MONTCLAIR NJ calls off the war

The Montclair Rally is officially from 3-4; however many of the older vets. come as early as 1:30 PM and they stay until the liberals on the other corner go home, usually at 6:15 PM when their tummies start growling.
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Demonstrators vie for public opinion

Rallies on tap today against and in favor of the U.S. war effort
Saturday, March 22, 2003

BY RUDY LARINI
Star-Ledger Staff

Yesterday's aerial bombardment of Baghdad was intended to spread "shock and awe" across Iraq, but here on the homefront it aroused conflicting emotions.

"Shock and awe is not meant to shock and awe. It's meant to kill people," said Lois Ross of Bloomfield at the weekly Friday afternoon demonstration in Montclair, where pro and con sides on the war in Iraqi face off on opposite sides of Bloomfield Avenue. "Are the Iraqi people going to go out and say, 'Oh, I'm shocked and awed by America's might?' They're going to be hiding from the bombs," Ross said. "Who are we shocking and awing?"

Some people predicted the awesome display of American firepower on Iraq's capital would only attract more protesters to demonstrations planned today, including a noon march in Manhattan, a peace protest in Princeton and a rally for the troops in Somerville.

"We're just going to try to have tomorrow's events be bigger," said the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the Coalition for Peace Action in Princeton.

Unlike a demonstration last month in New York City, when a permit to march was denied and war protesters were crowded into streets near the United Nations, demonstrators will be allowed to march down Broadway tomorrow in a display of opposition to the war in Iraq.

"We are pleased to reclaim the right to march and at the same time are outraged that the Bush administration has launched this war," said Leslie Cagan, co-chair of United for Peace and Justice, the rally's sponsor.

"Our peaceful march on Saturday will be in dramatic contrast to the violence the U.S. military is perpetrating against the people of Iraq," she said.

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to convene on Broadway between 36th and 41st streets in Midtown by noon to begin the march down to Washington Square Park.

Before the march, speakers who are to include Jesse Jackson and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) are scheduled to address the media in a news conference at Herald Square Park.

A rally in support of the war effort will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the steps of the Somerset County Historic Court House in Somerville. The rally was organized by two 17-year-old home-schooled high school seniors, Jeffrey Kozlowski of Union and Lance Farrell of North Plainfield.

"There are 300,000 20-year-old soldiers out in the Middle East, and all the news they hear is about the anti-war protesters," Kozlowski said. "We wanted to make sure they know there are people here who support them."

The rally will include patriotic music and a speech by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Brett Schundler.

At yesterday's peace demonstration, Randi Metsch-Ampel of Montclair said she was horrified by the televised images of the aerial attack -- a dazzling hail of bombs and anti-aircraft fire from the ground that lit up the Iraqi night sky like a fireworks display.

"I think it's extremely upsetting," said Metsch-Ampel, holding a sign that read, "This air campaign is a shock and a disgrace."

"What you saw on television looks like a video game, but it's not a video game," she said.

"It's like a show. It's 'wartainment,'" said Ross. "But it's not a show. I'm so upset and anguished by this."

For World War II veteran Gene Glazer of Bloomfield, who witnessed the carnage of war as a battlefield medic, the images revived memories he sooner would not have.

"I'm hurting; I'm hurting badly," he said. "They're forcing me to remember what I preferred to forget all these years.

"I resent the president defining patriotism for me on his terms," Glazer added. "My service allows me to define patriotism by my own standards. It is great patriotism to support my country when it's right and to set it right when it is wrong."

Across Bloomfield Avenue, proponents of the war saw something completely different on television yesterday.

"It was a great moment of truth," said Fred Urban, commander of VFW Post 6255 in Cedar Grove.

Urban said the images of bombs raining on Iraq did not cause him any great concern for civilians living in the city.

"None whatsoever. It looked like an excellent precision strike," he said, observing that commentary accompanying the footage said the bombs seemed to be hitting their intended targets.

"Of course we won't know until the aftermath," he added. "But from what the commentator was saying, it looked like it was doing what it was supposed to be doing."

Chris Catania, an 18-year-old senior at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, said he watched the display in class.

"I thought it was about time," he said. "I don't know what they were waiting for."

Across the street, Ross said she disagrees with what those on the other side of Bloomfield believe, but not their right to believe it."

"I'm proud of them. They fought for their country," she said. "I support their right to feel the way they do."

But the war protesters disagree with the Bush administration's rationale for attacking Iraq.

"Here we are trying to teach our children to settle their differences with words and negotiations, and now our highest leaders are setting this example by killing thousands of people," Metsch-Ampel said.

"I can't sleep at night thinking about this," said Ross.

"I hope I'm wrong," she added. "I hope there is a point to this war."

Staff writer Tom Feeney contributed to this report.
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http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=4797

THE SEEN: Honk if you believe in nothing
Wednesday, March 05, 2003

By JEFF HARRELL

I used to honk at the Montclairites gathered on the corner of Bloomfield Avenue and Church Street protesting a U.S. war against Iraq.

After all, there was a time many moons ago when I, too, walked around carrying a sign and chanting, “Make love not war.”

I even had the number-one knocked out of me when a cop buried his club into my stomach during a Vietnam moratorium march.

So, when I passed the Montclair protesters and saw the sign that read, “Honk for peace,” I honked for old times’ sake.

But like the days of me calling for Nixon’s hide, my days of honking in Montclair are over.

These protesters are hogging freedom from everybody else in Montclair.

And they’re getting help from the Montclair Township Council. Never mind that the council is mired ear-deep in local issues.

The township manager’s contract has seen more extensions than L’il Kim’s hairdresser. The Crescent Deck is light years behind schedule, yet the council couldn’t see a groundbreaking if they looked through the Hubble telescope. The Hahne’s building hasn’t had an occupant since the president’s dad was president. And the township would rather let three feet of snow on the streets melt than plow it.

Washington, D.C., could probably use an antiwar resolution.

Montclair, however, needs one like it needs another blizzard.

Yet, last Tuesday night, protesters showed up en masse at the Municipal Building to bully the Township Council into passing an antiwar resolution.

Nearly half of the protesters were Montclair High School students, which is always a nice touch when you’re trying to sell a panel of adults on anything. The rest were a lot of the same adults who tried to talk the council into passing a resolution against the death penalty a couple of years back.

Those in town who aren’t honking for peace were nowhere to be found, probably because they were manipulated into staying away.

A council conference session was scheduled for last Tuesday, which usually consists of round-table discussions focusing on township projects with no time set aside for the public to speak. The original agenda had the discussion of an antiwar resolution scheduled for 10 p.m.

Once word spread that the antiwar protesters were meeting on the corner of Bloomfield and Church at 7 p.m. with plans to march to the Municipal Building just in time for the council’s meeting, the antiwar resolution discussion was moved to the first item on the agenda.

Exactly when the item was moved is unclear.

Councilman Don Zief, the only council member who opposed a township antiwar resolution, didn’t find out that he had missed the protesters until he showed up late to last Tuesday’s meeting at 9 p.m. expecting to discuss the antiwar resolution at 10.

Then there was John Morris.

Morris, a Vietnam veteran and father to a Coast Guard reservist who was recently deployed to an unknown location in the Middle East, admittedly didn’t like the thought of a war in Iraq any more than he enjoyed the Vietnam War.

Still, Morris showed up with a framed American flag in hand and served as the only voice in the room who thought the council should represent everybody in Montclair and not “play to the noisy minority.”

“This is not a township issue,” he said. “I’m asking the council not to deliberate on this issue or take a stand either way.”

But even a neutralist wasn’t going to be spared by these protesters. Morris spoke over snickers, hisses and under-the-breath comments that turned the idea of freedom of speech into the personification of a child selfishly hogging a toy.

“I don’t want these kids to come back home and be called names,” Morris said. “When I came back from Vietnam, I was called a military industrialist bastard.”

“You still are,” mumbled a voice from two rows behind me.

So I’m done honking for a bunch of self-righteous antiwar protesters whose only concerns involve what their country can do for them. After the council voted 6-1 in favor of an antiwar resolution this past Tuesday night, they don’t need my horn anyway.

Besides, if they think the president is going to stop in his tracks and bark out a commandment like, “Call the troops home because the Township of Montclair just passed an antiwar resolution,” they’re smoking stuff that was a lot better than anything we had in 1972.

Nor am I going to bother letting them in on what this antiwar resolution really means.

I will tell anybody who is as sick and tired as I am of these people hogging a freedom that is meant for everybody, though.

Like Edwin Starr used to sing in his song, “War,” it means absolutely nothing. 4797

Please note, since that time, the veterans took over that corner and are there from 1:30 PM - 6:15 PM, the DemocRATS are across the street by the bank.

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