Ohioans to Join D.C. March against War

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

We got a pretty decent article in the local monopoly newspaper
_Columbus Dispatch_ the day before the major demonstration.  The
send-off rally today at 5:30 PM also attracted media attention.

*****   Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
October 24, 2003 Friday, Home Final Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 03A
LENGTH: 546 words
HEADLINE: OHIOANS TO JOIN D.C. MARCH AGAINST WAR;
Groups getting set for weekend protest in nation's capital
BYLINE: Kathy Lynn Gray, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

BODY: More than 50 Ohio activists will march with tens of thousands
of peace proponents in Washington Saturday in the first major protest
since President Bush declared the end of major combat operations in
Iraq.

"It's time to go back on the street and drive home the point that the
occupation needs to end, the troops need to come home and we need to
figure out a solution on this," said Bill Dobbs, media coordinator
for United for Peace and Justice. That group and International
ANSWER, the two largest peace coalitions nationwide, are organizing
the march.

Speakers include the Rev. Martin Luther King III, the Rev. Al
Sharpton and the heads of numerous anti-war groups. Marchers will
pass the White House and the Justice Department.

A January anti-war march in Washington drew an estimated 200,000, and
one in March drew 300,000.

At least one bus load of people, plus a caravan of vans, will leave
at 12:30 a.m. Saturday from Ohio State University's Ohio Union and
drive all night to attend the 11 a.m. demonstration, which begins at
the Washington Monument. The bus will return early Sunday.

First-time marcher Annie Hollis, an OSU freshman from Whitehall, said
she has a moral obligation to go because she is so opposed to the war
and its aftermath.

"I don't think the U.S. has any business meddling in other countries'
affairs," said Hollis, 17. "The war was illegal and pointless."

Ohio Wesleyan University sophomore Conor McHale's reason for going is
political: He hopes the march will crystalize opposition to Bush.

"It's important for others to see that there are others who don't
agree with the Bush administration."

Andy Reed, 34, of Worthington, will travel to Washington for his
second peace march.

"We should withdraw all troops from Iraq immediately," Reed said.
"We've got ourselves stuck over there, and we need to be looking for
dramatic solutions because Americans are dying over there."

Columbus organizer Yoshi Furuhashi said students make up about half
the group going to Washington and the rest are local activists.
Student International Forum and Community Organizing Center are the
local sponsors of the rally. Furuhashi said four bus loads of
protesters will travel to Washington from Cleveland.

To support the protest, activists here are reviving demonstrations
held weekly before the war at North Broadway and High streets.

"I think a vast number of people are interested in the peace movement
but just don't know what to do," said Jim Leonard, 55, of
Clintonville. "I think being more visible is important."

Leonard has been spreading word of the event through churches and
groups and said yesterday he doesn't know if there will be "five or
50 or 500 people" there.

"People know that things are more fragile today than they were on
Sept. 12," he said. "People know things are not moving in the right
direction. They know it's not going well."

Reed said he believes the peace movement will intensify as the
presidential election of November 2004 moves closer.

"Many people have receded back into inaction, but the core of the
group and the network is still intact," he said.

"Even conservative people in the peace movement are beginning to
realize we haven't been told the straight up-and-down facts."

kgray@xxxxxxxxxxxx

GRAPHIC: Photo, TIM REVELL DISPATCH,, Andy Reed of Worthington makes
signs in his back yard to carry during the, anti-war demonstration
Saturday in Washington, D.C. Reed thinks the U.S., military should
pull out of Iraq because too many troops are dying.

LOAD-DATE: October 24, 2003    *****

--
Yoshie

* Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/>
* Calendars of Events in Columbus:
<http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>,
<http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/>
* Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio>
* Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>


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