9/25/07: While Bush was speaking at the UN today, deriding what he
considers the “brutal regimes” of the world (while his that has made torture
legal, invaded and occupied two countries with one million people dead, and is
making plans to attack a third country), about one thousand people were outside
the UN in protest. A sea of orange
filled the plaza, with a contingent marching in wearing the orange jumpsuits
and hoods that Guantanamo
detainees are forced to wear everyday, as well as a plethora of orange
bandanas, flags, clothes, etc. From the
stage, speakers called attention to the growing threat of Bush launching a war
on Iran
and the urgent need for this to be stopped by massive resistance. The crowd consisted of a high number of youth
and students from high schools and colleges in NYC who had (correctly) decided
that showing the people of the world that we oppose this war criminal was more
important than attending class.
The protest was organized by The World Can’t Wait – Drive
Out the Bush Regime together with War Resisters League, Code-Pink, Granny Peace
Brigade, Students for Democratic Society, Iglesia San Romero de Las Americas,
Movement for a Democratic Society-NYC.
The authorities clearly did not like this showing of
resistance, cutting off the sound permit an hour early. When a dozen people sat down on a sidewalk
just over the police barricade in an act of civil disobedience, police
arrested
them as well as others who weren’t part of the civil disobedience (as of this
writing they are still in jail expected to be released Wednesday morning with
charges of obstruction of governmental authority).
After the rally, hundreds of people took off down the
sidewalk for an
un-permitted march through Manhattan.
Flanked by a troop of police on motorcycle, on foot, and in vans, there
was a spirit of defiance to this march.
Marching all the way from the UN to Washington
Square Park
(about 45 blocks!), the busy streets of Manhattan
were greeted by chants of “This country is too quiet / I want to hear you
scream: / The world can’t wait – drive out the bush regime”, “Taser this: Fuck
Bush”, and “Come out, resist, throw up your fist”. While the march never quite made it out into
the streets (and maybe had more than hundreds come out, it could have), it did certainly
bring a spirit of resistance to the streets of NYC that is much needed. A good time was had by all.
For
analysis of Bush’s speech to the UN, click here.
