The Peace Movement – Has It Been Worth It?
A Chance To Say So
It’s been most disturbing this year to hear pundits criticize the effectiveness of the peace movement.
Some grumble about the low numbers of protestors, which they equate with a lack of commitment to oppose the war. Others say the movement is a “dramatic failure” because it’s a warmed-over 1960’s-style approach to resistance. Still others complain that protesters should find ways to shape foreign policy.
Even the June 2007 edition of the Utne Reader raised doubts about the future of protest movements contending that citizens and government officials are instead coming to the table to solve problems through collaboration and consensus rather than to confront each other and bicker over who is right. Others argue that nonviolent resistance movements are essentially ineffective because they fail to change the power structures or to tap into the elite’s conscience.
In other words, some experts are saying that public assembly (a.k.a. peace demonstrations) has gone the way of the buggy whip. How sad. The freedom to assemble is our First Amendment right. I don’t think we want to give that one up, too, at least not without looking at what it means.
I have found that participating in peace demonstrations is both an important and an inspiring experience. Walking with other like-minded people in trying to avert the war helped me to realize that I was not alone in my perceptions or beliefs, that I was doing SOMETHING to counter an unjust and unwise government policy and that I wanted others to realize that our leaders were taking us down a dangerous path.
My first march occurred on January 18, 2003, in Washington, D.C. where 500,000 people showed up. It was exhilarating to hear the speeches, see the support, walk through the streets as a group and stand for something important. Making sure the demonstration was peaceful became an act of discipline. Riding a bus for 12 hours and then riding it back after the march made the experience an act of determination and sacrifice. It set the tone of the war for me to adopt a vision of peace and to enact it in my daily life. Such a commitment required a faith-filled belief that I COULD make a difference in the world-or as Gandhi reportedly put it: “Be the change you wish to see.”
After the march I quickly recognized that being a peacemaker wasn’t something to continue alone. I needed to be with other peacemakers who challenged me to continue my quest. Fortunately, activists in my local community supplied that support through public demonstrations as well as educational programs, congressional letter writing initiatives, newspaper ads denouncing the war, films, potlucks, fundraisers and friendship. Our mission through all of this was simple: to end the war in Iraq-and all war.
This summer during my travels to Italy I was also moved by the many public demonstrations I witnessed. Groups of people took to the streets for various causes. In Perugia I saw youth promoting the eco-friendly rally that would occur on Sunday, September 2 in Loreto (a hill town on the Adriatic) where half a million people would gather to hear Pope Benedict declare that world leaders must make courageous decisions to save the planet “before it is too late.” In Assisi I saw people who had walked 10 miles in the hot afternoon sun to honor and emulate the peace saint, Francis, who regularly made spiritual pilgrimages in that area himself. In Tràpani, Sicily, I saw folk groups sing and dance during the passegiatta (the traditional evening walk) in celebration of their heritage. All of these groups attracted attention, excitement, awareness, and fun for the onlookers as well as the demonstrators. They were people on a mission who chose public demonstration as their vehicle of communication-and invitation.
On Sunday, October 7, hundreds of thousands of Italians will gather for a 20-kilometer walk from Perugia to Assisi as part of a biennial march for peace that has been going on since 1961. Many political activists and associations participate but mostly the march is comprised of citizens coming from all over Italy and abroad who use their presence to send a message of peace. This march also attracts 10,000 scouts and the Italian Scout Federation (FIS) is trying to make the event an international one by inviting scouts from all over the world to participate. Oh, how I wish I could be there!
Gathering for public assembly, peace demonstrations, marches for justice are important tools for a democracy. As far as the American peace movement is concerned, I think we ought to give these activists credit for what they have done over the past six years to keep the issue of the war on the front burner.
In 2003 millions of people in this country and all over the world demonstrated against President Bush’s idea to start this war with Iraq. The media did not report these numbers or they severely low-balled the estimates of the demonstrations. They did not see fit to acknowledge that 43 percent of the American people were against the war.
Now over 70 percent of Americans are against this war but that’s not all. Key Senate Republicans, like Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel and John Warner are abandoning Bush and his Iraq policies. After losing the 2006 congressional elections, the GOP is also worried that 2008 will increase its loses just because of Iraq. Pro-war legislators are bailing out of their bid for re-election. Generals are retiring out of protest to the administration’s policies. Veterans groups, active-duty military and military families are speaking out against the war.
The argument against continuing the war has already been made. Only our Congressional representatives who fund the war and who gave Bush these extraordinary powers to wage it remain too queasy to stop it. They are obviously more concerned about re-election rather than saving the lives of American soldiers and Iraqis. A pretty flimsy way to look patriotic.
So let’s get the story on the peace movement straight!
I am initiating a project that documents local peacemaking efforts all over the United States and would like to hear from your peace group. What have you been doing to promote peace in your community since 9/11? How effective have you been? Who are some of your local heroes who have made a difference in peacemaking? Send me your stories by e-mail: olgabonfiglio@yahoo.com.
Olga Bonfiglio is a professor at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and author of Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq. She has written for several national magazines on the subjects of social justice and religion. Her website is www.OlgaBonfiglio.com. Contact her at olgabonfiglio@yahoo.com.
Protest matters, but it’s only one part of what it will take to force the government to end the war.
http://www.socialistworker.org/2007-2/645/645_05_Protest.shtml
We would not now have the public largely ready to stop this war without the constant protests we have engaged in. The problem is not that protests are ineffective, but rather that many who say they are against the war effectively do not engage in any protests. If they did, we would have already pulled our government out of Iraq.
Want peace? Drop the yahoos.
Want peace? Start the draft.
Until the populace as a whole stands up in the streets, there will be no change while they sit and whine into their computers, watch American Idol, or survivor,or etc.
I not sure that the average citizen who has not traveled abroad understands the extent of the consequences of their lack of action - more than words are needed.
The monks in Burma are to emulated. Look at the effect so far. This is the type of protest needed - A committed day after day effort with non-violent sincerity.
The peace movement has failed because it has not properly targeted the true causes of violence and corruption in the world. These wars are not just about violence; they are also about information, and simply standing with a peace sign does nothing to educate those who have are forming opinions based on the mainstream media’s propoganda. In order to succeed, the anti-war movement must itself become it’s own media, and start utilizing its most powerful weapon: the truth. In addition, the peace movement must cease protesting on such vague terms like peace and love. We must begin attacking them on the issues just as aggressively as they have attacked us- but remember- I use the word attacking in terms of debate, not violence. Our actions must be peaceful, but our intellectual orientation must not be. So let me take my own medicine and be specific: in order to end this “War on Terror” we need to attack at its origin: 9/11. As anyone who has read a David Ray Griffin book knows, the evidence that 9/11 was an inside job is overwhelming. Given recent Zogby polls that show 36% of Americans know it was an inside job, our goal in the anti-war movement seems clear: attack the myth of 9/11 over and over and over again. It is the only issue on which they will never be able to debate (just ask Thom Hartmann) and an issue that threatens to expose the entire system. So put down your peace sign and join your local 9/11 Truth group. There are events being held nationwide on the 11th of every month, and they’re getting bigger each time. So don’t just end one war, end them all. Join us in the fight for real change, and rediscover the hope within.
If the Peace Movement had marched on a week day, and another week day every month after that from the very beginning, we would be gone from Iraq by now also. If we can’t get the numbers, as someone above has written, we can win with the numbers we’ve got, as long as they march on a day when it counts. Any day other than Saturday and sunday.
starting a draft is NOT the answer! a draft will only enable the war-makers to continue making war. one cannot assume a mechanical relationship between a draft and resistance. the Vietnam antiwar movement wasn’t a success because of a draft–it took many years (more than ten!) for the movement to find the strength and organization to end the war. and in large part the war was ended not by protesters, but by the actions of the GI revolt within the military. if you read the history of the GI resistance you will see that the bulk of organizing was made up of enlistees, not draftees. in general volunteers had far more illusions dispelled about the nature of the US government and war than draftees–which led to higher levels of revolt among volunteers.
anyhow, don’t support a draft. it will only enable the war to continue longer. the military is facing a growing crisis within its ranks–work to support the GI resistance, not a draft!
http://www.ivaw.org
http://www.sirnosir.com
Thank you and bravo for initiating this important project.
I’ve had similar exeriences that there is ongoing, breathtaking, domestic and international work going on for peace, social justice, the common good. Unfortunately, mainstream so-called news relentlessly and wrecklessly serves up unwholesomeness, divisiveness, darkness. Profoundly bright and visionary work, wholesome role models and imaginative new ideas already working in communities have been unreported.
The manipulative stuff of mainstream communications is completely irresponsible and unbalanced, if not often fictionalized. Happily, the work for social justice and peace goes on anyway all over the place and I thank you for the desire to spotlight it.
One unreported sample of the magnitude: Against all odds, a small group of community women in Wajir, Kenya succeeded in stopping all-out war. (see http://www.thirdside.org/ideaExg.cfm?fa=t&thread_id=23&messages=1.)
If I’m willing to take responsibility, abandon defeatism and victimhood, get the focus off the problem and onto the solution, work with others; if I’m willing to embrace humanity and work for peace and social justice, my eyes are opened wide to the pronounced goodness and caring of so many — every day. This has also been my personal experience. The manipulation and addictions to power and money insult our human decency and intelligence. Thank you for your efforts. Email of some specific personal experiences to follow.
Forgive me, but commondreams doesn’t always work when you think it does …
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
Anybody else getting this? What the hell does that mean?
I’ve detected a a denigration of sitting in front of the computer whining, etc. But I don’t see it that way at all. We’re communicating here globally, pushing out alternative policy ideas, predictions, laying down history as WE see it, creating a community, putting a legacy down in writing that needn’t be filtered through the MSM or large publishing industry. It’s here for all to see.
This is not at all useless. By itself, it’s clearly inadequate. But it is something.
We not longer march for the media attention, since there is none to speak of. But perhaps when the historians write up the present, they will include us.
Marching isn’t the only option open to us. There’s civil disobedience; there’s general strike. Those will require a bigger critical mass of frustration, but we may yet get there.
Except for the early marches of 2003 there really hasn’t been a peace movement presence anywhere in public. There has mostly been the visceral response of those finding Independent media truth that has manifested as an anger anti-war voice, now starting to be able to enunciate vowels and some consonants as it tries valiantly to pronounce “impeach”.
Of course the teeth grinding anger and bile gurgling resentment makes any word difficult to utter at various times in the face of the general public’s continuing ignorance and/or denial of “the facts on the ground”, never mind the full steam ahead arrogance bludgeoning the middle east and eviscerating the infra structural support of America’s ghettos.
But the truth of the facts on the ground and full steam arrogance will eventually collide. As I said the clear expression of “impeach” is starting to form on an organic basis: End This War Now was to my view the loudest shout in DC on the 15th but “impeach” was quickly gaining ground; it’s easier to say and separates The Call from the sentiments of “oh yeah, I’m with you, war is bad, but evil will happen, what can you do?”
Thus protests are beneficial on many levels, from personal consecration to the development of language - See you in DC this week and/or weekend, and at your regional demonstration (if going to Chicago) on October 27th (and on every 11th and every Friday).
I’m especially looking forward to October 27th as there should be 100,000 people gathered in at least 5 different locations around the country, this will include many of the peace movement mentioned above, as well as others as the truth of the facts on the ground continue to seep into the general public consciousness. I mean the implications of Sniper Bait scheme currently unfolding along with facts such as the US air raids being one of if not the largest cause of civilian casualties, now “around” 1,000,000.
Oh, did I mention Blackwater? Human dignity can only take so much, even by the low standards of the US general public (which in actuality is the culmination of all of us…even them illegal ones).
The next phase of the American Revolution is knocking at the door. Let it in by continuing to write, walk and talk the argument anywhere and everywhere you can - the more you do the more you’ll be rewarded by being conscious of and participatory in this monumental period of human development.
Rave on American Revolutionary!
The peace movement is just like the localism movement, the peasant movement, and the environmental movement - they are all part of the People’s Movement, and definitely worth it.
Hey ezeflyer. . . . .
Want peace? Start the draft and draft politicians first . . . .
“In order to succeed, the anti-war movement must itself become it’s own media, and start utilizing its most powerful weapon: the truth.”
AMEN.
http://saablofton.org/
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2005/06/09/letters/letters.txt
Local anti-war effort hurt by Saab’s absence
How outrageous was Rosa Parks to upset the settled norm of seating arrangements in a public vehicle? Imagine how uncomfortable the other bus passengers must have felt. What was she thinking to raise such a fuss?
If one can single out a similar outrageous voice in CityLife (now an echo) among all voices that condemned the United States’ immoral and predatory act against the Iraqi people, it was Saab Lofton’s consistent and persistent condemnations that resonated loudest.
As recently as the March 17 issue of CityLife, Saab reminded the Las Vegas community of the need to “hit the streets,” to promote a peace movement opposing the United States illegal use of military force in Iraq. Unfortunately, it was also the last such promotion from CityLife. Hopefully this trend will not last. However, there’s no question but that the local antiwar movement took a big hit when Saab left CityLife.
So here’s a shout-out to Saab Lofton. He kept the Las Vegas community well-informed. He railed about the perversity of the United States military-industrial complex. He didn’t conform with any prearranged seating assignments and said some outrageous things that hurt some people’s feelings. He did a real Rosa Parks on us — and we’re so grateful for that.
This letter of support for Saab Lofton was endorsed by PEACE NOW, a growing antiwar group in Las Vegas.
AL LESKYS
Right, Mendo. Jenna and Barbara would look cool in camo.
Did no one else read this and think ‘what peace movement’? Since 9-11, Olga, a lot of people in my area have gotten together to hold vigils and protests against wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, army recruiters and the use of planes based here in NC to transport prisoners away to be tortured. But apart from the last group, things have been pretty quiet lately. It seems to me that, not only where I live, but across the US, peace activists went into a funk immediately after the 2004 election and have not yet recovered. Although there is a great deal of antiwar sentiment in the country, this is largely the result of the growing number of US casualties, and the steady stream of bad news from Iraq. None of the major peace groups have a vision of a different world that can inspire people to become active and fight passionately for the cause.
The Peace Movement – Has It Been Worth It?
Yes
A man asks his rabbi why he comes to talk over and over to his congregation about respect and justice and being better human beings, when the congregation never seems to change?
His rabbi replied that the reason he continues is not to change the congregation, but to keep the congregation from changing him.
I stand corrected about non-action!!
Many ideas are worth exploring to start building even more pressure on Congress to do as their individual constituencies are demanding.
Again, we must maintain non-violent actions.
I was there when the classic anti-war oxymoron took place. A demonstrator took offense at something a policeman said and started beating him over his head with a big ‘PEACE’ sign’.
How About anti-LIE demonstrations……………………..In front of ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN FUX…………NYT WA PO CHI TRIBune etc.
The peace movement is not just protesting here or there, or voting every 4 years, or ranting on blogs.
“Has it been worth it?” is an irrelevant question.
The peace movement is a way of life and has no quantitative value.
Protest must be engaged in when it is obvious that those in charge are irresponsible, perhaps insane.
Or you just sit there depressed, helpless.
Now who the hell among those in the press, which let this damn mess start in the first place, has the right to bemoan the ineffectiveness of the peace movement when they have not been active in some way?
Peace.
Frankly marching with 5-10 people every other week is not going to accomplish anything and the MSM does not even notice large marches, what will they do with small ones. Every few weeks I get alerts saying THIS IS THE BIG MARCH WE NEED CRITICAL MASS. Well the few times I showed up, there were a handful of people. It gets old. I really have no solutions, but the peace movement’s tactics have to change. A handful of marching old hippies singing we shall overcome and doing candlelight vigils is not working. It looks very 60’s and out of place.
Posting from the former Peoples Republic, now Gentrified, Madison Wisconsin
Peter Holmes said the peace movement has failed because we haven’t read the book by David Ray Giffin and seen the light.
I think that the cult of 9/11 is holding us back simply because David Ray Giffin can’t prove his charge that it was a controlled demolition and they can chant it was an “inside job” over and over for a million years but until they can prove any of their contradictory false accusations they are just misleading themselves… but not me because for most every thing they say is a fact can be shown to be false at http://www.debunking911.com/
Almost every claim David Ray Giffin makes can be shown to be deceptive and false.
He can sue me if he has the guts!
What will your group do when you find out you are being fed false information in the form of rhetorical questions that ignore basic truth by using edited clips that leaves out the whole truth…
Look what you did for Rosie…
What you do have is what the media has “a bloody shocking scene of the towers falling” so like the media as in “If it bleeds, it leads” you think that you can use that same tactic to end War….I don’t think so. You do not have the truth and you can’t prove what you accuse.
Sorry Peter,
but I hope someday you will understand that a movement must have the truth before it accuses and if you over reach, You lose all your credibility..
Just bring up every one of your questions with http://www.debunking911.com/ and then we can make the Peace movement stronger.
Jim
Its all about incentive. The theory behind the protest is that a mass of people gather, and demand that there voices be heard, otherwise chaos will ensue. The problem today is that there’s no real threat that chaos will in fact ensue. Today’s protests are within the system. They exist with city approaved permits on preset days. For this reason, when politicians in Washington see this, all they really see is a group of people standing in the same spot. That’s hardly an incentive for change. If protests are to work today, there must be a real physical insentive for those with power to listen to us.
Theoretically this incentive would be the vote. “If you don’t listen to us we won’t vote for you and then you’ll lose your power.” That’s the theory behind our republic. Certainly the vast corruption we see today makes this theory all the more realistic, but what we must remember is that while in theory we may respond by not voting for said politician, in reality its likely that the politician knows he or she won’t loose the vote, becuase he or she feels secure in just how little options the public has.
So what is the answer? The answer in my oppinion is real incentive. It is some form of action that tells the people in control that unless our demands are heard, as Mario Savio put it, “the machine will be prevented from working at all.” The answer is civil disobedience.
True, but how many of us want to take the risk of civil disobedience. We have jobs and families and at this point the situation is not critical enough to risk everything in our lives to go to prison. The war and the assault on civil liberties are in most people’s minds somewhere in the background but at present is not worth altering their lifestyle for the cause. In the 60s the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights issues were far more encompassing (e.g. draft and millions of disenfrachised oppressed people right here in the US) for people to risk taking action. I guess people are not outraged or hungry or poor enough to do anything about it. It is far easier to come here and post then to actually stick your neck out and take a more substiantial risk.
THE JOKES GETTING OLD!
God this has to be the funniest shit Saab has said in like a day or so! Saab was requesting over the internet to have someone drive him to Portland and this was his excuse for never having learned how to drive.
“I’ve never learned to drive a car (cartooning took that much of my time over the years)”
What cartooning would that be? Three zerox sheets stapled together called Dufus the Rat!
Dude when the story was first told it was funny but now the jokes grown stale. Please list all the comics you have drawn to date and let us know how we the people might purchase them? As far as driving a car goes I’m sure it was just a matter of choice so you would have another excuse not to be responsible for yourself!
Hey everyone I just opened my first blog ever!
Please check it out, I know all will like the format and design. Hoping to receive some great comments from all of you.
Thanks Shazzam
http://saabloftonsrants.blogspot.com/
MR.HOLLYWOOD
Saab Lofton
“I have turned down a number of Hollywood producers who want to make a movie with my black superheroes as a comedy.”
YEAH RIGHT, I’M FUCKING LAUGHING MY ASS OFF RIGHT NOW! You’re a fucking tool!
Have you seen Saab’s new web site? It’s so shocking and disturbing at the same time!
http://www.webstarts.com/wikobiblia
Did you see what Saab said on his CityLife web site! This is what he said.
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2003/11/12/books_and_lit/booksprison.txt#blogcomments
For the record I’m gay. I know I lied about it in my previous post. I should have fessed up to it. It’s just this stalker wont let sleeping dogs lie. I mean It’s like fighting in the Gulf Of Tonkin or looking for weapons of mass distruction. This stalker is serioulsy deranged. If you want to know the real information go to my we site.
http://www.webstarts.com/wikobiblia