Last Saturday, an angry, banner-wielding mob forged its way through a bustling crowd of anti-war protesters, stopping for no one—except, that is, fawning passers-by who demanded a picture. The tightly-knit group surged through the streets of Washington D.C., circling the Capitol building as they shouted catchy slogans like “money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation.”
Despite transportation and funding difficulties, the group of 60 strong—all Wesleyan students led by the campus organization Students for Ending the War in Iraq (SEWI)—had managed to make the 300-mile journey south to the capital.
“It was great to march as a school,” said Erik Rosenberg ’07, the unofficial leader of SEWI, who marched at the front of the group with his trademark aviators and long brown hair resting on a draped American flag.
“People stopped us to take pictures,” he said. “They were happy to see younger people at the march, which was mostly not [comprised of] students.”
The march, sponsored by United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), a coalition of over 1,300 anti-war groups across the country, had been organized hurriedly in response to President Bush’s Jan. 10 speech announcing a “surge” of 21,500 troops to be sent to Baghdad and Anbar Province.
As has always been true of anti-war protests, the head-count is considered the cardinal measure of success, and it was not surprising that the numbers for this particular march were disputed. The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that tens of thousands of people had shown up, while UFPJ estimated a much higher number of 500,000 people. The Capitol Police did not release an official estimate.
SEWI leaders, who organized transportation to the rally, initially expected around ten people to go and soon found dozens interested.
“We didn’t expect so many people,” said Priya Ghosh ’09, another active member of SEWI. “We kind of thought about it the wrong way—that people wouldn’t be so eager to leave town right when they got back. I think everyone thought about the war over break, realized they were pissed about the surge, and found they actually didn’t have much going on the first weekend back.”
Ghosh said that the Student Budget Comittee’s (SBC) refusal to fund a bus solely for Wesleyan students, which would have cost at least $1,000, made it much more difficult for students to attend. Instead, some students traveled on a bus sponsored by the New Haven Peace Council, some drove to New York City to take buses from Union Square, and others drove all the way down to the capital.
“It would have been cool if they had funded a Wesleyan bus, considering how many kids invested time, money, and energy into this,” she said. “I don’t know what the SBC’s financial considerations are, but transportation to this protest seemed like a pretty legitimate student interest to me.”
Nicole Ippoliti ’09, chair of the SBC, said that the funds were simply not available.
“The SBC was unfortunately not in the financial position to rent an entire bus for the Students for Ending the War in Iraq,” she said.
In the capital, organizations as disparate as the 9/11 Truth Movement, a group devoted to exposing an alleged U.S. government plot behind the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Catholic Workers Movement marched together.
Actress Jane Fonda made headlines by appearing at an anti-war protest for the first time since the Vietnam War. At that time, she gained widespread infamy for the “Hanoi Jane” incident, in which she was photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft battery.
“I haven’t spoken out at an anti-war rally in 34 years because I was afraid that the lies that were spread about me then would be used about this anti-war movement,” Fonda said during a speech to the crowd. “But silence is no longer acceptable.”
While Congresswomen Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Lynne Woolsey (D-CA) both spoke, many of the most outspoken anti-war politicians, wary of the protesters’ demands for immediate withdrawal, stayed away. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), one of the war’s most biting critics, sent a letter that was read to the crowd instead of attending in person.
As far as the many signs and placards, one of the more popular themes was a call for Vice President Dick Cheney’s impeachment. There were others, such as “Between Iraq and a Hard Place,” “Purge the Urge to Surge,” and “Off with His Head.” One adolescent girl wore a shirt with the statement “I Hated Bush Before It Was Cool” emblazed on the front.
Though the route of the protest went around the Capitol building, much of the day’s excitement occurred on the Capitol steps. Around 3:30 p.m., as tired marchers milled around the steps, a group of around 50 anarchists, wearing black bandanas and clothing and calling themselves the “Black Bloc,” rushed towards several police that guarded the front of the steps. The police reacted quickly, forming a blockade of some twenty officers. Though no violence ensued, the group’s spontaneous action provided a tense moment in what was more or less a calm day.
While he was satisfied with Wesleyan’s performance at the march, Rosenberg criticized the mixed messages conveyed by the protesters.
“I was personally most pissed about the mixing of issues,” he said. “When people are mixing issues, people on the capital say, ‘Oh, 500,000 people came, but the Iraq war wasn’t important enough for them to leave their own issues at home.’”