don't remember another protest that I have been to where almost everyone on the side of the road watching was actually cheering us on. Several people had banners and signs hanging from their windows expressing support for the protest. There were giant anti-Bush billboards, flags, and countless signs hanging from people's windows. In fact, at the march, among many other friends, I ran into the same man that I wrote about earlier who I saw near Grand Central. He seemed happy to see us there and was even happier to be there himself.
The march ended near Union Square. UFPJ lost a battle with the city for an after=march rally at Central Park. I haven't heard exact numbers of people partipating yet, but rough numbers were over 100,000 people, with very few arrests (from what I know of). I'll update this section when I know what else is going on. As well as other informatation as it become available.
9/30 (11am) The NY Times and UFPJ estimated the crowds at yesterdays march to be half a million people. There were several arrests in Times square when a paper mache dragon caught fire. There were other instances as well, but nothing I've been able to find out for sure on. Brett Norman from the pnj said there was something going on at 34th and 5th when we spoke with him on the phone for an interview, but he didn't know specifics either. I saw a friend earlier in the day that said he got a flier from someone that said a militant contingent was going to meet at the dragon. "I had a feeling something might happen there). The paper estimated over 200 arrests for the entire day.
To date, over 500 people have been arrested. All the reports that I have seen also say that the demonstrations have been peaceful. Nearly all the organizers of yesterdays event seem to ecstatic about the march and its success as one of largest anti-war marches in US history, and the largest demonstration at a political party's convention ever.
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Iraq Veterans Against the War
(9/30)There was an event last night after the protest sponsored by Iraq war Veterans against the war (http://www.ivaw.net) at Joe's Pub in the Lower Eaast Side. The event was opened up with a speech from a local organizer from Vets for Peace (http://www.veteransforpeace.org) and Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) and was followed by musical act Stephen Smith, and Iraq-American folk singer. During the event, time was given to members of the newly formed Iraq Veterans Against the War to speak about their experiences in Iraq and their new found conclusions that the war in that country is wrong. One speaker, Michael Hoffman, a former Marine told the crowd that before his unit headed out to Iraq his 1st Sgt told his unit that they were not going to Iraq to free the Iraqi people or to find Weapons of Mass Destruction, "but for one reason and one reason only: oil." Then his Sgt went on to tell his unit that they still had to go for two reasons. Because they signed up to do what they were told, and because all of their friends were going and they were going to need each other to "have each other's back." Hoffman said that is why he was speaking out now, to look out for his friends who were still over there and bring them home safely. Two other former soldiers spoke out against what they did in Afghanistan and Iraq, including a very moving speech, given by telephone, by a member of IVAW who told his story about the indiscriminate killing that has went on in Iraq since the war started. The men talked about what it meant to them to march in the demonstration earlier in the day as part of one of the largest anti-war protests in history.
The most moving moment of the event was when an aunt of imprisoned conscientious objector, Camelio Mejia spoke about her nephews case ( http://www.veteransforpeace.org/Free_Camilo_061804.htm) and read a letter from prison that he sent to the people who attended.
The night was capped off with Stephen Smith telling about his feelings of being an Iraqi-American living in this country since 9/11 and his families struggle to survive, in a speech and in song.
Members of the IVAW said that their numbers were growing every day since they started the group. As the war progresses and continues to main and kill those who were sent to Iraq, there is no reason to think that membership in the organization will slow down.
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August 30th
Monday night, there was a demonstration of about 5,000 people called "The Poor People's March", that started at the United Nations and tried to get to where the Republicans were meeting at Madison Square Garden, but was stopped a block away by the police. Most of the marches here were not given permits. Not that the groups didn't try to get permits, but was that the city and the NYPD refused most march permits in the days leading up to the RNC so the Republicans wouldn't have to see the protests. The organizers still went ahead with most of the marches.
(for another article written on the Poor People's March, go to http://www.nwfimc.org/feature/display/477/index.php)
After the march, Lauren and I saw a film at a bar in Brooklyn called "Our Brothers, Our Sisters" which was part of the Imagine Festival, a week long arts and culture fest that's promoting culture as opposed to war and greed. The film gave a glimpse into the lives of several Muslim families that have been impacted by the detentions of Muslims since 9/11.
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8/31 "The Day of Direct Action"
Today has been billed as the Day of Direct Action. Several marches and events were planned today, as well as several non-violent acts of civil disobedience throughout the city.
The first that we attended was a rally and march called "Stop The Detentions" that was called to protest the detention of Muslim and Arab immigrants since 9/11. The marchers met at Columbus Park in Chinatown for the unpermitted demonstration and and not ironically was set to end in Thomas Paine park, where many speakers spoke of their first hand experience dealing with the harrassment of Arabs and Muslims since September of 2001.
Most notably was the son and wife of Palestinian activist Farouk Abdell Muhti, who had lived in NYC for decades until he was arrested on a seven year old deportation order after speaking on WBAI radio about the struggle taking place in Palestine. As a stateless Palestinian, the courts had no where to deport Farouk to, so he was bounced around from prison to prison for two years until eventually his release was gained after a lengthy legal battle last spring. Tragically Farouk died last month of a medical condition that went untreated while in prison.
“We believe that my father died as the result of the extreme stress and duress that he had to endure being indefinitely detained in the BICE detention centers,” Tariq Abdell Muhti, Farouk's son told the crowd in a moving speech. His family holds the Bush administration directly responsible for Farouk's death.
Hordes of police in riot gear swarmed the park, but only made one arrest of a man who climbed a tree to get a better view of the speakers. After the speakers finished their speeches, an organizer thanked the large crowd for attending and asked the crowd to disperse in groups of no larger than 5 people or they would be arrested. It was never clear what the arrest charges would have been.
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War Resisters League March From Ground Zero
At 3pm on Tuesday, The War Resisters League called for a mass convergence to "Ground Zero" to march to Madison Square Garden. The 81 year old peace group called the march to "confront the administration with the death and suffering for which they are responsible" a flier stated. The flier went on to say that "the Republicans have chosen to hold their convention in New York City to link George Bush and 'Ground Zero'. Bush's policies have created 'ground zeros' of death and suffering throughout the world, and we hold him accountable for that. We have spoken out, we have written letters, we have marched, we have rallied...we have been ignored. Now we resort to nonviolence civil disobedience..."
The marchers, which included members of the Iraq Vets Against the War, as well as many other individuals and organizations, were to take off at 4pm, but were delayed when a large group from the School of the America's Watch was arrested across the street for "obstructing the sidewalk."
Organizers for the WRL walked through the crowd to tell them that the NYPD was not going to permit the march to go into the streets, but would allow the WRL to march if it stayed on the sidewalk, followed all pedestrian sidewalk signals, and only walked "in groups of two" side-by-side. In other words, the NYPD allowed the WRL to walk on the sidewalk.
The march eventually left Ground Zero with many people carrying signs that had the names of Iraqis, Americans, and Afghanis killed in the wars. Many people had large photos of dead children being held by mothers and soldiers.
At the end of the march, several people staged a "Die-In" at MSG to symbolize the deaths and destruction of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Everyone who participated in the Die-In were arrested on the spot.
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After the WRL march, we went to the NY Public Library, where many activists were asked to meet by the A31 Coaliton, one of the groups calling for the "Day of Direct Action." But when we got there, we found the area to have been taken over by the police. The steps to the famous library was fenced off and guarded by dozens of heavily armed police in riot gear.
A woman in the crowd told us about another convergence taking place on 34th and Broadway. When we got there, we found a similar scene, except a much larger crowd chanting "Bush Go Home!" We stayed for several hours, but saw few arrests, except for a person who disrupted an MSNBC show that was taping across the street.
The next morning, the right-wing "Daily News" ran the headlines "BUSTED", and ran an article that said the arrest count since the RNC began last week is over 1000. The NY Times said that over 500 people were arrested in the "Day of Direct Action" against the RNC.
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September 1st
On September 1st, there was a massive labor march that took place at 3pm where over 10,000 labor activists took to the streets to make a stand against Bush's anti-worker policies. This got very little news coverage, but all reports about it said that it went smoothly and was a powerful sight to see.
Later that evening, NOW held a rally in Central Park where dozens of people spoke against Bush's war against women. One of the most amazing parts of all of this activity here in NYC is the shared unity among, what seems, the entire city. If anyone likes George Bush, they're keeping to themselves. On that same note, those who are vocally against the President can't seem to contain it any longer. From spontaneous actions throughout the city to lone protesters in Times Square walking with anti-Bush signs, to the windows around the buildings near Ground Zero, there is a lot of support here for these protests. The NOW rally lasted for two hours and, of course, ended without instance.
Later on in the evening at St Marks Church, there was an incredible anti-war poetry reading called "DEMO". Poets such as Saphire, Bob Hollman, and Anselm Berrigan read to a packed (and very hot) house. Grace Palley was supposed to read, but apparently cancelled at the last minute.
There is a large encampment of prosters at St Marks Church as well, that seems somewhat permanent. At least for the week.
******************
September 2
"Bush's Corronation"
Today, I found out through the news that the total arrests of this action so far are over 1,800. The NY Times has a descent article on the arrests and harrassment of protesters. It's a little too "pro-pre-emptive strike", but it gives a somewhat good overview of the protest, protesters, and the police's overzealous handling of them.
Also, I just heard that Grand Central Station saw dozens of AIDS activists from ACT-UP do an action. ACT-UP have been one of the most active groups during these protests.
(http://www.advocate.com/new_news.asp?ID=13583&sd=09/02/04)
***********************
"Vigil For the Dead"
In Union Square, UFPJ, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and Iraq Vets Against the War hosted an all-day vigil for the dead of the Iraq and Afghan Wars.
On the 14th St side of the park, three were set up to remind the visitors that there is a war going on and that people are dying. Across one of the walkways, a wall of names was displayed of both American and Iraqi dead. The "wall" listed the dates that the people were killed, and for the Iraqis listed the circumstances of their deaths. A few feet away, a massive granite slab was being displayed that was to go to teh United Nations as a memorial to all of the civilian dead of all wars. A Buddhist nun was chanting beside it as visitors signed a guestbook next to it. But the largest memorial in the park was the simplest one.
Veterans for Peace placed an exhibit of combat boots with the names of soldiers killed in the war to symbolize that the numbers of service personell killed in the war. As I write this, the number is over 975. Besides the display of boots was the father of one soldier who was killed in the first days of the war. He held a simple sign that said "George Bush Killed My Son."
A number of speakers spoke about why they came to NY for the RNC, but the most compelling voices were the ones of the soldiers who fought the war to come back and say what's going on in Iraq is wrong. A total of 5 Iraq War Vets spoke out this evening against the war and against President Bush for the policies that, they said, killed their brothers and friends.
The event ended with a bagpipe rendition of "Mother's Lament", played by a member of Veterans for Peace while NYPD spy blimps, helicopters, and police sirens encircled the area.
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Last Rally before the Corronation
International ANSWER sponsored a packed rally where thousands of people dealt with being packed like sardines into a "Free Speech Zone" to show their anger at George Bush, the War in Iraq and the US foriegn policy, the war on women's health, the war on labor, and the war on the poor.
The rally was one of the largest and most diverse in message as any I had seen in the week of massive protests against not only Bush and his agende. The message for Bush was made clear by the most common chant, "Bush Go Home!" But there was also a message for Kerry. The message was that he would be held accountable for his policies in Iraq and domestically and that if he didn't heed this message, the protests will continue.
Hearing many of the speeches was difficult because of the size of the crowd, which was packed into several city block encircled by police on the ground and an every roof for as far as I could see.
Two blocks away, George Bush was giving his acceptance speech to a crowd of supporters that had hidden themselves for a week. His speech was disrupted twice by protesters.
The next afternoon, we fly home. To quote George Bush, the man who brought over half a million people to New York and helped set the city on fire a week, "Mission Accomplished."
Now, it's off to Coney Island!
(Again, this artice will be edited this week as convention wrap up when we get back to Pensacola, where we won't have to pay for internet by the hour). |
See also:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/
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This work is in the public domain. |
Comments
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Re: Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |
by lauren
compassiontothecore (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
30 Aug 2004
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just wanted to add that the african muslim man that scott & i saw in the streets and who complained about the military presence was indeed at the ufpj march on the 29th. he was just ahead of us at one point. he was dancing to the drum beats and chanting with the crowd. he stopped to talk to some of the cheerer and onlookers lining the street, and scott & i said hi. the march and the whole atmosphere here in new york is very inspiring! |
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Re: Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |
by scott
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
31 Aug 2004
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CNBC reported that over 800 people have been arrested so far. I'll update the article written above as soon as I can. Internet is scarce here for me. |
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Re: Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |
by Angie
aaott57 (nospam) mchsi.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
04 Sep 2004
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Thank you all for going and for sharing the experience by writing about it. The protests were impressive to see on TV, and I cannot imagine how inspiring it must have been to be a part. |
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Re: Protest Updates from the Republican National Convention in NYC |
by ann
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
05 Sep 2004
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I heard that you were interviewed by the PNJ, but I never saw anything about it. Figures. With half a million people out there, you would think that it was ok to voice a dissenting opinion now. |
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Re: A Week of Protests at the Republican National Convention in NYC |
by Scott
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
06 Sep 2004
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Brent Norman from the News Journal interviewed us after the protest, but for whatever reasons we didn't make it in the paper. His article's ok, though. Here's a link to it below if you're interested.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=104D3F4905CE4DDE&p_docnum=4&p_theme=gannett&s_site=pensacolanewsjournal&p_product=PNJB |
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Re: A Week of Protests at the Republican National Convention in NYC |
by leslie
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 Sep 2004
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hey alll, glad to hear about the pensacola presence at the nyc. good work. |
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