Feature Archives

From The Newswire:

On October 7th and 20th of this school year military recruiters showed up on the Casa Grande Campus in Petaluma. The first time the date of the protest was spread by word of mouth, the second time Nate passed out fliers to get the word around. We chanted, made signs, danced, made peace sign armbands, and talked to the recruiters. Both times we have had a great turn-out! If there is a next time, we will be bigger.

Photos

Anti-war and anti-police brutality activist Lennox Sweeney, aged 64, died on October 13th. He was a former Navy intelligence officer and a retired Stanford Linear Accelerator Center employee. A Community Memorial and Celebration of Life for Lennox Sweeney will be held at 2pm on Saturday, November 5th, 2005, at MACLA, 510 S. First St. (between William & Reed) in downtown San Jose. Organizers say, "Lennox was truly an individual and so his celebration will be a wonderful event." People are asked to bring photos, stories, and their full hearts. The memorial will include sharing, food, and poetry, followed by music from Annie & the Vets, Raging Grannies, and others- including rap and hip hop. His cousins will attend the event. Lennox's cremains will also be present.

Some of Lennox's friends will be attending one of Lennox's favorite Saturday activities- an anti-war picket at the corner of Winchester and Santa Clara at noon before the memorial.

Veterans and Associate Members of Veterans For Peace plan to don orange T-shirts and march in Lennox's name in the San Francisco Veterans Day Parade on Sunday, November 6th. The contingent aims to bring light to the humanitarian issue of the Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese civilians who are still dying from exposure to Agent Orange, and to demand justice for all Agent Orange Victims. VFP Chapter 69 will meet on 2nd between Folsom and Howard streets by 12:30 pm, and the parade will start marching at 1 pm at the intersection of Market and Second streets. The parade will proceed westward up Market street, take a slight right turn onto Grove Street past Civic Center Park, and turn right onto Polk Street in front of the reviewing stand facing City Hall. The parade ends at approximately 3pm at the far end of the reviewing stand at Polk and McAllister. After this solemn procession and educational effort, Veterans for Peace will go to join the Agent Orange Accountability demonstration, tabling outside the Green Festival. Non-veterans are invited to help with tabling.

Read more about Lennox Sweeney and anti-war protests in the South Bay on the South Bay Mobilization website

On October 25th, Army Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander, Jr., aged 34, died of wounds that he received when he was fighting in Iraq. Two other soldiers' deaths were also announced the same day, bringing the total number of US soldiers killed to 2,000. Several national anti-war organizations called for demonstrations to be held on the day after the official 2,000th death of an American soldier in the current Iraqi war and occupation. Some 600 vigils took place in 49 states on Wednesday, October 26th including several in Northern California

In Oakland, Veterans for Peace lit and launched 2000 candles on Lake Merritt Tuesday evening. Photos: 1 | 2
In Berkeley, a 40-foot banner that read "Out of Iraq Now" was held over I-80 before sunrise on Wednesday. 60 people went back to the bridge Wednesday evening to light candles in memory of people killed in Iraq. Photos: 1 | 2
In San Francisco, a vigil was held in front of the Veterans Building Wednesday. Photos
In Santa Cruz, more than one hundred people gathered at the Clock Tower Wednesday evening. Photos
In Fresno, two vigils were held Wednesday to honor those who have died in Iraq. Photos

Vigils were also planned for Claremont, Cupertino, Gilroy, Half Moon Bay, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. Info about these vigils and more can be found in the AFSC's list of over 400 local vigils all over the US

No demonstrations have been called for any landmarks in numbers of Iraqis killed during the war, but Iraq Body Count says that between 26,600 and 30,000 Iraqis have died. The Cost of War website says that over $203,009,000,000 has been spent on the war. ICasualities lists the names and numbers of US soldiers who have died. There are no statistics for the number of soldiers who were injured in Iraq, or who committed suicide after returning to the US.

2,000 deaths pre-announcement | United for Peace's General 2000 Deaths Flyer | UFPJ Flyer with Space for Local Info | Peace No War Network | United for Peace andJustice | American Friends Service Committee | Gold Star Families for Peace | Military Families Speak Out
En Español

On October 18th, hundreds of students marched and rallied at UC Santa Cruz to protest the presence of military recruiters at the campus career fair.
A Queer Kiss-in was staged in front of recruiters' tables during the march and rally. From inside the fair, kissers were able to effectively block access to military recruiters without shutting down the entire career fair.
The military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hiring practices are in violation of the UC system's non-discrimination policy. Protesters demanded that the UC adhere to its own policies by protecting all students from discrimination and securing UCSC as a hate-free zone.
Currently, the Solomon Amendment states that any university which denies military recruiters "equal access" to students will lose federal funding. The Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR) is challenging the constitutionality of the Solomon amendment in a Supreme Court case, FAIR v Rumsfeld, which will be heard in December. Protesters on Tuesday urged the University of California to become the thirty-ninth school in the country to join FAIR.
SAW Press Release: Students Greet Military with Rally and Queer Kiss-In
Audio: FRSC: Military Off UCSC - March & Rally Radio Coverage | FSRN: UC Students Against War
Photos: UCSC shuts down recruiters | Recruiters Shut Down at UCSC, Rally Photos | Military Recruiting Protested During UCSC's Career Fair | Photos of the Queer Kiss-In Against Military Recruitment at UCSC | Discrimination Is Unacceptable to Students Against War | Oct. 18 Counter-Recruitment Events - Photos by Bob Fitch
Read more

"On the Frontlines: Options for Youth in Times of War," a counter recruiting conference, took place on Saturday, October 22nd and Sunday, October 23rd on the UC Berkeley campus. The conference was attended by more than 500 youth, and another 100 or so concerned parents and older activists. Photos: 1 | 2 There were dozens of workshops, covering nearly every aspect of opposition to military recruitment. The conference was co-sponsored by the Campus Antiwar Network and Military Out of Our Schools-Bay Area. Aidan Delgado, an Iraq War veteran and conscientious objector; Pablo Paredes, a Navy resister who was just discharged after refusing deployment; parents who lost their children in the war on Iraq; and students, parents, educators, and community activists joined veterans and military families at this two-day event. The conference aimed to expose the lies that military recruiters tell young people, and to examine ways to get recruiters out of schools and alternatives to military service.
Read more

The Frontlines Conference website

Hundreds of people gathered for an anti-war rally at 16th & Broadway in Sacramento on Saturday, October 15th, 2005. Present at the protest were Sacramento residents, Cindy Sheehan, and the Capoeira Arts Academy Performing Group. They called for an end to the US-led occupation of Iraq. Photos.

Cindy Sheehan was part of an October 14th delegation that wanted to meet with Governor Schwarzenegger to urge him to recall the California National Guard from Iraq.
Read more on Indybay's Central Valley Page

Gold Star Families for Peace, Global Exchange, CODE PINK, Vets for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the Iraqi American community and many others held a benefit to welcome Cindy back home on Wednesday, October 5th.

Cindy Sheehan, who gained national attention for her campout near President Bush's ranch in Crawford Texas, has returned to California. She told the national press and administration representatives that she wanted to meet with Bush to ask him what the noble cause for which her son had been killed was. Following her stay in Crawford, she and other Gold Star Families (families of US soldiers who died in Iraq) embarked on the Bring Them Home Now tour from Crawford to Washington, DC, where Sheehan and others spoke at the September 24th anti-war protest. Camp Casey and its demand for answers moved from Crawford to the front doors of the White House, and to those of Congress and the Senate. The Meet with the Mothers website is urging people to meet with their representatives to get their reasons for authorizing the war in Iraq.

Past Indybay Coverage of Camp Casey: 8/10 | 8/16 | 8/20 | 8/28