March 18 2003

By Steven T. Jones

MOST OF THE people who marched in the peace protest over the weekend oppose the violence of the Black Bloc anarchists (see Life during Wartime). But with bombs about to fall in Iraq, activists across the spectrum have begun to move beyond protest into calls for more-aggressive resistance.

"Shut it down!" and "When war breaks out, just walk out" were messages that consistently came over the loudspeakers at Saturday's rally.

There are calls for economic sanctions: refuse to spend money on any entity that supports or will benefit from this war. That list could be long, and the losses huge. Some are calling for embargoes, physical, economic, or electronic. Some are calling for a general strike, for people to walk out of work when the bombs fall.

All of them are angry – and their peaceful actions could eclipse the window-smashing and riots the anarchists vow will take place when the war begins.

"I think nonviolent civil disobedience is going to be widespread, and it's appropriate," actor-activist Martin Sheen told me before taking the stage March 15. "But if you use violence, you just become part of the problem that we're trying to solve."

His perspective was a common one from the stage and in the crowds.

"I don't know what smashing windows accomplishes, but nonviolent direct action is important," said protester Jen Riddell, a student from Humboldt State University. "We can shut this country down."

San Francisco resident Kirsten Stewart wasn't so hopeful. She sympathizes with those pursuing direct action, but as she marched in the protest, she said she's not ready to walk out of her job or lie down in front of a bus. When will she be? "It's a tough call," she said. "It's appropriate when there's nothing left to lose."

Nineteen-year-old Mohammed al Naif feels the same way. He has lived in San Francisco since shortly after Gulf War I, when his family fled their home in southern Iraq and were lucky enough to be granted political asylum in the United States.

"I don't like Saddam, but I don't believe in bombs being dropped," said al Naif, who actually saw a few fall on Iraq last time, destroying a bridge near their refugee camp.

The peace march ended in a rally at Jefferson Park, just a block from al Naif's family home in the Fillmore District. He's still a Shiite Muslim who identifies with the singer onstage chanting, "Saalam."

"Yeah," he said, "it's like she's singing: it's all about peace." But he's also a teenager prone to analyses like "This guy's trippin', man, Bush, big time."

Other San Franciscans are doing what they can to resist. Michael Leahy and Rod Cooper opened their home along the parade route to marchers, encouraging them to write letters to political leaders on a table they had set up and inviting them inside for food, drinks, or to use the bathroom. "We just want to do what we can," Leahy said.

But frustration was as dominant a sentiment over the weekend as defiance was. Embracing along Hayes Street, Liz Russell and husband Joey Romo were mostly hidden behind a black umbrella on which they had written "One World, One Love, One Blood." For a good 15 minutes they were locked in such a tight hug that only just the right angle let me see that Liz was sobbing into her husband's shoulder.

Eventually they unclenched, and I asked Liz, "Why are you crying?"

My question almost set her off again, but she bit her lip and answered.

"It feel so hopeless," she said. "All these people are willing to come out here, yet it's going to be ignored again."

And she's right. Bush did ignore our protest. For the rest of the world, it's important that we did it anyway. And when the bombs start falling, it's important to take the next step.

Write letters, stand up, lay down, walk out, smash something, or just scream. Don't know what to do? Peruse this paper and/or go to www.sfbg.com for long lists of antiwar events, tactics, and ways to resist. Do something, because it's the only way we can stop this war.