350 Protest Plans for Military Strike Against Terrorism

About 350 people gathered outside the Federal Building in Westwood at noon Saturday to protest the Bush administration’s planned military response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Waving placards and chanting “Stop the violence and the hate,” the peaceful but passionate crowd stretched along Wilshire Boulevard, where some in passing vehicles honked in sympathy or made obscene gestures.

“It’s time to send a message of peace,” said organizer Joe McPolin as Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies monitored the demonstration from several yards away.

“This is an opportunity for the United States to be a partner in a positive way,” McPolin said, “as opposed to being the economic and military behemoth it’s been in the past.”

Don White of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador agreed.

“We deplore and grieve over the loss of lives in New York and Washington,” he said. “But we don’t want any more innocent lives lost.”

The protest was organized by the newly formed Stop the War Coalition, which aims to oppose the drive for military retaliation, stop racist attacks against Arab Americans and Muslims, and fight any curtailment of civil liberties.

The group includes members of various other organizations, including the Coalition for World Peace, Veterans for Peace, Food Not Bombs, the Los Angeles Green Party and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Many participants constructed posters on the spot. Kneeling over a large, blank sheet of poster board, Dan Dickerson, 49, a San Fernando Valley engineer, wrote, “Hands off Afghanistan!”

“If the Bush administration starts bombing Afghanistan,” he said, “most of those who die will be as innocent as those who died in the World Trade Center.”

A few feet away, San Diego substitute teacher Sylvia Andersen, 45, hesitated before setting her pen to blank paper. After a minute of thought, she wrote, “Support the Palestinian Struggle!”

“What the United States does worldwide promotes terrorist attacks against it,” she said.

Speaking into a bullhorn, Donna Warren, a Green Party candidate for California lieutenant governor, said, “We’ve got to address the real terrorism in the world, and it’s being committed by the United States.

“Start watching your backs,” she said. “Because until there is peace in the world, there won’t be peace in America.”

Waving a sign that said “War is not the way” at passing vehicles, Will Welch expressed frustration with “all this ‘God bless America’ stuff.”

“Don’t people understand that saying just alienates so many people in the world?” he asked. “We should just say ‘Bless America,’ which is more inclusive.”

Another demonstration will be held at the Federal Building next Saturday, according to a flier.

Showing off an armband bearing the word “Caution,” Holly Helin, 25, said, “That one word says it all.”