Asheville rallies in solidarity
with anti-war actions worldwide

By Liz Allen

Asheville, North Carolina, Feb. 15 (AGR)-- Pritchard Park was filled Saturday with 2,000 people who gathered in to join an estimated 11.5 million worldwide protesting against war in Iraq. The rally started at noon and included speakers, poetry, musical performances and skits as part of the scheduled program. Audience members dressed in costume, climbed trees, played music, juggled, passed out fortunes, brought their dogs, discussed the war and carried signs, puppets and banners.

Many expressed patriotism against the war. A passer-by on a motorcycle argued with demonstrators on the sidewalk: "You think we’re going to war, it’s war on us. Remember 9-11? Go home, it’s unpatriotic." Shortly after three o’clock, demonstrators divided into four groups and marched east on Patton Ave., west on Patton Ave., south on Coxe Ave., and north on Haywood Rd. before returning to the Park for drumming, dancing, and the formal closing of the rally. Engrid Johnson, one of the people walking on stilts at the rally, said: "I was trailing a bit at the march, but it felt good. It was fun to get to look down at the policemen."

In preparation for the "Support our Soldiers Rally" in Asheville on March 1, event m.c. and Mountain Xpress editor Cecil Bothwell, called "Support our Soldiers" to have the crowd answer "Bring them home!" throughout the rally. Mendy Knott read a poem entitled "After 9/11, good Germans all," and speaker Bob Feldman encouraged everyone to read George Orwell’s 1984. Cyrus Sipp, an 18-year-old-high school student, spoke about why he registered as a conscientious objector in response to the possibility of a re-instatement of a military draft. He explained that in order to register as a conscientious objector a person must present proof of his belief, such as a picture of him or herself at a march, or a letter to himself, a family member, or a clergy person explaining why he or she doesn’t agree with war. Sipp urged people to contact his organization, Peace Resource Services.

High school students were a sizable presence at the event, reflective of a significant anti-war movement within local schools. According to Asheville High School (AHS) sophomore, Anna Sorin, students organize and hold weekly peace rallies with speakers at the flagpole for 15 minutes before school in the morning. However, according to Victor Oszmain, the general sentiment among students is "We’re going to war." While waiting at the Coxe Ave. bus station to catch the bus to the mall, Nicole Wallace, a freshman at AHS, explained: "I don’t think it’s right to bomb them when they didn’t do anything to us. They are a little county but they have bombs that could kill all of us two times over....It’s too soon, it’s unfinished business for [Bush’s] daddy." Michelle Boyd, also an AHS freshman, continued: "The march shows that we want to settle this like civilized people. When elections come around we should take this as a lesson. What Bush is doing is not the right way to solve anything. War is not the answer."

A critical mass bicycle ride of around 30 riders also took place during the rally. One rider carried a black flag while they circled around road intersections and the park, taking up the street and slowing down traffic. One rider reported that an SUV attemped to drive through the group, nearly hitting one bicyclist, but was confronted by pedestrians in defense of the riders. He also said police later told the group that if they tried to go the wrong way on a one-way street they would be ticketed.

The march was unpermitted and confined to the sidewalk. "I think it’s bullshit that it’s on the sidewalks. At the MLK march we had half the road and a third as many people and people were still upset that we weren’t taking the whole street," said demonstrator Tara Levetkenhaus, whose sentiment was shared by many present. In a video interview conducted by Shane Perlowin at the march, Jim Brown of the WNC Peace Coalition (the group that organized the rally), said the reason the march was on the sidewalk and not in the street is: "(t)hey wouldn’t let us do this again. Our fight is not with the local police, our argument is with the local legislators. We don’t want to antagonize them. We don’t have a permit for this walk, they’re allowing us to do that...We’re trying to get people to agree with us in a positive, favorable way and write their congressmen. We don’t want to antagonize people and turn people off. We want to stop the war in Iraq."

Also during the rally, signatures were collected asking city council to join a growing number of cities in passing a resolution against the war in Iraq. In another Perlowin video interview filmed after The Asheville Citizen-Times sponsored a "downtown issues" forum at the Diana Worthom Theater on Feb. 17, councilperson Brian Peterson said he believes, "the majority view of council will be that council has better things to work on," and is unlikely to likely to pass an anti-war resolution.

Church groups were present at the rally with the slogan "Blessed are the Peacemakers" and they collected donations to run a full page inter-denominational ad in the Citizen-Times on Feb. 23 that includes statements from leadership within the different denominations speaking against the rush to preemptive war.

Police presence was moderate. No uniformed police videotaping the march were visible. Although the march was peaceful, a "Prisoner Transport Unit" truck was parked on the corner of Coxe and Sawyer, in plain view of marchers and passers-by.

Many of Asheville’s homeless were also present at the rally. Robin Swann, a Vietnam Veteran who lives on the street, said, "We elected Bush in Texas and he had more arrogance in power than he needed, and now he’s going to get us into a nuclear war and innocent people are going to die.

"Fuck you Bush, you arrogant ass, go back to Texas, we don’t need your arrogance in North Carolina...They do not do this, not to my hometown," Swann added. Swann compared Bush to Nixon, and explained that the Vietnam war stopped once people started "raising hell."

When asked by the AGR for his opinion on the war, rally attendee and local hip hop musician Gus McGullicutty said: "I just want to know who owns the duct tape companies. We saw in the newspaper that they were selling out of it. We call it duct and cover. Seal off and then they have only like five hours of oxygen."

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Earth First! hangsanti-war banner
on Knoxville billboard

Compiled by Kendra Sarvadi

Feb. 19 (AGR)— In the early morning of Thurs., Feb. 13, members of the environmental action group Earth First! scaled a west Knoxville billboard to hang an anti-war banner over a Hooters restaurant advertisement. In a reference to the literary and movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings, the banner read: "Frodo Has Failed — Bush has the Ring!"

In the series written by J.R.R. Tolkien, a heroic character named Frodo must destroy a powerful magic ring before it falls into the hands of an evil ruler named Sauron who wishes to conquer the world.

"Frodo is the character who kind of symbolizes regular people battling against this leader gone mad trying to build an empire. And he’s battling for the future of the planet," said Abigail Singer via cell phone as she sat harnessed to the billboard.

Earth First! members said the future of the US and its relationship with other countries initiated the protest.

"By invading a country that we’re saying we know supports terrorism, we know we’re only inviting that kind of response to our invasion," said Meagan Carter.

Knoxville police showed up at the scene, but officers said they weren’t going to arrest the protesters unless the billboard’s owner chose to press charges. The protesters came down Thurday night after the owner of the billboard told them they could leave their banner up.

Earlier the same day, a 26-year-old University of Tennessee student was arrested for allegedly spray painting anti-war slogans on two U-T buildings. Painted slogans were found in "three separate places" in the Art and Architecture Building and on the windows and doors of Stokely Athletic Center, and banners had been hung from several balconies. The amount of damage was estimated at $3,000, according to the arresting officer’s report.

Sources: Knoxville News, 6 News report

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