The Eastside isn't exactly known for political demonstrations, unlike the protest mecca across the lake. Picketing suburbanites historically have driven to Seattle to rally. But slowly, that's changing.

The war on terrorism — mainly the looming battle in Iraq — has galvanized Eastsiders, long-time residents and activists say. People are picketing daily on street corners. Saturday, there were six protests in Eastside cities. Last Thursday, a group of young activists coordinated an anti-war teach-in at the Redmond Library.

Activist Bert Sacks, conducting a teach-in at the Redmond Library, points to a video monitor on which he’s just showed a documentary about conditions for people in Iraq. (Photo/Jim Bates)

And though Eastside churches have long been involved in the peace movement, the recent threat of military action has brought out hundreds of new supporters. Long-time protesters are working to get the word out and are being joined by many who have never been politically active.

Polls show a majority of Americans would support a war to stop Saddam Hussein from amassing weapons of mass destruction. But peace activists here are trying to increase their presence in the community.

"In the past, the churches were the only ones who would put up with us," said Jan Cate, a longtime Bellevue peace activist. "Now, we are getting all types of people out on the streets."

Dustin Washington, a Seattle activist and director of the American Friends Service Committee's youth-leadership-development program, sees the expanding boundaries as constructive.

"If you want effective activism, it is really important to build relationships with people you know and show how the war relates to them," said Washington, who works with youth to increase involvement on peace and social-justice issues. "You've got to do it in your own neighborhood, where you know the people you are trying to engage."

That's not to say activism in Seattle has died down. The city has played host to numerous neighborhood demonstrations lately. And large marches are scheduled in downtown Seattle when war officially begins, with many Eastsiders saying they plan to be there. One march will be the day the U.S. declares war on Iraq, the bombing increases or troops are deployed. The second will be the next day. Both will begin at the Federal Building at Second and Marion.

But the suburban activism is something new. Nationwide, protesters have become more mainstream and demonstrations have spread to the suburbs, said Carrie Olsen of MoveOn.org, an advocacy Web site working to bring "ordinary people back into politics."

Small groups of suburban residents increasingly are hitting the streets, as well as expressing themselves by hanging banners on freeway overpasses, holding petition drives and donating money for newspaper and bus ads.

Linda Ellsworth of Bellevue organized a protest Saturday in downtown Issaquah after attending a teach-in at Seattle's Garfield High School, where she was urged to plan events in her own community. Of 1,500 people in attendance at that event, organizers estimated about 250 were from the Eastside.

Ellsworth, a Quaker who has always been interested in peace, got involved in the movement last summer after learning more about the effects of economic sanctions in Iraq.

"Everyone is concerned about this. It's not just the fringe anymore," said Ellsworth, who is still surprised by the positive shout-outs she gets while protesting on the Eastside. "People roll down their car windows when it's raining, just to hold up their hand in a peace sign. This is the first time we have really organized over here, and we are getting support from a broad range."

Ellen Bovarnick is another Bellevue protester who used to picket in Seattle. Like Ellsworth, she now plans actions at home. Last week, she joined 50 others protesting in front of Bellevue Square. One sign read, "Just another suburban family for peace."

"I don't think Bellevue Square has seen peace demonstrators for a very long time," Bovarnick said. Bellevue police and mall security say they haven't had any problems with protesters.

"There is a silent majority against the war, and a larger consensus than the nation has seen," said Bovarnick. "You no longer have to go to Seattle to find like-minded people, even in traditionally conservative areas."

The Eastside has traditionally been conservative, with Republicans dominating politics from city councils to the Legislature, but this fall saw two Democrats win positions in Olympia.

The Eastside's anti-war activism is clearly grassroots, though.

Cate, who led the fight to keep an ROTC program out of the Bellevue School District, recently started a Women in Black vigil, which will take place every Saturday at noon at the intersection of Bellevue Way Northeast and Northeast Eighth Street.

Women in Black is an international peace network started in 1988 by women in Israel protesting occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Silent vigils are held weekly in Seattle and other cities around the world to protest war and human-rights abuses.

"I had so many people calling me from the Eastside," said Cate, who in the past has attended vigils in Seattle. "It is very unusual; Eastsiders usually discuss these issues in private conversations."

Organizers say church gatherings, potlucks, phone trees and Web listings have helped them organize and alert people to actions.

Mike Yarrow of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an international pacifist organization, said neighborhood get-togethers unleash incredible energy.

"Big marches get attention but don't create a community of peace for the long haul," Yarrow said. "A march is an anonymous and heady experience that you attend, then you go home."

Eastsiders say they are not just protesting the war but other actions by the federal government, such as economic sanctions against Iraq, the round-up of Middle Eastern immigrants and civil-rights violations.

"The war touches a nerve," said Michael Tivana, director of the Eastside chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which started two years ago but recently saw its membership swell from 10 to 50. "Not everyone is against it, but they want more information and are questioning things; that is a healthy sign."

Tivana attends four to five organizational meetings a week. Until recently, they were in Seattle. Now, all are on the Eastside.

Bert Sacks, a retired Seattle engineer who has visited Iraq nine times in protest of economic sanctions, says it is about time.

"We are at a crucial point in history," said Sacks, a featured speaker at the Redmond Library teach-in. "People are finally reading world opinion and learning that this war will kill thousands more children than the 500,000 that have already died because of U.S. sanctions."

Snoqualmie resident Bill Hayden has held a peace vigil the past six Saturdays at the North Bend Post Office and says he will continue until the Iraq issue is peacefully resolved.

Driving home from an October rally in Seattle, Hayden started thinking about how he could reach out to his own neighborhood.

"There are a lot of people on this side of Lake Washington who need a place to express their feelings about the war," said the Snoqualmie Elementary School teacher. "All politics are local."

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company

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