Gestures of Peace Earn Activists a 1-Finger Salute

Holding up one half of a large “End War” sign on a busy Ventura intersection, Rachel Morris shook her head and sighed as another motorist drove by, gesturing with his middle finger and shouting expletives.

Morris, 40, and dozens of others who stood on the corner of Telephone Road and Victoria Avenue as part of a recent 48-hour vigil for peace endured it all: drive-by taunts, counterdemonstrations and at least one paint-ball shooting.

But such is the life of a peace activist in largely conservative suburban Ventura County, and organizers of the small movement over the last several months say no amount of opposition will stop them from continuing.

“There is a commitment not to stop,” said Morris of Oak View. “I’m certainly not stopping.”

For many, the local peace movement that sprouted up after President Bush began his push for a war in Iraq last fall has been a welcome haven in a county dominated by Republicans, home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and two large military bases.

But the peace demonstrators’ momentum in the community and coverage in the media helped prompt a countermovement that has grown nearly as large in a shorter time frame.

While antiwar marchers in downtown Ventura every Saturday have swelled to a few hundred people over several months, more than 250 war supporters turned out recently after only a few weeks of organizing, said Camarillo resident and activist Katie Teague.

She said she thinks the peace demonstrations are “anti-American,” and that demonstrators are “stuck in a time warp.”

She said she and others, including a group of military spouses, were “getting really tired of the antiwar stuff” when they decided to organize.

Jill Meyer, whose husband works in homeland defense at Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu, has been organizing other military spouses and parents who want to be a part of the so-called “support the troops” rallies.

Another gathering Sunday drew 300 people, Meyer said, among them Donna Bellman, mother of Sgt. Michael Bitz, a Marine who died March 23 fighting near Nasiriyah, Iraq.

“These are not just mindless soldiers -- these are guys who feel they are doing what they have to do to protect not just their families but all Americans,” Meyer said.

“We’ve got to get out there and let people know there’s another side of the story.”

Herb Gooch, chairman of the political science department at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, said he would expect a pro-war sentiment to dominate in Ventura County. The county does not have a strong history of antiwar activism, he said.

“It’s not only heavily Republican, which would tend to support the president in time of war, but the existence of the military bases add also a certain measure of conservatism,” Gooch said. “It is hard to ignite a peace movement here.”

Despite such obstacles, antiwar demonstrators have been able to sustain weekly marches or vigils in Ventura and even in conservative strongholds such as Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, said David Faubion, 49, an organizer of the Ventura County Peace Coalition.

To him, that says the movement is working, and he said he and others are unfazed by the animosity.

“For us to be active gives us the opportunity to become a living education,” Faubion said. “You have to be able to make eye contact and establish a dialogue with people.”

Stephanie Shea, 31, a graphic artist from Ventura, said she takes solace in the fact that she can join others who share her views that the war in Iraq is unjustified and wrong, even if that means standing on a street corner with just four other people, as she did one day last month.

“In my heart I wouldn’t feel right doing nothing,” Shea said.

And Morris said that even though she may be in the minority, she is grateful to have had the chance to become active and to meet like-minded people who have become friends.

At the vigil, she kept count of the reactions from motorists, which she estimated to be running about 60% negative and 40% positive. But then came a barrage of honks and peace signs.

“See? There’s another one, and another one,” Morris said. “I know people do support us.”