Thousands gather on Boston Common for anti-war rally

Boston Latin School senior Lisa Williams said it was a sense of outrage that led her to the anti-war rally and march Sunday.

"I don't want this war to happen," she said. "America has too many hidden agendas. They want to sacrifice too many lives. You have all these women and children who don't want war and we're going to bomb them."

Williams joined a crowd estimated by organizers at 15,000 Sunday for a rally on the Boston Common and a march that proceeded down Tremont Street, along Dartmouth Street and back up Boylston Street to the Common.

Speakers including City Councilor Chuck Turner and Boston University History Professor Howard Zinn blasted President George Bush, questioning the legitimacy of his court-appointed presidency and the motives behind his warmongering.

"I haven't seen a crowd like this in years," Zinn said, looking out at the gathering that massed in the center of the Common. "This is democracy. We can't find democracy in the White House."

The high turnout at the rally demonstrated growing discontent with the policies of the Bush administration, according to Merrie Najimy, president of the Boston chapter of the Arab-American Anti-discrimination Committee.

"People are seeing the economy taking a turn for the worse, the corporate scandals and now this war," she said. "Two weeks ago we had 3,000 or 4,000 at a rally. Now it's tripled."

Many in attendance spoke against Bush and his push for war. Palestinian-American Randa Ghattas said many Palestinians and Israeli peace activists fear that Israel will use a war against Iraq as a cover for a campaign to intensify the illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

"I have a lot of friends and family back home," she said. "It's already dangerous. People are living in a prison. It's only going to get worse if there's a war."

Before the march media activist Nina Lanegra fired up the crowd, leading them into a sing-along of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance," before the crowd took off on its marching route.

The route brought the anti-war message to several important communities in the South End, noted former state Rep. Mel King.

"I'm seeing a lot of my neighbors from Chinatown, the Villa Victoria, Tent City," he said. "The young people in these neighborhoods don't want to see blood shed for oil."

State Rep. Byron Rushing, observing the speakers from the crowd, said the gathering was reminiscent of early anti-Vietnam war protests. While the turnout was the largest yet for a Boston anti-war demonstration, there were relatively few people of color in the protest. Rushing said the absence underscored a lack of organizing in the black community.

"You have to organize the community if you want to bring people out, and that will happen," he said.

City Councilor Chuck Turner, who addressed the crowd following the march, has used his e-mail network to spread word of the march in the black community.

"We have to continue to turn out," he told the protesters. "We have to continue to march. We have to stand up for peace, truth and justice."

Photograph (Mel King marches against war)