Peace songs fill Ala Moana Park
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
Throughout the afternoon yesterday a steady stream of protesters streamed to Ala Moana Park to join with others around the nation and world in showing their opposition to a war with Iraq.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
More than 200 were there at noon. An hour later, the crowd exceeded 500 and was growing. By the time the Not In Our Name anti-war rally took to the streets, the throng had swelled to about 1,000.
About 1,000 opponents of war participated in a street march along Ala Moana yesterday.
The protesters were a diverse lot — young and old, residents and visitors. There were protest signs galore, peace songs, anti-war leaflets and speeches on the immorality of war and the loss of personal freedoms.
On the eve of the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Honolulu attorney and longtime political activist Eric Seitz asked the crowd to remember King's ideals.
"I suggest that we celebrate this birthday of Martin Luther King by rededicating ourselves to the same battles that he attempted to fight, and for which he lived and died," Seitz said.
Seitz, along with others, called yesterday's rallies a "new anti-war movement," similar to the Vietnam War protests that split the nation in the 1960s.
While many said they had been part of that movement, for others, such as Punahou sophomore Isabella Hughes, 16, the experience was new.
"I'm here because I think it's very important for young people to be politically aware," said Hughes, who carried a "No War!" placard and said she called 103 of her friends urging them to attend the rally. "In two years I'm going to be voting, and I don't want to just be a Democrat or Republican — I want to know what I stand for.
"Americans are so smart, if we put our minds to it, we could think of alternatives other than going to war."
Carolyn Hadfield, 60, an event organizer, said the purpose of the rally was to wake up those who oppose a war with Iraq but have been hesitant to say so.
"We know from working in the community that there are thousands of people who hate what's happening," said Hadfield. "But they've been silent because they don't know that other people feel the same way. We want that silence to be broken. We want all of those people to be comfortable stepping out in their workplace, in their schools, in their homes, in their churches and speaking out against this war in a strong and determined way."
Army veteran Robert Stiver, 59, of Pearl City, said he was there because, "I love my country, but I feel my government is going the wrong way."
Stiver, who attended the event with the local chapter of the national Cities For Peace movement, said his group wants the Honolulu City Council to draft a resolution to President Bush "saying we want him to go very slow on any thought of war with Iraq because we fear the same devastating economic impact on Hawai'i as we had after the first Gulf war."
After the rally, the protesters marched together through the park and onto Ala Moana Boulevard, continued on to Ward Avenue, then circled their way back to the park, where they gathered for an early evening concert.
