Spring Break
Thousands march in San Jose to protest war in Iraq
Huong C. Pham, Daily Staff Writer
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Anti-war demonstrators marched two miles from Santa Clara Street to the Cesar Chavez Plaza, located on Market Street between San Fernando and San Carlos streets to rally in opposition to the war against Iraq on Saturday afternoon.
"This war is a threat to everyone, it's a threat to world peace and foreign policy," said Linh Nguyen, a project engineer at Kaiser who was passing out fliers.
According to The Associated Press, the peace rally was part of a worldwide demonstration that drew millions of demonstrators to cities such as New York, Paris, Rome and London.
About 3,000 people marched through the streets of San Jose and joined together at the Cesar Chavez Plaza to hear speakers including Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and United Farm Workers activist Dolores Huerta. Speakers from other organizations such as United For Peace, San Jose/South Bay National Organization for Women and the South Bay Islamic Association also took the stage to denounce war to a lively, boisterous audience.
A sea of posters could be seen above the crowd's heads, some proclaiming, "Drop Bush, Not Bombs" or "No blood for oil."
Ten-year-old Megan Hernandez held her own poster that read "No War" as she stood with her family, gazing at the few groups of performers playing their musical instruments.
Outlining the edge of the plaza were vendors selling food and booths promoting or selling anti-war items such as pins, books and T-shirts.
Despite the profit making and fundraising, "The enthusiasm of the supporters dominate," said Adam Welch, a De Anza College student.
Organizations such as Students For Justice, a student-run political organization, were passing out fliers and selling red shirts with their organization's name printed in white bold letters.
The group raises political issues, such as campus and state budget cuts and promotes multi-culturalism on campuses including De Anza College, Evergreen College and San Jose State University, said Melecia Navarro, a member of the group and also a De Anza College student.
While the march drew a variety of people, many participants were middle-aged.
"Nowadays, students are more conservative and the demographic has changed. They are more focused on their careers," said an anonymous demonstrator who was a teacher for two decades. "During the '70s, in my generation it was the students who were the radicals and the teachers were the conservatives. Now it's reversed."
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