Copyright © 2001-2007
Novey Chou

San Francisco Anti-War Protest, January 18, 2003

Organized by Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R)

On January 18th, I attended a rally against the war on Iraq in San Francisco at the Civic Center. It was an experience that I will not forget. The group that organized the rally estimated the crowd to be between 100,000 to 200,000. A similar sized crowd was found rallying in Washington D.C and Portland on the same day. Over 30 cities around the world had organized rallies on this day. This is the largest anti-war demonstration since the Vietnam War. The goal is to send a message to the governing body of this nation that a war on Iraq is unjustified and a peaceful solution should be sought after. The relentlessness that the White House has shown in pursuit of a war against Iraq is not with the best interest of the American people in mind, but rather the oil companies'. Our troops should not be put in the line of fire for a war that's unjustified and morally wrong! The estimated 200 billion dollars that the war would cost us should go to education, health care, unemployment benefits, affordable-housing and services that are badly needed during this difficult economic time.


Photo provided by San Francisco Chronicle. It's difficult to estimate the exact turnout. All I know is that I walked all the way from 4th & Market to the Civic Center on a 3-lane street completely jammed with demonstrators; that's roughly one-mile, in addition to a crowd that covered the entire Civic Center grounds.


Local chapter of the Longshoremen Labor Union came out against war on Iraq. The demonstrators included people from all walks of life: farm workers, seaport workers, healthcare workers, students, hippees, gays and lesbians, veterans, family of servicemen, white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, infants, grannies, Blacks, Whites and every color in between. It seems Bush is on alot of peoples' shitlist.


Some very unhappy Grannies...


Music was a big part of the demonstration.








Amid all the excitement, I saw this...(that guy in the black shirt is in deep trouble)


Helicopter of the News Media.








One of the Pro-Palestinian organizations drawing attention to US foreign policy in the Middle-East.


It's things like this that kept many Pro-Israeli people away from the anti-war demonstrations eventhough they are against the war. My feeling is this: there are many organizations that have chose to be involved in this demonstration. It's unlikely that I would agree with all of their causes. What's important is that we're all rallying for the same thing - and that is demanding a peaceful solution to the problems that exist in Iraq, in the Middle-East and elsewhere. Rather than focusing on the differences between us, I believe it's more constructive to focus on what we have in common. I don't agree with everything that A.N.S.W.E.R stands for, but that's not gonna stop me from voicing my opposition to the war on Iraq at this demonstration.
Two of the more bizarre organizations I saw was an Irish socialist organization and a communist organization (communists are not my favorite people). The few organizations I could really associate with were the environmentalists and the Green Party (no vegetarians in sight, argh!). I wore my "01 Vegetarian" shirt.





The staging area.


Martin Sheen (who plays the president on the popular Emmy-winning show "The West Wing") speaking out against the war. Earlier as I painstakingly squeezed my way to the stage, I recognized someone next to me who was on "Road Rules", a reality-show on MTV. Earlier the actress who played Amy on the TV show "Judging Amy" also spoke to the crowds.


San Francisco Civic Center.





CongressWoman Barbara Lee of Oakland, who casted the lone dissenting vote on September 14, 2001 against giving the president unlimited and open-ended power to fight terrorism. Her courage has won her many admirers in the Bay Area. The crowds went crazy when she stepped on to the mike (including me!).


Bonnie Raitt performed a song about the horror of war.


A representative of one of the Pro-Palestinian organizations. Later someone who represents Jews against the war also spoke to the crowds.


Mimi Kennedy (who plays Abby, mother of Dharma in the TV show "Dharma & Greg") rallied the crowds to sing the birthday song for Dr. Martin Luthur King Jr.


A Vietnam Veteran and Native American speaks to the crowds on the plight of veterans.


An anti-nuclear/uranium organization flew all the way from Japan to speak to and sing for the demonstrators.


Crowds standing behind me.


Leaving the Civic Center grounds to catch my bus back to Palo Alto.

I left the Civic Center a little after 4pm to catch a 5pm bus two miles away. It sounded like the demonstration was coming to an end at that point. The three-and-a-half hours I spent there was incredible. The energy and enthusiasm of the people is very heartening. I only hope that the message of peace will find its way to other Americans despite efforts of the Bush Administration to silence it. I also hope that it'll find its way to the people in the Middle-East, who need to know that we are not their enemy.

As for me, I'll be nursing my throat for the next peaceful demonstration against the war...