REPORT ON MARCH 18 ANTI-WAR ACTIONS IN 

SAN FRANCISCO AND LOS ANGELES

At demonstrations called by the ANSWER Coalition, more than 25,000 people marched through the streets of San Francisco, while another
20,000 took to the streets in Los Angeles. The two west coast demonstrations were the largest of the over 500 actions in the United States that were scheduled as part of a global day of action marking the third anniversary of the war of aggression against Iraq. The ANSWER Coalition's demonstrations, and the call to action issued by ANSWER in early November, explicitly connected the Iraq war with the ongoing assault against the Palestinian people, the U. S. overthrow of the Haitian government, and the intensifying threats and intervention against Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.

At the Los Angeles demonstration, which began at 12 noon at Hollywood and Vine, speakers included Academy Award winner, Paul Haggis, Vietnam War Veteran Ron Kovic, and Golden Globe nominated actress Maria Bello.

In San Francisco, the 25,000 strong antiwar demonstrators showed their solidarity with hotel workers who have been working without a contract, by marching to the Hilton hotel, one of fourteen hotels being boycotted by the labor movement. A militant delegation of hotel workers were part of the demonstration and set up many rallies at the hotels as the march passed by. The keynote speaker in San Francisco was Malik Rahim, a leader of Common Ground Relief in New Orleans. The march included a very multinational and diverse crowd, including strong contingents from the Palestinian community, the Filipino community, and a very large contingent from the American Indian Movement.

Throughout the next day, the ANSWER Coalition website, http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage will report on a large number of the other demonstrations that took place in the United States and around the world.

A. N. S. W. E. R. Coalition Act Now to Stop War & End Racism

Photo Credit:  By Bernie Fox, extracted from video