Tag: Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents of War

Below are images from a protest by the |Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents to War|
held in downtown Kalamazoo on February 1, 2004:

I count about 25 people there when I showed up about 12:30 p.m. Not a bad turnout
for a cold Michigan winter day.

“522 dead for Haliburton.” Hmm, where have I seen that sign before?
I’m still wondering how that guy back in December was counting — maybe he was
using some fractional-based numbering system.

I don’t think you’ll ever be able to end violence, but the war in Iraq was
one giant step toward diminishing it overall in the Middle East.

War is not terrorism.

It’s hard to read in this picture, but the sign on the lower right says “No
to Israel’s Apartheid Wall.”

Some of the anti-Israeli left think that the wall Israel is building to separate
itself from Palestinian areas could be used to turn the tide of public opinion
here against Israel. I doubt this issue could ever really resonate with most
Americans, especially given Israel’s understandable need to thwart terrorist
acts against its citizens.

It’s interesting that for all the “End Violence” and “Live Dr.
King’s Dream” signs you see at these rallies, you never see anything specifically
condemning Palestinian acts of terrorism. Israel’s wall is “apartheid,”
but apparently they can’t be bothered to express an opinon about suicide bombers
targeting busses.

Here we have two winners. First, “Pre-emptive war on Iraq will
has fueled terrorism!” Huh? Where?

Next to that one we have “War is wrong whatever the outcome.” Ah
yes, Gandhi’s philosophical heirs. At least they’re honest enough to put the
central tenet of pacifism for everyone to see it’s absurdity.

Over the past year or so I’ve been occasionally posting pictures of protests by a local group called Kalamazoo Non-Violent Opponents to War (KNOW). On the one hand this group has done a lot of anti-Patriot Act and anti-Ashcroft stuff which I agree with. On the other hand, you’ll also find nonsense like this in its newsletters:

CUBAN FILM SERIES AT THE KALAMAZOO VALLEY MUSEUM

Our friend Kevin Fuchs has organized a new film series:

FIDEL: THE UNTOLD STORY, A Documentary Film by Estela Bravo

7pm, Monday, January 19 FIDEL offers a unique look at One of the most controversial figures of our time, through exclusive interviews with Castro himself, historians, public figures, and close friends, with footage from the Cuban State archives. Featuring Alice Walker, Harry Belafonte, Arthur Schlesinger, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nelson Mandela, and the members of the Buena Vista Social Club, FIDEL juxtaposes the personal anecdotal with the history of the Cuban Revolution.

Fidel is an excreable hagiography of the dictator. As The Globe and Mail put it in its excellent review of this film,

An exercise in old-fashioned socialist propaganda, this two-year-old documentary is a brazen declaration of praise for the Cuban dictator from a filmmaker friend. Shamelessly avoiding the deplorable features of his regime — long imprisonments, the denial of freedom of expression, association or movement, single-party elections — it casts Castro as a combination of Santa Claus and David resisting Goliath.

. . .

Even in its crude evasions, Fidel offers some insights into the view from the other side. Why must Cuba be run by this 75-year-old one-man band? The justification is the antagonism of the U.S. government, which maintains its blockade of food and medicine (condemned by the United Nations) and where politicians such as Senator Jesse Helms continue to insist that Castro will be deposed.

As long as Cuba is threatened by its big democracy-championing neighbor, ordinary, reasonable freedom for Cubans can still be denied.

It’s a shame Castro doesn’t appoint John Ashcroft as Attorney General in Cuba — maybe then the far Left would stop romanticizing and mythologizing Castro’s Cuba.

Source:

Castro hagiography preaches to the converted. Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail, January 31, 2003.

These are pictures I took on Saturday, December 14, of the bi-weekly anti-war
protest held in downtown Kalamazoo.

Here’s a long crowd shot — about 30-35 people showed up.

The guy on the left has a sign reading “522 dead for Halliburton.”
Not sure where he’s getting his figures, but total U.S. dead was lower than
that as of 12/14/2003 even including accidental deaths.

I still have no idea what “War is the escape from the problems of peace”
is supposed to mean. It’s like the anti-war equivalent of some cheesey car ad.

“Yes peace.” I’m assuming he is also pro-babies.

“Pursue peace” — isn’t that exactly what the Third Infantry Division
did in Iraq by pursuing Saddam Hussein?

“War is terrorism.” Uh, no, it’s not.

These are pictures I took at an Aug. 12, 2003 anti-war protest. Here’s a basic
crowd shot. There are a few more people off to the left of the frame:

These are all pretty generic statements,

“Work for peace” – “A veteran for peace” – “They lied
to us” – “No more wars”

One of the things these folks could use is the font police. If I can’t make
out clearly what this guy on the end is saying while standing stationery across
the street, it’s not likely many of the cars whizzing buy were able to read
it either.

This guy chose to go for the odd, cryptic statement: “War is the escape
from the problems of peace.” In relationship to Iraq, I’m not sure how
anyone could possibly consider life under a military dictatorship to constitute
a condition of peace (unless you endorse the CounterProtest.Org folks’ satirical
view that Hussein wasn’t a problem because he only killed Iraqi civilians).

From left, “May God forgive us.” Really, I don’t agree with you about
the war, but I don’t think you need to ask God’s forgiveness for protesting.
That’s going a bit too far.

A generic “Peace/Love” followed with “Impeach Pres. Bush”
and the ubiquitous “End the Israeli Occupation of Palestine” (apparently
suicide bombing is not an escape from the problems of peace, as you won’t
find any signs condemning that sort of violence among all of the pro-Palestinian
signs).

And, of course, the $64,000 question — “Where are the weapons of mass
destruction?”

Okay, I have to admit I thought this slogna was clever. “Think outside
the bomb”

Woman next to him is holding an extremely small sign with something about “Christ’s
message.” Whatever it was, I can guarantee you no one else who saw this
protest was able to read it either.

The guy next to her wants everyone to know that, “War hurts us all”
(but, of course, it really hurt Uday and Qusay. I suppose life wasn’t really
worth living if you can’t feed people to wild animals anyway).

In case you missed the first sign, the next guy wants to know “Where are
the WMDs?”

And next to him a picture of the Arab women with the caption, “Are you
willing to kill her?” Well, Saddam & Sons certainly were willing to
if it would further their hold on power. But then granting those folks moral
consideration would have been trying to escape from the problems of peace.

The big banner says “Violence is no solution”, which of course is
obviously wrong. Violence is often the only viable solution available.

“Drop Bush not bombs” — well, you’ll get a shot at that in a bit
over a year.

“What have you done for peace?” — well, I supported a war that got
rid of a brutal dictator. I know that doesn’t quite beat hanging on a street
corner with a sign, but I’m getting there.

“Patriot Act attacks freedom” — yep. Both it and Ashcroft need to
go.

“Ban U-238 USA Toxic Weapon” — this woman’s repeating the Left’s
nonsense about depleted uranium.

From left to right, “Peace is patriotic.” God, I always hate all
that flag waving and appeals to patriotism. 🙂

Next to her is the crowd favorite “they lied to us” which also shows
up at the end.

The guy next to her tells us “There is something you can do – Stand for
peace.”

The woman next to him has some takeof on “Mother Against . . .” but
the handwritten letters are hard to decipher.

Next we have “support our troops, impeach Bush,” followed by my favorite
of the bunch, “Peace is the church’s business.” Whoa. Hold up there,
pardner. You might want to better familiarize yourself with the history of organized
religion before making that sort of claim.

And finally the all-important, “End the military occupation of Palestine.”
Hmmm . . . would you kill this
woman?

I’ve occasionally been posting pictures of the anti-war demonstrations here
in downtown Kalamazoo, MI. These folks with the Kalamazoo
Non-Violent Opponents to War have been protesting every Tuesday and Sunday
for months. Yesterday I figured I’d drive downtown on my way home from work
and see how the Tuesday protests are going.

There were 9 people there around 5:15 p.m. One of the things I’m curious about
is how long they plan to keep protesting. Given that American soldiers are likely
to be in Iraq for two-three years at a bare minimum, do they plan to keep protesting
for another 24 to 36 months? Anyway.

This man on the left couldn’t be more wrong. Consider Afghanistan — while
no paradise-on-earth by any measure, the fact is there are no longer any public
executions of prostitutes in stadiums, and women there are finally able to receive
an education. Violence, in some cases, is the only solution.

Next to him is someone holding a sign saying “Nonviolence can win.”
Yes, but only in places that already have liberal democracies where they care
about public opinion. Nonviolence can win? Then why is Myanmar still ruled by
a brutal military junta?

On the left we have a “no war” symbol with the Edwin Star quote,
“War, what is it good for?” Answer: Bringing down dictators.

Nonviolence gives hope? Not as much as seeing Uday and Qusay finally getting
what they deserve. It’s too bad those two didn’t get the Il Duce treatment.

The guy on the left is “mourning the tragic deaths of US & Iraqi solders
& civilians.” Was the death of an Iraqi soldier, during a military
campaign, “tragic”? Roll
the tape,

From February to September 1988, the Iraqi government launched the official
“Anfal” campaign, during which Iraqi troops swept through the highlands of
Iraqi Kurdistan rounding up everyone who remained in government-declared “prohibited
zones.” More than 100,000 Kurds, mostly men and boys, were trucked to remote
sites and executed.

But, you know, what’s 100,000 deaths when coming up with a suitable slogan?

“Permanent resistance to permanent war!” nicely captures what I was
trying to explain to a woman I talked to at a protest a few weeks ago. Most
of the anti-war stuff is simply the latest cookie cutter argument the Left has
been making since the conclusion of World War II. There was a time when the
Left would have supported military action against a right wing dictator. During
the Spanish Civil War many American Leftists signed up and fought against Franco.
Today they’d probably just hold lame signs about the magical power of nonviolence.

Another Biblically-inspired pacifist.