The first national demonstration against the Ukraine War under the banner of Rage Against War will take place on February 19 in Washington, DC. The lead demand is "Not One More Penny for War in Ukraine." It is being organized by the left-wing Peoples Party and the Libertarian Party, a broad coalition that reflects the enormous concern, transcending ideologies, over the U.S. proxy war to the last Ukrainian and the path to nuclear Armageddon on which we now tread.
But what about all those who crave peace but for one reason or another cannot make it to Washington? For people like us, many cities are having local rallies, sister demonstrations, in support of the national effort in DC. San Francisco is one such city. A full list of sister city demonstrations and information about them and details about each can be found here on the RageAgainstWar web site. At the time of this writing they include cities in 10 states: Corvalis, OR; Ann Arbor, MI; Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Bath, ME; Santa Cruz, CA; Denver, CO; Fresno, CA; Tacoma, WA; Minneapolis, MN; Seattle, WA; HiLo, HI; Austin, TX – and of course, San Francisco, CA. Details of each and contacts are here. (Some occur a day or two before Feb. 19.)
The local RageAgainstWar in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, the event will commence with a rally at Embarcadero Plaza, across from the Ferry Building, at noon, Sunday, February 19. After speeches there, the participants will march a short distance to the offices of Lockheed Martin to protest the war machine which is a major driver of our endless wars.
More details of these and follow-on events can be found on the Facebook page of the tireless Cynthia Papermaster, the principal organizer of the SF events. The speakers at the Embarcadero Plaza and Lockheed Martin include: Ray McGovern, Harvey Wasserman, Cindy Sheehan, Shahid Buttar, Arienne Harrison, Cat Brooks, Dayton Andrews, Mike Wong, John Walsh, Francisco Herrera, Cynthia Papermaster, and Eric Garris, co-founder of Antiwar.com.
The Spirit and Leading Demands of the February 19 events.
For a guide to the content and spirit of the events in San Francisco, and the National Demonstration in Washington, DC, the two leading demands provide a good summary:
The first demand is "Not one more penny for war in Ukraine." It summarizes the point of unity among the politically diverse forces that come together for this event. And it directs the attention of this American protest to our own government, the only one which we can hope to influence in the real world.
The second demand is "Negotiate Peace." It is stated as follows:"The US instigated the war with a coup on its democratically-elected government in 2014, and then sabotaged a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in March, 2022. Pursue an immediate ceasefire and diplomacy to end the war."
Together with the lead demand, the second recognizes that the US is not simply a bystander in this war. The war in Ukraine is our war, a war ginned up by the neocon-dominated foreign policy Establishment. It is a proxy war waged by the US, cruelly and cynically using Ukrainians as cannon fodder. Its purpose, as the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin blurted out, is to "weaken" Russia.
One of the best ways to understand the spirit of February 19 is to view the brief interview below by David Swanson, a speaker at the DC rally, with Nick Brana of the Peoples Party and Angela McCardle of the Libertarian Party. There you will see two inspiring and capable of leaders of a new generation of antiwar activists, quite enough to make one make haste for the nearest February rally.
John V. Walsh, until recently a Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, has written on issues of peace and health care for the San Francisco Chronicle, EastBayTimes/San Jose Mercury News, Asia Times, LA Progressive, Antiwar.com, CounterPunch, Consortium News, Scheerpost and others.
Maybe this will be a good start, but we need a lot more. Family-friendly demonstrations are just ignored by people in power. Another problem is that those of us opposed to funding of this U.S. proxy war are a small minority. Hopefully that can turn into a majority, and that couldn’t come soon enough. Maybe these demonstrations can raise the issue enough to turn the tide, let’s hope so.
Everything starts off small.
I wanted to share my thoughts on the recent anti-war protest and the website I came across, http://www.rageagainstwar.org/speakers-on-putin-payroll. The website has been incredibly helpful in providing information about the speakers at the rally, and it’s concerning to see that some of them have clear connections to Russian funding.
It’s important to be aware of these connections, as they raise questions about the motivations and objectives behind the protest. While the organizers may genuinely be against war, it’s possible that outside forces are trying to use the protest to further their own agenda.
In any case, it’s important to be informed and critical of the sources of information we consume, especially when it comes to issues as complex and sensitive as war. I encourage everyone to do their own research and form their own opinions, rather than simply accepting what is presented to them at face value.
List the “clear connections to Russian funding” or STFU, troll. And while we’re on the subject, who funds you?
Just a smear. No facts, not a one. Just the sordid implication that anyone who is antiwar must be under the influence of “outside forces.” I worry that information-free comments like this may be under the influence of the CIA.
The people supporting Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine and arming Ukraine to the teeth are the people accepting what is presented to them at face value. They are brainwashed and misinformed by Biden’s disinformation campaign.
People with no legitimate argument often change the subject to attack those on the other side instead of addressing the issues. That’s what you’ve done. Not to mention that the Russia connection claim is utter BS.
“While the organizers may genuinely be against war, it’s possible that outside forces are trying to use the protest to further their own agenda.”
You mean like our NGOs that are outside forces causing protests in other countries to further our agenda? Color Revolutions?
AKA American hypocrisy?
The problem is the current media promoted in the media is the only information that is being heard; and it is pure propoganda. Everything one needs to know to understand what this war is about is missing, in favor of some bizzare exercise in demonizing Russia. The issues in question were actually resolved in a written and signed agreement over eight years ago; an agreement Ukraine has failed to implement. Russia has the air power to completely destroy the Ukranian government in a day. Zelensky goes to work every day with no worries. Even residents on the front lines are not leaving, because they know the Russians are not trying to kill them. This involves the fate of over eight million ethnic russian people who live within the borders of Ukraine who have been murdered, politically disenfranchised and economically exploited since 2014. These are the invisible people here. Like Crimea, where nobody has complained about being annexed because Crimea is virtually all ethnic Russian population who asked to be annexed. Crimea and Eastern Ukraine declared their independence – why won’t Ukraine let them have it – and why are we not talking about it. Russia did not impede Ukraine’s independence. There is real danger here in provoking Russia into entering mutual defense agreements with nations like Iran, Syria, N. Korea, China, Pakistan – to prevent an attack from NATO. Then we will have another cold war.
A Climate Emergency Declaration will further erode Civil Liberties. Demands 6 and 7 are not compatible.
Civil liberties do not include harming the atmosphere or any other part of the natural environment. What a selfish, immoral, immature position!
My position is NOT that harming the environment is a civil liberty. My position is that a declaration of an environment emergency will be used by the government like the C0VlD emergency was used to take away the civil liberties of the population with lock-downs and censorship.
Doesn’t matter, your priorities are dead wrong. The environment should always come first.
A lot of things the government does are evil, why not focus on some of the really evil ones like the military and the surveillance state? Fixing the environment would be the best thing the government could do.
Nobody should be allowed to violate the civil liberties of the environment. The ICC should prosecute people for crimes against the environment as well as war crimes. Too bad the leaders of the most powerful nations in the world are exempt from that.
Was looking to attend a sister protest in Los Angeles today Sunday 19th. It’s 6:30am and nothing for Los Angeles? I see an event took place Saturday ?, wtf people? No media contact number? How do you expect media coverage?