Feature Archives

On Saturday, October 27th, regional and local "Fall Out Against the War" demonstrations against the war in Iraq were held all over the United States. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in San Francisco at 11:00am at Civic Center Park for an opening rally. At 12:30pm, there was a march to Dolores Park, where there was a closing rally and peace and justice convergence.

On October 17th, CodePINK protested at the Marine Officer Recruiting Station at 64 Shattuck Square, just south of University Ave. in Berkeley from 7:30am to 4:30pm. CodePINK, Grandmothers Against War, and allies were there to "banner, flyer, picket in front of the station, hand out counter-recruitment info to those in danger of being recruited, and go inside to ask the Marines to LEAVE our town!" The Officer Recruiting Station is located just blocks from Berkeley High School, UC Berkeley, and Berkeley City College.

The Iraq Moratorium called on everyone to take some public action to stop the war on Iraq - on Friday, September 21st and every third Friday of the month from now on. In San Francisco there wereactions Friday at 1187 Franklin at 10am and at Market & Montgomery at 5pm. In San Mateo, 150 people gathered for an evening rally. In Berkeley, there was a rally at Acton and University. In Palo Alto there was a rally at Lytton Plaza. In Oakland, was a march on the docks starting from the West Oakland BART station. There were also be rallies at many other location around the Bay Area.

On Monday September 17th Iraq's Interior Ministry revoked the license of Blackwater USA and demanded that all employees leave the country. The ban followed a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead. The Interior Ministry said authorities will prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force and "all those responsible for Sunday's killing will be referred to Iraqi justice." On Tuesday, the Iraqi government softened its stance, saying that the ban on Blackwater was not permanent, but warned it planned to review the legal immunity of all private security companies.

On September 15th, an antiwar protest took place Washington DC to coincide with the report by General Petraeus on the "surge" in Iraq. Protests and peace rallies also took place in many cities across the United States. In Berkeley, a "Community Peace Rally and Concert" was held at People's Park starting at 1pm.

Peace groups in Fresno unite in strategic effort to target Democratic Representative Jim Costa to stop funding the war & occupation in Iraq.

On Saturday September 8th, Michael Franti and his group Spearhead – along with Guerrilla Management –presented the 9th Annual 911 Power to the Peaceful Festival at Speedway Meadow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This free annual music and arts festival is "dedicated to social justice, non violence, coexistence, and environmental sustainability-- and is aimed to educate, enrage, enlighten and inspire." The event was followed by an after-party at the Mezzanine, and a daytime Yoga Jam is planned for Sunday.