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Peace movement emerging in region
Individuals, groups and unions protesting possible war with Iraq
By MIKE GOODWIN,
Staff writer
"I've never been a peace activist or a global activist before," the 56-year-old librarian at Watervliet High School says. But that began to change after al-Qaida terrorists crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. "I thought, 'We're dealing with the world in such a way, that other people think this is the only way they can deal with us,' " she said. On. Dec. 21, Aumand and 20 other people taped anti-war slogans to their shirts to protest a U.S. war against Iraq -- Aumand's cardboard sign said, "Peace on Earth for a Change" -- and headed for Crossgates Mall in Guilderland. Mall security escorted them from the premises. "I've never done anything like that in my life, but you want to get the message out," she said. Aumand is part of an emerging peace movement in the Capital Region, a loose-knit -- and mostly graying -- collection of activists from labor organizations, agriculture, women's groups and churches who hope to sway public opinion against a war in Iraq. A number of area activists participated in an Oct. 26 march that drew 100,000 anti-war protesters to Washington, D.C., but their local efforts have been mostly low-key events in church basements and municipal parks. One group recently held an anti-war demonstration on a Schoharie County roadside. "We got 58 honks, and one finger," said Catherine Hawkins of Peacemakers of Schoharie County. A Quaker group is holding weekly peace vigils in a city park in Hudson. A group of women are holding daily fasts in Albany. Aumand said a group she joined in October, Women Against War, started out with 50 people. It has since grown to more than 300. "There is a voice of dissent that is organized, rich and deep," said Aumand. The group's membership was built through the quick communication of e-mail, a phenomenon that several other activists cited as a fast way to attract members and spread the word about protests. Several local labor groups have drafted open resolutions condemning U.S. military intervention in Iraq. The Capital District Labor-Religion Coalition recently passed such a resolution, as did the Albany Central Federation of Labor and the Troy Area Labor Council. Unions have historically backed U.S. involvement in armed conflict, said William I. Peltz of the Labor-Religion Coalition. "They have pretty much fallen in line with the patriotic theme of the moment," said the 71-year-old former stock broker. But organized labor, both locally and nationally, appears to be somewhat uncomfortable with a war against Iraq, he said, pointing to an October letter AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney sent to Congress. Sweeney didn't condemn the war, but wrote it "is the last option, not the first, used to resolve this conflict." The Bush administration and supporters of efforts to oust Saddam Hussein claim the Iraqi president has built weapons of mass destruction and must be removed to ensure peace in the Middle East. But Aumand and other activists said the administration has produced little concrete evidence of an Iraqi weapons program. They believe the Bush administration will use the war to consolidate U.S. control of the oil-rich Middle East. Aumand said threats of U.S. aggression fuels anti-American sentiment in the Middle East and ensures future terrorist attacks. Public opinion polls show that the American public is lukewarm to war with Iraq. A recent Los Angeles Times poll found that 72 percent of Americans don't think there is enough evidence to justify starting a war with Iraq. Activists said a concerted anti-war effort could sway the majority of Americans against a war, though they agreed that might not be enough to convince the administration that a war is immoral. "I think it can move public opinion, but it looks like this administration doesn't give a flying flip for public opinion," Peltz said.
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