MANY OF US will never forget when the people of
the world welcomed the dawn of the new millennium. As the Earth turned, we
watched televised pictures of people celebrating and cheering as the sky lit up
with fireworks -- from Asia to Europe, from Africa to North America. And, for
the first time in human history, we understood, in a deeply visceral way, that
we really do inhabit the same planet and that we are, in fact, members of a
global society.
That is what's going to happen again on
Saturday. In 316 cities in 60 countries -- Cairo, Bangkok, Beirut, Jakarta,
Prague, Budapest, Tokyo, Moscow, London, Cape Town, Kigali in Rwanda, Madrid,
Warsaw, Kiev, Lisbon, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, New York, Sydney, Barcelona, to name
but a few -- more than a million people are expected to march and rally against
an American invasion of Iraq. Even McMurdo Station in Antarctica will hold a
protest against the war. Such a global outpouring against the threat of war is
unprecedented.
Without the Internet, of course, such a global
protest would be unimaginable. But the Internet is only the messenger. Clearly,
there is strong opposition here and abroad to an American invasion of Iraq.
What's truly surprising are the concise slogans
posted on the Web sites of the coalitions that have helped organize this
protest. No America bashing. No defense of Saddam Hussein. No solidarity with al
Qaeda terrorists. In dozens of languages, the message is simple and direct:
"No war in Iraq." "Stop the war in Iraq."
People around the world now feel a right to
express their opposition to war.
They clearly believe Hussein is a ruthless
dictator. But they also understand that the greatest threat is terrorist attacks
from elusive networks that cannot be stopped by American bombs or U.N. weapons
inspections.
The Bush administration, of course, will try to
discredit this global uprising against an American war with Iraq. But it won't
be so easy. The coalitions assembled in these cities include business, labor and
religious groups; veterans of former wars, environmentalists, human rights
activists and mothers against war; and thousands of ordinary people who are
asking the U.N. Security Council to pursue further weapons inspections in Iraq,
not war.
Once again, ordinary people will give up a
precious weekend day to make their voice heard -- peacefully. But expect a tiny
band of adolescent anarchists, who would rather spray graffiti and smash windows
than join others in a peaceful march. We should condemn such antics. There is
nothing less persuasive than using violence in the name of preventing war.
Why, you may ask, should you participate in
this demonstration? Because you are a citizen of a great nation that is
violating its own democratic ideals, treating the rest of the world with
dismissive contempt and refusing to be restrained by international law.
Because you are a citizen of a new global
society. Globalization is about more than free trade. What we are witnessing is
the birth of a grassroots global democracy. To emphasize our membership in this
new global society, many protesters around the world will be carrying the U.N.
flag, a fitting symbol for a new era.
When people ask, as they eventually will, who
stood up for human rights, let your name be among those who opposed an unjust
and unnecessary war.
To find out about protests in your city Click
Here.
by Ruth Rosen - With some modifications
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Source: San Francisco
Chronicle
