Feature Archives

On Saturday, September 16th, the anniversary of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon, over 40 Bay Area activists staged a "die-in" at the Ferry Building in San Francisco to highlight the fact that US tax money has been used to fund the attacks on and killings of civilians in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. Photos

Many events are being held around the Bay Area to commemorate the fifth anniversary of September 11th, 2001. Some will focus on mourning the lives lost, while others will question the official message about how and why 911 occurred; still others will stand in opposition to the deaths of 3,000 Americans leading to tens of thousands of deaths worldwide in wars against "terrorism." The 5th annual 9/11 Truth Rally and March was held on Saturday morning, September 9th. Report Emergent Sea 9/11: Artists of Color Speak Up 5 Years after 'Sep 11' was held Saturday night in San Francisco, with an evening of spoken word and music.

Bob Watada visited the West Coast on a speaking tour in support of his son, Lt. Ehren Watada, from August 19th through 27th. On the tour, he: spoke out about why his son refuses to participate in the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq; built support for his son as he faces military court- martial proceedings; and raised funds for his son's legal defense. Lt. Ehren Watada is the first commissioned U.S. military officer to publicly refuse orders in support of the Iraq War. A military pre-trial hearing took place on August 17-18, and the actual court-martial will likely be 6 to 12 weeks later.

On Saturday, August 19th, which would have been Abeer Hamza's 15th birthday, candlelight vigils were held in several cities. Abeer Hamza was the young Iraqi woman who was raped and killed, along with her family, in March of this year by US occupation forces. The vigils in for Berkeley, New York, and Los Angeles were organized by a group of 8 young women who were outraged by the story of what happened to the Hamza family. In Berkeley, people gathered for a vigil at Willard Park from 7:30 to 9:30pm. Photos

The Veterans For Peace national convention was held in Seattle from August 10th through the 13th. One of those who addressed the convention was Ricky Clousing, a 24-year-old Army sergeant and interrogator from Seattle. Clousing left Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 2005 after returning from Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division and has been AWOL since. Another speaker was Lt. Ehren Watada, who publicly refused to deploy with the Fort Lewis, Washington-based 3rd Stryker Brigade.

The Declaration of Peace (DOP) is a nationwide campaign, the goal of which is to establish a concrete and rapid plan for peace in Iraq by September 21st, 2006. DOP signers will take part in nonviolent actions, marches, rallies, candlelight vigils, and other creative ways to declare peace at the US Capitol and all over the US from September 21st through 28th. CODEPINK and peace allies will hold a march across the Golden Gate Bridge on Thursday, September 21st at 7:30am. A Peace Vigil will be held in at SF City Hall Plaza on September 21st, beginning at 6:00pm. More events are planned in the Bay Area and Central Coast throughout the week. Read more

Alessandro Tinonga writes: The war against Lebanon is absolutely shocking. According to the BBC, the number of Lebanese casualties may be as high as 900 after nearly four weeks of fighting. Almost one third of the dead are children under the age of 12. Latest UN estimates for displaced people in Lebanon put the figure at between 700,000 and 800,000.

For those of us in the anti-war movement, we must take a stand against the violence being perpetrated against the Lebanese and the Palestinian people. However, there is a clear point of division amongst the anti-war movement: how to address the issue of national liberation. This division manifests itself in many ways ranging from a political statements from major anti-war organizations like United for Peace and Justice, or the hesitancy of some elements of the Santa Cruz anti-war movement to have a united demonstration last Friday against the war.